Lost my mind - bough a Dodge

[Mountain Man]

Well, I must have lost my mind. I came home with a brand new 2004 Dodge Quad Cab 4x4 shortbox Hemi SLT.

I am still a die hard 67-72 fan, but after weighing all the options for new trucks on the market, the daily driver ended up to be the Hemi.

Specs:
5.7L Hemi - 345 BHP
4Door Shortbox
SLT trim
5 speed Automatic
Factory 20" rims with 275 series rubber
3.92 limited slip rear end , with 9.25" gearing

I will attach a pick once it warms up, it is too cold to go outside for a pick tonight, Minus 20.

[jorgensensc]

Why have you lost your mind?! I LOVE those trucks!! He!! I even have a little respect for some f$rds. If a Car is good, well it's good, no matter what make or model. JMO though!!

[>X<]

did you know the rims are plastic? take one off and check it out, you'll never know by looking at them. I think the genIII ls1 puts out 355 hp in the new GTO. why dont people make a big deal about the LS1? sorry, i hate dodge, but i have to admit they are nice trucks. my best friend has a 03 single cab in silver w the 20's and a 4.7 i think. i relocated his tailgate handle to the inside and shaved the original hole yesterday tomorrow it gets painted, took all the embles off too. your truck has a straigt axle right? chevy needs to copy that!

[Mountain Man]

seanh71. Not sure what type of rims your buddy has, but mine are definately not plastic, they are cast aluminum - solid aluminum.

So far I am extremely impressed with the 4x4 powertrain, and the 5 speed tranny is very impresive, and this is coming from a GM fan who has never had anything but.

[>X<]

i guess my friend go some knockoffs or something, but the wheel is aluminum and the part that you see clips in. i didnt believe it till we took the wheel off. he bought it used so you never know. next we are "shaving" all of the emblems and lowering it if he fids a kit, i havent looked yet for one. definately the best sounding stock exhaust ever

[gonebad2]

Hope it goes good for you. Buddy of mine at work bought a new Dodge (no hemi) truck last year and tells me the truck self destructs going down the road. Mostly plastic trim is already breaking and alot of interior squeeks already. I've never been a big fan of Dodge. My wife bought our Son an '03 Neon for transportation until I get his truck done. So far it's held together pretty good. Should be a good car at college for him next year. At least nobody would want to steal it. She liked it because it was new and cheap.

[cdowns]

DODGE yeah nice nice just make sure you have a reliable backup for when the DODGE is back at the dealer having one of it's many tranny problems solved

[Broken_down?]

If a Car is good, well it's good, no matter what make or model. JMO though!!

ain't that the truth brother

rich

[N2TRUX]

Good luck with it. I considered a Ram 1500 Extra cab too. I have read on Dodge forums that they are having tranny troubles.

My 02 GMC is getting a few miles on it so I plan to replace it with an 04. I considered the Dodge until I heard the tranny complaints. I decided to wait for the new GM 1500 Crewcab instead...

[old Rusty C10]

better buy a tow truck to go with it every dodge ive ever owned was a POS majorly usually right after the factory warranty ran out ( get extended if ya want to try to stave off the costs)

[1969 GMC]

Originally posted by seanh71
your truck has a straigt axle right? chevy needs to copy that!

[Rant]
If it is the Ram 1500 4x4, then sadly it no longer has a solid front axle. The 2500 and 3500 4x4's still have them, however. Let us hold a moment of silence for the last solid front axled half ton pickup to pass on, even if it is a Mopar. It is a disturbing trend...Chevy did it in '88 (1/2 ton p/u) and in '92 (everything else), Ford did it in '80 (TTB) and again in '97 (IFS), and now this.

For all the people who insist solid axles ride like crap, that is HOGWASH. It has to do with how the vehicle is suspended. True, my GMC rides like a tank...but it's 34 years old, has crazy overload springs, and 0 functional shocks. My gf's '99 Ram 1500 4x4 rides like a dream [sidebar: yes, it has had the slushbox dropped twice for repairs under warranty thus far]...so do my other friend's '94 and '03 Grand Cherokees. IFS = crap. I had to help my dad do his yearly replacement of the half shafts (or whatever they are called) and CV joints on his job's Chevy k2500 (6 lug) plow truck. Fun!
Phew. Sorry. Done now.
[/Rant]

[mrein3]

Remember:
Your first Dodge is nobody's fault.
Your second Dodge is your own damn fault.

[cag17]

I broke down and bought one about a month ago. Exact same model that you are talking about. Do me a favor -- Feel behind the wheel and see if it is not two piece. This isn't to make you mad but if you will look at your window sticker it says Aluminum wheel Chrome clad -- I guess that the clad is the plastic part. The only reason that I found out was because mine are peeling already.

[67sub]

Just a little info - the 20" wheels come both ways. There is a chrome clad option and there is a polished aluminum option. The cladding is a plastic cover because some people like the shiny chrome look. Both are available and they are about 50-50 on the 03 and 04 trucks. On the transmission subject we have had almost no trouble with the 45rfe that is behind the 4.7 the 5.7 and the 3.7, however the others suck. That is job security for me though.
cag17 - you can buy the cladding for about 25 bucks each at your friendly dodge parts supplier.

[seacrow]

Boy, if some of you hate Dodges, you'll really hate my truck. I have a 2003 ford F-250 Super Duty crew cab 4x4 Lariat. It has the new 6.0 turbodeisel. It also has a true solid front axle with leaf springs. It looks like an old Jeep or something up front. It rides great, even with the FX4 package, which includes Rancho shocks. it's a real machine, it even has heated seats and a power moonroof. I love it. The best part is it gets about 16-17mpg around town.

I looked at Dodge, the rear seat room was no good for me.

I looked a Chevy, the plastic they use on the dash is horrible. It's hard to resist tearing it apart with your bare hands.

[Truckboy]

Sorry to all of the Dodge bashers. I've got a '94 1500 with the 318. 168,000 on the odometer. No problems with tranny or engine. Still solid, very few squeaks or rattles. I love it and can't wait to buy another one.

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by Broken_down?


ain't that the truth brother

rich

Get that man a Pinto! THey were fine runners and dependable. Just don't get rear ended.

[Grim Reaper]

From http://dailyramblings.com/ramblings/429.php

I'd like to start this week by announcing that this website is better than all other comedy websites. Sure, other websites are funnier, more visually pleasing, and don't secretly collect passwords and naked pictures from your computer as you read the articles. But there's one thing that makes this website better than any other humor website: this website has a hemi.

What's a hemi? Beats the hell out of me. But if Dodge can sell trucks by making up a word and pretending it means something, then I can do the same damn thing. So not only does this website have a hemi, reader, but it also has a poogy, a turdfarker, and a dickinyourear. You probably didn't even notice the dickinyourear, did you reader? Well, it's there, and the performance level it brings to this website is blowing the competition away!

Okay, so "hemi" is a real word, but the hype behind it is still just a load of crap sold to you by the fudge packers in Dodge's marketing department. The hemi engine was invented in 1951, and funny enough, the first cars with hemi engines only had 180 horsepower, which is the same force found in a fart blown out Rosie O' Donnell's ass. If O' Donnell farted continuously, she could hook a pipe up to her rectum and beat an early-50s Chrysler in a drag race.

Watch out, reader, because as we examine the hemi scam deeper, there may be some technical jargon. But none of it will make you think of Rosie O' Donnell's flabby ass with a pipe sticking out of it, so that's a plus.

Hemi engines became much more powerful as technology advanced, and were the pinnacle of engine design in the '50s, but that was a long time ago. The hemi engine (using a hemispherical combustion chamber instead of a flat one) was revolutionary in 1951, but most cars today use a pentroof design (with a pentagon shape) that works just as good, if not better, than the hemi. So the dong lickers in Dodge's marketing department are just blowing smoke up your ass, using a nostalgic word to sell baby boomers trucks that have the same horsepower and performance as everything else on the market.

The hemi design was much better than the flat design found in cars before 1951 (the flat design is now used in lawnmower engines), but the hemi and pentroof designs aren't much different in the area of performance for normal vehicles. Dodge has improved their hemi design since they last produced it in 1971, but it's no better than the pentroof design. They both work fine, and each has their advantages and disadvantages. But the butt sniffing donkey molesters in Dodge's marketing department don't want you to know that. They did a nice job fooling everyone with their lame hemi commercials, and now baby boomers and young people alike are getting excited about the hemi, despite the fact that they don't know what the hell the word means, or why it's supposedly better.

Since people are so gullible, maybe I'll take a hammer and bang my car's combustion chamber until it has nine sides, making it a nonagon shape. Then I'll call it a "nonagonarrhea" engine, and the next automobile craze will be my new engine design that sounds like a venereal disease.

The main point of this column was to educate you, dear reader, but don't expect me to maintain that standard in the future. Every man has a price, and if the big shots at Dodge read this column, like my nonagonarrhea idea, and offer me a marketing job with a large salary, I may take it. This economy has been tough on us all, so please don't hate me if I accept a job with the ass buccaneers in Dodge's marketing department. A cash-strapped columnist has to do what a cash-strapped columnist has to do. Even if he has to sell overhyped hemis.

[>X<]

that hit the nail on the head!!!!!


""""""There is a chrome clad option and there is a polished aluminum option. The cladding is a plastic cover because some people like the shiny chrome look.""""""


whew, i bet everyone thought i was full of ****!

[spencra]

No, you just left your mind back at the dealership

Just go back, pick it up and leave the Dodge right where you found it and tell the dealer that you just wanted to take it out for a long test drive and very nicely ask for your deposit back

Let us know how it went

[doughby82]

everybody can bash it.i love the dodge truck.i can bash a nissan ,toyota mazda,chevy,ford etc....everyone' can bash this brand or that brand someone is always having a problem with x brand car.my neighbor's lexus has been in the shop several times for electrical.i would still buy one if i could afford one,but i cant.but anyway congrats on your new truck.ok im done

[cdowns]

GRIM REAPER ---hemi is not a word it's a prefix

[Mark540]

You can tell by my sig I have had one for the last year and a half, reliable and comfortable as he!!(28,000 miles already). Bash if you want, but this is what hauls my parts and parts suburban for my restore. You want junk, go out and get a Corvette, had mine for two and a half years and only 16,000 miles, because I lived at the dealership! That sucker drank Mobil 1 synthetic like gas. Back to the topic, nice truck don't worry you'll love it, and the chrome is a plastic cladding that can be removed, I have the polished 20's myself.

[Broken_down?]

Get that man a Pinto! THey were fine runners and dependable. Just don't get rear ended.

LOL!!

And when I get it, I will relocate the gas tank and drop some 44 swampers on it with a built roll cage and a 6000Lb winch with some nice 1000 watt roll lights ( you know the kind cal-trans uses at night when it blinds you as you drive by )

Rich

[wHATANERD]

I had a 1994 Dakota, the best thing that ever happened was replacing it with a 2002 Silverado, The Dakota had nothing but electrical problems and tranmissin trouble, I will never buy a Dodge again