MacAttack_14
Member
Howdy all,
I actually joined Ramforum many years ago when I bought my 2014 2-door Sport in 2016, but I wasn't very active. She was a great truck with very few problems, other than the exhaust manifold bolts, and I drove her until about a month ago when I hit a ten-point buck. It was a known deer crossing and I wasn't driving fast but suddenly there was a deer on my windshield, the truck shut off, and I was surrounded by white, powdery bags. I wasn't injured, except for my hearing. Those airbags are LOUD! I'm still mourning the loss of "Black Betty"; she only had 110k miles, a little fender rust (which I was going to replace with a pre-painted fender, and was just peppy as all get out.
But she's gone (totaled) and now I have a 2017 quad cab Sport. I have a thread here talking about its paint code misprint, but I have a lot more to say. It's more of a "project" than I had anticipated but "Big Betty", as she is now known, has good bones, low miles (67k) and was priced right, which I am now understanding why. Piecing together bits of information and inspecting the truck, it seems to have been a rich kid's mudding toy. Fine, but would it have been that much trouble to spring for the undercarriage spray at the automatic car wash? Lol. The frame (and everything else underneath) is "rusty" but not "rusted", so I've spent the last couple of weekends underneath with a large wire brush, air hose, and a pile of cans of fluid film (and eye protection!). I'm kind of half-arssing it, not knowing what I was getting into, but it should get me through the winter, which has already begun here in central Illinois. Nah, half-arrsed isn't quite right. I'm being thorough but inefficiently. Had I known, I would have had a better plan of attack.
The weird thing is, I test drove this thing about 8 miles to a parking lot, laid underneath and poked around, listened for the Hemi tick (when it was cold), etc., etc. But it was brilliantly sunny and really impossible to clearly see underneath, and I was too focused on the low miles and decent price (am I allowed to say? $24k)
There are some electrical gremlins that didn't show during the test drive, and I'm assuming it's because the front wheel wells had big chunks cut away, allowing rain and whatnot to spray into the engine bay. So I'll have a look at the relay box and see if that needs replaced, and go through all the electrical connectors and give them a good cleaning. Why would someone cut away the wheel well liners instead of just removing them to do whatever needed done? (I'm assuming exhaust manifold bolts)
Oh well, I like saving neglecting and abused things; computers, electronics, animals, whatever needs tlc. And this truck seems worth saving. Like I said, she's got good bones and the exterior and interior are immaculate and the original owner (I'm the 2nd) sprung for some fancy stuff like leather, vented seats, the Alpine sound system, dark tinting, remote start, and all the extras. I just wish we weren't going into winter
Talk more soon, I'm sure.
-Mac
PS: two weeks after buying this truck, I almost hit another deer! The exact same spot and another dark, early morning, but this time I was going about 30 mph instead of 50 (country blacktop). That would have been a difficult conversation with the insurance company.
I actually joined Ramforum many years ago when I bought my 2014 2-door Sport in 2016, but I wasn't very active. She was a great truck with very few problems, other than the exhaust manifold bolts, and I drove her until about a month ago when I hit a ten-point buck. It was a known deer crossing and I wasn't driving fast but suddenly there was a deer on my windshield, the truck shut off, and I was surrounded by white, powdery bags. I wasn't injured, except for my hearing. Those airbags are LOUD! I'm still mourning the loss of "Black Betty"; she only had 110k miles, a little fender rust (which I was going to replace with a pre-painted fender, and was just peppy as all get out.
But she's gone (totaled) and now I have a 2017 quad cab Sport. I have a thread here talking about its paint code misprint, but I have a lot more to say. It's more of a "project" than I had anticipated but "Big Betty", as she is now known, has good bones, low miles (67k) and was priced right, which I am now understanding why. Piecing together bits of information and inspecting the truck, it seems to have been a rich kid's mudding toy. Fine, but would it have been that much trouble to spring for the undercarriage spray at the automatic car wash? Lol. The frame (and everything else underneath) is "rusty" but not "rusted", so I've spent the last couple of weekends underneath with a large wire brush, air hose, and a pile of cans of fluid film (and eye protection!). I'm kind of half-arssing it, not knowing what I was getting into, but it should get me through the winter, which has already begun here in central Illinois. Nah, half-arrsed isn't quite right. I'm being thorough but inefficiently. Had I known, I would have had a better plan of attack.
The weird thing is, I test drove this thing about 8 miles to a parking lot, laid underneath and poked around, listened for the Hemi tick (when it was cold), etc., etc. But it was brilliantly sunny and really impossible to clearly see underneath, and I was too focused on the low miles and decent price (am I allowed to say? $24k)
There are some electrical gremlins that didn't show during the test drive, and I'm assuming it's because the front wheel wells had big chunks cut away, allowing rain and whatnot to spray into the engine bay. So I'll have a look at the relay box and see if that needs replaced, and go through all the electrical connectors and give them a good cleaning. Why would someone cut away the wheel well liners instead of just removing them to do whatever needed done? (I'm assuming exhaust manifold bolts)
Oh well, I like saving neglecting and abused things; computers, electronics, animals, whatever needs tlc. And this truck seems worth saving. Like I said, she's got good bones and the exterior and interior are immaculate and the original owner (I'm the 2nd) sprung for some fancy stuff like leather, vented seats, the Alpine sound system, dark tinting, remote start, and all the extras. I just wish we weren't going into winter
Talk more soon, I'm sure.
-Mac
PS: two weeks after buying this truck, I almost hit another deer! The exact same spot and another dark, early morning, but this time I was going about 30 mph instead of 50 (country blacktop). That would have been a difficult conversation with the insurance company.
So no more 4AM wake ups and driving in the wee hours. 17 years I've been taking the same route and never seen a deer at that crossing. And then two in as many weeks.
