Well... mine's not so glamorous... but, it's mine. A guy I used to ride motorcycles with had this p/u. He was the second owner. He put gas in it, and it was lucky to get oil changes. For the most part, it sat parked infront of his house most of its life. Well... one day, it wouldn't start for him. He calls me over to diagnose/fix it. I tightened his battery cables and it started. He calls me a couple of weeks later saying it won't start... but, if he does this or that, it'll light off. Suggested he put a starter in it. (Naw, didn't wanna put any money in it). A couple of weeks later, he's tired of fighting it and has me come get it and take it to the Dodge dealership and find out what it's gonna cost to get reliable once again. (No, his legs ain't broke either). Dodge quote $2,700+ to get it right (including a new starter). It had some other minor issues that are common for a 15 yr. old truck. And, I remind him that he could take it to an independent shop and get that same work done for probably $1,500... or, he could go to NAPA and buy about $600 worth of parts and I'd show him HOW to do it, and he'd be good to go. "NOPE, I want a new truck... take me to the dealership." So, he finds a low mileage, 2 yr old truck he likes and writes 'em a check.
So... I asks him... "What'cha gonna do with the old truck?" I reminded him of the quotes, the current blue book value, and ask him what he wants for it. He decided that he'd give it to me. I limp it home and call "nephew" who does the sales of parts to commercial accounts at NAPA and get a smokin' deal on $600 worth of parts.
Starter... fixed that issue. Rotors/pads, fixed the shimmy in the wheel when the brakes were applied, due to the warped ones... while I was at it, new wheel bearings, and new shocks front/rear. Tune up. Oil change, flushed tranny (new filter) and new fluid, flushed clean the diff and new oil/posi additive. Greased all the fittings, oiled all the hinges, new fuel filter. I had $200 left in the $600 budget, added another $200 to it and had the bed liner sprayed in.
Since that time, I've replaced the battery twice (first time the year after getting the truck), replaced the cooling system (again, great deal on parts from nephew), put tires on it, had the rear shoes replaced since they weren't worn out yet when I got the truck, new cat/muffler/O2 sensor, and most recently recharged the air conditioning system. The thing has 178,000 miles on it and just got its second tune up in 8 yrs. of me owning it.
It may be only 2WD, but it's posi, and most "4WD" around here are open diffs front/rear (people don't know any better)... and purrs like a kitten. I can't get extreme with this thing, but, if it's a road, I've been able to travel it thus far. '90 Dodge Dakota with a V6... and about all the comforts of home available in a p/u back then.
). Moonroof is used for claiming up on top of the roof rack to spot and mobile blind. Also have a remote controlled base for the thermal eye on the roof rack. That lets me pan and tilt from the truck viewing on a 9" LCD screen. Rifles are securely mounted in the big sky roof rack. And of course like all my rifles I spray painted it!!
