Friday, January 26, 2018

The end of an era. Ok, maybe just a 3 year stint...

So, in 2013 I bought my first "new" vehicle.

A 2013 RAM 1500 CrewCab 4x4 w/ Pentastar V6 (3.6L), 8spd transmission & 3.55 gear rear end.
(pic is from 2015 after some new shoes)

Many a mod went into this truck.
Roll-X flush-mount roll-up tonneau cover from Bak Industries,


Aftermarket step bars,


Tinted windows, LED headlights & fogs...



Spectre Cold Air Intake
before:
 after:


All in all ... pretty happy with my truck.  The whole family fits in there, i get great gas mileage, i can do truck things with it ...



I loved my truck.  But it was missing some features that I had wanted initially but either couldn't afford or weren't available in the trim level I wanted.  Things like sunroof, remote start, heated seats, backup camera, integrated brake controller (i wanted to get a travel trailer and take my family camping! *cough*glamping*cough*) were things I had wanted and decided I could add them after the purchase.  Now that i'm parking outside due to the fact the truck was MUCH larger than my Audi and didn't fit in the garage... autostart would *really* be handy.  This should an easy fix ... onto the forums to research!

In December of 2016, I bought an aftermarket remote start as the factory option wasn't included and to add it after the fact was going to be over $500 (*slackjaw*).

I initially wanted to go with the DBALL2 solution as I had read reviews that it was *the* remote start to use.  The installer at BestBuy highly recommended the iDatalink module instead and offered to price match the DBALL2 option.  I agreed and scheduled the install which went well (from what I could tell) and proceeded to enjoy using my remote start during the colder months.

FFwd two months and remote start stopped working one Saturday morning.  Shrugged it off and went about my business.  That night, around 6pm, came home, parked the truck and went inside for an evening w/ the family.   Around 10pm I went to let the dog out for her last break before bedtime and my truck was making a clicking noise.

WTF? A clicking sound from the engine bay like someone was trying to start a vehicle with a dead battery.  I grabbed my keys, unlocked the truck - the sound persisted.  I opened the truck up, started it and it started fine. Clicking noise went away.  Shut off the truck, no clicking noise.  By this time, dog's barking and it's pitch black out.  Meh, i'll look into it in the morning.

Sunday morning comes around and it's nearly time to take the boys to the Children's Museum for some fun as mom's out gettin her hair did.  Try the remote start, nothin.  hmmm... going to need to investigate this.

Get the boys all dressed up and in the truck ... let's get this show on the road! Key in ignition, turn and ... click click click click.  Dead battery. *fume*  This was the beginning of the end for my Red Crystal Pearlcoat baby.

After 8 weeks of in and out of the dealer's shop, swapping out failed modules, giving the truck back with CEL codes all over the place, dead battery, etc ... it's like they don't have a clue what's goin on ... they finally ask if the truck has remote start.  I say yes, give them the make/model and install date, etc... they pull the module, keep it over the weekend and are able to hand the truck back, seemingly problem free.

Fortunately, I didn't pay a thing for any of this as they didn't do their due diligence before swapping out components.   Needless to say, however, this remote start is going back to BestBuy for a full refund, including install.

My truck's now a delicate flower and I don't dare change a thing on her for fear that it's going to tip over or spontaneously explode.  Wait, maybe that's me... stressing about this "new" truck.

Alas, the stars aligned and I found a great replacement early in 2017.




This Brillian Black Crystal Pearlcoat 2017 RAM 1500 came with a HOST of upgrades.
*5.7L v8 (HEMI) ... goodbye fuel economy, hello POWER!
*Dual exhaust ... i love the look and the sound. Was always jealous of it in my V6...
*Sunroof ... I finally get my sunroof back (previous cars all had sunroofs)
*3.92 rear end ... allows me to tow up to 10,100lbs (V6 had max tow rating of 5,800 lbs)
*integrated brake controller ... no tacky 3rd party brake controller
*backup camera
*heated seats
*heated steering wheel
*9speaker premium audio (with subwoofer!)
*REMOTE START!

Happy guy here.

Started adding mods already ... needed a tonneau cover, wasn't going to spend the money on the RollX again... so found a nice trifold for $150'ish on Amazon, picked up some chrome accessories (i like shiny things), stubby antenna and some step bars.  That's pretty much as far as I've gone thus far.

I'm still on the fence about the chrome mirror caps. at times i like them, at times i feel they're too much.  But I do like the fact that I don't blend in with every other RAM on the road these days.


That's all for now ... hopefully more to come sooner than later.