mrhemi
Well-Known Member
A little preamble or rant. This all started when I wanted to treat myself to a new pickup now that I retired. Being a stickler for a manual transmission, that didn't leave me many options, a Toyota Tacoma or a Jeep Liberty. In support of Ma Mopar I went with a new Jeep Liberty (3.6 6spd.) willing to accept some of the short comings, even the tv screen in the dash. With the piss poor clutch (even after the recall) and the terrible ratio selection in the drive line I had to do something to make this thing drive-able (for me). So with the limitations of Jeep's piss poor engineering decisions I decided to change the rear end ratio's from 3:73 to 4:10's. While not a large change it put the engine back into it's torque curve for most of my driving. Note, this was not to increase tire size.
The final conflict came when I contracted the selling dealership's service group (the owner is a friend of mine) to complete the change, so that the ECM could be reprogrammed correctly for the ratio change. Since 4:10's are a factory available ratio and I procured Dana Spicer parts from the dealership this should have been straight forward albeit pricey. Chrysler Canada came back with we don't recommend this and if you proceed, the warranty of your new vehicle will be cancelled. Guess where this wound up? The dealership cut me a cheque for almost what I paid for the Gladiator after a year of driving it.
Then the quest for a new (to me) suitable pickup. I previously owned two 2nd gen Dodge Ram pickups and always liked them best. I had a 2015 Ram 2500 6.7, 6spd., but never liked it and sold it. Did without for a few years. So I have been searching for something for awhile and as you will see, clean, low mileage pickups of this vintage bring premium prices.
I stumbled across this 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 SLT a few weeks back on Bring a Trailer. Optioned exactly as I would have, low miles, from the original owner's estate. It has been immaculately maintained, appears and drives as new. It does not have a tv screen in the dash, lol.
5 spd. manual, AND IT'S GOT A HEMI IN IT!
The final conflict came when I contracted the selling dealership's service group (the owner is a friend of mine) to complete the change, so that the ECM could be reprogrammed correctly for the ratio change. Since 4:10's are a factory available ratio and I procured Dana Spicer parts from the dealership this should have been straight forward albeit pricey. Chrysler Canada came back with we don't recommend this and if you proceed, the warranty of your new vehicle will be cancelled. Guess where this wound up? The dealership cut me a cheque for almost what I paid for the Gladiator after a year of driving it.
Then the quest for a new (to me) suitable pickup. I previously owned two 2nd gen Dodge Ram pickups and always liked them best. I had a 2015 Ram 2500 6.7, 6spd., but never liked it and sold it. Did without for a few years. So I have been searching for something for awhile and as you will see, clean, low mileage pickups of this vintage bring premium prices.
I stumbled across this 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 SLT a few weeks back on Bring a Trailer. Optioned exactly as I would have, low miles, from the original owner's estate. It has been immaculately maintained, appears and drives as new. It does not have a tv screen in the dash, lol.
5 spd. manual, AND IT'S GOT A HEMI IN IT!
