The replacement truck

Like many people that are into cars and trucks or other forms of mechanized, motorized transportation, I had these dreams of making the duck a much better vehicle with some improvements and repairs down the line.  Also, like many people that I just mentioned, I have found that the improvements have had to make way for the repairs.  Then the emergency repairs.  I decided after the bracket for the alternator/A/C compressor snapped that it was time to let it go.

What I could see happening is that I would be going to work five days a week, hoping that I would get there and then get home.  I would be spending the weekends searching for the right replacement parts for a vehicle that frankly, not a lot of them were made with the four cylinder, five speed combination.  I did this before with a mid 90's BMW, and after all of that it was towed to the scrapyard at the end of it all.  The worst part about that? With all the hours and money being spent on something like the car in question, no time or money was left for anything else.

So for about a year on and off, mostly off, to be honest, I have been looking for a replacement for the truck.  The requirements were more or less that it is not a ford, that it is a truck, and that it runs right.  I didn't really care one way or the other about what kind of transmission it had, what color it was (except those gawd awful funky colors) or who manufactured it, as long as it wasn't made by Ford.  This is what I finally found...

This is my "new" 2001 Dodge Durango SLT.  This particular model is equipped with a 4.7 liter (287 CID) V-8 engine and a four speed automatic transmission.  The functionality of a truck with the comforts of a sedan, and more power.  About 235 horsepower at 4200 rpm, not that I am going to rev my engine up that high...ever.  It's got a tick over 135K on it, but drives and rides wonderfully.

Here is the rear view of the Durango. Fun fact: Those tail lights are the exact same ones that are on the Dodge Caravan of the same era.

This truck also features a four wheel drive system that is referred to commonly as "shift on the fly", which means that I don't have to stop the truck, get out of my seat, lock the hubs in, ad infitum.  Instead I turn a knob on the dash and there I am in four wheel drive.  Not that I spend a lot of time off roading (and frankly I would have bought a beater truck if that was my thing) but considering what I am paid for snow removal services it makes sense to be able to get there safely.

No used vehicle is without its surprises, both good and bad.  One of the surprises I have already dealt with is a leaking power steering hose.  It just so happens that it was the pressure line, which is a little bit of a pain in the ass to change out.  At least until I realized I am replacing the entire hose assembly.  Out comes the whizzer wheel (cut off tool) and out comes the old leaky hose, in with the new.  No more power steering whine and no more dripping fluids all over creation.

I have third row seating, which means I can take six of my friends along for the ride to wherever.  The vehicle, not having an instruction manual, left me to figure out how to get that third row to lay flat, making more cargo space.  I finally got the seat bottom to pull forward, and I was greeted with this:

Here we can see that there are leaves, paper, some kids stickers, and a 7/16ths craftsman combination wrench.  You don't see it in the picture, but there is some broken window glass in there as well...like the last truck. Ok so not that a through cleaning was in store for the dodge as it is but here, the "elderly parents story" is starting to not hold water.  I also found five "pachislo" coins.  Someone likes their slot machines, it seems.

Continuing on I opened up the jack compartment, at the back of the truck, and found no jack. I did find part of a jack stand, a file, wire cutters and a craftsman 1/2 wrench! The bars are the handle for the jack and also how you lower the spare tire.  Looks like I should get a jack for this thing...soon.

So at the end of my in depth inspection, I do have a few items that need to be addressed on the Durango, and some of them sooner than others. As mentioned earlier I have already taken care of the power steering leak.  One of the front hubs requires replacement, and one of the front marker lights has a hole in it.  If nothing else I can see some how to articles coming out of this.