no more modern vehicles

[ChargerD100]

I sold my magnum to my little sister so I am now down to my d100 and the charger, charger will be on back burner for the next year or so, seeings how I am now on a mission of becoming debt free, does anyone know of any ideas of some stuff I should do to my truck to make it more reliable, gears/ front end to do a disc conversion etc. It's a peg leg right now, should I leave it like that or switch to a limited slip rearend (which one would be better in the snow?)

[1974dodgecharger]

focus on da charger to make it reliable?  My 68 is my only car I don't have anything modern I have upgraded that thing to make it reliable as much as possible essentially its a car payment  monthly.

[Mike DC]

   
A limited slip is better in the snow. 

But unless you live in a heavy snowing place or you already have a LS rearend ready for it, the best money you can probably spend is just leave it alone.

 

[myk]

My Charger's absolutely reliable but I would never 'DD it; way too many idiots out there on the road and it's obvious that the DMV just hands out licenses to anyone with a pulse.  With that said, just keep up on the maintenance on your other vehicle; no need to 'mod anything other than your front brake setup unless there are some other glaring deficiencies that you haven't mentioned...

[Ghoste]

I don't blame you Myk, but it is the truck he's using for a daily driver.  I would leave it as is likely and go the old fill the bed with weight for the winter routine.

[RallyeMike]

Maintain it regularly and constantly check things to catch them before they go to far south is the basic answer. That said, stuff is still going to break, so the reliability factor you can add in my mind is keeping spares handy. It's getting harder and harder to come up with good parts fast. Reliability also means being able to get it back on the road quick when it inevitably does need attention. On top of the usual used spares (alternators, coils, dizzy, ballast resistor, etc.), I keep always have a full set of gaskets on hand.

I started doing this when I was daily driving my 71 D100 and I found that brake slave cylinders were not carried by any local store. Its a little bit of an investment to keep a stock of parts up front, but it sure is handy when you need parts ASAP and can go to your own rack.

[Chryco Psycho]

I thought this thread was more about the newer vehicles ..... I just bought a 2010 Caravan it is such a piece of CRAP , everything is redesigned but nothing is improved , the overhead console rattle constantly & the doors are so cheap the little latches broke so I had to screw the hatches closed , I have * cup holders for the front 2 passengers but a useless console , nothing serious but everytime I walked away from the vehicle I would come back & both doors are wide open so I cannot use the power door feature , I have to keep it on manual .
The more serious stuff ,  after 100+ years of having the ignition switch connect 2 wires & trip the relay to start the engine they have decided to install a computer between the switch & starter & most of the time the computer says no & it will not start  , but putting into neutral seems to help most of the time , not all of the time but most of the time !
Even worse for half a century there has been a cable between the accelerator pedal & carb or T body but now there is a computer in there so the pedal has Nothing to do with the T body so as I am cruising down the highway & little red lite on the dash illuminates with a lightening bolt & I lose 100% control of the throttle , I hope this never happens while I am passing on a 2 lane highway !!   
SO far no one can fix this thing or tell me what to fix or replace on it . This cost Mopar a sale on a new Durango , I found a great deal on a year old model still new but turned it down because I could not trust the electronics , warranty means nothing if the vehicle is mired in the service dept & you are making no $$ while having to make payments .

[1974dodgecharger]

Well put right there like I said my 68 charger is a daily there simple cars to maintain, but that's easy for me since I always pop the hood daily cleaning it or whatever I do.  All you need is volts, gas, air, and should be good to go. 

A guy once stopped by when I had my hood open he had a new challenger he said HE HAS NEVER OPENED UP HIS HOOD OR LOOKED UNDER THERE SINCE HE BOUGHT IT IN 2011.

Maintain it regularly and constantly check things to catch them before they go to far south is the basic answer. That said, stuff is still going to break, so the reliability factor you can add in my mind is keeping spares handy. It's getting harder and harder to come up with good parts fast. Reliability also means being able to get it back on the road quick when it inevitably does need attention. On top of the usual used spares (alternators, coils, dizzy, ballast resistor, etc.), I keep always have a full set of gaskets on hand.

I started doing this when I was daily driving my 71 D100 and I found that brake slave cylinders were not carried by any local store. Its a little bit of an investment to keep a stock of parts up front, but it sure is handy when you need parts ASAP and can go to your own rack.

[Ghoste]

Wow, you think he'd at least be curious what was under there.

[1974dodgecharger]

Wow, you think he'd at least be curious what was under there.

I said the same thing thought he was joking, but he was dead serious.  He saids he sees me all the time under my hood as if something is wrong I told him no just upgrading or cleaning.

[Ghoste]

I realize there is little he can do under there but you would think he'd still be interested.  Oh well. 

[Chryco Psycho]

how do you change the oil with the hood closed ??

[myk]

A guy once stopped by when I had my hood open he had a new challenger he said HE HAS NEVER OPENED UP HIS HOOD OR LOOKED UNDER THERE SINCE HE BOUGHT IT IN 2011.

Hmm, sounds pretty moronic, but...is that something to be proud of?  Yesterday I saw a couple of guys in a new Challenger driving around my lonely Charger in the parking lot until they drove away laughing.  Does owning a new car get you membership into a group of people that are better than others with older cars, or something? 

[Ghoste]

They may not have been laughing about the car though.

[1974dodgecharger]

how do you change the oil with the hood closed ??

people go to dealerships and never see their car it goes into some oblivion and comes back and viola they up and drive it away.

[six-tee-nine]

no need for a lds on the road unless its very powerfull.

towing? snow or light off road conditions, I'd say put an ARB air locker in there. Downside is these things cost some coin.

[Ghoste]

how do you change the oil with the hood closed ??

people go to dealerships and never see their car it goes into some oblivion and comes back and viola they up and drive it away.

Exactly.  Hell no one can even change a flat anymore, the owners manual might just as well state "in case of flat tire, use cell phone to call for help".

[1974dodgecharger]

cars don't even carry spares no more....so yeah....

[Ghoste]

I think most still do but yes, there are some that do not.