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YOUR STORY

ONE YEAR FOLLOW-UP

by Robert Patton, TDR

As I stopped to refuel the truck, from the other side of the fuel pump the question came, "Hey, buddy, how long have you had that black truck?" I paused for a second and replied, "Gee, I've had ownership for a little over one year. It has been a really good truck." The back-and-forth conversation continued and I made a mental note to write a one year follow-up for the TDR audience. The following is my story.

The truck was introduced in Issue 70. It was purchased in August of 2010. The truck was on the back lot at the dealership tucked in with several 1500 trucks with the same basic ST (read: no frills) trim. My first comment, "Now that is an ugly truck."

However, the truck had two redeeming qualities. First, the truck was cheap. Not counting sales tax, this truck was $34,316 out-the-door, a mere $2,000 more than my comparably equipped (albeit with the sport trim) 2003 Dodge 2500 Quad Cab, SLT trim, that I had from 2003 to August of 2007. The second redeeming quality: The blank canvas nature of the ST truck would give me endless topics to write about for the TDR. And, considering the ST version was $6,000 less than the out-the-door price of the same truck (Crew Cab, automatic, two-wheel drive) in SLT trim...well, that's $6,000 that could be spent on custom accessories.

And spend I did. In Issue 71 the "Your Story" feature took readers through the saga of "Purchase Confirmation or Buyer's Remorse" and you could immediately see the truck's transformation as 20" wheels and tires were installed on the truck. This change alone used up $2,000 of the $6,000 budget that I had saved in the purchase price of the truck. Then, in Issue 72, it did not take long to use up the other $4,000 when the shopping and installation of accessories began in earnest. Issue 73 presented "The Continuing Story of Mr. Schwarz," and additional exterior and interior refinements were made to the truck.

Now it is time for the one-year review. What works, what doesn't work; what was cost effective and what was a waste of money; what items were fun to install, what items were not worth the time.

I have done this style of evaluation in two previous issues of the magazine, in Issues 59 and 63. The truck that was accessorized was a 2007.5 Mega Cab, Long Box, 3500 with the 68RFE automatic transmission and two-wheel drive.

One thing you should remember is my disclaimer about objectivity. You might ask, do all these articles and evaluations attest to criteria shared by all the TDR staff, or have I arbitrarily selected evaluations that make similar judgments, to project my own criteria? That is, I concede, a good question. I'll let you be the judge.

So, for this issue I will accept the challenge to keep my correspondence brief. The products are listed as they were in Issue 59 and 63 and my approval rating (one – least; five – best) using the ★ symbol to keep the text's length to a minimum. Except where noted, the products were in the Geno's Garage catalog or have been added to the catalog. They are good enough to recommend to a friend and they are good enough to sell to a friend.

Here goes.

INTERIOR

Cup Holder ★★★★★
Geno’s Garage. The cup holder continues to be the first item that I install on a new truck.

Seat Heater: Rostra ★★★★
Geno’s Garage. The seat heaters would get a good five-stars were it not for the fact that the Ram folks have changed the way that their seat covers attach to the seat foam. That is correct: they use those dreaded hog-rings instead of the Velcro attachments used on ’03-’09 seats. So, installation is a tad more difficult (Issue 72, page 73). The hassle of installation is outweighed by the effectiveness of the heaters on a bad back.

Seat Covers: Covercraft ★★★★
Geno’s Garage. Great fit. I’ve used Covercraft seat covers in all of my trucks since 1996.

Stereo Unit: JVC ★★★
Crutchfield. I purchased the unit because I was spoiled by my previous 2003 truck’s remote radio controls and this JVC stereo has a remote control fob. Occasionally the remote has a mind of its own and the unit is difficult to program (time, and radio outputs). It is not user friendly. However, the smaller size of the unit with the Crutchfield mounting kit gives you room underneath the stereo for miscellaneous storage.

Floor Mats: Husky and Avery’s ★★★★
Geno’s Garage. Either they catch water and muck or they don’t. Four stars means the Husky liners do the job.

Electrical Accessories: Painless Wiring/Fuse Panel ★★★★
Geno’s Garage. Since Mr. Schwarz did not come with a big list of options from the factory, I knew that I would need both of these electrical building blocks. The blocks are positioned under the dash for easy access. I made access to these two blocks a quick “snap,” but not without some modifications to the knee bolster panel. With the panel on the workbench, I removed several of the plastic tabs that keep it in place—less is more. I permanently removed the two Phillips screws that are over-kill for the positioning of the knee bolster. I permanently removed the OBDII connector and tie wrapped it just to the left of the knee bolster. I modified the tangs on the hood release lever so that it easily drops off of the knee bolster.

Parking Partner: Sonadar ★★
Geno’s Garage. I love this item, but as technology changes, and as the price of electronic gadgets (see rear view camera below) does a freefall, the Parking Partner has reached obsolescence. When I started the accessorizing of Mr. Schwarz I had to look through all of the Geno’s product returns to piece together a working unit.

Rear View Camera: V3P/Peak ★★★
Pep Boys/Advance/Auto Zone. On writer Sam Memmolo’s recommendation I purchased the camera kit. I love this camera because it allows you to hook up to a trailer hitch without getting out of the truck. There are so many of these units available and the price can be as low as $59 if you catch the item on sale. The camera installed on Mr. Schwarz is a wireless unit. I would give it a five-star rating if it weren’t so temperamental and fuzzy some of the time. Regardless, it is only needed for hitch-up and the price was right.

Gauges: Edge Insight ★★★★
Geno’s Garage. Adding gauges to your truck has never been so easy. Just plug it into the OBDII sensor and it is ready to display more information than I care to know with up to 20+ data points to choose from. With the Insight ($399) and the addition of an EGT probe ($99), it accomplishes the big three gauge functions (boost, EGT, transmission temperature) for about the same price as a set of independent gauges and a pod. I know, this sounds like a sales pitch, so I’ll stop and give you something to think about. The Insight simply displays data that is available on the OBDII. Why doesn’t Ram give you access to all of the data at the electronic vehicle information center (EVIC) display?