Poll concerning our PISTONS!

[supercar1of1]

That's why you are not Dodge...

Really, you are beginning to sound like me, a long haired dope crazed idealist, that thinks the corporations should and do care about our wants and needs!

If they did we would all be in Smart Cars now rather than trucks that are slightly dysfunctional...

But I hope I am wrong, I do hope you can achieve something...by the way I have not heard from the attorney that did take them to the mat in Wisconsin...maybe (big maybe) tomorrow.

HE HE HE, I am way overdue for a hair cut, and I go though allot of Golden

Grain! But I have allways tried to treat people the way I wished to be

treated, including when I owned a business. If after we compile as much

info as possible it is felt that we have a legitimate issue, we should start by

giving Dodge the benifit of the doubt that they would do the right thing and

not prejudge by assuming they are unconcerned as@$#*es.










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[Venom Power]

To sum up, I do not feel that this product lives up to the advertised level of

performance and DURABILITY, which deserves some degree of support from

the manufacturer and was simply trying to see how many like minded

individuals we had and get their .02

The Big Mac commonly advertised as a "Big" Mac isn't... BIG.. Ain't that the epitome of not living up to the advertised level of performance? But billions and billions are sold. If we were to attempt this I say we set our sights on Mickey D's as well.

 

[supercar1of1]

The Big Mac commonly advertised as a "Big" Mac isn't... BIG.. Ain't that the epitome of not living up to the advertised level of performance? But billions and billions are sold. If we were to attempt this I say we set our sights on Mickey D's as well.

Ate at McDonalds tonight, had the fish sandwich, PHEW!







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[Venom Power]

Ate at McDonalds tonight, had the fish sandwich, PHEW!

That one's on you. :dontknow: They never advertised the Filet-O-Fish as really good. I don't understand how that franchise stayes open with all of that "bad for you" food. Not even the tenderous, dippinous, no bone pickinous, chickenous, chicken there is should be considered remotely healthy. The only thing they have going for them is pretty tasty fries and less calorie content in their B Mac compared to the Whopper..

 

[supercar1of1]

That one's on you. :dontknow: They never advertised the Filet-O-Fish as really good. I don't understand how that franchise stayes open with all of that "bad for you" food. Not even the tenderous, dippinous, no bone pickinous, chickenous, chicken there is should be considered remotely healthy. The only thing they have going for them is pretty tasty fries and less calorie content in their B Mac compared to the Whopper..

I don't know if it's the food or the employees but it will be awhile before I do

"Mickey D's" again. :hmmmm:






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[FastRam]

That's the point, in one of the other threads didn't someone say they were

friends with a viper tech that told him it was happening to stock trucks?

Also, what good is any forum if you cannot have open and honest dialog?

If I were Dodge I would value the true and honest opinions of my strong

supporting focus groups, which we are, and as far as value is concerned

the price of fuel("It was just announced that reg would be 5.00 by labor

day here") will have a far greater impact on these trucks than some

mechanical abnormality.












.

I think you may be referring to me on this. I did talk with my dealer's Viper tech. They, personally, have not seen nor heard of any trends or chronic developments occurring with failed engines. My dealer has quite a few Viper and Ram SRT-10 customers, many of whom track their vehicles (mostly the Viper crowd). One interesting item the Viper tech did mention is that their customers who do track their cars are very meticulous and thorough when it comes to maintenance.

If you want my suggestion, gather up all the evidence you can concerning failed engines, focus in on the stock units that failed and present a case to the SRT engineers via a SRT chat session. I wouldn't pursue with SRT cases of failed modified engines because I can almost guarantee you that the response will be, "well, you modified it beyond its original design capabilities, we can't help with that". If the case presented has merit, they will probably reply back saying they aren't aware of any problems but again if you present a solid and professional case, they may take the time to investigate it further. And don't expect a "quick" answer. The LX front end clunk deal took many months for the SRT team to respond publicly what the problem was. Continual follow up with them will be needed so that the inquiry doesn’t disappear from their radar screen.. To find out when the next chat session is, assuming they still hold them (I think they do), browse around the 300C, Charger, Jeep and Caliber forums -- the sessions are generally held on those forum sites.

 

[supercar1of1]

I think you may be referring to me on this. I did talk with my dealer's Viper tech. They, personally, have not seen nor heard of any trends or chronic developments occurring with failed engines. My dealer has quite a few Viper and Ram SRT-10 customers, many of whom track their vehicles (mostly the Viper crowd). One interesting item the Viper tech did mention is that their customers who do track their cars are very meticulous and thorough when it comes to maintenance.

If you want my suggestion, gather up all the evidence you can concerning failed engines, focus in on the stock units that failed and present a case to the SRT engineers via a SRT chat session. I wouldn't pursue with SRT cases of failed modified engines because I can almost guarantee you that the response will be, "well, you modified it beyond its original design capabilities, we can't help with that". If the case presented has merit, they will probably reply back saying they aren't aware of any problems but again if you present a solid and professional case, they may take the time to investigate it further. And don't expect a "quick" answer. The LX front end clunk deal took many months for the SRT team to respond publicly what the problem was. Continual follow up with them will be needed so that the inquiry doesn’t disappear from their radar screen.. To find out when the next chat session is, assuming they still hold them (I think they do), browse around the 300C, Charger, Jeep and Caliber forums -- the sessions are generally held on those forum sites.

Man am I glad you chimed in with this.

That is exactly what I was wanting to do from the begining, but some how

a few folks seem to get the impression that I was wanting to go up and file

a law suit this week, when we don't even have our sh@% in one sack yet.

But good, if you communicate with these guys, just tell them that there

MIGHT be an issue. THANKS! John:rock: :congrats:









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[RedSrt007]

Did you see where I posted I think more than once that we are premature to be discussing law suits?

If I jumped the gun. then I apologize..but the fact that your first post (#1) used the word "settlement", and the title of your poll was "should we proceed" must have brought me to believe that a lawsuit was being filed. :dontknow:

And no, I did not read the rest of you posts, with bright red colored huge font..

 

[FastRam]

I am starting another thread on this subject - y'all might find the information interesting, or not.

 

[gumby45]

I cant seem to get the link up, but in another forum a guy had a 06 nightrunner with 380 miles when the motor boom. no mods. bunt pushrods broken valves and some other damage.

 

[HaulinAsp]

I cant seem to get the link up, but in another forum a guy had a 06 nightrunner with 380 miles when the motor boom. no mods. bunt pushrods broken valves and some other damage.

Bent push rods and broken valves are from piston dome contact to the valves- something played a part in that happening- any other details?

 

[gumby45]

Bent push rods and broken valves are from piston dome contact to the valves- something played a part in that happening- any other details?

Like I said I can't seem to get the link to work and don't want to post the other forum on here(don't want to ruffle any feathers). The guy that just did the left hand conversion in NZ purchased this guys truck

 

[msdnga]

Wow, huge post! Spring mod, bearing clearances and the cam bearing mods are what we do here.

 

[RagunCajun]

Not sure how it is with the viper trucks but for us, we get our warrenty voided if we mod it. Lightning's snap rods. If they do it under stock conditions, they will get repaired under warranty at no cost to the customer. If you pulley it etc, then prepare to get bent over in repair cost.:argh:

This is how it should be for you any company. It SHOULD be fine if it's stock, but when you start to mod, you put extra stress on not just the engine, but the entire drive train. I do not feel a manufacturer should be paying for people's engine's that they done mods to. If your pistons are failing or any engine component is failing while bone stock that is a problem.

There's a decent amount of talk in the L community's about srt rams. They do get dissed for certain things as all forums tend to do but people never mention the v-10's having any mechanical engines. I always thought the viper engine was one bad ass mofo not to be messed with. And i will still keep that state of mind.:rock:

I always thought that was a + 1 for dodge and a -1 for Ford. I know ford chose to give up crappy rods to cut cost down. Perhaps Dodge did the same(for pistons etc) to keep the MSRP as low as they feel it should be. $45-50+ for a pick up is a lot. Although if saleen and roush can sell their overprices f150 sorry excuses for a performance trucks then i dont see why not people wouldnt want to pay a extra thousand for better internals.

 

[SrtBrad]

Not sure how it is with the viper trucks but for us, we get our warrenty voided if we mod it. Lightning's snap rods. If they do it under stock conditions, they will get repaired under warranty at no cost to the customer. If you pulley it etc, then prepare to get bent over in repair cost.:argh:

This is how it should be for you any company. It SHOULD be fine if it's stock, but when you start to mod, you put extra stress on not just the engine, but the entire drive train. I do not feel a manufacturer should be paying for people's engine's that they done mods to. If your pistons are failing or any engine component is failing while bone stock that is a problem.

There's a decent amount of talk in the L community's about srt rams. They do get dissed for certain things as all forums tend to do but people never mention the v-10's having any mechanical engines. I always thought the viper engine was one bad ass mofo not to be messed with. And i will still keep that state of mind.:rock:

I always thought that was a + 1 for dodge and a -1 for Ford. I know ford chose to give up crappy rods to cut cost down. Perhaps Dodge did the same(for pistons etc) to keep the MSRP as low as they feel it should be. $45-50+ for a pick up is a lot. Although if saleen and roush can sell their overprices f150 sorry excuses for a performance trucks then i dont see why not people wouldnt want to pay a extra thousand for better internals.

Welcome to the zoo.

 

[Prof]

Not sure how it is with the viper trucks but for us, we get our warrenty voided if we mod it. Lightning's snap rods. If they do it under stock conditions, they will get repaired under warranty at no cost to the customer. If you pulley it etc, then prepare to get bent over in repair cost.:argh:

This is how it should be for you any company. It SHOULD be fine if it's stock, but when you start to mod, you put extra stress on not just the engine, but the entire drive train. I do not feel a manufacturer should be paying for people's engine's that they done mods to. If your pistons are failing or any engine component is failing while bone stock that is a problem.

There's a decent amount of talk in the L community's about srt rams. They do get dissed for certain things as all forums tend to do but people never mention the v-10's having any mechanical engines. I always thought the viper engine was one bad ass mofo not to be messed with. And i will still keep that state of mind.:rock:

I always thought that was a + 1 for dodge and a -1 for Ford. I know ford chose to give up crappy rods to cut cost down. Perhaps Dodge did the same(for pistons etc) to keep the MSRP as low as they feel it should be. $45-50+ for a pick up is a lot. Although if saleen and roush can sell their overprices f150 sorry excuses for a performance trucks then i dont see why not people wouldnt want to pay a extra thousand for better internals.

Nice post...

Some very realistic comments...

Welcome to the site...your perspective will be welcome here!

 

[eddie102870]

crazy that they didnt put good rods and pistons in these motors to start with. couldnt have been that much more. i'd have paid extra.

 

[cobraken]

I read that when SVT was developing the terminator cammer motors just changing to Manley rods was a significant expense and one that Ford almost didn't approve.

 

[supercar1of1]

crazy that they didnt put good rods and pistons in these motors to start with. couldnt have been that much more. i'd have paid extra.

You just made the million dollar quote, which leaves the question, is there anyone who would Not have gladly paid the small (relatively speaking)
extra $ for the tremendous (relatively speaking), increase in durability
that forged rods/pistons provide.

On another sight, it appears that SRT reps have now stated that the pistons
are highly stressed and recommend aftermarket forged pistons for any meaningful increase in power output.

It has been my observation(and I don't think I am alone on this)that the person who purchases these type vehicles and leaves them stock, is the exception, and would think that of all people SRT should know this.

Years ago I was fortunate to meet and have a conversation with a retired powertrain engineer and he told me that a grocery getter engine should be able to take a 50% increase in power reliably and a performance specific engine much more. (Which saved me a lot of $ at the time)

If the Viper engine is not a performance specific engine that should be able to tolerate a significant increase in output reliably, what is it?











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[RagunCajun]

If some want upgrades to the pistons, why stop there. Get some better rods, crank, heads, valves etc. Whoops, soon you will have a fully built engine that cost almost 2/5th's of the trucks original MSRP. Oh wait, you need to upgrade the tranny too to handle the potential power a customer might put in. Add another 4k for a built tranny. Then add a better rear end. Might as well add better suspension. So now you have a what.....$80,000 sport truck. That's a guess, i have no idea what all that stuff cost for a company to put in their production line.

See where im going. You can always make a vehicle better. Theres the added cost. If Dodge made their engines able to hold up in stock form then that is all they needed to do. IMO it's up to the customers to modify to their liking.

So if we take a $80,000ish srt-10, $33,715 Lightning(MSRP on my window sticker) and a $40,000 Silverado SS(MSRP found on google). That is a huge gap. I personally do not think the general public would pay twice as much for a pickup when they can get another "sport" truck for cheaper. I'm not sure of the MSRP in 2004 on a srt10 RC. A quick google search says the 2004 MSRP for the 04 srtram was $45,795 MSRP. That makes more sense to me than something that cost thousands more. Lets not get into why the Lightning and SS sucks. I am trying to say that there's the sport truck market that Dodge was competing in. They had to play it smart.

Granted, some Dodge fans will pay considerably more to get a nice luxury truck with one hell of an engine and drive train(upgrades things like in my first "paragraph"). On the same note, you will have people like me who can not afford such a thing and has to look else where. When i was shopping for a fast truck, there was 3 trucks on my mind. The srt10 RC, Lightning and the Silverado SS. I will not(unless asked) go into what made me choose but price did come into the picture. I did buy mine 2nd hand though.