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BSon2or4

Car's trucks, and taking chances

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Well, I know I'm not on two as much as I'm on four, and work is killing me but I just had to pile on some more. A couple of weeks ago on my way home from the shop job I had one of those days. Good drive home from work, stop at the post office to get the mail, and when I go to start up the vehicle to leave... click! Nothing. So I try a few more times, grab some tools and do some investigating, crank it and it comes to life with a noise that shouldn't be there. Turns out that I had the number five piston on my engine disintegrate on start up. four thousand miles and 2 months out of warranty. A repair requiring a new engine to the tune of $3000.00 and on average 20 to 26 hours of labor or a retail of about $6,000.00 and I'm still making payments! So, I crunched numbers over Labor Day weekend and the best alternative to repairing was a new truck. Instead of going with anything tried and true I decided to take a gamble. I'm used to the Guinea Pig position in life so I went for the diesel Ram 1500, yes I said diesel. I'd been following two lighter duty diesel trucks with diesel. The Ram 1500 and the Colorado. As the Colorado hasn't materialized in the marketplace I was steered to the Ram. The "Different" moniker is still sticking with these trucks, but I'm not concerned. So far I'm at 22MPG and this is just the first tank full, not bad for a 3 liter. I haven't got the chance to tow yet so we'll see about that. I still find myself reaching for the traditional shifter only to realize that I'm not in my old vehicle. I just haven't got used to the rotary electronic shifter on the dash yet. Has anybody had any experience with these yet. I know they're not a common vehicle to the area yet as when I was looking there were only 4 between here and Norco in Southern California when I was looking. We'll see if it's durable for sure. Now if I can just get some new dirt oriented shoes on the bike I'll be set for the cooler weather if it ever gets here.

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Thanks for the well wishes, the intended payload is the 7k cap toy hauler and tools/supplies for jobs. This is an experimental motor in the truck market out here but has been very successful in the European market. It has crept into the California in spite of resistance from the Eco-lectric push groups. I'm hoping work slows down just enough to get back on the bike in a recreational capacity, all I had time for was a couple of Saturday morning jaunts with my brother in law. Hopefully I'll get a chance at a big bike noob ride the next time one comes around as I'm getting acquainted with the "Blue Lady" still. An 800 de-tuned is a bit of a change from a 250 to say the least.

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