Ch.1 - '08 R.I.P, lessons learned

[BlueRush2]

Hi there everyone. First post but I have literally lived on this site for the last year. Bought a new '08 vert in 1/09 and immediately came down with a bad case of Viper Fever. Spent most of '09 trying to make this car perfect, didn't want to post till finished. The only thing left to install was a Venzano interior I had already paid for when I let my inner ******* out and crashed on Oct. 30th while trying to get around a Ford F-250.

There's a good ending to this which will come in my next posts but here I really wanted to thank the vendors and members who have helped me out over the last year and share some of the things I have learned. Most of which all of you already know.

Thanks to:
JonB & Partsrack - Jon is knowledgeable, helpful and efficient. I was lucky to find him right off the bat by looking at this site. Urban legend aside, he's actually a very nice guy who I now consider a friend. I mistakenly initially mistook his abruptness on the phone for rudeness and we had it out cause I do have a temper. But I learned it wasn't rudeness, it's that he's VERY busy trying to get our parts out the door and to us quickly. And I can appreciate that. So for other newbies out there, I recommend ALWAYS starting with JonB first for your Viper parts & goodies. You will appreciate his efficiency as he often gets stuff shipped the same day. You'll RARELY find anyone beating him on price and never on service.

Mark Jorgensen at Woodhouse - Mark, well, what can I say that all of you don't already know? When I decided to have my car "Woodhoused" - Quaife, Mopar PCM, Belangers, motor & trans mounts, MGW shifter - Mark was an incrediblie person to do business with. After they picked up my car (in Texas) and got it there, he kept me informed of progress and had it ready when promised. His shop and his service were absolutely first class. BUT here's the valuable secret about Mark - he is ALWAYS willing to help you or brainstorm with you EVEN if there's nothing in it for him. A few times on different issues I was up against the wall and Mark made some calls to get me what I needed. He went out of the way to help me even though there was nothing in it for him or his shop. Sometimes I'd just shake my head and think "I can't believe he's helping me like this. Damn!"

Chuck Tator - I was actually referred to Chuck by JonB for iPod/stereo questions. Ended up doing business with Chuck for some other stuff as well. One time Chuck probably spent an hour on the phone with me as we tried to get an iPod kit working. I mean, this guy is the Viper Wizard and he spent an hour on the phone with a new owner/customer?!? Wow. After that I could certainly understand why his family has been in business for three generations. Chrysler ***** for not recognizing that. I hope the last chapter on Tator's Dodge hasnt' yet been written cause Chuck is great guy and certainly deserving of the title The Viper Wizard.

Ok, this has been too long already. I'll just say this club and this site are both awesome. Much, much better than the Vette, Porsche and Harley forums I have been involved with. I found my home. Next posts will be pics of my Viper garage and new '09.

Thanks everyone,

John

A few pics..sorry for the lack of daylight, I was trying to capture the blue LED's I installed in the hood scoop, grill and dash. Then some pics of the wreck. Bent the frame.

 

[Hamrhead]

Good read! ***** about the '08, though I assume nobody was hurt?


Where'd ya get the blue gauge lights?

 

[slysnake]

Wreck doesn't look that bad. You had it repaired or totaled?

 

[jasontiff]

Well, THERE you are.

I spoke to John for quite a while about my old car when he was contemplating buying the thing...he's a really nice dude. I hate to see this happen to anyone, but especially a nice guy and fellow TX VCA member. I wondered what all the LEDs would look like when you described them and voila...now I see them!

I hope all is well and everything is sorted out. Drop me a line sometime on here and we'll hook up!

 

[venomous06]

Good read! ***** about the '08, though I assume nobody was hurt?


Where'd ya get the blue gauge lights?

I am wondering the same thing. Those would look great in my blue 06..

 

[dave6666]

...I let my inner ******* out and crashed on Oct. 30th while trying to get around a Ford F-250.

From someone that has one of each, I know to respect both beasts.

You must be registered for see images

Sorry to hear of your woes and not trying to take attention away from your thread with my post, but, um... Watch out for the Super Duty's because it might be one of your bro's driving it.

 

[BlueRush2]

Thanks guys, and no, no injuries. The only thing hurt was my pride. I never signed up for my SRT Track Experience, thought I didn't need it in light of the fact I had owned and driven other "fast" cars. HUGE mistake. Just did not understand that this vehicle truly is a different breed of beast.

slysnake and Hamrhead, yeah, the car actually didn't look bad. Problem was, the frame was bent once when I went up over the curb and then again when I hit the wall. As you can see from the fact that the right rear wheel is pushed in, the rear suspension was shot as well. I knew it was cooked when I tried to shut the top before it went on the wrecker and the top was about 4 inches misaligned. But this car is built like a tank. When I came to a stop, without a single scratch on me anywhere, the engine was still going and the tunes still blasting.

And Dave, yes, I will respect the F-250's. I did to begin with but this guy was being a punk and straddling both lanes not letting me by. I shouldn't have let it get to me but it finally did. My wife said "Well, John, you had it for ten months. I'm surprised it took this long." But even though this kid was a punk I give him credit cause he did stop and come back to see if I was ok. He didn't have to do that. I told him thanks and get out of here before the Po Po show up. Which they did. In droves.

venonous06, the LED's in the dash came from a site by the name of superbrightleds.com. You can find LED's there to replace just about any bulb on your car, including instrumentation. I found them with Google and then took my car apart to see what I needed. Matched it up on their site and ordered, popped them in and put the car back together. I don't have the specific LED part numbers handy but if you want to know which ones I used I'd be happy to tell you, just PM me. I'm going to do it again on my '09 and will try and take pics of the whole process.

Jason, thanks cat and I'm ready to roll. Let's party and put some miles on these monsters! Thanks for your help and advice.

John

 

[eucharistos]

wow

was enjoying your pics, forgetting the wreck you mentioned, scrolling down and then, wham pic 4 ff

liked everything up till that point, sorry for your loss

 

[Twister]

ive wrecked a 99 rt10 and a 2003 srt10....

Just when you think you got them mastered is wehen they get you..Only way to truly have them mastered is spending lots of time at a road course..

I just got a 2003 a month ago....Not gonna make the same mistake a third time...

 

[dave6666]

Only way to truly have them mastered is spending lots of time at a road course.

Or just slowTF down on the highway and save track driving techniques etc for the track.

 

[pteam]

Was your quaife already installed when you wrecked?

 

[ScrewDrvr]

sorry about the crash and glad you made it out ok. Enjoy the new one with a new found respect.

also, please dont *** up the 09 with these ricer led's in the bumper again.

 

[Lundqvist]

GOd RED LED lights like that on my black mamba and my car will look like the terminator!! a snake version! ughhh drooling

 

[snakem04]

Sorry to hear about your loss. where did you get the chrome roll bars.

 

[jpa99acr]

ive wrecked a 99 rt10 and a 2003 srt10....

I just got a 2003 a month ago....Not gonna make the same mistake a third time...

Uh Oh. Here we go again...

 

[Ricketts]

Man, that stinks. Sorry about your car, atleast everyone was ok and you made some new friends along the way.

 

[WILDASP]

Or just slowTF down on the highway and save track driving techniques etc for the track.

That would have helped.....but seriously, how many times are we going to have to discuss this whole "driver attitude" thing, before everyone gets the message? I'm not unsympathetic, and I appreciate the OP manning up here, and admitting his mistake; but the fact is, this did not have to happen at all. Thankfully, no one got hurt...this time; the outcome could have been far worse! The most positive thing I see here is one more lesson for the next guy tempted to let emotions override common sense.

 

[eucharistos]

[SIZE="3"

You must be registered for see images

mini extension of this minor hi-jack.....

people gunna think your a poser dave, with a truck that shinny

 

[BlueRush2]

Thanks. It sucked but hopefully it will have been a small price to pay for the wake-up call I got.

Snakem04 - I got the chrome "sport hoops" from Partsrack. RealWheels sells them too. I've got them in a box, probably not going to put them back on since I've got Venzano leather on my hoops now. Was thinking I might sell them. If you're interested, PM me. I think they're about $795 brand new, I'll sell them for several hundred less than that. Had them for about four months.

281cammer - yes, have made and am still making new friends as a result of this. Most amazing things is how the Po Po reacted to all this. Two black Suburbans (G. Bush's ranch is 10 miles away), two patrol cars and an unmarked. I guess they had nothing better to do. But SHOCKINGLY, every single one of them was friendly, cool and helpful. Not only did I not get ticketed, but they stayed and helped me get my stuff out, told the wrecker guy to be careful, and gave me their cell numbers in case I needed anything! Still can't believe it. It can only be cause they liked the car.

WILDASP - you're right, this is about the dumbest thing I've done. At least with my other wrecks it hasn't been my fault. This was just stupidity and letting the heat of the moment get to me. For a second as I began to overtake the F-250 I felt a vicious kind of satisfaction. Which was replaced seconds later with a sense of overwhelming embarrassment and regret when the back end got away from me. And I had the Quaife, no less. So my dish of humble pie was served fresh and hot. Lesson learned. Didn't like the whole thing, not going to repeat it.

 

[cheryl mccally]

Everyone always asks all of us what we would like most in the next Generation Viper. I vote for a little more ballast in that rear end. It's just a shame to not be able to use all that torque and motor without the back end coming around to greet you just when things start to get good. And I'm not advocating street racing at all, but the car does the same thing on the race track unfortunately. But then that's the challenge and beauty of the beast, we always have to remember, it is a BEAST!

 

[vpower01]

Love all the blue sad to hear about the crash.
My next one might be blue!

 

[JonB]

Wreck doesn't look that bad. You had it repaired or totaled?

PartsRack bought the Organ Donor after JB cherry-picked it like a Texas vulture!

Chapter Two will tell the tale.......the stars were aligned......

 

[eucharistos]

PartsRack bought the Organ Donor after JB cherry-picked it like a Texas vulture!

Chapter Two will tell the tale.......the stars were aligned......

 

[pteam]

Everyone always asks all of us what we would like most in the next Generation Viper. I vote for a little more ballast in that rear end. It's just a shame to not be able to use all that torque and motor without the back end coming around to greet you just when things start to get good. And I'm not advocating street racing at all, but the car does the same thing on the race track unfortunately. But then that's the challenge and beauty of the beast, we always have to remember, it is a BEAST!

He had the quaife installed so he had alot more rear end...

 

[WILDASP]

He had the quaife installed so he had alot more rear end...

Which is all well and good, but even the quaife and ps2s won't totally prevent a viper bite under the wrong circumstances. My best guess is, he made the pass, came back into the right lane under WOT, possibly short shifting in the process, and broke the rear loose. If the lane change was too abrupt at WOT, that alone could have gotten him loose in any car with enough power (as some Vette drivers have learned, the hard way). It would be interesting to know whether his tires were warmed up or not; the pics show a dry road. Maybe John can come back in here and tell us exactly where it came unstuck, as there may be other lessons to be learned here; in the meantime, this is why it's not a particularly good idea to try to "blow the doors off" of that annoying slowpoke in front of you.