so I've been a long time vw car / ford truck person until this past week. just picked up a 2000 r/t from a friend of a friend type deal. she owned it for 12 years and had it maintained somewhat religiously (according to the garage I spoke to about it - I have to go pick up the packet of all of the history they are pulling together for me on it). having it for 12 years, one would think it's got to be in decent shape, and so far, it seems like it.

it seems pretty much stock, aside from being de-badged and having a cold air intake. I do want to replace the upper front bumper metal, as it's starting to rust on the one edge, plus has a dent in in. it's got the typical door dings and scratches, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 14 year old vehicle with 175k on it.


is there anything I should be looking at doing, outside of routine maintenance, to prevent any future problems from showing up down the road?

I picked it up Friday, cleaned the heck out of the interior (she was a vet tech / groomer / dog owner), got it somewhat respectable looking inside (still needs more work)... and drove it about 500 miles round trip to Pittsburgh this weekend. Everything seemed to work flawlessly. It had a recent state inspection, so everything in that respect should be good... plus recent exhaust and new tires in December.


I guess my biggest concern... is what I should be looking at doing to keep transmission issues at bay?


and since everyone likes pics... here's a few quick driveway shots of it.

 

Looks like it's in pretty good shape.

There are necessarily any issues to worry about as long as you keep up with maintenance. Might not be a bad idea to replace the transmission fluid and filter if you don't know when it was done last though. Pretty much all I have to do with mine is change the oil and give it's lots of gas.

 

yea, it's in nice shape. it's got its fair share of little dings and things - but it was in my price range, and I needed something with 3rd row. I wish it was any color besides black.... but I was in need of picking up a vehicle somewhat quickly... and this one just kind of came to me.


I got SO MUCH dog hair out of it, it wasn't even funny. and I need to go over it again. the 3rd row was never sat in, and only ever laid down for their dogs. i'll take dog hair over a smokers vehicle any day of the week.


I hope to get to the garage and pick up the history... but I was thinking of doing the trans flush as a precaution... anyone that I've talked to about me getting it has commented on the fact of "has it dropped a trans yet - haha"... so needless to say, I'm a bit spooked now, but will keep an eye on things.

it's a shame that I want to pull off a perfectly good, brand new muffler... to put something a bit louder and more obnoxious sounding on it ;-) gotta let that 360 breathe.


one thing I could not get over... is how HORRIBLE the headlights are. first night I had it, I drove at night, in the rain. it was easier to drive on the rumble strips, than to try and see by the lights. im wondering how much help wetsanding and buffing will actually be.

 

Do not get the transmission flushed, all that does is get dirt from the filter forced back through the system and will cause you all kinds of problems. The correct thing to do would be to purge the fluid (ie, take off the line going to the cooler and let it pump out the old fluid while sucking in fresh fluid from the return line). Usually just draining the pan to change the filter is ok though. Only use ATF+4 too.

As for the headlights, pick your self up a set of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/280742879087?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT, they have a much better beam pattern than the stock lights. I ended up retrofitting hid projectors (not any of that pnp crap) into my lights.


You might want to pick up a set of the clear turn signal lenses too, they give the front end a much nicer look: http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-99-00-01-02-DODGE-DURANGO-DAKOTA-CRYSTAL-CLEAR-FRONT-CORNER-SIGNAL-LIGHTS-/301134793245?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ADurango&hash=item461d084a1d&vxp=mtr




For mufflers I like Magnaflow myself. They're nice and aggressive sounding when you step on it without being obnoxiously loud and when you're just cruising along on the highway they quiet down nicely and don't drone.

This isn't my video, but it's the same exhaust that I have.

 

GREAT INFO.... thanks! I had a Magnaflow on a VR6 jetta a few years back, and it had a nice rumble to it. I really like the sound of that R/T though. good thing a friend of mine owns a muffler shop. ;-)

I will definitely check into those lights. I'll try buffing these when I have a free hour or so. I do my wifes Passat every 6 months or so. I've gotten pretty good at it by this point.

duly noted on the tranny fluid change. i'll keep that in mind. The fluid in it is still quite pink and clear, and smells unburnt.

 

Great looking truck

 

Looks like a great truck!

I highly recommend the "Tow mirrors". They seem to follow the body lines of the vehicle better.

Also a street scene grille looks fantastic. If you can find a street scene grille and VHT tint it for a smoked chrome look..wow it'd look sexy on your R/T!

If you're into headlights, an FX-R projector can fit with some cutting and you'll have awesome looking headlights.

To date, That_Guy and myself are the only ones known to have FX-R projectors in our rigs.

And window tint is amazing of course. I have 5%..

 

The fluid sounds like its alright then. Those are the tow mirrors he has, just the 98-00 style ones.

 

Well yeah, But the 01-03 tow mirrors look best. You know

 

Yeah I know, that's why I went through the trouble of changing the wiring on a set of 01-03 mirrors to use on mine instead of using the 98-00 ones.