Don't know but they were a definite improvement over the champions for me. I changed them at around 15k so I doubt the factory ones were getting real bad at that point, they looked fine when I pulled them out.

 

I changed at 27K...the Champions weren't too bad...the gap was a bit bigger, but the autolites really made a huge difference...soooooooo much smoother.

 

I can partially answer that for you kingsaffey, I used to work at a chrysler/dodge store a few years back and a lot of service departments have a sales quota they have to meet/exceed per month just like salesmen do. Another kicker is that companies like champion have a kickback system that the more of their product that is used a company can or continue to buy them at a reduced amount. That and the amount of money the shop can bring in by getting you to have the service done there.

Granted not ALL places work like this and especially when you have a buddy who can hook you up in the service department, but come on... for instance, my wife's 06 Corolla. Dealership wanted us to cough up 80+ bones for an oil change when I can do the same thing myself at home for 20-30.

 

$80 freaking dollars for a Corolla?! I can get a 6 quart synthetic oil change on my Dakota at the dealership for around $60 bucks.

 

Yeah thats exactly what I said... I was just giving an example of how that BS all works. I even called the chrysler dealership 3 miles from my house and they even want 50 bucks for an oil change!

 

I have been doing oil/filter changes since my first car in 1956- a '53 Mercury straight 8. No personal or family vehicle since then has been in any kind of outside shop for this service. Other types of work,yes.On my back on cardboard getting it done. And still doing it at age 70.$35 for 5qt. Royal Purple and a K&N filter.Do it yourself instead of the thieves, it's not that tough.

 

I took a quick peek at my dak the other day to see how difficult it could be to change out the plugs, and it seems that dodge has gone away from the normal spark plug wires. Do these new plug wires make it any more difficult to change?

 

no not at all...just make sure you hook all the coils back up properly...like my dumbass left one un hooked and it through a check engine light...but its ok...cause all you have to do to clear all the codes out of your PCM is to unhook the Negative side of the battery for like 2 minutes and you'll be good!

 

The coil packs are right on top of the plugs so you have to unplug the small wire running into them and remove an extra nut, it's really not that bad. There's detailed instructions in the factory service manual which you can download from one of the stickies at the top of the forum

 

I'm glad to hear there's somebody older than me on this chat board.