The Dodge turns 100,000 miles (Part 2)

When the venerable 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4×4 in Winter Silver turned 100,000 miles, my first thought was how many miles in my life I really drove. As I reflect a little more, I’d like to rather look at the quality of that 100,000 miles and the (potential) happiness that it brought me and my family.

As with all things new to me, I actually read the entire owner’s manual back to back. It’s kinda nice knowing what all the knobs do and the various features on what is a pretty simple truck.

Back in 2003, there were no accident avoidance systems, no tire pressure monitors, and no seat belt alarms.  All the modern bells and whistles that we somehow could live without 20 ago without being scared for our lives. But I do remember one thing. If you push down on the odometer button and turn the key just right, the dash will tell you the total number of hours on the engine. I thought this was a pretty stupid feature. But I checked it at the 100K point for the first time since I bought it.  I now know that the key was in the on position for 2412 hours. It made me smile to enjoy such useless information.

The first year I really had to make the truck my own. Nothing crazy, but just get it set for the long haul. Bilstein shocks front and back. Heavy-duty front and rear Hellwig sway bars with poly bushings. Bought a new factory wheel and put the full-size spare onto it so that it could be worked into the rotation.

There was a company out of California called PML that made a fantastic finned aluminum transmission pan and rear differential cap that held two quarts extra fluid on the former and a pint of extra gear oil for the rear. I thought I was going to be towing a big camper with this thing or something, and wanted to keep everything lubed and cool. With the factory limited-slip differential, I was set to go.

Installed an aftermarket K&N air intake system which boosted the mileage by a mile or two per gallon. Dodge introduced the 5.7 Hemi mid-year in 2003. I was a little nervous about having the relatively new Gen 1 Hemi, but it has proved to be flawless (properly maintained).  Ordered some factory skid plates for the front diff and trans, along with a Ram bedliner.  Got a Leer canopy for the box and the package was ready.

Can’t tell you how many linear feet of lumber I threw in the bed when remodeling the house in both Renton and Spokane.  The drywall and the spackle.  The prehung doors, the closet doors slabs, and the exterior steel case ones too.  The hundreds of feet of baseboard, chair rail, and crown molding.  The thousands of dollars in kitchen appliances.  Dryer and washer.  More than a refrigerator or two.  Many trips to the landfill.

And don’t start me on material.  How many tons of rock I shoveled into the back.  Hundreds upon hundreds of paver blocks,  retaining wall blocks, and concrete landscape benches and statues.  The endless loads of beauty bark, mulch, and gardening soil.  Endless young trees, shrubs, mass plantings, flowers, and even rolls of sod.  My back gets sore just thinking about it.

Let the fun begin.  Endless camping trips with the kids when they were young.  Sometimes just sleeping in the bed of the truck on a special adjustable raised platform I built.  Many other trips towing that wonderful Jayco tent trailer we had for over 17 years.  The many state parks across Washington:  Fort Ebey, Fort Casey, Fort Flagler, Sequim, Manchester, Cape Disappointment, Ocean Shores, Camano Island, and wonderful Moran SP on Orcas Island in the San Juans.

The National Parks almost put a tear in my eye.  The Olympics, Glacier, and Yellowstone were just the tip of the iceberg.  There was that wonderful trip up and over this Sierra Nevada. From the depths of Death Valley to Yosemite and Grand Sequoia. From the rugged Kings Canyon to the mist-covered Redwood Forest on the coast.   We will never forget what Utah had to offer with Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion,  and Grand Staircase Escalante.

One of my all-time favorites: Great Basin National Park with the extensive Lehman Caves and Jaclyn’s first 13,000-foot climb to the top of mount Wheeler.   From Oregon’s Crater Lake to Idaho’s Craters of the Moon to the one and only Grand Canyon.  

The old Dodge even got to roll to the foot of Mount Rushmore, Custer’s Battlefield at Little Bighorn, a bizarre town called Deadwood, and through a tiny tunnel at the Needles where we had only two inches on each side with the mirrors folded in. Lots of memories and lots of smiling as I write of these great family moments.

So when I think of the last 100,000 miles, I can only ponder what the next will bring.  The glass is definitely half full.  Although not the most modern vehicle as the Dodge is pushing twenty years, it is still very comfortable and very functional.  Anyone who knows me understands how much I value functionality over fashion.  Probably why my socks seldom match. 

With the kids out of the house for the most part, the second chapter for the old 1500 will definitely be a different tale to tell.  Would love to mount a rooftop tent, but Nancy isn’t into climbing ladders to go to bed at night.  Been talking a lot about getting a car trailer to drag the Figgy around, and let our fairly newly adopted child experience some of our country’s great national parks with the headlights on and the top down.

I’m looking forward to taking my readers along on these travels with a part 3 and 4 and 5 to this post.  The anticipation of the meandering tales to come is what gets me out of bed every day.  Of course, it’s the three beers and half a pizza that put me to bed most nights.  I supposed there could be a worse cycle of balancing life.