>I'm interested in finding out which flaps you end up choosing, as I too am
>planning to have splash guards put on my 4x4 SLT (darn AT tires keep
>throwing dirt/snow etc. into the space between the bottom of the door and
>the rocker panel, and the car wash doesn't get it clean, I have to clean
it
>out with a sponge).. I had planned on getting the guards when I was in
for
>my 6000 mile service which is coming up in the next couple weeks.
Be sure to clean your hinges too. All that salt will wear the pins and
cause door alignment trouble later on. Lots of water and good wipe should
do it, and then put a coat of light oil (3-in-1 or WD40 is fine) to protect
it.
<Fog lights stuff chopped>
I don't know if this is of any concern, but every person I know that has a
4x4 has had one or both of those fog lights break. The brackets break or
the lens is cracked. Even the magazines who tested the truck had fog lamp
failure. I wouldn't say any of the trucks have been abused (well, maybe
mine :-), but the factory lights don't seem to last. For the price, I
should think you could do better at a specialty shop and get a stronger,
brighter, and better designed lamp. I'd look at Hella or Piaa for the best
stuff. They are expensive, but the quality can be seen. I had a set of 55
watt lights from Piaa, and a friend had a set from KC. Same exact bulb
number, but the Piaa pattern was much smoother and the mount was much less
vibration sensitive. Mine worked in the fog, his did OK, but there was
much more glare.
As a rule, the factory buys its accessories from another manufacturer and
adds their logo and doubles (or more) the price. Because of this, when
shopping the aftermarket, you can generally look at half price stuff and
get the same quality.
Case in point:
Have any of you ever needed to replace one of the factory chrome steel
wheels? The price for one rim is $300. I bought a set of four aluminum
rims from American Racing for $160 each. I was always adding air to the
factory rims, I've yet to touch these. Used less weight to balance too.
American Racing is one of the OEM companies making rims for Dodge. If
their best aluminum rims are half the price of the standard steel that
Dodge uses, how much profit do you think Dodge is tacking on? This is an
extreme case, but most accessories are significantly higher from the
automakers.
Another thought - In the JC Whitney Catalog, there is a 9004 bulb (Dakota's
headlight) with a normal low beam (55 watts) and a 100 watt high beam.
This might be just the thing several of you are looking for. The bulbs are
about $10 each. I've been waiting to get some friends to commit to some
other stuff and their tow bars to go on sale again to save on the shipping
costs, but I'll let you know how they work when I get 'em in April.
Christopher Siano | "How do you control this thing?"
CSiano@Banyan.com | "Who Cares, Go FASTER!"
| -Suicide
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