July 25, 2008 by David.

CNN’s article on avoiding a speeding ticket is right on the money in my book. Avoiding “attention” isn’t all that hard - basically learn how to blend in but still be cranking along pretty good. I’d add one more point to CNN’s list, get a motorcycle. Because of their small size, a motorcycle has to be really close to a radar gun to be picked up, like a quarter mile or less. I’ve ridden by those little signs that tell you how fast you are going and on a full dresser I still am almost on top of it before it registers that I’m even there.

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July 8, 2008 by David.

Yesterday was exactly ten years from when I took delivery of my brand new custom-ordered Dodge Ram V-10 pickup. That makes it the longest I’ve owned any vehicle, beating my previous record of 9 years for a used Jeep CJ-7, and I don’t have any expectation of selling it for the foreseeable future. Ok, it is possible I will get a new pickup in a few  years, but chances are I’ll keep the Ram around. I’ve done so many upgrades to it that what I could get out of it would hardly make it worth selling.

The bottom line after ten years? Well, if I had it to do all over again I’d get a Ford diesel. At the least, I certainly wouldn’t get the V-10 since the heads breathe so poorly you can’t do much to increase output. The V-8 not only sounds better (thanks to the V-10 overlapping spark order) but is a much better candidate to boost power.

Secondly, the ride is quite harsh. In retrospect I wouldn’t have ordered the heaviest duty of everything. Without a heavy load it can be a killer on long trips, although it is pretty funny to have visitors talk in a stutter because they aren’t accustomed to the sharp bounces.

Thirdly, its maintenance record isn’t very good, although I have to say that I’d guess that Ford and Chevy aren’t much better for that era of pickup.

That heavy cast iron V-10 over the front wheels make it one of the best vehicles you can get for driving in snow.

If you are wanting a nice, plush interior, Dodge is always a step behind the competition.

Putting on shocks and painting the bezel red to match the rest of the truck are a couple of the best things I did to it. I just LOVE a bright red truck with a little chrome accent. Whatever is next will be red, that is for sure - even though the rest of the garage is all black (bikes and car).

It still gets comments about how good it looks and I still smile when I see it, so life with a Ram overall has been pretty good. You can check out more detail on the truck at www.RamV10.com.

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