New Gen III owner

TheJudge · Sep 29, 2024

First time posting! Just picked up a dream car last weekend for an absolute steal. Apparently the PO owned (or partially owned) a construction company in town and had amassed a collection of about 15 different vehicles. Unfortunately he passed away and his widow has been selling off the vehicles. This particular Viper only had 1500mi on it and was still sporting the original tires! Clear dry rot so we had to be really careful driving ~70mi home.
Prior to being put up for sale the dealership replaced the passenger window regulator and performed an oil change.
I have some new tires on order (Conti ECS 275 & 355) that should be showing up next week.

I was hoping the owners manual would call out the recommended jack points but couldn't find it. I plan on getting some race ramps in the future but for the time being I'll need to resort to jacking it up.

Other stuff on my to-do list, likely in-order:
Radar detector
Radio (I want BT and Android Auto at a minimum)
PPF
New oil cooler lines (from Havik or maybe have them made locally)
Brake fluid flush
Anything else I should be on the lookout for?

Also in my stable is a 2017 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack and a 2006 Jeep Wrangler. One could say I have a Mopar addiction.

serafins · Sep 30, 2024

Congrats. get your bushings replaced, relatively cheap and the car will handle like it’s supposed to. Then get a good alignment.

You’ve probably seen it but they make a really nice Apple CarPlay retrofit radio for the gen iii

Old School · Sep 30, 2024

Jacking points are the inverted angle iron, just behind the front tires and just in front of the rear tires.

The first thing to do on the car is to eliminate the skip shift solenoid on the transmission. Either by just unplugging or adding one of these.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2515771411...abcId=9407524&merchantid=7909974&gad_source=1

The, this will keep the check engine light off

Old School · Sep 30, 2024

Also, be aware that since Viper is so low, race ramps don’t really get it up high enough to go under with a creeper.

MoparMap · Oct 1, 2024

You might consider a full fluid flush in general (coolant, brakes, power steering, oil, transmission, differential, etc.). With so few miles it's probably not a huge deal, and I'm not really sure that fluids have a shelf life like some would say, but always nice to at least have a new starting point so you know what's in the car and that they are at the right levels. Seat time is usually my next recommendation. It's good to get a feel for the car and how it handles before you might need to do any kind of emergency maneuver. That might also tell you if there is anything else that feels odd about the car that you might need to address, like a miss in the engine, a weird clunk, funny smells, etc. Congrats on the purchase though! I've really enjoyed my gen 3 and all the miles I've put on it since. They are great cars that are really well designed and built to last with just basic maintenance. Get out there and have fun with it!

EastCoastSRT10 · Oct 4, 2024

I have the android/carplay head unit in my Viper. A little slow but does everything I need which is mainly NAV and music.

ArcherTX · Nov 19, 2024

Power steering line for sure and definitely all suspension bushings and general rubber components under the car. If you were looking for any basic upgrades, front/rear suspension makes a hell of a difference for the money. You will notice lots of sounds from chassis/steering linkage/valvetrain/etc if you are driving with the top and windows up, you probably won't find the causes to them all, gives the cars some character. Most importantly drive the wheels off it! Meant to be driven hard but don't let your feet get you in a bad spot on cold tires

Mamba_153 · Nov 20, 2024

TheJudge said:
First time posting! Just picked up a dream car last weekend for an absolute steal. Apparently the PO owned (or partially owned) a construction company in town and had amassed a collection of about 15 different vehicles. Unfortunately he passed away and his widow has been selling off the vehicles. This particular Viper only had 1500mi on it and was still sporting the original tires! Clear dry rot so we had to be really careful driving ~70mi home.
Prior to being put up for sale the dealership replaced the passenger window regulator and performed an oil change.
I have some new tires on order (Conti ECS 275 & 355) that should be showing up next week.

I was hoping the owners manual would call out the recommended jack points but couldn't find it. I plan on getting some race ramps in the future but for the time being I'll need to resort to jacking it up.

Other stuff on my to-do list, likely in-order:
Radar detector
Radio (I want BT and Android Auto at a minimum)
PPF
New oil cooler lines (from Havik or maybe have them made locally)
Brake fluid flush
Anything else I should be on the lookout for?

Also in my stable is a 2017 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack and a 2006 Jeep Wrangler. One could say I have a Mopar addiction.

Welcome to the addiction. 2005 Viper Mamba edition and 2020 Jeep Gladiator.

jeeplaw · Dec 3, 2024

TheJudge said:
First time posting! Just picked up a dream car last weekend for an absolute steal. Apparently the PO owned (or partially owned) a construction company in town and had amassed a collection of about 15 different vehicles. Unfortunately he passed away and his widow has been selling off the vehicles. This particular Viper only had 1500mi on it and was still sporting the original tires! Clear dry rot so we had to be really careful driving ~70mi home.
Prior to being put up for sale the dealership replaced the passenger window regulator and performed an oil change.
I have some new tires on order (Conti ECS 275 & 355) that should be showing up next week.

I was hoping the owners manual would call out the recommended jack points but couldn't find it. I plan on getting some race ramps in the future but for the time being I'll need to resort to jacking it up.

Other stuff on my to-do list, likely in-order:
Radar detector
Radio (I want BT and Android Auto at a minimum)
PPF
New oil cooler lines (from Havik or maybe have them made locally)
Brake fluid flush
Anything else I should be on the lookout for?

Also in my stable is a 2017 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack and a 2006 Jeep Wrangler. One could say I have a Mopar addiction.

You're sorta like me! In my stable I had a 2016 Dodge Charger Scatpack (Still have my 2006 Dodge Charger GomanGo Daytona), and have a 2019 Jeep Wranger. I'm with ya bud. Can sorta see them all in this pic

Copperhd · Dec 3, 2024

Congrats on the new Viper. I am a new owner myself of a 2005 Copperhead Edition. Here are some pictures of my stable…

1952 Dodge Pilot House Pickup w/331 hemi
1987 Shelby CSX stage II
2005 Dodge Viper Copperhead Edition #130 of 300

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