ViperLSS
Enthusiast
Chapter III: The first Six Months
The First Six Months at CAAP as a Viper Craftsperson are a distant and fond memory. I'll do my best to recall as many details as I can.
I was in the first group of people to get hired at Conner because of the new Prowler that Chrysler was going to build. First there was about a month of orientation classes. You know going over things like safety, what's expected of you, and what you can expect from Chrysler. We did not get a choice of what job we wanted to do. The current Conner employees got first pick. We just filled in the empty places. Myself and two others went to Viper Chassis. I believe five to eight people went to Viper Finial. The rest went to Prowler. it was just luck that I got into Viper Chassis.
Here is a picture of my first work station I learned.
In this station I learned to install the front and rear suspension on the left side. The guy that taught me my first job was nick named Little "E". Yes, there was someone else called Big "E". Little E was Elijia and Big E was Elias. I was also one of three guys named Tom in chassis. When the car got to my station the only parts on the chassis were the upper and lower control arms in the front and rear. These were just loosely installed. And the rear differential. I had 30 minutes to put the rest of it together. I had to install the knuckle, upper and lower ball join nuts with cotter pins, loosely install the shock ( it gets torqued at alignment) , rotor, caliber, brake line to the caliber, tie rod and sway bar to the knuckle. After all that I still had the rear to do. The rear was the same as to front expect no tie rods. But I had to install the half shaft. How was I going to learn all this and do it with out any mistakes? Let's get real. You're not going to spend $65,000 for a sports car and not expect it to be perfect.
I was in the first group of people to join Viper that were not from another Chrysler plant. We were hired straight off the street. This makes Viper my home plant. Sweet isn't it? Of course I was thrilled to be working for Chrysler. But to also be building their flag car. What a dream. When you join any new work place there is a period of adjustment. Means taking crap from the veteran employees. That was fine. The only thing I didn't like was some of them telling me I'd never make it in a fast or high production plant simply because I had never been in one. That comment only lasted about....a year I think. I would always reply, "Sure I would. And how do you know I wouldn't make it? You don't know me well enough to judge me".
The guys i worked with on chassis were not the ones saying this. They are good guys to work with and around. Once they saw that I was there to do my job and to do it as well as you the owners expected of us they didn't care where I was before I was at Viper. They only wanted people there that were going to build the car with the respect and care it deserved.
This is not to say I didn't make my share of mistakes. We're only human after all. One day my manager approached me while I was in my work station. I guess I had missed something. No I do not recall what it was. But it was caught long before the car was off the assembly line. The manager when on about me not working hard enough. Or not paying enough attention to what I was doing etc. Then they made the mistake of saying something like I had better start doing a better quality job or someone else will. This manage it was just their style to be on people. To ride them a little. But I had had enough. I lost it. "I don't care what you say about me or what I am doing here but don't you ever question the quality of work I do here. I come in everyday and give this job 110% or more." they could only say, ok then Tom. As long as we understand each other. From that day on when ever I saw this manage it was "Hi Tom how's it going?"
One of the most amazing things to me about working at Viper was the amount of people that would tour the plant on a weekly basis. Also how quiet and clean the place always was. Now that i was in paradise I never wanted to leave. Talk about living a dream.
I remained in on the left side suspension job for nine months.
As always, please ask any questions you might have. I'll answer them as best I can with out getting to much into the next chapter. Chapter IV will be Learning a New Job in Chassis.
The First Six Months at CAAP as a Viper Craftsperson are a distant and fond memory. I'll do my best to recall as many details as I can.
I was in the first group of people to get hired at Conner because of the new Prowler that Chrysler was going to build. First there was about a month of orientation classes. You know going over things like safety, what's expected of you, and what you can expect from Chrysler. We did not get a choice of what job we wanted to do. The current Conner employees got first pick. We just filled in the empty places. Myself and two others went to Viper Chassis. I believe five to eight people went to Viper Finial. The rest went to Prowler. it was just luck that I got into Viper Chassis.
Here is a picture of my first work station I learned.
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In this station I learned to install the front and rear suspension on the left side. The guy that taught me my first job was nick named Little "E". Yes, there was someone else called Big "E". Little E was Elijia and Big E was Elias. I was also one of three guys named Tom in chassis. When the car got to my station the only parts on the chassis were the upper and lower control arms in the front and rear. These were just loosely installed. And the rear differential. I had 30 minutes to put the rest of it together. I had to install the knuckle, upper and lower ball join nuts with cotter pins, loosely install the shock ( it gets torqued at alignment) , rotor, caliber, brake line to the caliber, tie rod and sway bar to the knuckle. After all that I still had the rear to do. The rear was the same as to front expect no tie rods. But I had to install the half shaft. How was I going to learn all this and do it with out any mistakes? Let's get real. You're not going to spend $65,000 for a sports car and not expect it to be perfect.
I was in the first group of people to join Viper that were not from another Chrysler plant. We were hired straight off the street. This makes Viper my home plant. Sweet isn't it? Of course I was thrilled to be working for Chrysler. But to also be building their flag car. What a dream. When you join any new work place there is a period of adjustment. Means taking crap from the veteran employees. That was fine. The only thing I didn't like was some of them telling me I'd never make it in a fast or high production plant simply because I had never been in one. That comment only lasted about....a year I think. I would always reply, "Sure I would. And how do you know I wouldn't make it? You don't know me well enough to judge me".
The guys i worked with on chassis were not the ones saying this. They are good guys to work with and around. Once they saw that I was there to do my job and to do it as well as you the owners expected of us they didn't care where I was before I was at Viper. They only wanted people there that were going to build the car with the respect and care it deserved.
This is not to say I didn't make my share of mistakes. We're only human after all. One day my manager approached me while I was in my work station. I guess I had missed something. No I do not recall what it was. But it was caught long before the car was off the assembly line. The manager when on about me not working hard enough. Or not paying enough attention to what I was doing etc. Then they made the mistake of saying something like I had better start doing a better quality job or someone else will. This manage it was just their style to be on people. To ride them a little. But I had had enough. I lost it. "I don't care what you say about me or what I am doing here but don't you ever question the quality of work I do here. I come in everyday and give this job 110% or more." they could only say, ok then Tom. As long as we understand each other. From that day on when ever I saw this manage it was "Hi Tom how's it going?"
One of the most amazing things to me about working at Viper was the amount of people that would tour the plant on a weekly basis. Also how quiet and clean the place always was. Now that i was in paradise I never wanted to leave. Talk about living a dream.
I remained in on the left side suspension job for nine months.
As always, please ask any questions you might have. I'll answer them as best I can with out getting to much into the next chapter. Chapter IV will be Learning a New Job in Chassis.
There I met up with some other Jeep Liberty owners. I now have both front tow hooks and trailer hitch w/wiring installed. 
