Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

[Torquemonster]

Really sorry to hear about that Ken! What a bummer... you looked forward so much to getting the car - were really enjoying it, then find you got one with problems... I feel for you.

Clutching a car up on a roll is something it should take with ease - its nothing near as brutal as a launch - and lets face it Vipers were built to take the odd drag meeting. You simply got a lemon re the rear end.

I'll be real keen to see how well you get looked after here including the valve situation... but don't feel alone - many people have had similar kinds of situations and humiliation in Lambo's, Ferrari, Rolls etc - for those cars it is very common, for Vipers it is not and lets hope its better than new soon.

A friend of mine had 4 Rolls (incl. the white convertible he bought off Rod Stewart) and they all broke - he reckons he's been stuck on every major intersection in LA... that's gotta be annoying... I know after 4 that I'd throw all my toys out of the cot and spit the dummy (pacifier).

The good news is look at how many Viper owners on this forum have mega powered cars - supercharged, Nitrous, turbo'd, major internal mods etc etc - and they run them at track after track, drag them, circuit race them, and run ******* the street, and many of them have had no problems.... let's hope DC treat you right so you can put this behind you and enjoy the car to the full.

Guys out there who have run your Vipers hard without problems - now is a good time to come forth and encourage Ken that this is not normal.

All the best
Barry

 

[Wing King]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

all I did was engage the clutch, rev the engine and then pop the clutch. BTW the rev was probably no higher than 4000 rpm. If DC would consider this to be abusive they better quit building these cars.

Well.............. not exactly sure I agree with you on that. Why drop the hammer at such high RPM? Maybe a Honda S2000 might need those kind of revs to "smoke em", but NO Viper of ANY generation needs a fraction of that.

However, for me, that's not really even the issue. I'm just guessing mind you, that as many as 800+ cars probably have been delivered by now??? Last I heard "officially", it was around 400 back in January. Any one have a recent count? I'm personally not ready to believe the sky is falling because just a few so far out of that many may have blown out, whether I consider a case like this to be hard use or not. Anyone care to compare it against the broken half-shaft numbers of the earlier Gen cars? This is nothing yet. We ARE talking 500 horsepower and gobs of torque here! AND, drivers who are likely wringing the **** out of it........ like I am mine!! However, I know we all feel bad for you over the embarassing circumstances, and we'll also be watching to see how anxious your servicing dealer is to take care of things and get you back on the road ASAP. Keep us posted about that.

 

[Paolo Castellano]

I have a friend who blew out the diff on his SRT the same way. This guy sold his 2002 AWD TT Porsche to get an SRT-10 after seeing how easily the 1996-1997 GTS's could walk him. I feel bad, as the local dealership has no clue as to whether to replace the whole diff or if they are going to repair it.

 

[tattooed]

Hmmm .... Anyone for a bumper sticker: "I'd rather push a Viper than drive a Corvette"

hrm ... i've owned both and pushed both, and my Viper left me stranded more than the Vette did.

 

[tattooed]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

Your lucky it is not a vette because as soon as they heard about you launch your warranty would be history.

not true. i have a modded 99 Vette, and i have had two clutches, two transmissions, and two differentials replaced under warranty. heck, they even repaired an aftermarket exhaust and aftermarket shifter under warranty.

 

[kenvw]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!! *DELETED*

PVO is on the case!

 

[Craig 201 MPH]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

ouch sorry to hear that.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

Anything new, Ken ??

 

[kenvw]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

Good news everyone, I just found out today that PVO came through and DC has taken responsibility for all my repairs. My local dealer was phoned today by headquarters stating that they would fully cover this issue. **** However, I must say that the people who helped me get this done was first PAUL MORRIS at Buhler Dodge and our very own Pres. JOE HOUSS (Joe called me right away when he found out that I needed some help in getting this issue resolved). My many thanks go to these two men as they immediately went to work and assured me that all would be well. Thanks again fellows and I hope this is an encouraging post in reference again to the back-up of the VCA club and the people at PVO. It looks like next week I should be driving my car. This time with a new rear end and valves, can't wait to try out the extra ponies.

Ken

 

[BACKNBLACK]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

For a new car sounds like so much crap is appearing to happen. Ken, good luck with the Viper.. Relax with the clutch for a while...

 

[Steve-Indy]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

Thanks for the update, Ken...glad to hear you'll be back in action SOON !!!

 

[brianflynn]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

For having so few new vipers on the road i wonder if this will turn in to a recall situation.

 

[MHQC]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

Good for you Ken; glad it worked out.

 

[Dolph Williams]

Re: Very bad day with the Viper - Blew out the back end or drive shaft!!!

Ken,

Is your car fixed yet, or were you just told it would be fixed?

Same thing happened to my car, at less RPM, and it's been in the shop for over 4 weeks waiting on parts. I've been told by Dodge that parts may not be available until the end of May.