Janni
Enthusiast
Copy of recall will be here this evening. We have a call scheduled with Tom Sessions to see how we can best get this recall done for our club members. The standard recall (no evidence of cracks) pays 5.3 hours and REQUIRES WELDING (#998). We have the following concerns:
1) Welding - all recalls require welding. We want a REALLY good welder to do this - usually they are not found at dealerships / dealer body shops. Most folks LEARN there, then go to independent body shops. Most Viper Techs are great mechanics - not necessarily great welders...
2) I have heard from 2 local Dodge dealers about this recall "urging" me to come in at once. I have heard that the warranty and dealer service departments have been slow all over. These are not dealers that the club uses for ANYTHING. I have a BIG CONCERN that this recall is being looked at as a cash cow by dealers that do not sell a lot of Vipers. If I were DC I would be concerned enough to want pictures before letting them go ahead and perform the fix for cracks as opposed to the preventative 5.3 hour fix. The frame fix (differential) is MAJOR - requiring dropping of the fuel tank, ripping out a ton of suspension pieces, and replacing the steering rack mounts, realigning the car, etc is major, too. THERE ARE VERY FEW DEALERS I WOULD TRUST TO DO THIS.
3) I will inspect my car FIRST before bringing it anywhere. I know we do not have cracks - but I may bring the car to each of these dealers to see what they say... PLEASE FOLKS - TAKE THE TIME TO LOOK AT YOUR CAR AND SEE IF YOU SEE ANYTHING. If the recall has pictures (just founf out it does - drawings), I'll post the areas of concern, so that we can all do a "self examination"
4) I would advise anyone getting this done to INSIST on seeing the cracks before authorizing the more complex repair. (We use our cars pretty hard and neither is affected. Dave Jenkins sees MANY track cars and has only seen this problem 2 times - this SHOULD NOT BE COMMON ON STREET ONLY CARS)
Maybe I am paranoid, but one of the dealers that is aggressively pursuing Viper owners for this recall - their Tech finished Viper School LAST WEEK. I do not think this is out of the goodness of their hearts or concern for the customer. Since this is a recall, I would think that the standards for authorizing this are VERY LENIENT and not subject to the same DC pushback as a regular warranty item. Make sure you are going to a high volume Viper dealer and ask some questions before having this done.
We'll post more later when we figure out how we are going to handle and we'll make this opportunity available to anyone close enough to make the drive.
Recall 998 -- 1996-1999 1/2 Steering Rack Mounts and Differential Mounts
Recall 999 -- 1999 1/2 (post March 1 build date) through 2000 JUST the STEERING RACK MOUNTS
1) Welding - all recalls require welding. We want a REALLY good welder to do this - usually they are not found at dealerships / dealer body shops. Most folks LEARN there, then go to independent body shops. Most Viper Techs are great mechanics - not necessarily great welders...
2) I have heard from 2 local Dodge dealers about this recall "urging" me to come in at once. I have heard that the warranty and dealer service departments have been slow all over. These are not dealers that the club uses for ANYTHING. I have a BIG CONCERN that this recall is being looked at as a cash cow by dealers that do not sell a lot of Vipers. If I were DC I would be concerned enough to want pictures before letting them go ahead and perform the fix for cracks as opposed to the preventative 5.3 hour fix. The frame fix (differential) is MAJOR - requiring dropping of the fuel tank, ripping out a ton of suspension pieces, and replacing the steering rack mounts, realigning the car, etc is major, too. THERE ARE VERY FEW DEALERS I WOULD TRUST TO DO THIS.
3) I will inspect my car FIRST before bringing it anywhere. I know we do not have cracks - but I may bring the car to each of these dealers to see what they say... PLEASE FOLKS - TAKE THE TIME TO LOOK AT YOUR CAR AND SEE IF YOU SEE ANYTHING. If the recall has pictures (just founf out it does - drawings), I'll post the areas of concern, so that we can all do a "self examination"
4) I would advise anyone getting this done to INSIST on seeing the cracks before authorizing the more complex repair. (We use our cars pretty hard and neither is affected. Dave Jenkins sees MANY track cars and has only seen this problem 2 times - this SHOULD NOT BE COMMON ON STREET ONLY CARS)
Maybe I am paranoid, but one of the dealers that is aggressively pursuing Viper owners for this recall - their Tech finished Viper School LAST WEEK. I do not think this is out of the goodness of their hearts or concern for the customer. Since this is a recall, I would think that the standards for authorizing this are VERY LENIENT and not subject to the same DC pushback as a regular warranty item. Make sure you are going to a high volume Viper dealer and ask some questions before having this done.
We'll post more later when we figure out how we are going to handle and we'll make this opportunity available to anyone close enough to make the drive.
Recall 998 -- 1996-1999 1/2 Steering Rack Mounts and Differential Mounts
Recall 999 -- 1999 1/2 (post March 1 build date) through 2000 JUST the STEERING RACK MOUNTS
