Attention: TDR Forum Junkies OK, I have been a member here for about a year and have been slowly improving my trucks performance and adding extra goodies that have were suppose to either improve the trucks reliability, get up and go or or make it look really neat... 
But what I am discovering is that a lot of the things that I have purchased before hand on recommendations from TDR members and others or my own personal desire have not turned out to either work / perform / look they way I have wanted and I thought I would share this with you and hope that others could do the same. I believe that what is right for one person maybe wrong for another. A lot of what people add to their trucks comes down to personal choice and I have learned to be very careful now when choosing a bomb and spend time thoroughly researching it before buying. Even then I have made mistakes. Here they are in no specific order:
1. <b>Genos Garage - Kleen Wheels</b>: These were suppose to cover up the holes in the front wheels so that brake dust stays off the rim. WHAT A PAIN! They rubbed on the brake calipers like crazy when I installed them and could never get them to fit properly. I later sold them to a friend who claimed he could get them to work. He admitted after a month of screwing around with them that they were junk.
2. <b>Wet Okole seat covers</b>: Yeah, they were nice... but not worth the money and the time to install. If I had cloth seats I would of probably kept them but with leather it was a waste of money. I am selling them on ebay if anyone is interested.
3. <b>Lund stainless hood deflector</B>: This is really just a looks thing for me. I am tired of they way it looks and want to get rid of it as soon as possible! I have decided that the factory bug deflector (mopar) that I had on there before was better looking and worked well enough. That big bulky appearence of the steel deflector sticking up has not grown on me and actually I have grown to hate the thing!!
4. <b>Westin step bars</B>: This was a learning experience for me. They were not as sturdy as I was expecting them to be and I did not realize that they would actually INCREASE the amount of chips and nicks in the paint. Yes, that is right. I have since taken them off and installed tough country running boards. WOW tough country is awesome and looks better.
5. <b>Rapid Hitch</B>: Really neat looking aluminum hitch. This is another one of those "doesn't feel right" things. I feel more comfortable with a solid steel receiver hitch back there then that aluminum one. Sure looks good though!
6. <b>White Night backup Lights</B>: Geesshhh... all I can say is that I AM TIRED OF PLASTIC!! they are really neat lights and are really bright but are simply not put together very well. I would like to have a similar accessory but in steel. Then they would have an awesome product. The other problem is that the housing sits out to far on the receiver and the hitches will not go in far enough to make me feel comfortable.
7. <b> larger Banjos</b>: I simply did not think the time I spent installing them and the small cost was worth it. I did not feel any improvements at all and did not see any changes in fuel pressures. Keep in mind that this is with a stock fuel system and injectors. Probably just my personal experience.
Now... I am sure that a lot of you guys can shoot holes in what I have said. I am also not trying to bash any of these manufacturers. Many of these add ons may work well for others and look great. I am only giving you a run down of my experiences so far. I would also say that I am a bit impetious at times which leads to some of the decisions I have made. I will say this though... I have learned a lot and it has been fun. At the end of the day I think that is what matters anyway, that we are having fun with this.
One of my biggest lessons has been that of performance. You can make your truck look as good as you want but when you push the go pedal and it does not move very fast or pull very hard then what is the point? Who wants flashy when you can have power and speed!!
So... I know a lot of others have bought stuff only to later get rid of it because it either did not look as good as expected, did not perform as well as expected or simply was a piece of junk. So many times people here talk about the latest goodie they have purchased I would like to hear from guys who are getting rid of something that turned out to not be what they had expected.
Thanks
Phil
But what I am discovering is that a lot of the things that I have purchased before hand on recommendations from TDR members and others or my own personal desire have not turned out to either work / perform / look they way I have wanted and I thought I would share this with you and hope that others could do the same. I believe that what is right for one person maybe wrong for another. A lot of what people add to their trucks comes down to personal choice and I have learned to be very careful now when choosing a bomb and spend time thoroughly researching it before buying. Even then I have made mistakes. Here they are in no specific order:
1. <b>Genos Garage - Kleen Wheels</b>: These were suppose to cover up the holes in the front wheels so that brake dust stays off the rim. WHAT A PAIN! They rubbed on the brake calipers like crazy when I installed them and could never get them to fit properly. I later sold them to a friend who claimed he could get them to work. He admitted after a month of screwing around with them that they were junk.
2. <b>Wet Okole seat covers</b>: Yeah, they were nice... but not worth the money and the time to install. If I had cloth seats I would of probably kept them but with leather it was a waste of money. I am selling them on ebay if anyone is interested.
3. <b>Lund stainless hood deflector</B>: This is really just a looks thing for me. I am tired of they way it looks and want to get rid of it as soon as possible! I have decided that the factory bug deflector (mopar) that I had on there before was better looking and worked well enough. That big bulky appearence of the steel deflector sticking up has not grown on me and actually I have grown to hate the thing!!
4. <b>Westin step bars</B>: This was a learning experience for me. They were not as sturdy as I was expecting them to be and I did not realize that they would actually INCREASE the amount of chips and nicks in the paint. Yes, that is right. I have since taken them off and installed tough country running boards. WOW tough country is awesome and looks better.
5. <b>Rapid Hitch</B>: Really neat looking aluminum hitch. This is another one of those "doesn't feel right" things. I feel more comfortable with a solid steel receiver hitch back there then that aluminum one. Sure looks good though!
6. <b>White Night backup Lights</B>: Geesshhh... all I can say is that I AM TIRED OF PLASTIC!! they are really neat lights and are really bright but are simply not put together very well. I would like to have a similar accessory but in steel. Then they would have an awesome product. The other problem is that the housing sits out to far on the receiver and the hitches will not go in far enough to make me feel comfortable.
7. <b> larger Banjos</b>: I simply did not think the time I spent installing them and the small cost was worth it. I did not feel any improvements at all and did not see any changes in fuel pressures. Keep in mind that this is with a stock fuel system and injectors. Probably just my personal experience.
Now... I am sure that a lot of you guys can shoot holes in what I have said. I am also not trying to bash any of these manufacturers. Many of these add ons may work well for others and look great. I am only giving you a run down of my experiences so far. I would also say that I am a bit impetious at times which leads to some of the decisions I have made. I will say this though... I have learned a lot and it has been fun. At the end of the day I think that is what matters anyway, that we are having fun with this.
One of my biggest lessons has been that of performance. You can make your truck look as good as you want but when you push the go pedal and it does not move very fast or pull very hard then what is the point? Who wants flashy when you can have power and speed!!
So... I know a lot of others have bought stuff only to later get rid of it because it either did not look as good as expected, did not perform as well as expected or simply was a piece of junk. So many times people here talk about the latest goodie they have purchased I would like to hear from guys who are getting rid of something that turned out to not be what they had expected.
Thanks
Phil
