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www.NitroForumZ.com Nitro of The Month Contest!
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Congrats Larry on a job well done! I know we all appreciate you're help and wealth of information! And now a word from the man himself..
WOW!!! First I want to say a big "Thank you!" to all the NitroForumZ members that voted for me.
Well, to start owning a Nitro is definitely an experience not like any other vehicle I have owned. The constant stares and head turning makes you feel like you're driving a UDN (Unidentified Dodge Nitro) down the road! Not something you see everyday. Dodge nailed this one in the design department!! The Nitro style sure isn't your run off the mill Toyota Highlander. Not that I have anything against Toyota's. Given time the Nitro is gonna have a following like the Chrysler 300, Charger, and Magnum do.
So, I had stumbled on to the concept pictures of the Dodge Nitro in late summer of 2006. Go figure I hadn't heard about it at work yet. Anyways, this vehicle really caught my attention. At that time we currently owned a 96 Honda Civic and felt it may be time to sell while it still had good value. I had been looking at a few different vehicle options at the time. We had been considering a Mazda Tribute, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I had also promised myself I would never buy a new vehicle agian. LOL!! Then along came the Nitro. I started scouring the internet for pictures of it because I had to see it from every angle. Usually I don't fall for a vehicle unless I see it in real. The Nitro just blew me away. It's bold in your face design, the smaller windows and squared off lines, big fender flares really got my attention.
Finally one landed at work, so I called my wife and said, "we got one, you have to come here to check it out!" Well, we were both sold on it instantly. By the end of the following week we had bought our first Nitro. <---First Nitro!! More about that later. So here I had gone and bought a new vehicle which I said I would never do. Oh well.
The excitement level was pretty high. Brand new vehicle, and killer looks! What more could a guy want. So about 700km into owning the Nitro some clunking and banging started coming from the rear suspension. We checked it out at work and found 18 loose bolts in the rear suspension. Some not even finger tight. I don't want to alarm anyone but there was never a chance that the rear axle would fall out. I fixed everything up and away we went again. After a few more hundred km's I started noticing the transmission shifted oddly. Shortly there after the first transmission TSB was published. I performed the flash reprogram and thought we were on our way again. Then the left rear door lock started working only when it wanted to. Then it stalled for no reason 3 times. Also, the left dash speaker started cutting out. The passenger airbag cover looked terrible. I noted a high speed vibration around 115km+. And to top it off when I did the first oil change I noticed the right front axle seal was leaking. I really was discouraged and felt I couldn't get ahead of the problems. Right about now I'm wanting my Honda back. What really sealed the deal was the clunking and banging had started again in the rear suspension. That was it, I was off to talk to my Boss.
Fast forward and we're on our second Nitro. We originally had a pretty base Nitro, so we decided to get a few more options. We got the 17" wheels, color matched fender flares and bumpers and the 6 disc CD radio. Well, the excitement came back!!! Checked for loose bolts. All good there. I will admit there are still transmission problems. But I'm confident there's a fix on the way.
Being somewhat of a computer nerd I eventually found our forum. It was in its infancy. I'm like member 154. There were only a few hundred posts when I found the forum, and most of the posts were from NitroWill (he's still the #1 poster). There was one member having problems with their Nitro's transmission, so I figured I would help out. The rest is history. Our awesome Administrator, Clay, brought me on board the staff here, as well as the other forumz on this network. NitroForumZ, CaliberForumZ, 300CForumZ, and ChargerForumZ, we're all one big happy community.
Having been part of other forums during different times and pitching in to help others with problems they've had with their vehicles is something I've always done. Often though after a short period of participating in these forums it became very frustrating. Frustrating because, well, you can only believe half of what read on the internet and also people can be quite harsh, unfriendly and rude. Not the kind of environment I wanted to be a part of. So I usually quit, and moved on. NitroForumz and it members are different!
I personally want to congratulate everyone here for creating a forum that truly is a community of supportive people. Many whom I've made friendships with. Meeting members like danpfay originally from Kake, Alaska who passed away in April. He welcomed new members here and was part of the staff. Making friends with NitroWill and Pe0n. Lilsalmon racking my brain about the CAN-IHS BUS, thanks Brian. Drolling over Dayley/Challengers awesome Mopar!! Meeting and chatting with people on the other side of the globe, thanks to our friend from Austrailia. Hey JasOZ!! There are so many members here, I could write a book on all the people I've talked with, helped out, and just BS'd with! NitroForumz RulZ!!!!!
So anyways, for me, I've been working at a Chrysler dealership for 16 years now. I'm a general techician, but specialize in electrical and driveability diagnosis. I love my job, I love the challenge. Though, they don't need to be so computerized. Can't change that. I'm always here to help. I can't guarantee I'll know the answer but I'll do my best to help figure it out. Remember we're all here to help out and contribute to this community. Owning a Nitro and being part of this forum has really made ownership exciting. Thank you again to all those who voted for my Nitro as NOTM!!
Larry (NitroTech)
