FWIW, we have had a Lightning since June and it has been a delight to drive.Originally Posted by littlejerry
FWIW, we have had a Lightning since June and it has been a delight to drive.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
And that 521fp is ready to rock at only 2350rpm.
The Hemi is a good NA engine, but only (I think...) 390fp, but not until 4000rpm. After nine years with a 3.5L EB (and a 2.0L EB in my car) I really have come to appreciate the low-end torque for a street vehicle or a truck. My older truck only has 420fp, but has it down at ~2300rpm, so while you are going 75mph you are generating peak torque. With any NA engine you are a couple (maybe three) downshifts away from peak torque.
Once upon a time these were impressive numbers from diesel engines that were twice as large:
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Decided to revisit the whole “truck cap thing” after many years of going capless. My go to for the last 10+ years was a hard trifold cover. When I decided to ditch the full size truck, I unfortunately discovered I also ditched a fair amount of capacity. Even more with a hard cover. I’ve never been thrilled with fiberglass caps. They’re a pain to wax, always develop hairline cracks over time at flex points, and haven’t changed much in 30 years. I shopped around, but found the only real change was frameless windows. Yuk. Ran across these. Found a local-ish dealer and did some research. Stainless steel. Very modular and adaptable. Pretty innovative design. Next bird season, the dog will be stinking up someplace besides the cab.
Working diligently to enlarge my group size.
Is that the Smart Cap Evo?Decided to revisit the whole “truck cap thing” after many years of going capless. My go to for the last 10+ years was a hard trifold cover. When I decided to ditch the full size truck, I unfortunately discovered I also ditched a fair amount of capacity. Even more with a hard cover. I’ve never been thrilled with fiberglass caps. They’re a pain to wax, always develop hairline cracks over time at flex points, and haven’t changed much in 30 years. I shopped around, but found the only real change was frameless windows. Yuk. Ran across these. Found a local-ish dealer and did some research. Stainless steel. Very modular and adaptable. Pretty innovative design. Next bird season, the dog will be stinking up someplace besides the cab.
Yes
Working diligently to enlarge my group size.
We recently, after about seven years without it, reinstalled our cap.
There were a variety of reasons, but the primary reason was, after decades of standard poodles, we got our first one that is inclined to chew on stuff, including straps and webbing. Like for example seat belts. Expensive seat belts with expensive pre-tensioners that are expensive to ship. He still walks among us but for damn sure is PNGed from the cab of the truck. So what to do when on vacation we go into a place to eat? Kennel Up!
He chomped on a rear seatbelt in the old truck in his puppy phase. Luckily the dealer was excited to get it and had an obvious vision issue. We’re at the phase now (18mo) that he understands “truck” means: 1. Fun. 2. Excitement 3. Birds 4. Other dog buddies...
Lucky for him, I spent years sitting next to over eager copilots.
Working diligently to enlarge my group size.
Your truck windows look like ours!
He is fine when we are together in the cab, but maybe feels more abandoned when we leave him, we got him when he was 9mo old and we were already his third home.
He chewed a little on the center one in the back, that one is only $95 and cheap to ship, but since it was maybe never actually around a human torso we just left it. We had planned to trade or sell it, but as values have declined we will probably keep it, even if we get something newer, so Oh Well...
He chomped on a rear seatbelt in the old truck in his puppy phase. Luckily the dealer was excited to get it and had an obvious vision issue. We’re at the phase now (18mo) that he understands “truck” means: 1. Fun. 2. Excitement 3. Birds 4. Other dog buddies...
Lucky for him, I spent years sitting next to over eager copilots.
We put over 4000mi on the truck chasing birds this fall. I gave up trying to keep it clean. Took me an entire afternoon with the shop-vac and pretty much had to use a putty knife on the windows...
Had a great time tho!
Next year? He’ll be riding back in coach. Lol
Working diligently to enlarge my group size.
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