LTTR BOX Journey

[Magnified]

The reason I bring this whole ordeal up is that it inspired me to fabricating my own stuff. I took the money I initially spent on the Speedlogix garbage, picked up a welder, and taught myself to weld.

So I started off making my own rear brace. Below is the development of my gen 1 brace, the design has now changed though. It was a great experience overall.

lol, just awesome. Good on you man. If we were closer I'd drive over and shake your hand and check out your ride. Mind if I ask where you got your Proto rolling low boy chair, and what you gave for it?

 

[greasy]

Suspension engineer only comes in on the days he's not working on the garbage truck, or when he's off because the truck is broken. Jesus, I feel your pain.

I cannot remember who it was but I last ordered subframe connectors on my old SC GTO and those were spot on all the way around, and the car felt like it was brand new when I sold it ... That BMR stuff made in America or China? China, and the American companies that beat a freaking path to their door, have no concept of quality control or quality product. When I was at Compaq and then HP, the companies were willing to take a comparatively massive jump in faulty units because the increase in profit from paying such ridiculously low wages was so great they simply, and I'm not kidding, didn't care. If the customer was pissed off and inconvenienced because 5% or more of components were bad, the decision was made to eat that and put up with them being unhappy - after all, where else were they going to go?

I couldn't believe the complete lack of customer service on their end. Simple honest communication goes a long way and if you are up front with me I am pretty patient and reasonable. I've never known of a problem that got better by kicking the can down the road. I work for a large manufacturer and I can say that if I had the mindset and spoke to 5% of my customers that were unhappy and told them to pound sand....I would have no customers.

lol, just awesome. Good on you man. If we were closer I'd drive over and shake your hand and check out your ride. Mind if I ask where you got your Proto rolling low boy chair, and what you gave for it?

I appreciate the kudos man and who knows when our paths may cross, but THANK YOU! So I work for Stanley Black & Decker who owns Proto and I picked up the stool through our employee purchase offering. I can't remember what I paid, but it wasn't that much because our discount can be pretty sick. We actually have a Proto manufacturing facility right in Dallas, it is sweet.

 

[Magnified]

Cool. So its stood up to everything you've thrown at it? I have metal in my leg and bad hip, so always on the look out for a good chair like that.

 

[greasy]

Cool. So its stood up to everything you've thrown at it? I have metal in my leg and bad hip, so always on the look out for a good chair like that.

Oh yeah it is great! Rolls around easy in the garage and very comfortable. Works well to sit on and detail the lower portion of the car/wheels. It has a nice storage tray on the bottom to hold tools as well while you are working.

 

[Hickster]

Yes the metal in the knees hurts this time of year. Been dealing with it since 1999. Hurts worse every year and to find equipments to make it even a little better. Means alot at the end of the day. Got another 2 story town home. Been working on the knife and gun room for 3 months but just can't seem to hit those 17 steps. Working on the autos is an up and down situation which I wood save for the happy hour. Gets worse every winter,,, even in Florida. More shine and an oxy,, pay for it in the morning.

 

[greasy]

The reason I bring this whole ordeal up is that it inspired me to fabricating my own stuff. I took the money I initially spent on the Speedlogix garbage, picked up a welder, and taught myself to weld.

So I started off making my own rear brace. Below is the development of my gen 1 brace, the design has now changed though. It was a great experience overall.

I forgot to mention that this brace made the car feel way more dialed in for handling. It was a huge improvement, car feels way flatter in turns and more rigid.....that's only with the rear brace. Currently working on a front brace design, unfortunately haven't been able to get into the garage too much because it has been pretty damn cold. The rear brace below is my final design for Challengers, it won't work on Chargers.

 

[greasy]

Back in the fall, I took my car to the track for the first time. My first run was a 12.0 at 130mph, basically leaving off idle and rolling into the throttle. I was pleasantly surprised for my first run ever in this car and figured the rest of my time I would get more comfortable in the car and be able to knock off some low 11's. Much to my dismay that was my best run I fought nasty tire spin and wheel hop the rest of the day. I had 2 major problems, the first being was the R888R's are not ideal especially in the size I was running 285/35R20. Too stiff of a sidewall, too narrow of a tire for the power the car makes. The pic below is a common theme with these tires on the street. Blew through the first set in about 2K miles. The second issue was me not putting enough heat into the tires. I was avoiding the water box and just cleaning the tires off, where I should have been doing a decent burnout. In all honestly I wasn't comfortable dumping the clutch and jumping onto the brake for the burnout. Plans are to order up a Tazer so I can lock up the front wheels in a more controlled manner.

 

[greasy]

@Heminized

To help address my traction issues I wanted a pair of 18's for the rear to run so I could use a tire with more sidewall. I wasn't excited about Bravdo's and I am too anal to have mismatched styling of wheels front to back. I searched high and low for some Slingshots in 18" size, but couldn't find anything. I also wanted wheels that could handle both street and track duty. Because of that I said I would drop some coin on a nice set of forged wheels that completely match.

I ordered up a custom set of BC Forged wheels and I am super stoked to get these on the car! These are KL12 monoblock wheels - 20x10 for the front and 18x10.5 for the rears in satin black. I will also be ordering another set of rears for that will be 20x10.5 that will be better suited for handling. I like trying to create and all around car vs having a car too dedicated one way or the other.

Just after being made! The OE Slingshots weigh I think around 28-29 lbs per wheel so I will also have some nice weight savings, the fronts weigh 22 lbs and the rears weigh 20 lbs.

Got them home, love the bead knurling for the rears.

 

[greasy]

Test fitting on the car, tires and good weather cannot come soon enough.

Fronts

Rears

 

[Confuzed1]

Wow! You've been seriously busy with the car. Kind of funny to me that your car looks better after you detailed it (and removed that stripe) than it did in the pic when the car was brand new! Nice upgrades! If I'm heading south, I'll make sure to be cautious if I see any go mango Challengers!....love to see it in person!

I like it, nice work, good story. When we come over to Elgin to see a friend, I’ll let you guys know.

I'd love to check out all the HC's in the area, and your car too! There's a few of us around the area.....I'm about an hour north on the WI side from where @greasy is....

 

[greasy]

Wow! You've been seriously busy with the car. Kind of funny to me that your car looks better after you detailed it (and removed that stripe) than it did in the pic when the car was brand new! Nice upgrades! If I'm heading south, I'll make sure to be cautious if I see any go mango Challengers!....love to see it in person!


I'd love to check out all the HC's in the area, and your car too! There's a few of us around the area.....I'm about an hour north on the WI side from where @greasy is....

Haha man looking forward to meeting you! Where in Wisconsin you located? I come North for work a decent amount.

To be fair the car had 4,500 miles on it when I picked it up. I love detailing and the color really pops, my phone doesn’t do it justice though. Pretty sure a potato takes better pics 🤣 Car really needs a detail again, going to try a different combo of stuff this spring. Thank you though!

 

[MurderCat]

Those look awesome. Just did a wheels off detail on my cat - If you're OCD like me -> Check behind your front suspension. There is a crevice near the upper portion above the K member, lots of rocks/debris like to get caught up in there. Dug out a hand full of stones on each side.

 

[Confuzed1]

Haha man looking forward to meeting you! Where in Wisconsin you located? I come North for work a decent amount.

To be fair the car had 4,500 miles on it when I picked it up. I love detailing and the color really pops, my phone doesn’t do it justice though. Pretty sure a potato takes better pics 🤣 Car really needs a detail again, going to try a different combo of stuff this spring. Thank you though!

I'm in the Kenosha area. Have not been getting out much due to virus crap....especially now, 5 degrees out with -30 degree windchill tonight!! I take potatoe pics too...lol. But there's another guy on this forum that takes great pics that lives around your area @trancein ....

Maybe find a nice day this summer and get a group together and meet up somewhere...I believe there's a few Hellcats, a Scatpak that's on this forum from around your area... BTW, I may be as old/older than your parents....I have a Thirdgen too.

 

[greasy]

Those look awesome. Just did a wheels off detail on my cat - If you're OCD like me -> Check behind your front suspension. There is a crevice near the upper portion above the K member, lots of rocks/debris like to get caught up in there. Dug out a hand full of stones on each side.

Thanks man, I just purchased some new tires on Friday I should have them this week. When I am changing out my wheels I'll look for that spot. That reminds me of how many rocks would get stuck in the rear spring purchases on my Mustangs, shit finds its way everywhere.

I'm in the Kenosha area. Have not been getting out much due to virus crap....especially now, 5 degrees out with -30 degree windchill tonight!! I take potatoe pics too...lol. But there's another guy on this forum that takes great pics that lives around your area @trancein ....

Maybe find a nice day this summer and get a group together and meet up somewhere...I believe there's a few Hellcats, a Scatpak that's on this forum from around your area... BTW, I may be as old/older than your parents....I have a Thirdgen too.
View attachment 37188

I know @trancein, I am in a group chat with him....never met him in person. I like that idea a lot though! Yeah the weather has been brutal, I haven't been out in the garage fabbing up stuff probably in a couple of weeks. I picked up some more steel in Indy on Thursday for my shortened end links and brought it home. Kenosha is about an hour away, I drove past you on Friday as I was in Menomonee Falls and Wauwatosa for meetings. Nice Thirdgen, I was going to ask if that had the 5.7 TPI, but I see the 408 sticker on the front fender.

What makes you think you are older than me?!?!?!

 

[Confuzed1]

I know @trancein, I am in a group chat with him....never met him in person. I like that idea a lot though! Yeah the weather has been brutal, I haven't been out in the garage fabbing up stuff probably in a couple of weeks. I picked up some more steel in Indy on Thursday for my shortened end links and brought it home. Kenosha is about an hour away, I drove past you on Friday as I was in Menomonee Falls and Wauwatosa for meetings. Nice Thirdgen, I was going to ask if that had the 5.7 TPI, but I see the 408 sticker on the front fender.

What makes you think you are older than me?!?!?!

That's funny....I've never met @trancein in person either! I have seen his COTM pics he has posted though, and they're nice....way better than I can take on any iPhone!!

- It's -2 here now....warmed up from -11 this morning! My garage is detached, so it stays pretty cold unless I do some pre-warming with my electric heater and wood burner. I have too many cars/trucks right now, I need to sell a couple old ones off soon, so I have no projects planned anyway ATM. The Redeye only has about 2K miles on it since all the long trips like Hot Rod Power Tour and most short trips etc....that I was going to take last summer were cancelled. Its on battery tender life support.

I'd like to start learning how to detail better myself.....right now detailing to me only means a good wash with spot-free rinse and a coat of Turtle wax Ice and spray detailer when needed...amateur level compared to most!

As far as the Thirdgen goes, I've had it for years and is far from stock, but the 408 isn't an LS , but an old school small block Dart Little M with a Magnuson blower among many other things. It does pretty well for what it is.

And I guess I'm only assuming I am older....could be totally wrong. But most car guys/gals (maybe 80%) that I meet seem to be in the younger crowd....or younger than me...which is fine! Again, hopefully we can meet up this spring/summer!! That 800+ rwhp beast you have must be a blast!!.....and those wheels look sweet!!

 

[greasy]

That's funny....I've never met @trancein in person either! I have seen his COTM pics he has posted though, and they're nice....way better than I can take on any iPhone!!

- It's -2 here now....warmed up from -11 this morning! My garage is detached, so it stays pretty cold unless I do some pre-warming with my electric heater and wood burner. I have too many cars/trucks right now, I need to sell a couple old ones off soon, so I have no projects planned anyway ATM. The Redeye only has about 2K miles on it since all the long trips like Hot Rod Power Tour and most short trips etc....that I was going to take last summer were cancelled. Its on battery tender life support.

I'd like to start learning how to detail better myself.....right now detailing to me only means a good wash with spot-free rinse and a coat of Turtle wax Ice and spray detailer when needed...amateur level compared to most!

As far as the Thirdgen goes, I've had it for years and is far from stock, but the 408 isn't an LS , but an old school small block Dart Little M with a Magnuson blower among many other things. It does pretty well for what it is.

And I guess I'm only assuming I am older....could be totally wrong. But most car guys/gals (maybe 80%) that I meet seem to be in the younger crowd....or younger than me...which is fine! Again, hopefully we can meet up this spring/summer!! That 800+ rwhp beast you have must be a blast!!.....and those wheels look sweet!!

Wasn’t sure if I was saying something that outed my age, but it wouldn’t say I’m young....definitely not old either. It’s all relative though, I’ll be 42 this year.

Always willing to give some pointers on detailing, not difficult just time consuming!

The 800+ is definitely a blast, especially with the 6 speed. MANUAL OR DIE! 🤣🤣

 

[greasy]

Tires are in!!!! Love it, going to need to raise the rear. 🥩 🥩 🥩

 

[greasy]

Pulled the trigger last night, anodized red looks pretty cool! Now if only all of the damn snow would melt and all of the salt wash away.

 

[MurderCat]

Nice!! Was eyeing those with AAD's 'valentine' special. Just not in the budget this season though. ENJOY can't wait to see pictures installed

Will you be keeping the OEM diff? The new billet diff Per4mance/Hemituner is working on looks slick - believe they will have the mopar version and ford 9" available mid 2021.

 

[greasy]

Nice!! Was eyeing those with AAD's 'valentine' special. Just not in the budget this season though. ENJOY can't wait to see pictures installed

Will you be keeping the OEM diff? The new billet diff Per4mance/Hemituner is working on looks slick - believe they will have the mopar version and ford 9" available mid 2021.

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Holy crap, I was not aware of that diff! I will be keeping the OEM diff for now as this is more of a street car. I just want to maximize traction. Something I need to address is a driveshaft for the M6, but it looks like everyone has issues with the single piece driveshafts. I am having a hard time imagining dropping $3K+ on a Mark Williams 2 piece!!!