2005 Dodge Ram 3500 4x4 5.9 Diesel Quad Cab Automatic Slt Short Bed Lifted Singl on 2040-cars

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Somebody created a Dodge Challenger SRT Demon droptop

The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is a vehicle built with one purpose in mind: going fast down a drag strip. Weight is the enemy when it comes to acceleration, and one surefire way to add weight to a car is to make it into a convertible. However, that’s exactly what one Demon owner decided to do to their Challenger. Motor Authority spotted this Plum Crazy Demon convertible conversion for sale online, and the dealer and builder even spilled a few details on the car itself. This particular conversion was done by Droptop Customs, a shop with experience, having previously converted a couple Challengers into convertibles for Shaq in Miami. However, ripping the roof off the 840-horsepower Demon is no small task. ThatÂ’s a ridiculous amount of horsepower to handle for a car that has lost a fair amount of structural rigidity from removing the roof. The Droptop Customs sales manager told MA about the changes that were made to make this build work. To begin, the frame rails were reinforced with 1x2-inch pieces of metal. Then, the shop added diagonally-mounted metal braces underneath to resist twist. Even more structural supports were added to the trunk, front and rear shock towers, and gussets were added to the bottom of each door to keep them from moving. Lastly, the shop boxed the connection of the front rails to the engine cradle. No specifics about weight gain were provided. There is one sad bit of news about this Demon, though. The dealer told MA that itÂ’s currently on consignment, despite being listed for sale on FCA dealership Cape CoralÂ’s website. ItÂ’s priced at an eye-watering $145,995. But the new owner wonÂ’t have to manually put down the top! ThatÂ’s right, itÂ’s powered, and itÂ’s supposed to take about 20 seconds to lower or raise into place while stationary. Somehow, the car has only 172 miles on it, so itÂ’s hardly been used. We have no photos with the top up, so youÂ’ll have to settle for top-down photos for now. It looks like a professional job through and through, and we actually dig the convertible look. Plus, who doesnÂ’t love Plum Crazy? 

FCA recalls 1.1 million vehicles worldwide due to confusing shifter

Fiat Chrysler is recalling 1.1 million vehicles worldwide to address the problematic shifter used on cars with eight-speed automatic transmissions. The issue is that the console-mounted shifter acts like a rocker switch and always returns to the middle position after moved. This has been deemed confusing to drivers – confusing enough to cause some to exit their vehicles without first selecting Park and leading to the car rolling away. FCA says 41 injuries are related to the shifter problem, and no evidence of equipment failure has been found. The company will enhance warning chimes and alter the shift strategy, meaning alert messages will be displayed in case the driver door is opened while the engine is running. With the door open, the transmission will prevent the car from moving even if Park is not selected. The affected vehicles are certain model-year 2012–2014 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans, as well as model-year 2014–2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs, an estimated 811,586 US vehicles in total. The recall also affects 52,144 vehicles in Canada, 16,805 in Mexico, and 248,667 vehicles elsewhere. The shifter is used with ZF-designed and ZF-built eight-speed automatic; Audi uses a similar shifter setup in some of its vehicles, including the current-generation, which predated Chrysler's use of it. Chrysler uses a different, a rotating-dial-type shifter on eight-speed-equipped Rams. The company moved away from the problem shifter design in 2015 for the Charger and 300, and the Grand Cherokee's shift lever was modified for 2016. Owners of affected vehicles will be notified of the recall when service is available. Fiat Chrysler urges customers to follow the instructions in the vehicle's owner's manual in the meantime. Related Video: News Source: FCAImage Credit: AOL Recalls Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Ownership Safety SUV Sedan

CEO Sergio Marchionne curses FCA spokesman for emissions cheating denial

WASHINGTON — Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne reprimanded the company's top U.S. spokesman for issuing press releases about Fiat's vehicle emissions practices days after Volkswagen's disclosure in September 2015 that the German automaker had used illegal software to evade emissions tests, documents released Monday show. Lawyers suing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in a securities case filed excerpts of an email from Marchionne to Gualberto Ranieri, then the company's U.S. spokesman, in a filing in federal court in New York criticizing him for saying that the company does not use defeat devices. "Are you out of your goddam mind?" Marchionne wrote in an email on Sept. 22, 2015, adding that Ranieri should be fired and calling his actions "utterly stupid and unconscionable." The company said in a statement on Monday it was "understandable that our CEO would have a forceful response to any employee who would opine on such a significant and complex matter, without the matter having been fully reviewed through its appropriate channels." The statement added that Ranieri's comments came just days after VW's emissions issue became public "and before a comprehensive internal review and discussions with component suppliers was possible." Fiat Chrysler was sued in 2015 along with Marchionne and other executives over claims it defrauded shareholders by overstating its ability to comply with vehicle safety laws. An amended version of the complaint filed in 2017 added claims about its compliance with emissions laws. The shareholders accused the defendants of inflating Fiat Chrysler's share price by hundreds of millions of dollars from October 2014 to October 2015 by downplaying safety concerns. They said the shortcomings materialized in 2015 when the automaker was fined $175 million by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and took a roughly $670 million charge for recalls. Plaintiffs filed the excerpts seeking approval to take up to 40 additional depositions, including Marchionne's. The U.S. Justice Department sued Fiat Chrysler in May 2017, accusing it of illegally using software to bypass emission controls in 104,000 diesel vehicles sold since 2014. Fiat Chrysler has held numerous rounds of settlement talks with the Justice Department and California Air Resources Board to settle the civil suit, including talks as recently as earlier this month. It faces a separate criminal probe into the matter.