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The Ultimate Durango
Page 1
Intro, The Ultimate Durango Project Begins, The Transformation, Front Bumper, Grille, Winch, Fog Lights
Page 2
The Ultimate Durango Project continues, Lund MoonVisor, Tail Light Guards, Rear Bumper, Lighted License Plate Frame, Fiberglass Hood
Page 3
Engine Performance
Page 4
Car Stereo Unit & Speakers, Euro Antenna, Magellan GPS System
Page 5
Communication: Cobra CB Radio & Firestik CB Antenna
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has some of my favorite pictures of my Durango, our family trips,
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Durango-nology
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Check it out here... It's all about the first generation Dodge Durango and was made for similar minded owners to serve as a compendium of information and as a vehicle identification guide.
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I decided not to long ago to do something very ambitious and
exciting, and a new project was born!
The basic project consists of transforming the four-wheel drive 2003 Dodge Durango I have purchased four years after it leaving the factory into my ultimate personal exploration vehicle. I know that there’ll be more questions, and more long, long answers, but for now I’m just excited that I'm actually making this happen.
The Ultimate Durango Project featured here on the SnowDigger.com website, was designed to create a well- rounded extraordinarily vehicle capable of meeting a wide variety of transportation needs, from running everyday errands to serving as a rolling base for adventures trips in the harsh winter conditions found here in the Michigan UP, and yet still has to offer all the amenities you'd expect to find in a luxury SUV.
A capable Survival vehicle with excellent around-town maneuverability,
serious road and off-road capability for the short summers but especially
for the long winters in snow and ice.
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The first generation Dodge Durango equipped with Chryslers 5.9l Magnum V-8, the project vehicle has an excellent all-wheel-drive system which can be switched to four wheel-drive on the fly! |
Something that I can drive out of my driveway, go 1000 miles over highway, turn off onto a dirt road and go another 50 miles into the back country away from everybody else. No trailers to unhook, no stops, nothing to fix before hitting the trail; a stand alone vehicle that can take the family anywhere I want it to.
The Transformation
Let me start from the very beginning and stop no sooner than at the moment of progress I have made to this day. I would like you to know, that I have enjoyed every minute I have spent working on this Durango (and still do) despite the difficulties of my small garage and regardless if it has been during the summer or the cold winter month.
I even spent a few hours here and there between my chemo therapies in the garage although the side and after effects of every chemo therapy forced me to take a lot of breaks as I ran out of energy super fast.
The project started in 2007 very soon after I had purchased this Dodge Durango which had all the features I wanted. The first upgrade was a set of four new Goodyear Wrangler MTR tires before even leaving the dealers lot.
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A picture of my Durango, pretty much the way it was
when I purchased it.
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I had those same tires on a previous truck, the Scout II and they have been excellent in all weather conditions on-road and offroad. After testing them in the winter here in the the Michigan UP, I know now that I made the right tire choice. They did not fail me in snow or ice, have all times great grip and leaving me control what could otherwise turn into a tricky condition.
Wind Deflectors
The Durango already came with the AVS Vent Shades or also called Vent Visor or Wind Deflectors on the front and rear side windows installed. Rain, sleet and snow will be channeled away when the windows are open. When you want fresh air, even in poor weather, a vent visor or window deflector lets the clean air blow in without blowing you away ;-)
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This is something I had on all my previous vehicles and one upgrade I wouldn't want to live without.
Front Bumper
The next step was getting rid of the original OEM bumpers in front and rear and putting on some serious custom metal instead. Heavy Duty was the inspiration here!
I also replaced the OEM chrome grille for a new mat black one. It just looks better! |
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It took almost three month to get them done and all what was left to do was to bring them to Peninsula Powder Coating in Barraga, MI for a nice mat black powder coat and thus giving them an extra strong corrosion protection.
The city and county here were I am living use a generous amount of salt and through the expansion of liquid anti-icing/deicing materials on these roads, anything less than powder coated or treated with a heavy truck bedliner or coating such as the well known Herculiner products just doesn't last very long. Trust me, I see vehicles rusted through to the bone everyday here in the Michigan UP.
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While the bumper was at the powder coating, I was on the lookout for a winch and a set of fog lights to complete the bumper conversion. It wasn't really as tough as I thought it to be for finding the right winch for my project.
The Winch
I ended up buying a T-Max EW-12500 Heavy Duty winch which offered the power and reliability I wanted to get myself out of a bind in a hurry if I should need to do that.
The install of the winch itself was pretty simple, 4 bolts from the underside of the bumper into the winch base was all what was needed. The harse mounted on the face of the bumper with two bolts and after careful alignment was also completed quite easy. |
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The wiring was more complex, though. I installed a switch under the hood to enable or disable the winch completely through the fat hot wire (+). I made a special switch plate and utilized a heavy duty marine power cut off switch.
I made a bunch of labels with my PC and a Label writer for a more professional look. I also installed a small amber control lamp which indicates if power is present on the solenoids.
I took off and disassembled the solenoid box from the T-Max winch and installed all components under the hood by making again a special mounting plate for it and everything went on the inside of the fender below the above shown switch.
It all worked out great and I feel that this setup is much better than the original plastic box on top of a winch.
I am still surprised how well this winch has held up through the three long winters it has experienced in it's life at this point. I can tell you this, it still looks great all around and works just fine!
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Fog Lights
I was surprised on how many different front fog lights are available in the market these days, but I quickly found out that the most common are the clear fog lights and not the ones with the amber colored lenses which I always had preferred. I also needed to purchase fog lights which do not exceed 5" in diameter and offer some sort of universal mounts to fit into my bumper.
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After a long and intensive search on the web, I found the perfect amber fog lights for my Durango project from KC HiLites. These are quality lights which do not strain the system to much with the 35 watts of current their draw when in use.
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These fog lights are manufactured from highly durable materials and feature a black chrome finish. They didn't come cheap as I had to spend about 125 bucks, but they do offer a great manufacturer warranty and seem to be very rugged in their construction.
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After the fog lights have been installed, I have test driven them on a backroad close to home. Everything worked as it should.
As of February 2010 the fog lights have performed flawless through fog and the ocassional white-out. They show a small amount of rust on the mounting studs but I can not detect any rust or corrosion on their housing at this point.
Although this was somewhat expected after three winters, I will look into further improoving on avoiding corrosion by using herculiner on the studs, and maybe applying it onto the housing of the lights as well.
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If you are interested into reading more about these fog lights you may want to check out the detailed install.
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