Spyro

1999

Dodge

Ram 1500

Emerald Green Pearl Metallic

SLT Laramie, 4x4

Was given to me by my grandpa several years ago. Had ~156,000 miles and a fresh tranny rebuild. Been daily driving it ever since and have replaced more stuff than I could even track. Now has ~202,000 miles and still going strong!

Named "Spyro" because, like the dragon, the truck is a versatile, adaptable and nigh unstoppable force. Simply put, when stuff needs to get done, ole Spyro'll get it done.

5.9 Magnum. Currently has a Green Filter cotton air filter, modified 50mm throttle body, eBay headers, Magnaflow cat and a canned tune by "Flyin' Ryan." Horsepower is still far from the new stuff, but the low-end torque is AWESOME and the platform is as rugged as a 10-ton boulder.

Engaging the transfer case's low-range allows the truck to pull a car without even touching the accelerator.

Only real draw is the fuel economy. 9-10 MPG with premium gas (as required by the tune) does get a tad heavy on the wallet.

Has a toy direhorse (Avatar) sitting on the dash. I had been referring to my truck simply as "pa'li" for a few years until I decided to give it a proper name.

Ranch Hand Legend brush guard. Was somewhat crudely installed by a "professional" shop, but hasn't managed to fall off yet. One of these days, I'm going to remove it and reinstall it properly myself.

As an annual "modification," my truck can typically be seen with a nice, thick layer of mud armor. It gets quite muddy out here during the spring thaw.

OEM radio works, but tape deck likes to occasionally not rewind and CD player is a !*@&#^$%. A good whack typically sorts it out, but I really need a new unit.

The gas gauge is fun (for the passenger) to watch as it likes to, for whatever reason, rapidly decline from "full" to "empty" while driving. Maybe I just need a bigger gas tank...

Original, worn OEM. Considering the mileage, it has held up quite well, but the heavy truck would probably benefit from some new stuff.

American Racing 16x8 aluminum alloys currently wrapped in 265/75/16 10-ply Goodyear Duratracs. The tires really don't like spinning and will promptly shred the ground underneath them until they grab and go, and when the 4x4 is engaged, it can get...messy. I've gotten in trouble before for providing unwanted trenching, LOL.