Merry Christmas to the Dodge!

One of the things about this blog is that it usually lags behind real life by a couple weeks.  In this instance, the delay is much greater.  Not only is it well past Christmas, I actually bought these parts before Thanksgiving when they were on sale.  I did buy them as a Christmas present to myself though.  Everything was made by Ipsco, a company that specializes in improvement parts for high end cars.

The first one is a practical necessity.  It's a billet aluminum power steering pump bracket and pulley set.  The stock die cast Viper PS pump bracket is notoriously weak and prone to breaking.  The stock plastic PS pulley also has a habit of cracking unexpectedly.  Either will ruin your day pretty quick.  These aftermarket parts will outlast the car, and give me one less thing to worry about.  When I put them on, I'll take pics of the stock parts next to these, and you'll see why they're necessary.

The second thing I bought is also a safety item, and will enhance the driving experience.  Anyone who's ever driven it has heard me say "Don't accidentally shift into 2nd when you mean to hit 4th, it doesn't end well."  This is because the stock Viper shifter is only "adequate" at best, and not very precise.  Without excellent technique, you can easily go 3-2 instead of 3-4, and there's a very good chance you'll end up backwards in a ditch when it happens.  Since these cars actively try to kill their drivers, anything to make them easier to drive is welcome.  To fix this particular issue, I bought an aftermarket shifter.  The Ipsco unit is commonly regarded as the best Viper shifter ever made(never mind the fact that it's the only one currently available that doesn't require modifying the car to install).  It also shortens up the shifter throw, so you don't have to move the lever as far between gears making shifts quicker.  The more positive action and shorter throw add up to a better(and safer) driving experience.