The good and the bad of this forum!

[tdager]

So, just to give perspective on both the good and the bad of this community forum.

First, the good....as with other owner forums there is a wealth of knowledge and experience (I have been both a member and a moderator of more auto/motorcycle forums than I can count over the years), new products are reviewed and opinions shared, issues raised and workarounds shared, in general all that is good about a community is here.

Now the bad...just like any forum for enthusiasts we are often our own worst enemies. Every problem, large and small, every perceived flaw is discussed and obsessed over. Which can often lead one to go down a path of thought when something “seems” to go wrong.

Case in point, I tool my truck in to get the rear windows tinted (already had the front done and I wanted the back darker). Get in, start it up and the center 12” screen is blank. Well fsck!!! I turn off the truck and turn it back on, no joy. Reverse works, CarPlay engages but no sound, the environmental controls work, just no media center. Well fsck!!

So I come to the forums and do my research, I make a list of things to try (factory reset, pull the battery, take it to the dealer) when I come across a post saying “did you push the button that turns the radio off” when someone else had a similar problem. Well fsck!! LOL

So I go to my truck, start it up and push the button. Low and behold it turns on! Hahahahahaha. Seems the winder ginger turned it off when they tinted the windows and I did not know you could do that! Ugh....I am an idiot.

Anyways, wanted to share that sometimes it really is the user and not the vehicle. So now I know I can turn the radio on and off, and my truck is back to running/working perfectly.

Thankfully this forum is here!

 

[riccnick]

So essentially the equivalent of the tech support question "is it plugged in?" was your solution

 

[tdager]

So essentially the equivalent of the tech support question "is it plugged in?" was your solution

Basically....yes! LOL Sadly my first response was negative do to my hyper-sensitivity given the negative posts on this site. Not saying that was all of it, I too was ignorant of my truck, but I can say that I did think the worst instead of just trying to determine the root cause myself.

 

[HotHareSpey]

Oh man! OH MAN!

you won’t BELIEVE this!!

I ... I ... ugh ... I know just how you feel. I’m out with some friends, a few drinks, some good music, a few more drinks. I go to my car. The interior lights won’t come on and it’s dark. Like really dark. Imagine what death looks like, that kind of dark. You can’t tell if your eyes are closed or open.

I push my unlock and no interior or exterior response. Great just great. I get in and the seat felt off. I manage to wind my way out of the lot and I’m driving. I’m a little sloppy. I didn’t notice my lights were not on either. Or that there was no music. In fact I suddenly realize there isn’t even a steering wheel. This isn’t a RAM. I’m rolling down the block on someone’s bicycle and the tires had to be overinflated because every bump resonated like washboard made by carpet bombing the street.


But I didn’t stop. I kept it real and played it cool all the way to the curb

 

[Dusty1948]

If you take an any advanced course on statistics, especially those involving 'self-reporting' surveys, you will learn to expect negative product comments to be a disproportionally much larger number compared to positive reports, with the 'average' often times near +2 to +6 from median.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Silver Billet Laramie, Quad Cab, 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 18 inch wheels, now at 016978 miles

 

[riccnick]

Oh man! OH MAN!

you won’t BELIEVE this!!

I ... I ... ugh ... I know just how you feel. I’m out with some friends, a few drinks, some good music, a few more drinks. I go to my car. The interior lights won’t come on and it’s dark. Like really dark. Imagine what death looks like, that kind of dark. You can’t tell if your eyes are closed or open.

I push my unlock and no interior or exterior response. Great just great. I get in and the seat felt off. I manage to wind my way out of the lot and I’m driving. I’m a little sloppy. I didn’t notice my lights were not on either. Or that there was no music. In fact I suddenly realize there isn’t even a steering wheel. This isn’t a RAM. I’m rolling down the block on someone’s bicycle and the tires had to be overinflated because every bump resonated like washboard made by carpet bombing the street.


But I didn’t stop. I kept it real and played it cool all the way to the curb

We've all been there amiright?!?!










Right? Guys? Hello? ...

 

[Willwork4truck]

Oh man! OH MAN!

you won’t BELIEVE this!!

I ... I ... ugh ... I know just how you feel. I’m out with some friends, a few drinks, some good music, a few more drinks. I go to my car. The interior lights won’t come on and it’s dark. Like really dark. Imagine what death looks like, that kind of dark. You can’t tell if your eyes are closed or open.

I push my unlock and no interior or exterior response. Great just great. I get in and the seat felt off. I manage to wind my way out of the lot and I’m driving. I’m a little sloppy. I didn’t notice my lights were not on either. Or that there was no music. In fact I suddenly realize there isn’t even a steering wheel. This isn’t a RAM. I’m rolling down the block on someone’s bicycle and the tires had to be overinflated because every bump resonated like washboard made by carpet bombing the street.


But I didn’t stop. I kept it real and played it cool all the way to the curb

There’s drunk and then there’s really drunk...

 

[Willwork4truck]

I find this forum car typical, but better behaved than the Ford forum and a camping rv forum I’ve been on for years.

 

[HotHareSpey]

I find this forum car typical, but better behaved than the Ford forum and a camping rv forum I’ve been on for years.

That’s because statistically speaking RAM owners are more worldly, have an overall larger perspective of life, more compassion and empathy for the plights of their brethren which yields more camaraderie, and generally better looking than other truck owners That and FORD owners typically put all their energy into hating Chevy owners or each other

 

[riccnick]

generally better looking than other truck owners

Yeah, but, I wouldn't exactly consider this a dating site......

And we're all in love with our trucks anyway

That and FORD owners typically put all their energy into hating Chevy owners or each other

Distraction. Key to confusing the enemy

 

[jdmartin]

That's funny - and that happens with all kinds of vehicles. People that participate in forums tend to be "car people" and as such are always in the weeds on something.

Case in point: I bought my Miata back from a guy after 10 years. He told me the radio wasn't working right. I turned it on and there's no sound out of the left side, from headrest or the door. OK, well I put that head unit in 13 years ago, so probably the left lead is blown (the headrest & left door speaker are different wire feeds). So I buy a new (used) head unit from a guy. I spend an hour or two swapping it out. Better head unit (more features), which I wanted anyway, but when I turn it on no sound from the left. Damn - something must have come loose in the wiring. So I start tracing wires from the head unit to the door, with my multimeter, and everything comes back good. OK, well let's try checking the door speaker. Surprise! The door speaker is blown. I get a new set of speakers and door speaker sounds great. But still no sound from headrest speakers - both of them are blown? So I unzip the headrest and what do I find? NO SPEAKERS. Apparently last guy didn't like having speakers at his ears, so he took them out (I know they were there because I put them in).

Anyway, grand total of time spent on this was probably 6 or 7 hours over a couple of weeks with my car torn to pieces in the garage, when the fix was 30 minutes, pulling the door panel and unzipping headrest and putting in new speakers. Doh!

 

[skee907]

I find that more people are going to go online and complain about what they don't like, than they are likely to go online and post an average or positive report. Case in point, Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc. Any review site, most people won't go out of their way to say "Yeah, I enjoyed it but it wasn't the best" And even those that have a great experience or don't get into all of the nitty gritty stuff, or take their truck to the mechanic anytime something is broken, are not the people who are going to be on these forums. So the normal consensus you see online are those people who want everyone else to know they horror they've had to endure, because social media and the internet is all about everyone saying "LOOK AT ME!"

And unfortunately, this happens on ALOT of car/truck/boat forums.

 

[Lil Miss Always Wrong]

I find this forum car typical, but better behaved than ANY the Ford forum and a camping rv forum I’ve been on for years.

I'm not sure if its a testament to THIS forum, YOU guys, or the 5th gen AMAZING RAM that brings us all together, but i can tell you this: i do not "like" comments, subscribe, reply, read or engage with another internet soul on the planet UNLESS its here...

I used to, but the feedback, negativity & hostlity became so pointless, so i stopped COMPLETELY visiting ANY online sites years ago. Even the 4th gen Ram Forum i was a member of (while the members were pretty cool : ) the forum ITSELF was run poorly & had a gazillion posting rules & it was moderated like the Third Reich...

From my FIRST post to this one, i have never encountered a "rule, limitation or hiccup" (Major Kudos 5thGenRams : )

I completely agree this forum is crucial to 5th gen Ram Owners, but ya do have to be willing to "look/read for your issue". If its HERE, then its usually accompanied by lots of follow up & advise, NOT just a bunch of bellyaching...

i cannot tell you the countless issues & advice i have found help with here on our new, (shall we say, "temperamental") 5th Gen.... And even tho i have had 20 other Rams, THIS one BY FAR has the biggest learning curve. She's "special" lol

The ONLY downside i see is watching all the mods & upgrades to me personally cost me PLENTY! I was perfectly content with my 1st 5th Gen 2019 i bought in Dec, madly in love even, but because it lacked LED's within a few months weeks of ownership i got a bug to "completely upgrade Black Beauty The First". I love BB2 even more, but be prepared & forewarned, the things you AT FIRST were like, "ah no biggie" can become, "must haves" rather quickly if you spend too much time seeing everyone else's... At least for me it did : )

 

[Barney556180]

So essentially the equivalent of the tech support question "is it plugged in?" was your solution

Could be included in the IT category of “OE,” (operator error)

 

[HotHareSpey]

Yeah, but, I wouldn't exactly consider this a dating site......

There’s still time

SWM ISO 2019-2020 SF 1500 loaded w/options, premium materials, and an open bed - long drives on the beach, Star gazing through the pano, Prefer the tailgate down, brand new and consequently a little stiff, V8 only need apply, call 555-1234

 

[riccnick]

Could be included in the IT category of “OE,” (operator error)

Typical I-D-10-T diag code

(no offense to the op!)

 

[SpeedyV]

Typical I-D-10-T diag code

(no offense to the op!)

Sometimes you’ve got to tighten the nut behind the wheel

 

[riccnick]

Sometimes you’ve got to tighten the nut behind the wheel

I always heard it as "There's probably a loose nut connecting the steering wheel to the seat". First time someone said that to me I literally said to them there's no mechanical connection to the seat from the steering wheel.... I'm tall and it still went right over my head at the time

 

[SpeedyV]

I always heard it as "There's probably a loose nut connecting the steering wheel to the seat". First time someone said that to me I literally said to them there's no mechanical connection to the seat from the steering wheel.... I'm tall and it still went right over my head at the time

Wait for it...


...THERE! He got it

 

[tdager]

Typical I-D-10-T diag code

(no offense to the op!)

No offense taken! I knew I was going to get some ribbing posting this but I too found it funny and called myself an idiot (and a few other choices words).