well, as I tend to do, I wandered off topic on the new Jeep... Signed the deal this evening on a 04 Grand Cherokee Laredo. 4.7 auto Quadratrac. Fairly loaded, the usual G, Cherokee fair. P/W, P/L, Cruise etc; NO sunroof or leather. Silver with the dark gray bumpers and spoke wheels. Just off lease so it had the dealership throw the maintenance book at it! Both axles swapped to synthetics, atf flush with filter, tcase fluid changed. Standard rotor resurface. Brand spankin new, nubs still on em Goodyears and it has 34K and 3 years of powertrain warranty left. Jeep has 36k on it now. the only thing it is missing is the tow package, so I've got till April to line up a trans cooler and reese hitch! I had intended to buy a Patriot, then was looking at used. Friday my Wife said, "why don't you buy a used truck with an auto". I thought "OK" so I started searching for one. For some reason a Grand Cherokee popped up and It hit me that It would do most everything I wanted from a vehicle including towing the boat. mpg ratings are about a 1mpg more then the Dakota so, it shouldn't be to big a difference. I found a few online and started here in town. Last week we got a nice large check for the hail damage on the Dakota and believe it or not this Grand Cherokee, 3 years newer, 50k less mileage with more options only cost us $4000. more than that hail damage check! :] We paid cash! Can't beat that feeling when you get to tell the salesman you only want ot make "One easy payment" ! On topic, drove the American for the firsttime in months yesterday, sweet ride. My son came home from church at 11:30 and I told him I was runnikng it up to my parents to pick up a deer neck and tenderloins from a fresh kill my brother got on Friday. My sons eyes it up and he said, "can I go". [Thats a good feelign too]... I sadi sure and we cruised 45 minutes up and 45 bminutes back, not muss no fuss. Just a nice clean ride. I am amazed at how smooth and fluid the PRO 5.0 shifter is on the T-5. It is like warm butter! Compared to the Hurst I put in the Dakota, and puled back out to sell today, no contest. Anyone ever get faced with such a decision, Go 5.0. I've heard nothing but good things about them. I've also heard good about Triaxx, but have no first hand knowledge of them. I must admit the Hurst was slowly loosening up and getting better, but they missed the mark on its design, no doubt about it. -- Mark Price Morgantown, WV 1969 AMC Rambler, 4.0L, EFI, T-5 " I was different before people dared to be different" _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list