Noob here to introduce myself and my new to me Durango. Long story short, the tranny of our 04 Honda Pilot family hauler of 10 yrs and 173k reliable miles finally died. Quotes for a reman installed were hovering in the $3700 range. So I decided to replace our Pilot with something similar but with better mechanical reliability and slightly better towing capacity. We tow a small seadoo jet boat in the summer or a trailer with dirt bikes in the fall/spring. In the winter, we go snowboarding/skiing so 4wd/awd was a must.
I came across a 2006 1-owner durango SLT AWD with the magnum V8 and only 122k miles. Mechanically, it was well maintained and it drove great. Cosmetically, the interior looked like the 3 kids that it raised for 13yrs spilled anything and everything on the seats, carpets and doors. The paint was free of fading and aside from some light scratches here and there, as well as a bubbling chrome grill, it looked really good. I picked it up for $3100 and immediately got to work to get it up to my standards.
First step was to remove all the seats. I vacuumed then spot cleaned all the stains off the carpets, then took it to a detailer to shampoo them. Then I spot cleaned all the seats, then put them back on and had those also professionally cleaned. Total cost was $65. Then I cleaned every panel, crevice etc. When all was done, the interior was spotless and smelled great!
With some free time during the Thanksgiving week, I picked up some parts at the local pick and pulls to restore bits and pieces and add some parts I wanted our Durango to have. I replaced the cracking/warped window seals on all 4 doors. I replaced the drivers seat back (which had a broken pocket) with the panel from the passenger side. I replaced 4 seatbelt buckle stops so the buckles no longer fall to the floor. I replaced a broken front passenger vent. I installed running boards from an adventurer model. I replaced the basic rear view mirror with an autodimming one. I replaced the 3rd row seatback with one that has the flaps that fold over to fill the voids and make a better flat bed. I installed the trunk organizer also from the adventurer model.
I also sanded and polished the cloudy headlights.
I purchased and installed some new front suspension components: gabriel ultra shocks all around, front upper control arms, front sway bar poly bushings and front end links.
I peeled off all chrome from the front grill then painted it and also the bottom section of the bumper with silver plastidip.
Finally, I picked up a set of Ram Sport 1500 20x9 et19" wheels and had Ohtsu ST5000 tires in 265/50/20 oem size installed to replace the 18's it came with.
We've had it for almost a month and have already taken it on a couple of road trips: Death Valley and Brian Head, UT (it did excellent in the snow).
I've learned a lot from the forum and am hoping to learn even more as I continue to own and maintain it. It's been a great family hauler so far and I've been enjoying resto-modding it.
Here are some pics taken along its journey.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I came across a 2006 1-owner durango SLT AWD with the magnum V8 and only 122k miles. Mechanically, it was well maintained and it drove great. Cosmetically, the interior looked like the 3 kids that it raised for 13yrs spilled anything and everything on the seats, carpets and doors. The paint was free of fading and aside from some light scratches here and there, as well as a bubbling chrome grill, it looked really good. I picked it up for $3100 and immediately got to work to get it up to my standards.
First step was to remove all the seats. I vacuumed then spot cleaned all the stains off the carpets, then took it to a detailer to shampoo them. Then I spot cleaned all the seats, then put them back on and had those also professionally cleaned. Total cost was $65. Then I cleaned every panel, crevice etc. When all was done, the interior was spotless and smelled great!
With some free time during the Thanksgiving week, I picked up some parts at the local pick and pulls to restore bits and pieces and add some parts I wanted our Durango to have. I replaced the cracking/warped window seals on all 4 doors. I replaced the drivers seat back (which had a broken pocket) with the panel from the passenger side. I replaced 4 seatbelt buckle stops so the buckles no longer fall to the floor. I replaced a broken front passenger vent. I installed running boards from an adventurer model. I replaced the basic rear view mirror with an autodimming one. I replaced the 3rd row seatback with one that has the flaps that fold over to fill the voids and make a better flat bed. I installed the trunk organizer also from the adventurer model.
I also sanded and polished the cloudy headlights.
I purchased and installed some new front suspension components: gabriel ultra shocks all around, front upper control arms, front sway bar poly bushings and front end links.
I peeled off all chrome from the front grill then painted it and also the bottom section of the bumper with silver plastidip.
Finally, I picked up a set of Ram Sport 1500 20x9 et19" wheels and had Ohtsu ST5000 tires in 265/50/20 oem size installed to replace the 18's it came with.
We've had it for almost a month and have already taken it on a couple of road trips: Death Valley and Brian Head, UT (it did excellent in the snow).
I've learned a lot from the forum and am hoping to learn even more as I continue to own and maintain it. It's been a great family hauler so far and I've been enjoying resto-modding it.
Here are some pics taken along its journey.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
