Gen II frame recall

[braunstein82]

If mine hasn't been done, can I still take it in for the recall or am I S.O.L.?

Yes you can. It's considered a safety recall. Had mine done less than 2 years ago.

[EricMcClellan]

Perfect, thanks!

[Martin]

Just be careful where you take it... I've also seen some signs of the non-recall cars being "more desirable" in ads. Not sure if it has any basis in reality or not - but I've certainly seen people advertise their cars as "no 998 recall done".

I still haven't done the recall on my '97. I almost did it when Chrysler was looking like it was going bankrupt, but now that they're alive and well, I figure I'll defer it since the car is hardly ever driven, and it's never driven hard anymore.

[Fatboy 18]

Just be careful where you take it... I've also seen some signs of the non-recall cars being "more desirable" in ads. Not sure if it has any basis in reality or not - but I've certainly seen people advertise their cars as "no 998 recall done".

I still haven't done the recall on my '97. I almost did it when Chrysler was looking like it was going bankrupt, but now that they're alive and well, I figure I'll defer it since the car is hardly ever driven, and it's never driven hard anymore.

Sorry but that makes no sense? It's a SAFETY Recall, they don't dish em out for no reason!

If I was in the market for another Gen II, I would not touch one that did not have the recall work done as there are no longer any dealers in my country who could perform the work.
If the car is a museum car with 1 to 10 miles on the clock then I could sort of understand it, but if the car is going to be driven on the road all recalls are there for a reason.

[Martin]

Sorry but that makes no sense? It's a SAFETY Recall, they don't dish em out for no reason!

If I was in the market for another Gen II, I would not touch one that did not have the recall work done as there are no longer any dealers in my country who could perform the work.
If the car is a museum car with 1 to 10 miles on the clock then I could sort of understand it, but if the car is going to be driven on the road all recalls are there for a reason.

I'm guessing that so many of them were done wrong that it became a worry point for potential buyers.

[Camfab]

The gussets were not supposed to be welded in place. Structural rivets were supplied in the kit and were engineered into the design. My guess why they did this is because the welding forces on a non jigged frame will naturally distort the unsupported forward rails toward each other. The instructions are very clear as to the exact points and placement of all welding to be performed in this recall. I understand Martin's worry as mine was not done for years as I had the same worries. Mine was completed exactly step by step as per the letter of the factory recall. I can locate my pics if necessary.

The reason so many of these were done wrong is that the recall gussets supplied from the factory are shaped in a manner that leads you to believe they should fit the wrong way. If you didn't have instructions you'd likely install them wrong. I looked at them and wondered if the instructions were wrong myself.

[RTTTTed]

My opinion on the welding is thatit burns the powdercoating away on the inside of the frame (can be dipped again with a car on it) so welding needs special care because unpainted steel rusts. My 99 TT has the plates rivited to the crossmember and frame. It also looks to be aluminium.

My 2001 GTS has the gussets welded like the pic already posted. The 2001 came with the plates welded and my 99 was riveted by American Racing Technologies when they worked on the car.

[RTTTTed]

Here's the 99 recall kit installedAttachment 15464 Attachment 15465

[Bugman Jeff]

I suspect that the reason for the rivets is that there are also a lot of people who think they're good welders but aren't. Mopar has no control over the quality of the welds being put on at a dealer. By using rivets, they can assure that the gusset is securely attached. There's also the long chance that welding would fry the PCM. By specifying rivets, it's one less thing to worry about.

[Camfab]

I suspect that the reason for the rivets is that there are also a lot of people who think they're good welders but aren't. Mopar has no control over the quality of the welds being put on at a dealer. By using rivets, they can assure that the gusset is securely attached. There's also the long chance that welding would fry the PCM. By specifying rivets, it's one less thing to worry about.

Jeff I'd agree with all your observations, except the complete steering rack reinforcement and or the rear frame reinforcement all get welded in place. The Gen II Viper frame exhibits some of the worst quality welding I've seen in a modern day car. The frames were made in Canada, I'm guessing the guys that worked their were hitting the sauce all day long. Really embarrassing work.

[sparkrn]

Jeff I'd agree with all your observations, except the complete steering rack reinforcement and or the rear frame reinforcement all get welded in place. The Gen II Viper frame exhibits some of the worst quality welding I've seen in a modern day car. The frames were made in Canada, I'm guessing the guys that worked their were hitting the sauce all day long. Really embarrassing work.

I so totally agree with you on the quality of welding done on the frames.. It looks like they were done in a middle school shop class!

[stuntman]

Jeff I'd agree with all your observations, except the complete steering rack reinforcement and or the rear frame reinforcement all get welded in place. The Gen II Viper frame exhibits some of the worst quality welding I've seen in a modern day car. The frames were made in Canada, I'm guessing the guys that worked their were hitting the sauce all day long. Really embarrassing work.

Too much Molson, eh?

Who made the frames?

[Fatboy 18]

100% Agree on the poor welding on the frames, weld splatter and poor finishing really lets these cars down was the welding done by hand or robot? I have often thought of taking an angle grinder to my frame to get rid of the splatter and re- painting it.

[SnakeWatching]

So what dealer closest to Maryland could do this 998 recall properly?

It has not been done on my 1997 GTS and I would like to get it done by someone that has experience doing this recall.

[Steve-Indy]

Contact Tom Sessions for help 910-228-8477

[Geronimo]

Yep, ,makes it REAL difficult to do oil changes. Ask me how I know

Yeah, first time before I found out about the recall I thought, what pos car. LOL

[GTS Dean]

The Gen II Viper frame exhibits some of the worst quality welding I've seen in a modern day car. The frames were made in Canada, I'm guessing the guys that worked their were hitting the sauce all day long. Really embarrassing work.

I would say that the weld beads look bad primarily because they used flux-core wire in the welding machines. It spatters and doesn't leave a pretty bead. It's the only way to insure all the coatings on the frame members float out to the surface of the puddle since the parts aren't bare metal at assembly time.

[Viper vince]

I heard that if they don't do it right that you cannot get the oil filer out. Make sure you do so research

[Camfab]

I would say that the weld beads look bad primarily because they used flux-core wire in the welding machines. It spatters and doesn't leave a pretty bead. It's the only way to insure all the coatings on the frame members float out to the surface of the puddle since the parts aren't bare metal at assembly time.

With all due respect, the quality of the weld has absolutely nothing to do with the specific welding process. It's all about the operator. Everything I'm looking at on my frame is 100% operator error.

[GTS Dean]

The recall was under 2 consecutive numbers - 998 and 999 - one for the rear, one for the front of the car. The rear was a strut on the driver's side in response to a few instances of cracked or broken diff mounting points. Mostly from people who sprayed their cars and didn't know that axle hop is a bad thing at any level.

The front recall had an upper and a lower fix. The lower was to rivet the triangular gussets ahead of the front crossmember and below the steering rack. The upper fix called for welding a stiffener angle across the lower frame rail tops and tying them into the steering rack support. A number of robustly tracked cars, including mine, experienced varying levels of fatigue cracking in the rack pedestals.

[kand3g]

I have a 1998 RT/10 which had the recall done incorrectly some years back. To my surprise, Dodge covered the parts and labor to have the recall corrected by Tom Sessions about 2 years ago. Not only was the oil filter a pain in the butt and a huge mess to change, Tom said the rear end portion of my recall was one of the biggests cf's he'd ever seen. I would contact only someone with a reputation such as Tom and others when regarding the recall or the correction of the recall. Best of Luck.

[99RT10]

Tom is outstanding and one of the most knowledgeable and reliable Viper techs in the country. Plus just a great all around good guy

[RT SERPENT]

Many of the recalls were done incorrectly because the instructions to the dealerships were originally incorrect.
I'll try to dig up an old "sheet" that I have from a Viper tech when they first started doing the recall work.
Clearly showed the gussets in the wrong location, thus making the filter removal a real PITA.

When I had mine done, I made sure I was under the car with the tech to ensure that
the placement was done correctly and NOT as indicated on the original documentation.

[SnakeWatching]

So what dealer closest to Maryland could do this 998 recall properly?

It has not been done on my 1997 GTS and I would like to get it done by someone that has experience doing this recall.

So it looks like that this work would be done by the Dodge body shop and not the Dodge "Viper Tech" >>> true?

[Steve-Indy]

At the time when a lot of these were being done, some dealerships had the Viper Tech do the complete repair...such as Tom Sessions.

Another dealership might have the Viper Tech do the prep work, riveting...the n, have a welder from the body shop complete the welds...followed by the Viper Tech finishing with the painting to match the frame.

Sadly, MANY Dodge dealerships took a pass on this recall...while others "winged it". In our Region, we concentrated this recall at one dealership so the Viper Tech had lots of these to do...thereby insuring a good job.

We have all heard of the mistake made with the plates being placed such as to block the oil filter. BUT, there also a couple of other things that I have seen personally that were more disturbing...at least to me. One was a "welder" who nearly cut through the frame. In another instance, the "rookie welder" in the body shop got sent to do the job but made the mistake of grounding to the wrong piece of bare metal...which happened to be the brake hard lines. Tech had to replace all of the hard lines!! Or, how about the diff bracket held ALMOST in place by a
couple of bolts instead of rivets. Enough said along these lines.
Unfortunately, there are fewer experienced Viper Techs around...and even fewer who have done dozens of this recall.

SnakeWatching...North Carolina is a reachable destination...well worth the call to Tom Sessions as I pointed out originally. Also, Tom often picks up and drops cars off all over the middle East Coast...especially when traveling to races.

Aim high, or you WILL pay the price.