DTA Dodge Sweptline.org and Forum

[swptln]

Unfortunately I have to make the decision of shutting down the Forum and the site, between the cost and the lack of use, just doesn't make any sense to keep it up and running.
I will in the future be putting a lot of the reference material from the site, like photo's, brochures and tech stuff, etc. up on my business site that is free for anyone to have access too. See the Link below.
It was a good run almost 25yrs, but the change in times and technology unfortunately, it's time to move on.
Thanks everyone for supporting the hobby, common interest and the site over the years.....keep the shiny side up and hopefully will still chat, see you on the other forum and other forms of media.
Just letting everyone know here, that if you try going to the forum, etc. and it doesn't work you'll know why
Thanks again.

[712edf]

I am sorry to hear that but am not surprised. I have been a member there for several years but never posted there much. The forum layout seemed complicated to me. But there was a wealth of knowledge & resources.

I suspect the same fate will eventually take place on Gordon's PW site (advertiser). Very little traffic there the past several years. The deaths of many key members (Gordon, JimmieD & yes Norm) contributed to the decline.

Joe's PW site seems healthy as ever. But it's leans towards the military PWs & I'm not much into them.

I mainly post over on the ramcharger site. It includes the 70s/80s rigs which is what I am more involved with.

Bucky

[712edf]

I will add that even this site is not what it was when I first came here almost 20 years ago. Most of the big-time members have moved on.

Bucky

[earlymopar]

I'm really sorry to hear of your decision as I come to the site (probably like many others) as a regular part of my morning routine. I learned a great deal from many others on the site who have had these trucks much longer than I and / or have been into various aspects of their trucks that I have not. Thank you for creating and providing the site for enthusiasts. I do understand the logic that drove your decision but I also will be at a loss as to where to go for equivalent expertise on Sweptlines. I don't do any kind of "social media" (partly because I don't carry a mobile phone) which as I understand is where a lot of the former website members have gone. What a shame but I understand, it's the result of where we've gone with specialty forums. I've not looked much at your link location but sincerely hope that the tech articles at a minimum are retained somewhere convenient for future use. Thank you again for your hard work and contributions. You and your site certainly helped us all.

Greg in Oregon

[PwrWgnDrvr]

I'm really sorry to hear of your decision as I come to the site (probably like many others) as a regular part of my morning routine. I learned a great deal from many others on the site who have had these trucks much longer than I and / or have been into various aspects of their trucks that I have not. Thank you for creating and providing the site for enthusiasts. I do understand the logic that drove your decision but I also will be at a loss as to where to go for equivalent expertise on Sweptlines. I don't do any kind of "social media" (partly because I don't carry a mobile phone) which as I understand is where a lot of the former website members have gone. What a shame but I understand, it's the result of where we've gone with specialty forums. I've not looked much at your link location but sincerely hope that the tech articles at a minimum are retained somewhere convenient for future use. Thank you again for your hard work and contributions. You and your site certainly helped us all.
Greg in Oregon

Just to clarify Greg, it is NOT THIS SITE that is shutting down.
Mark runs MoparNorm's site, which is different from this one, which is run by Hellbelly Scott.

[earlymopar]

Thanks for clarifying and for the good news. I was somewhat doubtful when I replied that my understanding was correct when I saw "DTA Dodge" before Sweptline.org. I'm relieved to hear this for our sake.

[Hobcobble]

Mark,
I'm sorry to hear this but I completely understand. Traffic on both sites has been on a slow
and steady decline for quite some time. Many of the younger enthusiasts partake in Scott's
forum through Facebook, I guess.... I don't have an account there and I don't own
a personal cell either. I haven't been as active on this site as in the past..... due to work and
family commitments. I hope you come to Scott's site regularly and share your knowledge and
insight. I hope to wrap up my work career in the next few years and plan on
getting back into a couple of Sweptline projects that have been at a stand still for a while now.

John

[712edf]

Good to see you post John.

I too have seen the decline in traffic across the board.

Bucky

[dodgeboykim]

Very unfortunate. I also have noticed the decline. Its seems in the Facebook Groups that constantly someone is posting for people to join a new group.
All that does is take away from actual forums and spread it around.

[BigBlockTrucks]

It will be missed by many.
Does this mean that the registry will also be lost ?

[712edf]

I haven't been able to access the registry in years. But haven't tried lately.

Bucky

[soopernaut]

The registry is currently working for me. https://www.sweptline.org/SweptlineRegistry/index.php

Does Scott really have a forum on Facebook? What are the benefits and draw versus here? It's kind of funny that the founder and the moderators of this site are not regular visitors here.

[PwrWgnDrvr]

The registry is part of this site, not Mark's.
Today is the first time it has worked for me in years also.

[swptln]

Thanks Guys,
As Terry mentioned they are two completely different sites and forums. The Registry is a completely separate thing as well and not going away.
The DTA site and forum was started by Norm Layton "Mopar Norm" back years ago circa 2000 with the help of Kris Wickstead along the same time as the Power wagon forum that Joe Cimoch runs. Scott does have a FB group also, as I do for the DTA, I created the DTA group on FB quite a while ago about 7-8 years ago. There is about 1200 members on there right now, which is pretty low for a FB group, but they are all truck owners and it's a private group just like the forums are here. I understand social media isn't for everyone, but both Scott's and my group are pretty active on FB too.
As I mentioned in my original post, any and all of the info on the website regarding photo's, tech info, articles, etc. I will as time allows, put everything on my business site and it will all be free to access too.
Thanks for all the support over the years and I'll still pop in here from time to time. Still keeping Norm's dream going, just on a different platform

[712edf]

Scott (Hellbelly100) hasn't been active on this site in several years. MoparNorm, the founder of the other site that Mark is discontinuing, passed away almost a decade ago.

Bucky

[PwrWgnDrvr]

Scott (Hellbelly100) hasn't been active on this site in several years. MoparNorm, the founder of the other site that Mark is discontinuing, passed away almost a decade ago.
Bucky

Scott's last post was in 2019 and his last "signed in" visit was last month:
Joined:
Wed Dec 31, 1969 4:00 pm
Last active:
Wed Jul 17, 2024 5:48 pm
Total posts:
4093 | Search user’s posts: search.php?author_id=2&sr=posts
(1.68% of all posts / 0.21 posts per day)
Most active forum:
GENERAL CHIT CHAT (NON-TECHNICAL)
(1131 Posts / 27.63% of user’s posts)
Most active topic:
HEI Small Block Distributor
(22 Posts / 0.54% of user’s posts)

[712edf]

yeah I have gotten pissed off & left sites before, for up to a year. In fact I think I checked out from this one once but eventually wandered back.

I think in Scott's case "life" just got in the way. In Norm's (and Gordon's over on PWA) it was death.

Bucky

[swptln]

Very unfortunate. I also have noticed the decline. Its seems in the Facebook Groups that constantly someone is posting for people to join a new group.
All that does is take away from actual forums and spread it around.

That is one of the big drawbacks of social media and FB in particular....with the increased popularity of the 61-71 trucks, people are getting into clicks too. The admins of some of the groups let any tom, dick or harry join too, which makes it accessible to troublemakers, scammers, false advertising, politics, digital creators, single women looking for online relations, etc. It's definitely a different mind set out there today, especially on social media. I was on so many different groups early on, but the BS on some of those groups was and still is ridiculous, you just have to back up and weed out some of those groups.
That's one thing I made a point of on the FB DTA group is to have strict rules and that it's truck owners only, to keep the riff raff of social media out.

[dodgeboykim]

What is the link to the FB DTA group. Honestly not sure if I'm a member on it.

[swptln]

What is the link to the FB DTA group. Honestly not sure if I'm a member on it.

I'm pretty sure your in the group....61-71 Sweptline Dodge Truck Association
I have the red 66 W300 utiline as the group photo.