PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

@Salty_Dog
@ToyRyd04
@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco

August 5th, 2017:

Heading to the fairgrounds on Saturday morning!

That is a pro street Jeep Comanche in front of me!


This is what you encounter when you make an impulsive decision to get your truck dyno-tested, and the mobile dyno is pretty much on the other side of the fairgrounds!

And I believe this was right after the dyno-testing...

These people (both in vehicles and on foot) were more respectful than people generally are in Doylestown!


As dusk came around, the grounds started to clear out quite a bit:

What you see off in the distance there are the lights of all the big rigs and commercial trucks in the Big Rig Show N' Shine...

 

@Salty_Dog
@ToyRyd04
@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco

August 6th, 2017:

The last day!

Leaving the Days Inn where I stayed:


Heading through downtown Carlisle:

There weren't many people at the fairgrounds on Sunday, and most who were there were leaving or getting ready to leave:

 

August 6th, 2017:

In the parade heading to get my award!

 

@Salty_Dog
@ToyRyd04
@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco


August 6th, 2017:

Driving around the grounds one last time before heading back home...



Heading out of Carlisle:


Stopping at Sheetz to gas up the Tacoma and grab a bite to eat before the 2-hour drive home!

And...

On the road again!

 

August 6th, 2017:

Dashcam stills from the drive home...

I'm not a big fan of Red Bull, but their company cars are pretty cool!

 

No. To do it properly the old refrigerant is remove and the system is drawn into a vacuum which boils off any moisture in the system. The refrigerant is then added back into the system to the specific amount that is required. When you use a can of refrigerant you have no idea how much your adding and how much is actually in the system. Putting the system in the vacuum removes the moisture which can prolong compressor life, makes the AC system work more efficient and checks the system for leaks.

 

I had an inkling that's how it was. How often is such a procedure required? Just when it stops blowing cold?

 

Most will notice that their vehicle is not cooling like it use too so that usually what brings them in for service or they have a failure in the system. I've never had a customer come in with a working AC system and wanted the refrigerant removed, vacuumed and replaced. Considering most AC systems will never have an issue in the life time of the vehicle it wouldn't make sense to do it.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

June 20th, 2017:

Continuing with "A Tacoma's Eye View of Doylestown"...

People are always so impatient coming out of the side streets on Main Street (note the silver Volvo wagon). They will roar up to the stop signs as if they are not going to stop, then realize there are vehicles coming and slam on the brakes last second...


Same with people coming out of the Volvo dealership...

Turning right from Main Street onto Ashland Street...

These roads just are not wide enough...

Heading out of Doylestown to go to Rice's Market...

That infamous part of Court Street where the road goes from narrow to wide (and vice versa)...

Intersection of Pine Street and State Street...

On Pine Street approaching the intersection where the drunk old man in the Mercedes hit me...

I almost T-boned my boss's neighbor here once because he almost floored it through that stop sign, but luckily he hit his brakes and stopped...

The people of Doylestown really love their Volvos...


The #55 SEPTA bus, one of the most annoying things about Doylestown for reasons too numerous to list...



The Wawa...

Waiting to get out of the Wawa...



This guy in the black Acura TLX just sat here for no reason...

Cue the Jeopardy theme song...

At this point I finally got fed up and blasted the horn, and he removed his head from his ass...



Typical Doylestown pedestrian; Too lazy to use the crosswalk...

Finally...

 

This car belongs to a coworker (another barback). He hit a deer the other day. The most important thing is that he was not hurt. There were no injuries at all.

The deer even seems to have lived, as it got up and ran off into the woods before my friend got out of the car.

The car is a 2000 Subaru Legacy. I would classify the Subaru as being in "good to very good condition" prior to the deer strike. The car is 17 years old and has about 250K miles on it (might be closer to 200K; my friend couldn't seem to remember, as he doesn't pay as much attention to that stuff as I do), but it is in excellent mechanical condition. The A/C blows cold, the heat works, and all accessories (power windows/locks/seats, sunroof, cruise control, etc) work. As the deer did not make contact with the front end of the car, the airbags DID NOT deploy. There is no mechanical damage of any kind, and if the windshield weren't smashed in, I would rate this car as "driveable."

Because of the obvious safety risk from the windshield, the Subaru was taken by flatbed to a nearby body shop.

My friend tells me the tow truck driver took one look at the car and said it was totaled. My friend also says that the body shop the car was taken to has pretty much declared the car totaled. My friend is a nice guy, a good barback, and also one hell of a DJ, but he doesn't know jack about cars. He was only repeating what his dad and the body shop people said, and says he heard something about "frame damage." He told me, and another barback who worked as an auto technician and knows a fair amount about auto body repair, about the so-called "frame damage" while showing us these pictures on his phone. The other barback and I both basically said the body shop was full of shit if they thought a damaged roof panel constituted frame damage.

The problem here is that this a 17-year old car with at least 200K miles and my friend only has liability insurance on it. My friend's insurance company, like most insurance companies, considers a deer strike an act of God and is supposed to repair the damage or replace the vehicle in the event of such an occurrence. However, he does not have full coverage (collision, comprehensive, etc), and the insurance company is basically saying he's on his own and refusing to touch the car. My friend's dad is currently duking it out with the insurance company (Progressive, I think).

I personally think the car can be at least partially repaired (so the roof looks better and the seal around the windshield doesn't leak).

My friend/coworker texted me these pictures and gave me permission to post them on TW so I could get some opinions...

 

It'll buff out

 

LOL exactly!

 

Don't see that one getting fixed and not leaking. I'm going totaled or at least not worth the cost of repairing.

 

The fight with the insurance company will not be easy. You can say act of god, but you can also say driving at an unsafe speed for conditions. Because there was no collision/comprehensive coverage, them totaling it would only happen if they were going to pay something. It looks like it would be worth it to have a body shop do up a minimalist repair estimate to see if fixing it were an option.

Edit - You already have a body shop estimate... Looks like an uphill battle

 

It really sucks to have a car in relatively good condition with no payment, etc. then get whacked by a stupid deer. If the car has sentimental value, I'd say repair it. A proper repair would probably cost more than it's worth. The problem as was mentioned before is leaks and that crease where the windshield meets the roof. If just minimally repaired, there's a good probability it will leak.

It's a real bitch of a situation but I guess that's what life gives us sometimes...my aunt was driving my uncle's *pristine* late 80's Saab 900 Turbo on the Thruway in New York about 20 years and had a fucking deer total it. Aunt was fine, my uncle was pissed. Not much you can do in that situation.

 

Roof is structural and therefore part of the frame on a unibody car.

Also deer strikes are covered under comprehensive. Not liability, so if he only carries liability he is 100% on his own here

 

Damage to roof with sunroof, unfortunately on a unibody car that usually is the end of things as the body is the frame. And with 200k miles+ yeah the ins is going to want to total it unfortunately for your friend.

That said if no air bags deployed, and the seat belts still work I'd fight it. See if the ins is willing to repair it with a non sunroof roof section to reduce repair costs. Granted the insurance will probably only cover up to 125% of the cars BLACK book value. Not blue book, (usually whatever KBB/NADA's lowest value is.) So given the car may need the roof cut off and a new section welded in then pained and a windsheild etc... You're buddy's labor costs alone are probably tripple the Black book value.

Bummer. Subi's are sweet. A good friend of mine just lost his 05 WRX last weekend when a fuel line found the drive side of the turbine housing. Fwooowf! At least he got some bass ass pictures of the incident and plenty of good times out of the old girl. Still loosing a car can be like loosing a friend.

 

It can be fixed, but it's not economically worth it hence it's totaled. If it was my car bye bye it would go.

 

I was headed to my friend's house to pick him up so we could go see a movie, and I saw this sweet truck in the parking lot of a shopping center near my friend's house. I was running late, but I've been pondering getting one of these Best Tops for my Taco, and of course I stopped to get a closer look.

The owner came out of a nearby store while I was looking at his truck; He was very nice, all too happy to give me a tour of his truck. I honestly thought these were custom aftermarket rims because they had been debadged. The owner proudly told me they were actually off of a Murano. Apparently the bolt pattern is the same...?

By the way, this is a 2005 model with an automatic transmission and just 92K miles on the odometer. The owner told me the A/C needs to be recharged, but other than that the truck is mechanically perfect and has never been in an accident.

A bit more about this truck:

Foglights were installed by previous owner; Stereo system installed by current owner who I talked to (The subwoofer and the head unit are Sony; unsure of speakers).

Chrome SR5 grille was purchased on eBay current owner (@HomerTaco; I told him about you and said you were the go-to guy for custom Taco grills)

I also took photos of the stereo system installed this truck, as well as my truck next to it, and these can be found in the appropriate threads on TW...