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

Its not very good in my opinion, honestly think my truck with the speakers I added sounds better than the Factory JBL.

 

My aftermarket JBLs sound better than factory JBLs! Though the factory JBL system in my aunt's 2009 RAV4 sounds pretty good...

 

I get the feeling the Tacoma JBL is the worst sounding JBL in any Toyota vehicle, probably did sound pretty good in your Aunts RAV4.

 

My aunt's RAV4 has a factory sub mounted in the tailgate! Also, my aunt's RAV4 does not have a USB port (only AUX); Even with this setup, iPods sound incredible!

 

Those RAV4's are pretty decent little SUV's, I recall them having a V6 option for a few years too.

 

Aunt's a 4-banger, but their new Highlander is a V6!

 

Sup Mofo's

 

Sup!

 

Finished aging the neck last night.

 

How do you age the neck?

 

#2 Pencil, Black Colored Pencil, very lightly damp cloth. Then hours of smudging.

 

Also, what are you going to buy when you give your son the DCLB?

 

Gonna crack 109K this week; I’m sure of it!

 

@ColoradoTJ , you don’t seem to think too highly of MOPAR products...

My neighbor’s in-laws live with him, and they drive a 2005 Chrysler 300 that only has like 85K miles on it (might be more like 83-84K).They purchased the car brand new and take good care of it, but it is falling apart despite this...

And no, the in-laws’ 300 does not have the HEMI! It’s just the 3.5L V6

One time, the in-laws had to take the kids to school, and they found the Chrysler’s battery to be dead; I came to the rescue with the Tacoma and some jumper cables...

The 300 does not have a traditional prop rod, but rather gas shocks/struts that hold the hood up; These have failed, and the hood no longer stays up by itself! This made keeping the hood open during the jumpstart quite a chore!

Yes, I did succeed in getting the Chrysler jumpstarted and the kids were not late for school...

Toyota might over Chrysler mediocrity!

 

While we’re on the topic of being late for school due to car troubles, allow me to tell the story of this one time in 1999 when I missed at least an hour of school due to my dad’s 1996 Nissan Pathfinder getting a flat tire...

I believe I was in 4th grade, though I may have been in 5th grade; My mom and I both overslept and I missed the bus. My dad had taken his 1990 Mazda pickup on a business trip, so we had the 1996 Pathfinder. We came outside and found one of the rear tires (I believe it was the right rear) to be completely flat. We didn’t have AAA back then, and none of the local garages could get somebody out there in a timely manner. We tried to change the tire ourselves, but we didn’t have the tool to remove the wheel lock...



This woman roughly my mom’s age (maybe a little younger) happened to be walking her dog and noticed our plight. We were living in Virginia Beach at the time, and the neighborhood where we lived was absolutely huge; This woman was one of our neighbors who we’d never met due to the sheer size of the subdivision.

This woman was also a mother (her kids were, of course, in school) and understood our situation. She offered to drive me to school, and my mom said that would be fine...

This woman took her dog back home and came back with a 1996-1997ish Dodge Grand Caravan; My mom trusted this woman, but obviously wasn’t going to let me get into a vehicle with someone we’d known for half an hour. My mom got in the shotgun seat and I got in back; This van had the second row captain’s chairs!

**Say what you want about Chrysler minivans, but they have some of the most comfortable seats ever, especially the older ones! My aunt and uncle had a 1994 Dodge Grand Caravan, and my other aunt and uncle had a 1997 Plymouth Voyager; Both has the 2nd row captain’s chairs, and both were very comfortable on long drives if you were lucky enough to get one of the second row seats!**

So, the hero neighbor mom dropped me off at school, which was not even two miles from our house, and then took my mom back home; The Pathfinder had the tire changed before I got home!

 

Time to start thinking of the upgraded sound system.

 

My aunt and uncle bought the 1994 Grand Caravan new and had it for ten years, putting about 180K miles on it in that time; They sold it and bought a new 2004 Honda Element when the A/C compressor in the Dodge went...

One noteworthy issue the ‘94 Grand Caravan had was that the rear view mirror would regularly fall off; One time in the summer of 2002, they were visiting us when we were still living in Oak Harbor, Washington...

The mirror came off, and my aunt and uncle bought the parts to fix it at the local Dodge dealer. My cousin, who was 18 at the time, was tasked with installing the mirror...

I was only 13 at the time, and was climbing on the hood of the van; My cousin did not like this for some reason and took matters into her own hands...

She made the mistake of laying on the horn in attempt to get my attention, which scared the crap out of me. I reciprocated her kind gesture by either kicking or punching the side of the van (I forget whether I kicked or punched), and I’m pretty sure I left a nice dent;
I did not get in trouble and my cousin apologized later...

The moral of the story is simple; DO NOT STARTLE ME! My cousin is very lucky that she wasn’t in my uncle’s pristine 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 when she beeped the horn!

I am a very nice guy, but I have punched or otherwise lashed out at people purely out of reflex because they snuck up on me and startled me. I don’t care if you meant to do it or not; DO NOT STARTLE ME!

 

In what? I'm happy with the stereo in my truck, and don't think there's much more I could beyond adding a second subwoofer...

 

That '94 Grand Caravan was actually a damn good vehicle; It had a Mitsubishi transmission that had to be replaced under recall when the van was only two years old. Obviously, my aunt and uncle did not have to pay for this...

The van also had to have the A/C recharged a couple times in the ten years my aunt and uncle owned it; Recharging is one thing, but my aunt and uncle got rid of it in 2004 when the A/C system completely failed (I believe it was the compressor); My uncle claims that van used R-12, but I'm not so sure...

The Jeep Grand Cherokee debuted in late 1992 as a 1993 model, and from what I've seen through "field research" (look under the hoods of 1993 Grand Cherokees at car lots and truck shows), 1993 models used CFC-free refrigerant (R134a). The only 1994 vehicles I've seen that used R-12 were the S-series Blazer and Jimmy. All 1993 Nissan trucks and Pathfinders for the North American market used R134a; 1993 Camaros and Firebirds also used R134a...

The same is true for all 1993 Mercedes-Benz and Volvo models...

That said, I'm pretty sure my aunt and uncle's 1994 Grand Caravan used R134a!

 

My aunt and uncle ordered their 1994 Grand Caravan instead of buying off the lot, and they were very particular about the options; I believe the van had the mid-level LE trim...

It was this cool silver color that looked almost purple if the sun hit it at the right angle, with a gray cloth interior; It had wheel covers and NOT alloy wheels...

My uncle specifically ordered the van with manual/crank windows because he'd a lot of issues with power windows in a previous vehicle he'd owned; My aunt and uncle also made a big deal about ordering the second row "captain's chairs" mentioned above because their two young daughters had a tendency to fight on long trips and they wanted both girls to have their own seats...

As mentioned above, the van did have air-conditioning, which I'm 99% was sure was standard on the extended-wheelbase Grand Caravan by 1994; However, my aunt and uncle were trying to save money and figured they did not need rear A/C in the relatively mild climate of Northern California, so they didn't order the rear A/C...

The van had air-conditioning, cruise control, tilt wheel, AM/FM cassette with four speakers, power mirrors, and I believe power locks; As stated above, it did not have power windows, rear A/C, or rear heat. In the ten years they owned it, I do not believe that it ever once failed California's strict smog test!