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

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!

 

While the 1994 Grand Caravan was very reliable, it was not without its quirks...

For starters, there the rear view mirror that would randomly detach itself from the windshield, which I mentioned above...

Then, in 1997 or so, the van suddenly started experiencing bizarre electrical problems; Whenever my aunt hit the slightest bump or took a turn too sharply, etc, the electrical system would go haywire! The dome light would turn on and off, the open door/key-in-ignition chime would ding repeatedly, and the clock/display on the radio would dim; The van never showed any signs of dying altogether, and I found the whole debacle rather amusing. I was eight years old, and affectionately dubbed the van "The Haunted Caravan." These bizarre symptoms were either corrected by a repair shop or went on their own...

 

Mine brother

 

One thing I'd like to point about both the 1994 Dodge Grand Caravan LE, and the 1997 Plymouth Voyager Rallye owned by my other aunt and uncle, is that they both had surprisingly decent factory stereo systems for 1990s minivans...

The 1994 Grand Caravan had your basic AM/FM cassette with four speakers (may have been six; Don't remember), and 1997 Voyager had an AM/FM CD/cassette combo with the factory Infinity speakers! My aunt and uncle bought the Voyager brand new in the summer of 1997, and I remember being infatuated with that van almost entirely because it had both a cassette player and a CD player!

The first vehicle my parents bought that had both a cassette player and a CD player from the factory was a brand new 2000 GMC Safari conversion van, and it had a surprisingly good stereo as well. It had the upgraded 4-speaker "component system" with tweeters and woofers in the front doors; It definitely did have at least two speakers in the back; I believe they were 6x9s that were installed by the conversion company.

 

I thought it was already upgraded?

 

Top what I posted but that was 4 years ago. Want to get a new Head Unit with Android Auto etc. New 5 Channel Amp probably JL Audio, and all new front and rear 6.5's maybe Hertz or Morel.

 

Since yours is a 2015, it has the backup camera display built into the radio, right? My truck was prewired for a backup camera (as all 2009-2014 base model regular cabs are) but didn't actually come with one; Everything about my stereo system/backup camera set up is aftermarket, so I have absolutely no experience with wiring an aftermarket head unit to a factory backup camera! Is this a hard thing to do?

 

Nope it's pretty much plug and play

 

The last brand new vehicle my parents bought that used R-12 Freon was a 1993 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer 4x4; The last vehicle they bought ever that used R-12 was a 1990 Mazda B2600i 4x4 pickup, purchased from the original owner in 1998, for about five grand cash...

Not including my 2010 Tacoma, or the 2018 Yukon (which uses R1234yf refrigerant), every other 4-wheeled vehicle* my parents have bought since 1996 besides the 1990 Mazda has used R134a refrigerant...

• 1996 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4x4 (Owned May 1996-September 2009; Traded for 2010 Tacoma)
• 2000 GMC Safari conversion van (Owned May 2000-May 2004)
• 2004 Honda Odyssey EX (Owned May 2004-May 2013)
• 2003 Honda S2000 (Owned September 2005-July 2007)
• 2002 BMW 325Ci convertible (Owned May 2006-August 2008)
• 2008 Acura TL (Owned August 2008-September 2014)
• 2013 Honda Pilot Touring 4WD (Owned May 2013-November 2018)
• 2013 Nissan Murano SV AWD (Owned September 2014-present)

*Between 1996 and 2016, my dad owned three motorcycles; A 1997 Yamaha Virago, a 1999 Harley-Davidson FXDX, and a 2009 Harley-Davidson Road King

I am not including the 1987 Mercedes 300E in this list because that was still legally my grandmother's during the time we had it, and while my dad almost bought it for me as a first car, he and my grandmother mutually decided to sell it because it had some mechanical issues. It sat for over a year; My dad "rescued" it and drove it around as a third vehicle from August 2003 to May 2005...

 

I like having the backup camera mounted above the license plate, instead of in the factory tailgate handle location...

 

And then, not including the 1978 MGB or the 1983 Datsun 280ZX that my dad bought used in the eighties, this is the list of vehicles that my parents owned between 1983 and 1996...

• 1983 Toyota Celica GT (Dad's first new car; Owned 1983-1990)
• 1985 Ford Escort (Mom's first new car; No A/C; Owned 1985-1990)
• 1990 Toyota Camry LE V6 (Owned roughly July 1990-June 1998)
• 1986 Mazda B2000 pickup (No A/C; Owned summer 1990-June 1992?)
• 1992 Dodge Dakota LE (Owned roughly June 1992-June 1993, so barely a year! My dad only put like 10K miles on this truck!)
• 1993 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer Tahoe 4x4 (Owned June 1993-May 1996)

 

My mom's 1985 Escort was your typical no-frills commuter appliance...

My dad taught my mom how to drive stick in his 1983 Celica GT when she moved from New York City to California to live with him in like 1984 or 1985...

In the interest of saving money on her first new car, she opted for a manual transmission; She also opted to not get air-conditioning in the interest of saving money, which is something that she very quickly regretted! She assumed that she would not need A/C since she lived in Northern California, and found out this was not the case, especially since she spent a lot of time in her car for work...

The Escort was not totally no-frills though; It did have power steering and an AM/FM cassette. My dad's 1983 Celica had A/C, cruise control, and an AM/FM stereo, but it DID NOT have a cassette player. The 1978 MGB and the 1983 Datsun 280ZX that he owned simultaneously along with the Celica did have tape players though...