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

Gary was one of my favorite neighbors, and not just because he converted my Jeep to run on a tractor battery...

He was the type of neighbor every young gearhead dreams of living near! We moved from off-base military housing to a larger on-base house in March 1997; I cannot remember if Gary and his family moved in after us or if they were already there...

I was not diagnosed with Aspergers until November 1998, just four months shy of my 10th birthday, so when we were living in California I was undiagnosed. However, most of the neighborhood kids and I’m assuming all of the adults were aware that something was up with me. In the case of the kids, it meant that some of the little bastards bullied me relentlessly...

In the case of the adults, a couple of them found me annoying and were downright rude to me at times, but most of the adults were very nice to me...

 

Gary was one of those adults who either really liked me or was a genuinely nice person who just couldn’t be rude to anybody, no matter how different they were...

Looking back on the numerous encounters I had with Gary between March 1997 and June 1998, I realize now that there is absolutely no way he didn’t know I was on the spectrum!

 

I was absolutely obsessed with Gary’s Suburban, and I would stand there watching him work on it; I believe the Suburban was a 1985, but it may have been as new as 1988 (the headlights and grille made it no newer than 1988, so it was hardly a new vehicle at the time; possibly newer in 1997 than my Tacoma is now, but least 9 years old)...

Despite its age, that Suburban was immaculate! Years on the road shuttling a 5-person military family around had tarnished the front end; I can remember watching Gary disassemble the front grille, at which pointed he painted it gunmetal gray and finished it off by hand painting the “GMC” letters red. That truck looked beautiful! Gary also replaced the factory horn with dual air trumpets (something I also watched him do); One time I left my Jeep in the middle of road, Gary happened to be returning from work, and he just laid on that horn to get my attention...

I was too busy drooling over the Suburban to be mad at him!

 

The reason I am 99% sure Gary knew I had some form of autism is because he was very patient with me when he would have been less than cordial with a neurotyptical (i.e. Non-autistic) kid had followed him around and peppered him with questions the way I did; Looking back on some of the conversations with him, he without a doubt started to lose his patience with me at times, but he was never a jerk...

 

Once COVID is over, won’t it be safe to fly? I’m not the least bit scared of flying, I just don’t want to be on a plane (A) with people who might be infected and (B) wearing a mask for hours!

 

Yea but then you can’t take your Tacoma outside SE Penn

 

Some people are just good with kids too, I work at a school district. Believe me, kids in general, ask a myriad of weird and plain unnerving questions, all while making incredibly apt judgements. And often times they ask, and ask, and ask, and then ask again haha. Some people just really jive with the weird energy kids have, sounds like Gary might have been that way.

In my neighborhood, I'm always working on the trucks and the neighbor kid who's super into cars is always asking questions. I answer, hopefully I make another auto enthusiast, never know.

 

Being in the Navy, long trips of a week or two were not uncommon for my dad, but he always brought me back cool presents...

One time in 1997, my dad went to Puerto Rico and came back with a 1:18 scale model 1995 Dodge Ram 3500 dually! It was red and black two-tone with a gray interior, one of those models you buy at the toy store for $25, and I loved it!

One time I was playing with it out on the court, when a bunch of the guys happened to be conversing and taking advantage of the nice weather...

If I remember correctly, these guys in their thirties and forties showed more interest in my new toy truck than their kids; This Ram had the gas V10 instead of the venerable 12V Cummins...

At point, Gary took a look under that 1:18 scale hood and asked “So, how many pounds-feet I’d torque does it have?” I knew a fair amount about cars at eight years old, but I was utterly stumped by my idol’s question...

 

When we moved to Virginia Beach in 1998, the “Gary” of the neighborhood was actually our next door neighbor, this well-built guy named Ray Ringer from Louisiana who owned his own electrical contracting company (he wired his entire house). He was not quite as friendly (“more serious” is the better term) as I remember Gary being, but he was ultimately nice...

He had a son named Dylan from a previous marriage, and Dylan was a year older than me but we became close friends even though Dylan didn’t come to visit more than couple times a month...

Ray had a son named Weston with his present wife who Dylan and I found rather annoying; Weston was terrified of dogs, even if it was a harmless Labrador...

When Dylan and I were playing the backyard, on more than one occasion I’d hook my dog Molly to the leash in the backyard and it would keep Weston at bay; We were so mean!

 

I was just at a car show last Saturday with my dog Porter, and an autistic boy of about nine asked if he could pet him; Porter is very friendly and not the least bit aggressive (as long you’re not another dog trying to take his food), but he is still very much a puppy (and also a rescue) and doesn’t know how to handle certain situations...

Car shows are a perfect example; He becomes very standoffish, tucking his tail between his legs and backing away when anyone but the smallest child attempts to approach and pet him...

Porter did end up letting this autistic boy pet him, and I ended up having a conversation with his dad about autism spectrum disorders after noticing the kid’s peanut allergy wristband with autism puzzle pieces on it.

 

When I was younger, I was especially sensitive to loud noises, including those made by...

• Pressure flush toilets found in most school and public restrooms
• Central air-conditioners
• The Johnson outboard on my dad’s boat when he ran it out of water to test it
• My uncle’s 1978 Harley

I conquered my fear of commercial-style pressure-flush toilets before I finished preschool, and my fear of air-conditioners (at least the noise of the compressor) subsided by the late 1990s...

The kid’s dad who I met at the car show told me that he couldn’t bring his kid into places like Target because he was so sensitive to the buzzing of the fluorescent lights! He was also incredibly hypersensitive to bright lights if I remember correctly!

 

I have ridden on the back of my dad’s Harley, been at motorsports venues without hearing protection, and even fired a handgun at an indoor shooting range (with hearing protection of course), and I was not the least bit affected by those noises!

 

I was three and had a small gas powered 4 wheeler on our ranch. It was awesome an I’m surprised I’m still alive lol

 

It wasn't too hard. I changed the spiral cable because I wanted steering wheel controls and there was no provision for cruise in the original spiral cable.
There is no risk in deploying the airbag if you are careful about it. I don't even disconnect the battery anymore (I've been working on cars a long time).

You can disconnect the battery and wait, remove the airbag, then the wheel, column covers and then the spiral cable (if needed).
Don't just pull on the two small airbag connectors, there are two small locks (one per connector) that need to be released first.

When you have the bag out, place it so that the bag is facing up (metal side down).
I usually set mine on the passenger floor.

 

I'm not saying it shouldn't be done but as I've said, I've been working on cars a long time (30 years) and disconnected the battery only a handful of times depending on what diagnostics I was doing at the time. This includes side airbags, curtain airbags and knee airbags.

 

when you say there were no provisions for cruise in your original spiral cable what do you mean? I had no success adding cruise with just the stalk and clutch switch. The connector was there for the switch and I added the stalk. I did notice when I inspected the plug in the wheel it looked like nothing else was pinned into it except the ground. I’m wondering if this is what you found as well.

 

I ordered one on eBay for about 10 usd. It came a couple months later. It was missing wiring for the horn. I cut open the original harness carefully with a knife To get the horn connection. I pushed that connection In the new harness where it was on the original Harness. It still works a few months later. The cruise worked initially but the horn didn’t.
It was harder than intermittent wipers for me. I did not disconnect anything. I just moved the airbag out of my way. I would recommend following the safety precautions of more experienced people on this site.

 

@PennSilverTaco


I snapped a pic for you today so you could see how they look close up.

 

The last vehicle my Dad owned before he died was a Dodge Caravan, my Sister and l sold it to a Dealership for 12 or 13 grand.