New England B.S. Thread

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-leather-arm-rests.2755/
This one maybe?

 

Unchained 5150 patch Donation money given. Please move over to this thread to watch the video.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/goodbye-unchained-5150-rip-rick.758554/page-25#post-27330330

 

My last Texas trip post.

Friday morning we left Nashville early and headed east on I-40. We spent Thursday afternoon looking at suburbs for possible relocation sites , but after a long discussion we decided on either SC or the Austin area.

The drive was easy out to Knoxville and then on to Bristol, VA. We made good time and he Taco ran well. We even got decent mi!eage on the highway. I filled up before we left and the display read 370 miles until empty with a full tank.

We stopped in Abingdon, VA for gas again. Same Walmart, but now the price was $3.99 compared to lasr Friday.

We grabbed lunch at a Dairy Queen across from Walmart.

That's where the rain started. Just as with the trip down, we ran into bands of heavy rain alternating with clear skies. I slowed a bit during the rain, but was able to maintain 75MPH during the clear weather.

At this point we were well into VA on I-81 and doing great until we hit an accident in the hill country. Tanker, motorhome, car, and a Ridgeline all tangled up. It took about 20 minutes to get by as there was only one lane open.

That was on a downhill slope and it looked like someone was driving too fast in the rain.

We got to Stephens City, VA about 18:30 and checked in. Had dinner at a nice Italian place down the street and settled in. About 9 hours on the road.

The Holiday Inn Express was a bit disappointing and next time we'll go 10 miles further up the road to Winchester.

BTW, one thing we noticed at all of the hotels was that they were short staffed. Housekeeping was nothing to write home about and "adequate" is the best I can say. All of are having problems hiring people.

Yesterday we got up, stopped at Waffle House for breakfast, got gas and hit the road. Other than bathroom breaks we didn't stop until we got to Port Jervis, NY. Actually we stopped in Matamoros, NJ right on the state line. NJ gas prices aren't the bargain they used to be, but still cheap compared to PA or NY.

Hit the road again and we decided to skip lunch and just head for home. Trip to the CT line was uneventful. Continued east on I-84 towards CT. CT drivers are pretty aggressive and once again 75 relegated us to the slower lanes. We saw a Ferrari and something similar racing in the Hartford area. How they didn't hit anyone, I don't know.

I still had about 1/2 a tank left, so we skipped Sturbridge an continued home. Total time was 8 1/2 hours on the road.

Total trip distance was 4,325 miles, and the truck ran fine. I should have changed the cabin air filter before we left, but other than that it was just fuel costs.

I think it was in the bug deflector thread where we discussed the RainX bug remover was fluid. I used that on the trip and it wasn't all that impressive. I had to use the squeegees at gas stops to get the toughest bug splats off, then the washer fluid to get the remains off .

That's it. Interesting trip and the biggest lesson I learned was to take four days, not the three we did on the way down. I also learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of the adaptive cruise control. There were times i'd turn it off for a few seconds to make a lane change smoother. Then I'd turn i back on to match speeds with the car in front of me. Overall it made the ride easier since i didn't have to keep my foot on the accelerator every second.

 

Anyone catch some of the Explore Overland drama? not looking pretty.

Welcome home! Adaptive cruise is fantastic tagging up behind a semi doing 70 in the desert. Around here it’s a bit too hectic for it to be beneficial. I haven’t figure out cruise either, I can maintain and even pull, without dropping from 5th. But cruise needs to drop to 3rd and scream to get there. :| Not a fan of that. But I’m slow, 67 is my happy zone and usually it doesn’t do too much shenanigans at that slow of a speed (I hit 70 when I’m in Maine, don’t worry! )

 

I had them in mind for when I was ready for a high clearance rear since they're so much closer than warfab...I'll happily give Mike my money when the time comes after reading all that

 

I was riding, not to closely behind semis as much as possible. Maybe that partially explains the good mileage! "I ain't tailgating, I'm drafting!"

The cruise control really likes to rev hard to get back to the pre set speed. Some of the time I turned it off and accelerated manually, then turned it back on. The V6 didn't seem to strain to maintain speed, it just sort of cruised along most of the time.

 

They have about $1500 of my money. I'm just outside of the 180 day window, so PayPal won't help at all.
At this point I expect it's just gone.
Not as bad as some, but not too happy about it either.

 

Yeah, honestly after all this I'm thinking anything I want to do - I'm going for take offs on Facebook. Cash in hand. Material in hand.

Hold off until after June by the way. We'll talk more at camp.

Two fold there. First the drafting but also semis tick down on grades. So my truck was able to keep up without dropping into 4th because the semis were slowing too.

Tailing a (not swift) semi is usually a sweet spot on a weekday for me.

Part of the issue is two overdrive gears. So if you're in 6th it will drop to 4th for torque.

Shit man. Sorry to hear that. I would check with the source - PayPal was the broker but the bank or your credit card (whichever you used) might have more oomph to get you a refund.

 

I saw the start of it this past weekend. I just notified @Chasespeed about it because he was supposed to be picking up a set of sliders from them next month.

 

Big Yikes, 100%

I got my sliders but some of the powder coat has already shown surface rust on like some areas where the metal tapers/bends. I'll just touch it with spray paint up but its still annoying. ETA was like 2 months, got it like 4 months after I ordered. I ordered early Oct

Their event has cancelled, their sponsor with the local dealer has ended. Seems like they've taken in a LOT of money from people and have nobody to make it.

At this point I lean towards the sad fact of.. buying from bigger companies is more assurance you'll get what you paid for. Mom and pop type places I don't mind paying a bit more for on goods or services but its burned me too many times in the past two years. Convenience is king.

 

P.S.

what is this camp ? June deals? lol

 

+1

 

That's why I'm saying used in Facebook or craigslist is my future. Is rather it be in hand.

Next time gents. I told Matt is get him up there like a year ago haha. I think we're already over stuffed with trucks as it is :|

 

Link?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/buyer-beware-explore-overland.765045/page-11

 

Much obliged, good sir

 

Started the process with my CU this morning.

Gonna take a while I guess, and I may still be out my money.

HOWEVER, I am totally okay with a short road trip.

 

any of the ri'ers eaten at the big cheese in cranston?

 

So, went to the dealership today, apparently the part of the LCA that has teeth is rusted out and not letting the cam bolts hold in place.
There any way to remedy that without replacing the whole LCA?

If not, who wants to help me with an LCA job before I get an alignment? Or who at least has suggestions for new LCA, bushings, bolts, and cam stop type things?