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

I kind wish I lived near you. You could sand prime some of the imperfections on my truck!

 

Yep, my garage is slowly coming together.

 

Also, Cobalts really are not bad cars. The SS, especially with a manual transmission is without a doubt the coolest and most desirable. My friend's mom had a fairly well-equipped 4-door LT model. I went up to that friend's family's vacation home for the 4th of July in 2019, just months before it got totaled. It was warm and the car had ice cold A/C. It also had power windows, power locks, cruise control, a stereo CD player with an AUX input and surprisingly decent speakers, and alloy wheels. It wasn't the standard rental-grade LS. It's just that GM made tons of these cars, there are still tons of them left, and the typical demographic who buys them just needs a commuter appliance and sees them as throwaway cars. My friend's mom's Cobalt wasn't going to be winning any races with a 2.4L 4-banger and 4-speed automatic, but it was a very reliable car and served them well.

Their previous "spare car" was a low-mileage but old 1997 Chevy Monte Carlo that fell apart and needed a lot of work to make it 100%. They traded the Monte Carlo for the Cobalt at a local Chevy dealer in like 2013-2015, and even paid cash.

The Cobalt was supposed to be my buddy's car when he finally got his license, but it got totaled by a twister less than a month before he actually got his license. My friend's mom bought a used 2017 Hyundai Elantra to replace the Cobalt, and my friend bought a 2017 Chevy Trax with 31K miles for just $9,900. He bought the Trax in October 2019, and he didn't drive all that much in the few months he had it before the pandemic. More than three years after buying the Trax, it only has like 36K miles on it!

 

Totaled? No way.
Where I live, that cars in great shape.
I see worse driving down the road every day.

 

@shakerhood

When I met friend in 2009, they had a 2008 Nissan Versa and a 2002 Mercury Villager, both blue. Both of those were purchased new, and the Versa was a great car, but my friend's dad drives a lot for work and it had over 100K miles within six years. In 2014, they almost bought a new Nissan Versa and even put a deposit down on the car they thought they wanted. Compared to the original Versa, the new Versa was a turd. My friend's mom literally called it "total shit" when I asked why they didn buy it. The engine was underpowered and the interior felt cheap, among other things. They cancelled the contract on the Versa and bought a brand new 2014 Ford Focus SE, which was better than the Versa in many ways, but ended up being a turd as well once the mileage went up. Most notably, the CVT failed at like 70K miles and had to be replaced under recall. That car also had an incredibly small backseat. By this time, the minivan was long gone, and my friend's yougner sister had taken the 2010 Subaru Forester to college. The 2009 Cobalt and the 2014 Focus were their only vehicles. They took a trip to Wisconsin to see family in that Focus, and my friend said it was one of the most miserable experiences of his life due to the tight backseat.

The Focus was mercifully traded for a brand new leftover 2018 Nissan Rogue in the summer of 2019, and they still have that. The insurance money from the totaled Cobalt was put towards a 2017 Hyundai Elantra in in 2019, and they also still have that. My friend has the aforementioned 2017 Chevy Trax that he has managed to put only 5,000 miles on in three years...

 

That's because Tennessee requires emissions testing in the high-population cities (Memphis, Nashville, possibly Knoxville...?), but does not require any safety inspections statewide; I both love and hate this at the same time. I am OCD about basic maintenance and take great pride in performing basic maintenance on my truck, and I've never failed an emissions test or a safety inspection. However, while I would not be sad to see emissions testing go away, I kinda think we need safety inspections to keep legit shitboxes off the road; I do not think this Buick poses a safety hazard, because while the passenger door may not open due to the damage, the damage appears to be purely cosmetic and does not look like it would make the car unsafe to drive.

 

Even it's literally just a door, a fender, and some paintwork? I only think it would be totaled if there is unseen structural damage.

 

I hate CVT transmissions.

 

Does this Tacoma that I saw in Virginia five years ago look like it would have been totaled?

 

Tacomas seem to be pretty hard to get written off since they are so popular, and thus worth a fairly decent amount of money. My truck is 13 years old with well over 160K on the clock, and is still worth $10K!

 

No. Not by looking at it.

 

Looks fixable to me.

 

@ABA180
@BkerChuck
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@RustyGreen
@shakerhood
@steelcity2
@Taco critter
@TnShooter
@wilcam47

I've discussed this before, but here's the story again. One of my sensory issues as kid was loud noises; I was terrified of central air-conditioners well into the 1990s, specifically the outdoor condensing unit that houses the compressor. The combination of noises from the compressor, fan blades, and fan motor was just too much for me. My parents bought their first house with central air, brand new, in 1990; I was only a year old so my earliest memories of living in that house only begin in early 1992 (possibly very late 1991). The air-conditioner was a large Snyder General (branded as a Comfortmaker) located on the side of the house opposite the garage. If you were standing in front of the house facing it, the A/C unit was on your left. If you stood in the backyard, the unit was on the left side.

I got a Power Wheels Jeep as a present from my uncle in the spring of 1994 when I finished preschool. It wasn't summer yet, but it was warm enough that my parents had the A/C on when I took my new Jeep for its first drive; I was so scared of that air-conditioner, even at five years old, that I would not drive the Jeep all the way around the house without my dad following me. My parents had a VHS-C camcorder with which they recorded my first drive in my Jeep. We still have the video somewhere, with my mom acting as camerawoman. My dad can heard asking me "You wanna drive your Jeep around the house, take it all the way around?"

I don't know if I specifically mention the air-conditioner, but I can remember saying no initially, and then finally relenting when my dad said he would go with me.

 

Like single-family homes, the A/C in our old house was located on the side of the house; I always played on my swingset in the backyard, or took the Jeep or my bike out in the front yard. I was able to avoid that big mean air-conditioner.

My aunt and uncle's old house in Maryland was a different story though. That house was also single-family, but it was in the DC suburbs where they build houses a hell of a lot closer than in Southeast PA. On another note, my aunt and uncle's house had a heat pump, which meant that the outdoor unit ran all year long; I did not know what a heat pump was until I was in high school, but I did know that particular unit ran constantly.

My cousin's birthday is in October. My aunt and uncle bought the house new in 1987 and sold it in November 1994 when they moved to Virginia. This would have been in either October 1993, or right before they moved out out of the house in October 1994, which was would have been my cousin's 5th or 6th birthday (My cousin was born in October 1988 and I was born in March 1989). My mom and I drove down to Maryland from PA, and in this particular instance, I was in the backyard with my cousin and his friends waiting in line to take a whack at the pinata.

As stated above, the heat pump was located in the backyard rather than on the side of the house where I used to A/C units being located. It was on the right side if you were standing in the backyard looking at the rear of the house. I am 99% sure that it was a York Stellar, which was very common in new contruction from the mid-1980s all the way up to the early 2000s. The bar where I used to work has a 2005 York Stellar 5-ton heat pump. I believe that 2005 was the last year for production of the Stellar, though the Affinity and Stellar were produced side-by-side for probably two years in the early 2000s.

Anyway, I can remember waiting in line for the piñata, and constantly looking over my shoulder at the heat pump (I say again that I had no idea what a heat pump was until 2006-2007, and I just universally referred to all residential A/C units as air-conditioners back then); I was terrified that the big mean A/C unit would kick on at any moment, and my mom had to keep reassuring me otherwise. On that particular occasion, the big mean York monster didn't turn on and I got to bash the piñata without worry...

 

On another occasion, also in either 1993 or 1994 but before my cousin's birthday party, my mom took me down to Maryland for a visit. It was a nice day, and my cousin went out into the backyard to play. My mom and aunt encouraged me to go out and play with him, but I was terrified of that damn heat pump!

I can vividly remember my mom saying "Aunt Annie is going to turn it off." I took that literally, but my aunt actually just adjusted the thermostat so the unit would shut off and didn't actually switch it off...

My aunt and uncle's house was fairly odd by late 1980s single-family home standards. It was a former model home, so it also had a lot of upgrades and high-end finishes (by 1987 standards) that my aunt and uncle wouldn't have paid extra for if they built the house from scratch. They got a deal on the house because the housing market wasn't exactly red hot at the time.

Despite being a 4-bedroom/2.5 bath home of more than 2,000 square feet, the house only had a 1-car garage. The fourth bedroom, used as a guestroom, was more of a loft because it had a half-wall that overlooked the family room rather than four full walls. The house had a walkout basement that was also finished, which wasn't as common in the 1980s as it is today.

The house had a small back deck off the kitchen, but the backyard was not accessible from the deck because the house was on a hill and the deck had no stairs. The only way to access the backyard from the inside of the house was via a sliding glass door in the basement.

I played with my cousin with a good long time with no issues; I'm pretty sure it was warm out, so it would have been in A/C mode. The house reached the set temperature on the thermostat, the humongous York roared to life, and I ran into the house screaming in terror; I ran through the open basement door, up the stairs, and into the kitchen where my mom was at the kitchen table chatting with my aunt. I was crying by the time I got up there and hugged my mom for dear life. This is why my aunt turned the thing all the way off, rather than just adjusting the thermostat, when I was there for my cousin's birthday party.

 

When you're a tiny preschool-age kid, everyone and everything looks bigger than actual size. People, vehicles, and yes, even household appliances like air-conditioners...

The York at my aunt and uncle's house was larger than any other residential unit I'd seen at the time, and in my experience, the largest residential units in terms of actual footprint are at least 3.5 nominal tons (42,000 BTUs). Residential central air-conditioners and heat pumps range in cooling capacity from 1.5 nominal tons (18,000 BTUs) to 5 tons (60,000 BTUs). 5 nominal tons is the largest you can get in a residential unit; 2-ton (24,000 BTUs), 2.5-ton (30,000 BTUs, 3-ton (36,000 BTUs), 3.5-ton (42,000 BTUs), and 4-ton (48,000 BTUs) are the other residential sizes. I believe that Trane did make 1-ton (12,000 BTUs) split-system units, but they don't anymore and I'm pretty sure that only ductless mini-splits and window units are available this small. I've also been told that 4.5-ton (54,000 BTUs) was available from a couple manufacturers, but I've never seen on in person, and no major manufacturer presently offers a 4.5-ton unit. All residential split-system units range in size from 1.5 nominal tons to 5 nominal tons, with the size jumping directly from 4-ton to 5-ton. 2-stage and variable-speed units are not available in "half-ton" sizes (1.5, 2.5, 3.5). When the compressor in my Grandma's 3.5-ton heat pump failed in 2015, I convinced her that a 2-stage unit with a variable-speed air handler was the better option than another single-stage/single-speed system. Since 2-stage 3.5-ton unit was not available, the conctractor did a load calculation and determined that adding 6,000 BTUs would not cause any issues.

The biggest issue with oversizing an air-conditioner or heat pump is that the unit will cool down the house too fast, resulting in a cool house, but one that is clammy and humid due to the unit not being able to properly condition the space. An air-conditioner's true purpose is to remove humidity, and the cold air being forced out of the vents is merely a byproduct of this process.

 

I was so obsessed with estimating the nominal tonnage of the heat pump in my aunt and uncle's old house that I texted my uncle and asked for the address so I could punch it into Zillow to get the square footage; I got the address from my uncle, and for some strange reason, Zillow does not list number of bedrooms (I think it was 4 if you count the weird loft/overlook room, with a possible 5th in the finished basement). Finished basements are almost never included in the official square footage tally, but Zillow says that the house is 2,018 square feet and has 3.5 bathrooms. I'm think that it is probably over 2,500 if the finished basement is included...

So, if we take into account the fact that the house is over 2,000 square feet and located in the DC metro area, I would guess that the York heat pump was a minimum of 3.5 nominals tons. It could have been a 4-ton, but it had to be at least 3.5 tons. York Stellar units of 1.5 to 2 nominal tons tend to be incredibly small, with the 2.5 and 3 nominal ton units being a bit larger. The 3.5-ton units are generally bigger than anything under 2.5 tons, but whether or not they have the same footprint as a 4-ton or 5-ton unit depends on the manufacturer and whether or not it's a high-end unit.

The Trane XL19i, XL20i, and XV20i all have the the same basic size regardless of whether it's a 2-ton, a 3-ton, a 4-ton, or a 5-ton. The compressor is what determines cooling capacity, but having a larger condenser coil always makes a unit more efficient, regardless of cooling capacity; I also believe that the XL1800i, Trane's first 2-compressor unit which was manufactured from 1997 to 2002, had the same footprint regardless of cooling capacity. Also, 2-stage rarely means two compressors. I believe that Lennox may have done dual compressors on the Dave Lennox Signature Series models in the 1980s and 1990s, but Trane continued to produce them until probably less than five years ago.

The XL1800 was Trane's first 2-compressor unit, produced from 1997 to 2002, and exclusively using R-22 refrigerant; I actually filmed a 1998 Trane XL1800 heat pump for my YouTube channel back in 2011, and to date it is the only such unit I've ever seen in person.

The XL19i debuted in 2003 I believe, with a completely redesigned and far sleeker appearance. The original Trane XL-series was in production from 1986 to 2002, and the appearance was virtually unchanged. The first model was the XL1200, followed by the XL1400 in the 1990s, and then the XL1800 in 1997. The redesigned XL-series came out in 2002, and the XL19i came out in 2003, initially with R-22, but with an R410a version debuting before the government-mandated phaseout of R-22. The XL20i debuted in either 2010 or 2011, exclusively with R410a, and my grandma's old neighbor was kind enough to let me film his 2011 XL20i.

Trane XL and XLi units have remained virtually unchanged externally since their debut, though Trane has stopped making 2-compressor units and replaced the XL20i with the XV20i, which has a variable-speed compressor instead of 2 single-stage compressors. The XLi looks extremely similiar to the ordinary XL, but can easily be told apart by the lower and more streamlined fan grille.

Some XL and XR series have a single 2-stage compressor, but the dual compressor XL20i seems to have been out of production for 2 or 3 years. It is also possible to get a variable-speed XV18i, which is slightly cheaper than the XV20i and lacks the distinctive WeatherGuard top that comes standard on all XL units and the XV20i. It is also possible to get a side-discharge XV19i, which resembles a ductless mini-split and is intended for use on narrow lots or anywhere space is at a premium, but the XV19i is only available as a heat pump.

 

@auskip07

My aunt and uncle sold the house in Maryland and 1994 and bought a much larger house in Fairfax County, Virginia that same year. This was because it was closer to my uncle's job, and in a much better school district. This was an enormous 5-bedroom, 2-story, brick-fronted colonial that had been built in 1981. It had three fireplaces, including one in the finished basement, which was more of a studio apartment than a finished basement. The house had three full bathrooms (including the master bathroom) on the 2nd floor, a powder room on the first floor, and a fourth full bath in the basement. There was also a second kitchen (albeit without a dishwasher) in the basement.

The house was incredibly well-built, but it's one shortcoming was the HVAC system. Built at a time when natural gas was not available in that area, and when home heating oil was obscenely expensive due to inflation, the builder had gone with a heat pump. This wasn't a particularly big issue, but for some reason the builder went with only one unit for that whole goddamn house. Two separate systems would have been the best way to go, but even an air handler in the attic would have worked better. NOPE!

As is the case with most homes in the Northeast with forced air heat built in the last 80 years or so, regardless of the heating fuel, the indoor unit was in the basement. Now, with a heat pump, the heating performance in the dead of winter always sucked and it was up to the fireplaced to take the chill out of the air. Two heat pumps would have sucked in the winter as well, but in the summer, it was impossible to make the upstairs anywhere close to comfortable without turning the first floor into an icebox.

Zillow lists the square foot of that house at just 4,372 square feet, and I believe that the finished basement is included in that figure. Even without a finished basement, the house is probably well over 3,000 square feet. And the builder went with only HVAC system, in a McMansion-sized house, in NORTHERN FUCKING VIRGINIA!



There are like two dozen houses in that neighborhood, all built in the early 1980s. The heat pumps are located in the traditional location on the side of the house, with most being visible from the public road. In that whole neighborhood, only one of those houses has two separate units for upstairs and downstairs. What a lot of people do, when the existing single HVAC system in their relatively large 2-story home doesn't cut it, is install a smaller unit sized just for the upstairs and leave the existing system in place. The existing system keeps the house plenty cold during the day, including the upstairs, but then they can raise the temperature on the primary system and rely solely on the 2nd floor system when they are sleeping.

A cheaper alternative to a whole new central A/C system upstairs, which would easily be $10,000-$20,000 or more, is ductless mini-splits. The lone house with dual-zone in my aunt's neighborhood had two small Trane XE1000 heat pumps, which were not original to the house, as the XE-series first came out in 1986 or 1987, and the 10 SEER version was not released until about 1992. Sure, these units could have replaced a larger unit when the homeowner tired of that single unit's lackluster performance, and in Fairfax County someone who could afford that house could probably afford the amount of renovating required to put in properly sized ducts...

You see, if that house was built with a single 5-ton unit, then the ductwork was designed for a 5-ton unit. Installing a 4-ton unit in place of a 3.5-ton unit with ductwork for a 3.5-ton unit will not cause any issues, but installing a 3-ton or smaller unit in place of a 5-ton unit with ductwork that was sized for a 5-ton unit will likely cause performance issues. Therefore, I believe that the the original owner of this house thought ahead when having it built and paid extra for two separate systems. My aunt and uncle's house had a 5-ton Trane XE1000 installed in 2001 or 2002, when the original unit shit the bed, but this unit was enormous, and the 2 units at the other house were relatively small by comparison; Given the size of that house, I'm guessing that they were dual 2.5-ton units, or possibly a 2.5-ton and a 3-ton. 1.5-ton to 2.5-ton Trane XE1000s are very small, with 3-ton to 4-ton being considerably larger, and 5-ton being the largest.

I don't remember if it was the house on the corner or the one immediately next door to the right that had the dual-zone heat pumps, but I'm pretty sure it was the one on the right. According to Zillow, that house was built in 1980, and was last sold in April 1981 for just under $194K! This means that the original owners still own it, and after 42 years they definitely do not have a mortgage anymore. On top of that, the house is now estimated to be worth almost $1.3 million! Zillow says the house is 3,356 square feet, with 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms; I am looking at the house on Zillow right now, and I actually see the dual heat pumps in the satellite imagery, so this is definitely the right house. There is a Google Earth drive-by image of the house, which shows it perfectly; I remember that the house was brick with white columns in the front, so that's another clue. Most of these houses were resold before the beginning of the 21st century and several have had three or four owners since being built, so I am having a hard time finding any more with price history going back to the 1980s. The one next door to my aunt and uncle's house was last sold in 1992 for $330K; I say again, that I have a feeling the house on the culdesac was built with dual heat pumps back in 1980 because the the owners paid extra for it.

 

This is exactly what I was talking about. This is for the Trane XL1400, which hasn't been in production for about 20 years, but 2.5 to 5-ton units have the same footprint...