Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

I was in Illinois last year. East Dubuque and Galena.
It was ok.
Found a shop in Galena that sold some real good bbq seasoning.
@Pixeltim that's where I got that jar of picked quail eggs for you.

 

You need back up???



Ya!!!! You heard the man!!!

 

Did you walk that Main Street in Galena with all of the shops?

 

Parked next to this interesting beast at my daughters soccer game tonight

 

Yes, lots of shops.
my stepson and his girlfriend live in East Dubuque and she works in Galena.

 

They are never bright enough...

 

We ride the bike there. Nice ride. There is a really good Italian restaurant there

 

Check this out guys. Just noticed that this is now a contender for most popular regional thread over here in Mid West.

 

Do you remember the name of the restaurant?

 

Hmmm I can’t remember. Did you eat at one? I could describe it.

 

Didn't eat anywhere. But, I'm always on the look out for good food when traveling.

 

Look, but never eat?

 

I looked at the Kevin Bacon Burgers.


Then I ate one.

 

Just one?

btw, the next ones will be better. I forgot the cheese on the last ones.

 

They even know of the Wisconsin Tacomas and Bad Financial Advice thread here in AZ lol. I think it's the thread title @Thatbassguy nailed it.

 

We actually currently hold both the #1 and #4 spots!

 

So, you know how we all freak out about new noises from our trucks, and we're like so sensitive to it and overreact and don't understand how the average driver can't hear these things? Well, I am at least...

A week before the Arkansas trip I did a simple oil change. Removed 2 skid plates, oil and filter swap, button it all back up. The next day going to work I noticed a weird, seemingly random and disturbing grinding rumble a few times. Holy sh!t, check the oil, look for leaks, WTF did my dumbass do wrong?! Couldn't figure it out, and the truck was driving fine. No loss of power, steering, suspension, everything fine. I decided to say "F it" let's roll and see if we have issues in Arkansas. I didn't, but still heard the noise. A couple times I shouted to @pearing when he was filming or whatnot, "did you hear that?" Don't think he ever did. I was also hoping to run it by @CygnusX191 but didn't get that opportunity...

Back home, I started searching for a pattern to the noise. Didn't matter if I was in 2, 4HI, 4LO, it was still there. I did notice that, although it was difficult to reproduce, it seemed to happen more at low RPMs. Still baffled.

Yesterday I had some time to do stuff like an oil change on the wife's Tiguan and got underneath the truck for a bit. A friend stopped over and we went for a ride so he could hear the sound. Still no idea where this was coming from. Took off 2 of the 3 skid plates. Still no idea. Time to have a beer instead. Never put the 2 skids back on.

I put on about 45 miles today, some in stop and go freeway traffic where I definitely should have heard it. Did not hear it once. Skid plates. I've had the rear skid plate in contact with the exhaust crossover and I know that rattle. This was nothing like it. I have no idea where this had been coming from. I seriously thought it was drive train related, torque converter or trans or something. I know that with all the skids on the front end of the truck is obviously stiffened up a bit, but I wouldn't think it changes the geometry of stuff up there all that much.

So, I'm going to put the middle skid back on in the next few days and see if it comes back. If not, then the rear skid. If I can identify where it's coming from, I'll have to evaluate what I can do about it.

This story reminds me of the time at Tigerton when I was hearing a disturbing clunk out on the trails and I was certain that my front driver's side suspension was shot and gonna be expensive. The genius @McSpazatron had an idea. We borrowed some grease from somewhere under the hood ("grease of opportunity") and he applied it to my hood latch. PROBLEM SOLVED! The guy is a wizard. I slept well that night.

 

Well maybe 2 or 3.