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

My other neighbor’s daughter, who’s probably even more obsessed with Halloween than I am!

 

It was dark by the time we finished the first round of stickering, so I waited until this mornin to take pics; I fucked up on of the stickers, most notably the hood medallion and the passenger side “Special Unit #1”, so I ordered two more sticker kits that should be here in a about a week…

 

I like the windshield one, you should leave it on year round

 

I will remove the bloody handprints and stuff, but the black lettering is now permanent!

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Empty_Lord
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@Steves104x4
@TnShooter

This house is located on the same street where my friend Gwyn and my girlfriend Amanda both live. It was built in 1958 and, according to public record, last sold in December 1976 for $12,100! Almost 50 years later, I think it’s safe to say that mortgage has long since been paid off (if they didn’t buy the house outright to begin with). After closing costs and shit, the owner would be profiting about $300K if they sold the house!

 

Crazy how high prices of real estate have gotten.

 

Coming from someone living in Southern California, at that price, they might as well be giving it away lol

 

Time to move, Les. Live like a hillbilly.

 

You couldn’t own a cardboard shack in my neighborhood for $300k. And it’s not fancy at all lol

 

I hear Gary Indiana is nice this time of year

 

Isn’t that where the late Michael Jackson is from? It’s been a shithole since all the manufacturing jobs evaporated…

 

Big USS steel mill down there.

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@steelcity2
@Steves104x4
@TnShooter

I can’t believe that I forgot to post this on TW!



15 years and 3 days ago (September 30th, 2009), my dad bought the Tacoma brand new at Peruzzi Toyota in Hatfield, Pennsylvania!

The sticker price was like $17K in change. My dad got like $2,300 for the 1996 Nissan Pathfinder he traded in, and negotiated a little bit off the final price, resulting in like $14,900 OTD. He put $2,000 down, financed the rest through Citadel at 0.9% APR, and had the truck paid off by late 2012 or early 2013; I don’t remember if it was a 3-year loan or a 5-year loan, but I believe it was five years because I seem to remember him saying he paid it off early when the title came in the mail.

Anyway, my truck has had to have the following items replaced since 2011 that I wouldn’t consider to be normal wear items…

• Factory radio (2011; done under warranty because the radio kept shutting off and turning on at random)
• HVAC blower motor (2011 or 2012; warranty)
• AUX input for iPod (2011 or 2012; warranty)
  
• Master cylinder (2014; unfortunately it happened out of warranty)
• A/C evaporator (2017)
• ABS module (2024)

I do not include the frame replacement, the head gasket, or the transmission in that list; frame replacement was done in November 2021 at 140K miles, head gasket and timing chain were replaced in October 2022 at 157K miles, and tranny was done in July 2024 at 203K miles.

My truck presently has fairly new tires, new front brake pads, fairly new rear brakes, and just 1,500 miles since its last oil change. The only things really wrong with it are that it burns roughly a quart of oil every 3,500 to 4,500 miles, the aftermarket radio shuts off and reboots at random times, and the aftermarket Bluetooth acts up.

The A/C blows ICE COLD, the heat works great, and everything else (cruise control, backup camera, ABS, traction control, etc) functions perfectly! I do plan on replacing the A/C compressor next year because it is very noisy and shakes the truck at idle. I would rather drop $733.20 (Pete’s quote) and get it replaced than have it fail during a heat wave and have to wait to get it into Pete’s because he is swamped.

My credit score is great, but with interest rates the way they are, I find it highly unlikely that I will be buying a newer vehicle anytime soon. I will put a new engine in this truck before I finance a used car, because an engine out of a totaled donor truck would be far cheaper than a year worth of payments on a decent used truck!

Here are some pictures taken the dealership the night we bought it back in 2009!

 

Originally a thread called What’s the best mileage anybody’s gotten in a 5-lug RC (auto or 5-speed)?...

I have an automatic, and the window sticker said 19 city/25 highway; I observed an average of 28 MPG one time, YEARS AGO. The truck has been in my family since new, and titled to me since December 2016; I have observed anywhere from 14 MPG to 22 MPG over the five years, depending on driving conditions, A/C usage, and a number of other factors.

I am a prolific air-conditioning user with a lead foot, so this does not help. My truck also has over 206K miles as of this post and burns oil at a rate of about one quart roughly every 3,500 to 4,500 miles (so virtually none). The age and mileage of the engine has probably reduced efficiency.

I borrowed a 16-foot single-axle trailer from work to help my girlfriend and her friend move from Jersey down into Pennsylvania, and averaged about 17 MPG while pulling it, which I thought was nothing short of impressive.

During the first months of COVID when gas was incredibly cheap, I put 93 in my truck at the wholesale club to see if there was a noticeable difference in mileage; I observed a difference if 1 or 2 MPG, which made paying extra for premium not worth it.

I did determine, however, that my mileage benefited greatly when I put 89 in the truck before a long trip on the highway.

What has been everyone else’s experience?

 

Popped in to see the deluge of "99 MPG! LOL!" dash shots from people going downhill..and then I remembered, oh yeah, I came to my senses. LOL.

 

If you are feeling friskier, I hear east St Louis is nice

 

I’ve actually been to St. Louis. My dad got transferred from Pennsylvania back to California in 1996, and we drove across country. My dad bought a brand new Nissan Pathfinder in May 1996 and that’s what we drove across the country in.

My parents bought me a Symphonic 9-inch color TV with a VCR, with both household and cigarette lighter plugs, so I could watch movies on the trip; I spent most of that trip watching movies, but we happened to pass the St. Louis Arch during a gnarly thunderstorm, and that sight was impressive enough to draw my attention way from the TV. We were going to stop at the Arch, but that damn storm nixed that idea. I’ve never been to St. Louis, or even Missouri, since.

I don’t know St. Louis was like in 1996, but about a decade ago I wanted to go with my dad there when he went to the college wrestling championships; I would have explored the city while he watched wrestling, but he refused to let me come, saying St. Louis was too dangerous (this was not long after that teenager got shot and killed by a cop in Ferguson). I went with my dad to Oklahoma City for the 2014 college wrestling championships, but OKC is wayyy different than St. Louis. I believe the Ferguson shooting was in the summer 2013, and the 2015 college wrestling championships were in March 2015, after we went to Oklahoma. My dad didn’t want me wandering around St. Louis alone, and I don’t blame him.

I haven’t been to NYC since 2019, and I don’t even like going into Philly anymore; I was last in Philly in March 2024, for that Tacoma meet with @stbear and the other guys. The only other time I go into Philly is when Amanda and I go to the auto show.

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@Steves104x4
@TnShooter

I had my first in-person interview at Fred Beans today, and I think it went well. My only grievance is that the warehouse is not air-conditioned. Luckily, the break room is air-conditioned, and I get an hour break. Also, it was in the 70s and quite humid today, and not particularly unpleasant in the warehouse when one of the supervisors gave me a tour. I've got to pass a drug test (no problem) and take a physical if I get the job, and I'm pretty sure they have to do a background check as well, but I'm thinking I'll be able to start before Halloween once I get a get the job. I will hear back from them on Monday, and once I get confirmation that I've gotten job, I will put in my two weeks at the nursing home and go from there. I will make like $4,000 more per year after taxes at this job than I do at the nursing home, and NO WEEKENDS!