What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

For the average bear this is unnecessary. It really helps some folks who wish to have additional tiedown points near the tailgate.

Now if your planning on running a hard topper, a bed rack, a RTT, and/or other gear bed stiffeners are a good idea.

I'm not planning on a hard top in the immediate future, however I'm planning on getting some bed stiffeners for additional tie down points.

 

Which is why I probably will leave it OEM.

 

Thanks for the info! Makes total sense

 

Bummer about your Sport. They ever find any "leads" man? Any plans for the replacement? Something about LB tacos and 35's just seem proportional to me. I'm probably topped out at 34's.

 

I'm on laptop at home. Gremlins are back though, so no uploading for me.

 

I added them because I have a hard topper.

 

Changed oil, filter, @70036 miles.

Also, got this dent behind my passenger pillar wrap, a while back, does anyone have a suggestion how to correct this? I was thinking to update with a patterned wrap to hide it, not sure I want to spend cash to fix with bodywork, but if I did, how much do you think it would be?

 

Did you happen to call a local PDR guy? They can usually assess the situation and let you know a price and if they can/can't tackle the job with just a few text messages.

 

Garmin dash cam mini 3 + Donger Technologies power adapter--super clean!

 

For you guys that use ramps to change oil: Drive vehicle up on ramps, front tires. Drain oil and change filter. You can't start engine to back down ramps to a level surface. So how much oil do you add in order to start engine to get down off ramps?
And does vehicle on ramps drain proper amount of oil?

 

someone posted a pachmayr grip like material for these a few days ago that would be the upgrade I'd do after having it pushed out. id just see if you can get the PDR guy to hit it then throw a new wrap on it. otherwise anything you put over that ding is going to lift.

 

Just get another set of ramps for the back or don't use them.. or keep the truck in neutral with the e-brake applied

 

Since the V6 engine takes 6 (ish) quarts of oil to fill up on an oil change, just put 5 to 5.5 quarts in it and start the engine and back off ramps to level ground, then stop engine and top off as needed...

Close enough, no matter what, there will be oil left in the VVT system as well as the heads, oil passages, bearings etc etc...

EDITed to say V6

 

I can’t see how you get all the oil to drain out if it is on an angle while on the ramps. Seems counter productive to me. But to each his own.

 

Easy enough to test, just drain the engine oil with the vehicle up on the ramps, then install the plug finger tight, use a floor jack to lower vehicle and using a empty pan, pull the plug again and measure what comes out...

And is the drain plug not towards the rear of the engine on the V6 anyway??

 

Please say it don't make any difference, Aunt Belle! Please! You gotta say! You gotta tell me it don't make any difference!

 

Some probably will not like this, but I am certain that there is a fair margin with regard to oil level, the dip stick range is a very good reference, to understand the "acceptable" range, but know that the "Critical" range is even wider. The Acceptable range these days is about 1.5-2 qts wide, and the critical range is likely more than 2-1/2 qts (estimate). Though I might be more cautious with both over filling and running low on oil, if I were off-roading, at steep angles of any kind, for obvious reasons.

I regularly change the oil every 5,000 miles (for MANY years, used to change every 3,300; before synthetic oils); and I bet that I have not pulled the dipstick on any family vehicles more than 2-5 times in the life of each vehicle, all within the first 2 oil changes. The most used vehicle having acquired 270,000 miles, which burned almost 2qts of oil between changes, near the end of its time with me.

I have a list on the wall, of each vehicle and how much oil it takes, I drain and measure what comes out (so I understand how much oil was used, and I put a measured amount in, check for leaks, and send it out the door.

Even more against the norm, I NEVER use a wrench on an oil filter. back in the early 1980's, I got tired of fighting an oil wrench into place to remove an oil filter; and started only hand tightening oil filters; and not even installing as tight as possible by bare hand, but to what I figure is tight enough, and regulated by how difficult it was to remove by hand, on the next oil change. Probably nearing 100 oil changes since, I had only one instance where I wish I had tightened the filter just a little more. It was on my IO boat, and I would see traces of oil when i pumped the bilge; turned out that the oil filter was dripping slightly, so put a hand on it and snugged it a bit more to stop the drip.

The opposite of Garage mechanics, I find it offensive and detrimental to over tighten Lugs, Oil filters and drain plugs; I do not have fear of these things falling off, and I find it offensive to disregard stripped threads and warped rotors; for an artificial peace of mind that some get from making things Extra Tight. God help anyone that lets a garage rotate tires, and later needs to change a flat, with the tools provided with the car!!

 

For lugs, Discount Tire seems to do wheel mounting correctly using torque sockets although it would be even better to use a quality torque wrench. At least it prevents overtightening!

 

PDR = pillar door repair guy? How do I find a local?