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

Don't over look the Avalon. It's a NICE car too.

 

There is a class action lawsuit for that.
Evidently it's a big issue.

 

I love Avalons, but Amanda really has her heart set on a Camry…

 

My neighbors traded their problematic Wagoneer for a brand new Escalade in February, and the Escalade is presently getting a new engine due to a massive recall. Another neighbor just bought a new Escalade less than two years ago and the thing has like 35K miles; it is also getting a new engine as part of that recall!

 

GM is having a rough time.
Their new 10 spd Transmission and 6.2 engines are not working out too well.

Still think the old 6.0 was one of the best they put in their trucks.

 

This Ukrainian guy that I got some scrap HVAC equipment from last year had a Chevy Express with like 300K miles; I forget what year it was, but it had the original engine and transmission! That was a 6.0L…

 

I would skip replacing the steering rack for a leak, just add fluid when needed.

 

Amanda wants it replaced, but the car is still going to need an alignment even if we don’t replace the rack…

 

I think those are called Triple-Square, actually have a set from fixing something on my ex-fiancé' old VW Jetta.

 

I have Shawn's 6.0 in the garage on the engine stand, it needs a rear main seal, thing leaked oil like a water faucet.

 

Yeah. That sounds right.
And lug bolts.......not nuts.

Not that it's a big deal.
But come on.....

 

That truck was abused, so I think it’s the exception rather than rule…

 

Well the original 6.0 that was in that truck somehow had a piston ring come off, you can imagine the damage that caused, I remember pulling a spark plug and seeing it bent up wondering wtf was going on. This 6.0 came from the Junkyard and has 123K, it had a cylinder head off at one point because you can see the gasket is different and vaguely remember popping the valve cover off and noticing a different rocker arm.

 

I've helped do a disc brake job but not as the primary, I know enough people I'd rather ask for help with something like that. They'll notice things I might miss.

Same reasons I haven't done an oil change myself in about 25 years, my opportunity cost isn't worth the few dollars between having to do the work, go buy the stuff, go return the old oil etc..

There are certain types of things I would rather pay to get done, I probably could have tackled the steering shaft on mine with a little help but I'd rather not risk botching steering.

In general (key phrase of course), I remember back in the day it was usually American engines were non-interference. My ex girlfriend's Ford Escort pitched the belt and fortunately for her that was a non-interference.

That's just it..hell, most of the cars I bought for under a grand back in the day didn't even have working AC and several of them didn't have it in the first place! Remember too that money went further for me then because of inflation plus buying at auctions.

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@Bishop84
@ColoradoTJ
@Cpl. Punishment
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@stbear
@TnShooter
@wilcam47

Jesus Christ.

That’s all I’ve got to say after what went down on Saturday night.

I saw a dead body, as in one that wasn’t prepared for a funeral, for the first time…

Some of you may remember mine and Amanda’s old friend Emily, with whom we’ve had a very tumultuous relationship over the last couple of years. I’ve known Emily since 2006 and Amanda has known her since 2005; Amanda met her at MBIT and I met her in our junior year of high school.

Emily turned 36 last November, and to say she was unhealthy was understatement.

We had recently started talking to her again, and Amanda realized while we were at my house watching TV that she hadn’t heard from her since Thursday (May 1st). Amanda last texted with her on Thursday, and I hadn’t texted with her since Monday. It was a little after 8pm when Amanda told me she had a bad feeling; I texted Emily to humor Amanda, and it was marked as “delivered” but not “read”. I then called her. It rang a few times and went to voicemail.

Emily only lives about 15 minutes from my house, so after Amanda’s mom being dead in her apartment for five days, we hopped in the truck and hauled ass to her condo in a bad storm.

Her white Mitsubishi Outlander was parked in its usual spot, and her condo was dark; I really got a bad feeling at that point. I had brought a sledgehammer from home in case I saw her in obvious distress through the window and needed to break in.

Emily’s condo is old and only has one door. There is a patio, with the door on the right and the window is directly in front of you. As stated above, all of the lights were out, but the blinds were partially up.

I saw Emily lying on the couch, as if she’d passed out drunk (but she doesn’t drink) and was sleeping. I actually believe that I might have started knocking before I looked through the window. I pounded on the glass and we both were pounding on the door.

Amanda said she believed she saw Emily’s chest going up and down, which led us to believe that she was in distress but alive.

I called 911, and they had both the police and EMS there in pretty good time. In a stroke of pure luck, a detective with the local PD happened to be on call and lived in the same development.

So, the cop shined his flashlight through the window, and Emily didn’t move, so the medic donkey kicked the front door. He busted the door frame in about three kicks. They went in while Amanda and I watched through the blinds. As soon as they turned on the light, I knew something was wrong. Something did not look right about Emily, a combination of her skin color and the position her body was in. The medic started attaching EKGs to Emily, and at that point the cop shut the blinds to keep us from looking in. Moments later, he came outside and told us that Emily was gone, and had been gone for a day or two. The central A/C had been on in the apartment, so that likely preserved her body. After comparing text messages with a friend who last talked to her at 9:42pm on Friday, we believe she passed some after 10pm on Friday. Amanda promptly lost it upon hearing the Emily was dead. I had called my dad around the time they started working on Emily, and started to tear up when I told him she was dead.

So, Emily had a 10-year dog named Hannah, and we ended up taking her so she didn’t end up going to the shelter. She is presently sleeping in the guest room with Amanda as I type this.

We gave our info to the police and were there until almost midnight. The police were finally able to get ahold of Emily’s dad, who drove out and hugged Amanda to show his gratitude. Emily’s dad is not a dog person, and he was glad that we volunteered to take Hannah.

We were there when Emily’s body was wheeled out to the coroner’s van. I had Hannah on a leash, and she started whining and attempting to follow the gurney. Even though Emily was in a body bag, Hannah knew it was her; I was on the phone with my mom when Emily was taken out, and started crying upon seeing Hannah’s reaction.

We took the truck because we didn’t feel comfortable driving the PT Cruiser, which is street legal but still needs a lot of work, in the rain. Obviously, two large adults and a dog won’t fit in a regular cab Taco very well; my parents had already said I could take Hannah, but I called them to see if they could bring the Murano out to get Hannah home. My parents took the truck home, while Amanda and I took Hannah in the Murano. We went to Amanda’s house so she could get her clothes and finally got home at probably close to 12:30am.

We are going to find a rescue that will take Hannah, but in the meantime she gets along great with Porter!

But seriously, what a fucking night!!!

 

My goodness..that's terrible, man. HUGS FOR YOU ALL.

You're good friends of her to care about her that much to check in on her and to keep Hannah safe.

 

I’m just glad Amanda got “that feeling”…

The whole thing with her birth mother being dead in her apartment for five days is still pretty fresh in our minds, even though we didn’t actually see the body that time. We knew something was wrong and we just didn’t want Emily to suffer the indignity of rotting in her condo for a week or more.

 

I don’t react well to stuff like this, venting and sharing help, continue to express your feelings if you ever need to. I suffer from ptsd because of repressed issues. I wish you and Amanda the best moving forward.