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

Boring day at work OP?

 

I

I was thinking this exact thing. His reg cab is this same size as a VW beetle.

 

Guys give him a break he's lonely.

 

looking to upgrade my 2006 stereo soon. What would you guys recommend? Don't want to go over $500 and my cousin will help me install.

 

That song is terrible. Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oclDVweTR4 DnD players, abounding?

It's also a shame your cell phone recording your stereo doesn't do it justice for us...

 

Just bought the song on iTunes. I actually recorded the "Trivium" demonstration a few days BEFORE my muscle surgery. It's kind of chilly outside and I want to take it easy. I promise I will do a 1080p TV quality video of my stereo.

 

For speakers, you can't go wrong with anything Pioneer. DO NOT get Sony Xplod. Sony products as a whole are good, after all I have a Sony head unit in my truck now and I've been for the most part satisfied; but I've heard bad things about Xplod speakers. My speakers cost $110 on Crutchfield back in 2013. A decent component system can cost anywhere from $100 to $150. I prefer Pioneer, but a friend of mine put Kicker speakers in his 2010 Ford F150 XLT while retaining the factory radio and has been extremely satisfied with them.

I also had went to a car show about three years ago and this car audio installer/dealer had his 2010 Tundra Rock Warrior at the show. The Tundra was largely stock on the outside with the exception of aftermarket wheels, and the interior was mostly stock too. However, this truck had a system with like a dozen speakers in various locations, and a huge 3,500 watt subwoofer in the backseat. The speakers and the subwoofer were all Sundown Audio, a fairly new company based in North Carolina. The owner let me sit in the truck and plug my iPhone into the system so I could hear my favorite song (was back then and still is "Once Bitten Twice Shy" by Great White). I have no idea how much Sundown Audio products cost, but I was thoroughly impressed by the quality.

As for head units, it's all a matter of what you want. If you want a touch-screen double-DIN unit like mine, you're looking at $200+. This was back in 2013, but I paid roughly $270 total before installation for a Pioneer single-DIN CD player ($130), Pioneer component speaker system ($110), and custom tweeter brackets (roughly $30).

How much you pay for a head unit depends on what you want. I highly recommend getting a unit that has a USB input (sound quality is WAYYY BETTER than 3.5M AUX input). If you don't listen to CDs anymore, you can save money by getting an AM/FM stereo "digital media receiver" that has USB/AUX ports but no CD player. If you don't want Bluetooth you can save quite a bit of money as well. I've seen CD receivers with Bluetooth, AUX, and USB for less than $100. I've seen basic Pioneer AM/FM CD receivers on Crutchfield for like $80 that have no Bluetooth and do have an AUX port but no USB. Again, unless you're really on a budget DO NOT get a head unit with only AUX and no USB.

 

Thanks! The only problem is that it is a very tight fit in the space behind the dash. I had this problem with the Pioneer single-DIN as well. There are a ton of wires and other mechanical/electronic guts back there, and the stereo mounting bracket is rather crooked (don't know if you can see it in the video). My neighbor who helped install it is going to fix this, but neither of had the time because of work and other obligations.

This is the dash kit I have in my truck: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/metra-d..._bgQv04CuQCNOa9YSxS2pLY6ePanit9FLkaAtr28P8HAQ

I, however, got mine for free with the Sony head unit on Crutchfield. It costs $50 at Best Buy, and I've seen it for $20-$40 on Crutchfield if you opt to buy it by itself. If you buy a new head unit costing like $99 or more, Crutchfield will include all necessary hardware to install it for free.

 

Video I made for Tacoma World about a year ago; Old Double-DIN Pioneer head unit but same speakers...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m7m2LehJiA

 

As everybody on this site knows, I was involved in accident with a drunk driver in October 2015. Ironically, his drunk ass called the cops. I don't know who he thought he was fooling, but my theory is that he assumed he could get one over on me because he was an old man and I was an immature kid in his eyes. I F-bombed him as soon as I got out of my truck, and he said "Excuse me, young man, you ran that stop sign" in an extraordinarily condescending tone of voice. Well, I got to go home that night and he got taken away in the back of a police car so it's pretty obvious who the cops believed...

I love the Central Bucks Regional Police Department, by the way. They handled the situation in professional matter and went out of their way to make sure I got the proper paperwork to file a claim with my insurance company.

The first officer on seen took information from both of us. It was 9pm at night and pouring rain. I'm not stupid enough to drive drunk to begin with, but I'd just gotten off work so I was about as sober as could be. Responding officer asked if I'd been drinking just as a matter of course, I told him that I had not been drinking, and that was the end of that. Meanwhile, another officer showed up and both cops and drunk guy disappear behind one of the police SUVs. We lived liked 5 minutes away at the time, so my parents hopped in the car and drove out to meet me. I never saw any DUI tests being performed on the old man, but suddenly not long after my parents showed up, one of the officers reappeared and starting going through the drunk guy's Mercedes. The next thing I knew the old man was being taken away in the back of a police SUV. One of the two officers told me and my parents that the guy had in fact been drinking and was being taken to the local hospital for a blood test.

I guess I have a few questions about suspected DUI protocol:

Broad daylight or a clear night is one thing, but was dark, rainy, and windy. How did the officer know for sure that I hadn't been drinking when I told him I had not been? He just asked me if I'd been drinking, I told him no, and that was that.

I didn't see them performing any of the usual field sobriety tests, so I'm wondering how the hell they determined there was sufficient evidence to arrest him for suspicion of DUI? He seemed a little off to me during initial contact (translation: I F-bombed at him as soon as I got out of the truck and he responded by saying I'd run the stop sign), but he definitely did not seem hammered. His BAC at the time of the blood test was between .10 and .16 according to report.

Is it normal for police to just leave a DUI suspect's vehicle by the side of the road as opposed to towing it? I drove back by there later that night and the Benz was still sitting there. Even later the car was gone. The official police report listed the car as driveable, so I'm assuming they either towed it later on or the guy actually sobered up enough to drive it home on his own.

It was like 6 or 7 months before the case went to court, by the way.

 

Charlie... YOU ROCK!!

 

I like taking pictures of trucks, specifically Chevrolet and GMC trucks, and using them in tribute videos I post on YouTube, with Bob Seger's "Like a Rock" as the background music. I primarily take pictures at shows and other special events, or my family and friends put me in contact with people who invited me to take pictures of their trucks. Vary rarely do I ever take pictures of trucks on the street anymore. I've had some bad experiences doing that.

Also, if you think my hobby has a "creep factor," consider that I only photograph trucks. Pin-up contests often go hand in hand with car shows, and pretty women will occasionally pose with the trucks and give me their permission to use the photos online. When I ask people in random places like the grocery store parking lot if I can photograph their vehicles, they almost always say yes. Sometimes they even pose in or with the vehicle. I never photograph people without their permission.

If you think my hobby is weird or creepy, you ain't seen or heard nothing yet. Check out my next post...

 

I'm guessing you backed into this one?

 

@LocoLocal

No, I'm just saying that I know people who are much weirder than me in terms of hobbies and interests...

For example I went to high school with a kid who not only had Asperger's but was also bipolar. In the interest of protecting his privacy, I will refer to him as "Waylon Smithers." If you're familiar with the Simpsons then you know Smithers is Mr. Burns gay personal assistant who collects Malibu Stacy dolls. I refer to my former classmate by this alias because he collected dolls and other "girl" toys and memorabilia. He also liked to wear dresses. I don't think he was gay or a crossdresser, just really messed up in the head. I sympathize with him for his mental problems. Politically, I admit I am right-centrist Libertarian with largely conservative beliefs. However, I am very liberal on certain issues like gay marriage and equal rights. I am one of the most tolerant, easygoing people you will ever meet. I have gay and lesbian friends, and my belief is that whatever consenting adults do behind closed doors is their business.

For example one of my closest friends is openly lesbian. She is also very open about her sex life, and happens to be self-confessed "sadomasochist" and into all sorts of kinky S&M stuff that is downright scary to me. However, I've known her since 8th grade and I see for the great person she is and don't really care what her sexual preferences are. We are still good friends to this day, even though I live in Pennsylvania and she lives in Iowa and I haven't actually seen her in person since 2013.

"Waylon Smithers" on the other hand pushed my unconditional acceptance and tolerance to it's absolute limit. The other thing that annoyed me and my classmates about him was that he rather obnoxiously expected us to be accepting of him and his quirks but regularly criticized the rest of us. For example, he was a vegetarian, and he bugged me on numerous occasions for eating burgers and other meat products in his presence. He also made me and the other guys uncomfortable with his doll and dress obsession, but on one notable occasion absolutely flipped out this one time when the female teacher was out of the room and us normal guys started talking about girls and sex. The only reason I cut him so much slack is because he had serious mental problems. The point I was trying to make is that I may have my quirks and flaws, but my hobbies (specifically taking pictures of trucks and making videos of heat pumps defrosting) are downright normal compared to what I've seen over the years.

 

Get in the habit of carrying a model release form with you basically stating that you will not use their likeness for commercial purposes. Verbal permissions don't mean squat when people think you are making money off them.

 

I wasn't the only one taking pictures. A whole bunch of people whipped out their cameras and smartphones, so I followed suit...

You'd also be surprised how many random people have approached me both on the street and at car shows and asked me to take their picture and send it to them. People assume I'm a professional photographer because I have a Nikon SLR camera around my neck.

 

I primarily go to car shows and other related events now, but occasionally I take pictures of trucks in public non-show settings like parking lots, driveways, construction sites, etc. I don't do the latter as much as I used to because I've had bad experiences.

My primary focus is General Motors. I've been a GM fan since I was like 4, and I think it began when my dad bought a brand new 1993 S-10 Blazer. Ever since then I've had a soft spot for GM trucks, especially first gen S-10s.

About 5 to 7 years ago I had a thriving YouTube channel with a nice combination of HVAC and automotive videos. These included a good number of roughly 6-minute photo mashups featuring Chevy and GMC trucks with none other than Bob Seger's "Like a Rock" as the background music. The choice of this song should be obvious. Anybody who was born before about 1999 probably remembers the "Like a Rock" ad campaign, which started in 1992 and ended in 2004. In the early years, I'd just take photos and make a new video every time I had enough to fill 6 minutes worth of video. This took about a week. In 2010, I accidentally deleted my old channel but I still had all my truck photos and most of my videos so I started from scratch with a new channel.

In 2011, I decided to delete all of my truck tribute videos and start from scratch. I was much more selective when it came to photo quality, and my editing skills had gotten much better. On top of that I now had thousands of truck photos so I didn't have to upload videos on a photo-by-photo basis.

In July 2012, tragedy struck! My external hard drive crashed and I lost EVERYTHING on it, including GM truck photos dating back to 2009! These included irreplaceable photos of trucks from trips Florida, Louisiana, California, and New Jersey. Lesson learned in that case was to always back up photos. From then on I kept my photos on my laptop and my external hard drive. My dad and I went to the Carlisle Truck Nationals in August 2012 and significantly restocked my inventory of photos. From July 2012 to the present day, I have taken like 150,000 GM truck photos. Due to popular demand from viewers, I started photographing Ford trucks for their own tribute videos as well. In April 2013, I decided to start doing Dodge truck tributes as well.

What was supposed to be a short-term break while I "restocked my inventory" has turned into a long-term revamp that will be hitting it's 5-year anniversary in July of this year. I plan on posting some more of my truck photos soon.

 

First off, I have a ton of cameras but the one I primarily use is a Nikon D5300 that I just purchased at Best Buy in July 2016. The lens I use is a 2014 Tamron 18-200. My "fleet" currently consists of the aforementioned Nikon D5300, a 2008ish Canon Powershot S5IS that my friend gave me when he didn't use it anymore, a 2012 Fujifilm Finepix waterproof point-and-shoot camera, and my iPhone. My first SLR was a Nikon D3000 with 18-55 kit lens that my parents bought me for Christmas in 2009.

I think comparing a Canon to a Nikon is like comparing a Chevrolet to Ford. For the most part, it's a matter of personal preference. My parents bought me a Nikon, and that is the brand I've become accustomed to and comfortable with over the years. I am currently on my third Nikon. My second Nikon was a D5100 with a Nikkor 18-105 lens that my parents got me for Christmas in 2012. Read the story of how I got my D5300 here: (will come soon)

There's one thing you should know. I treat my expensive SLRs and related equipment very well (though I still have the "shit happens" accidental damage warranty on it), but I went through probably half a dozen point-and-shoot cameras between 2008 and 2012.

My very first digital camera was a Kodak EasyShare that my parents bought me for Christmas in 2005. I didn't use it all that much from 2005-2008, and I accidentally sat on it and broke the lens. For my 19th birthday in 2008, my parents got me a Sony digital camera. That only lasted a few months because that summer I made the stupid decision to ride my bike with my camera in my hand. I lost control of my bike, flew over the handlebars, and the camera took the impact.

My next camera after that my dad's Fujifilm Finepix that he gave me because he never used. They were only $100 apiece and I went through at least three of them due to careless handling before my parents decided the "shit happens" Geek Squad Black Tie warranty would be a good investment. At one point I busted the screen on one of my Fujis when I dropped it. I did not have the warranty at the time, but I had another identical Fuji with a busted lens but a good screen. My dad works for a defense contractor that builds drones, and one of his electrical engineers transplanted the good screen to the camera with the undamaged lens. I eventually broke that camera too and got a new one, with a warranty. At some point I busted the screen on another one of these Fujis and my dad's coworker did a screen transplant again. In 2009, I broke yet another camera and got a replacement under the warranty. For some reason, I decided to get a Kodak instead of another Fuji. Big mistake! The Kodak's videos were not compatible with Windows Moviemaker, so after like 2 days I returned the Kodak to Best Buy and swapped it for a Fuji. My first Nikon did not have a video function, but the two I've had since then do, so I pretty much stopped using the point-and-shoots because the SLRs had superior media quality.

UPDATE: I have since purchased a Nikon D5600

 

I would guess this truck is owned by one of a few people:
1. Someone who bought it in that condition because they can't afford anything nicer, so they can't afford to fix those issues - not now and maybe not ever.
2. Someone whose money and time have other priorities - life happens. Maybe they suddenly have a $5000/month alimony payment. Maybe their child was injured and all their resources are being poured into life-saving measures. Who knows what someone else is going through.
3. Someone who simply does not give a crap. They maintain the fuel level and nothing else.

Not everyone who owns a Toyota truck takes pride in their truck, although they should! These are great trucks, by far the best vehicle I've ever owned.

 

@LocoLocal

For lack of a better analogy, I would say the typical stoner has had an easier time buying weed than I have had taking pictures of trucks.

I blame it on still-present post-9/11 paranoia and the lack of situational awareness at the time. I have since wised up.

I'm not talking about car shows or other automotive events where photography is expected. I'm talking about simply taking pictures of vehicles that are parked in public, whether it be in a metered spot on a public street, or in the parking lot of a shopping center or my college. I'd say 90% of people consider it a compliment when you ask to photograph their vehicle, another 8%-9% at best grudgingly tolerate it as long as you promise to black out the license plate number, and the remaining 1%-2% are either overzealous security guards and borderline psychos who think anyone with a camera must be up to no good.


So seriously, ask me anything and I'll happily share a story...

Also keep in mind I've changed my habits and that stuff like this hasn't happened to me in almost a year...