Shop Time w/T.W. Friends. Lions, Tigers, & Bears, OH MY! No, spiders and snakes poll.

Got up to 79° today, was quite nice! Grabbed some ice cream after mowing the grass.

Weather app was saying only a 3% chance of rain for a while. Well what do you know, couple hours after washing the truck...



Pollen is also making its return as the bugs. Gonna be an interesting Spring/Summer season!

 

Need some of that rain. This “cold front” we are expecting Friday should bring some. Along with a few brisk 70 degree days

 

Actually got some work done today on the truck. Oil change & check all the other lubes.

I use genuine Toyota oil and the fancy TRD filter which is a nice quality piece.



... And made in too...

 

Right now is what I call mud season here in Pennsylvania, pretty sure @RustyGreen can attest to this. Constant rains and then farmers working on the field preparing to plant. I drive all back roads to work and by the end of the month they look like dirt roads!

 

I still have a Baldwin filter left from the 2021 I'm gonna use on the 2022 here shortly for the first 5K oil change. Made in Mexico, but appears to be good quality. Perfect match for a Mexican made truck!

Didn't you say you changed out the transmission fluid in yours to something different? I notice shifting in the 6 speed to be uhh quite notchy. 3rd gear is by far the trickiest. Wondering if a different fluid will help that.

 

While I was under there I hit all the grease fitting -- all two of 'em...

This one by the transfer case is tough to get at.



It is very well protected by the exhaust crossover, the cross member and the yoke too...

The classic "hand, face, light situation" - room for any one...



Fortunately I'm prepared for the little under truck challenges Toyota presents us with.

 

Been so dry here I’ve only had to cut mom’s grass twice in the last 3 years. Hopefully the new goats start eating some of the shrubs instead of what little grass is left.

 

We have a tape measure at work marked at that 4" mark as being 6"...

 

I work with a bunch of children and I'm right along with them

 

So far there's only about 2" on the ground and some spots where it drifted are about 6". We really should have all been at school and work today but that's easy to say now looking back at it.

There is supposed to be more on the way ramping up sometime overnight so I'll be back out snowblowing tomorrow morning before I take my wife in to work.

 

Out here in the boondocks we have 3 seasons: snow, mud & dust.
I noticed on the way home dust came early this year.

The town works the dirt roads with a stone rake leaving a fine topping of dust, I feel sorry for the folks who live on the "main" dirt roads. You can pay to have dust oil put down, I have never needed to on the dead end road.

 

My commute to work is all rural and they've been spreading the manure on the fields a good bit recently. Pretty much the roads are 50/50 dirt/manure. Make for a fun pressure washing session on the undercarriage. I probably have to do it every week for a month! I could choose a different route, but that adds and interstate and 10 minutes. Nope!

 

Motorcraft XT-M5-QS, it meets the Toyota specifications, worth the money and the effort.

I changed to the Motorcraft at 30K. On the first trip around the block I was stunned at the improvement in smoothness, the transmission felt instantly "slicker".

I had experienced occasional first gear blocking and also the "crunchy" second gear shift, remember I don't shift (or drive) very fast.

Previously I was frequently conscious of the syncromesh working when shifting, I could feel it in the stick, it wouldn't grind but you knew it was there, after the fluid change the sensation was gone.

These transmissions seem to take some time to break in, at about 50K now and shifts very nicely.


Motorcraft data sheet:

https://www.motorcraft.com/us/en_us...ull-synthetic-manual-transmission-fluids.html

Rock Auto had the best price.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/motorcraft,XTM5QS,transmission+fluid,13630

 

Well, at least you feel at home.

 

Good info, thanks!

I honestly probably need to get used to it. My last manuals were a VW GTI and the Talon, both FWD so the shifter wasn't directly on top of the transmission. Just waiting on my first stall. It will probably be in the parking lot at work infront of a group of people

 

Does anyone have any experience with GreenWorks 80V stuff, specifically the string trimmer and leaf blower? I'm in the market and trying to convince my cheap self that it's worth the extra $90 over the DeWalt 20V counterpart.

 

Do you have cordless tools already? If so it usually makes sense to stay with one brand.

Last year I bought an 18 volt Makita, the smallest model ( with the notion that Mrs Green would use it...), naturally my gas power trimmer will outwork it handily in the heavy stuff. However, the convenience of the battery power unit is stunning.

It has plenty of power and speed for regular residential work, I can take a few batteries along and do all the in town lawns and it is quiet, no ear plugs needed.

Even better I can put it inside the truck if I go in the store, etc. I would never put my gas trimmer inside the truck.

Makita tools have wonderful function & ergonomics too.

 

Really the only reason I was contemplating the DeWalt is because I have one drill with a staggering two 1.3Ah batteries.

Getting the Costco ad in the mail today and seeing that they'll be on sale next week got me rethinking and I don't use my drill all that often anyway so keeping the batteries all in the same family won't be a big issue for me.

The 8 year battery warranty from Costco doesn't hurt any, either.

 

8 year battery warranty, that is a game changer.

Not to start a fan boy ...
We had DeWalt at my old job, they were there when I started so it only made sense to stay with the platform.

They were tough, reliable tools that held up well in a factory environment. I respected them - but never really liked them. DeWalt (IMO) falls down on the ergonomic side of the design, Makita really shines there.

 

Lock-N-Lube fittings will also resolve those “issues”… narrow side slide be awesome.

$11 Push-on Slotted Right Angle 90 Degree Grease Coupler

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0779FTPCP

Long reach lock-on is also nice.

$42 LockNLube Grease Gun Coupler XL - Extra reach for recessed grease fittings

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y2GBFFT