Charlotte, NC area: hate on OP, houses, boats & hoes

The old one did freeze up and die...

 

Joking aside I'm surprised how small it is, but it kept the house stupid cold and heated it just fine. Actually found out it was 2.5ton.

The condenser failed and leaked all the refrigerant out, and it was a 2004 so it served it's purpose I guess.

 

Manual J calculation Calls for SC and north…….

Home Square Footage BTU (British Thermal Unit) Tonnage anything above 5 tonnage needs to be calculated at 22/23 BTU for every square foot of space in your home….


600 – 1,000 18,000 1.5
1,000 – 1,300 24,000 2
1,300 – 1,600 30,000 2.5
1,600 – 1,900 36,000 3
1,900 – 2,200 42,000 3.5
2,200 – 2,600 48,000 4
2,600 – 3,200 60,000 5

 

That’s crazy for this climate…. I’m not much fog MJC I always go by rule of thumb 1 ton per 700/800sq ft of a properly insulated structure….

 

I was pretty amazed at that as well. It's in a walkout basement and none of the ducts are in an attic/unconditioned space, just run between the floors. One bend in the entire system, maybe that's how they got away with it. Either way it worked fine until she blew, at 18yrs old.

 

I replaced my heat pump a few years back and I can tell you that for a typical efficient home those figures are too high for my house using the Manual J calculations for NC. It’s not based solely on sq ft takes a lot of other factors into account. You’re likely to be oversized with those figures resulting in short cycling which isn’t good.

 

The previous owner of my house installed a 3.5 ton unit for a 1500sqft house. Lol


And it was made in 2004......

 

Has anyone used Firestone lifetime alignment?

 

No but I'm tempted to get it just for toe changes and toe checks. I have a fresh alignment coming on Friday, but that's for new upper arms, new tie rods, etc. Once it's set I'd like to double check it every couple of months without driving to Hickory.

Last time I checked the lifetime alignment had some fine print, like every 6k or every 6 months, so YMMV.

 

Yes. The closest thing I ever had to a problem was them telling me that it takes additional time to adjust lifted vehicles and they couldn't fit me in that day. I can't remember if they got me in that day or if I was the first one the next morning. I think I left the truck with them and got a call that afternoon that it was ready.

Oh, and one time they were closed during covid because there was an outbreak. Other than that, no issues.

Well, I say no issues, always ask how long the alignment tech has been doing alignments. If you're feeling real uncomfortable with it, ask when the torque wrench was last calibrated. I've heard some say that they don't use a torque wrench and that they can just feel it. I've responded by bringing my own torque wrench and telling them to do it right....I no longer go to that location. Overall, I've been very happy with it/them.

 

Toe and go alignments. Enough said.

 

this is why I will be using the cam eliminators and the marlin brace kit. Once it’s set, it’s not changing unless I bend or break a tie rod jumping curbs at Starbucks.

 

Yup, I want some cam eliminators. I did get some WarFab tie rod braces, they are pretty stout.

 

Solid axle swap it and do the alignment yourself.

 

Ryan has an unfavorable opinion on them, but idgaf

 

Are you going with adjustable uppers or just installing and hoping you can get it within spec?

 

SPC uppers, yes.

 

I have it on my Camry and my Tacoma. For the Camry I usually bring it in 2-3 times a year for the free alignment and I purchase a tire rotation.

For the Tacoma I’ve only done the initial alignment because it just doesn’t move much anymore. Hell, I haven’t done an oil change in a couple years, 2 years and 1 day to be exact, but I haven’t even put 3K miles on it in those two years.

Anyway, I rolled it into Firestone right after I installed coilovers and TC uniball upper control arms. I had purchased tires from Discount Tire and brought them in the back of the truck for Firestone to install and do the lifetime alignment. Truck looked bowlegged from the front even with me trying to align it some myself. They fixed it right up and didn’t seem to care that it had aftermarket suspension.

Granted, I haven’t been back for the next one and the last time I was there I heard them tell someone they will not install tires that aren’t purchased there so hopefully their stance on lifted vehicles hasn’t changed. If it has they owe me a refund.

Bowlegged Tacoma post-lift/pre-alignment:


Post alignment and tire/wheel install:

 

What a waste, you should let me drive it around for you

 

Well they just ran the Manual J and it came in at 3.2 tons. They did it 3times because they thought it was throwing errors. So it is the right size