Custom Billet Shift Knob BS

For whatever reason, I am comfortable in the seats all day, but my wife was similar to you. She couldn't do it for more than a very short ride. Thankfully, she is good to go with the spacers.

Good luck! There is another thread where someone got a set of powered Lexus seats installed. It looks great, but it was a lot of electrical work.

 

My OEM bolts are narrower near the end... maybe that’s why one of the replacement bolts doesn’t want to go all the way in?



I was able to torque the bolt down more, so now there’s only two washers in there. The thread of the bolt was only taking a beating in the region where the oem thread is reduced. So I think I should definitely be good now. I don’t think I’m cross-threaded at all. I’ll leave the spacers in for now.

 

The taper on the original bolt is to help the factory installation with the powered tools they use. Most all of the bolts on the Taco are like that. It is a lead-in section that does prevent cross threading. It has no affect on the fit of the new bolts. The threads on the cab side are straight, not tapered.

 

The hole might just not be fully tapped, and the tapered bolt might let it slide

 

Attempting to install

I don’t know who in the He-Man put these bolts on. I can’t get them off

 

Just one data point, but mine were no more difficult to loosen than tighten. That said, I can see the ground through the inner holes, so some NC locktite might be working against you?

 

Well I’m actually up in Chicago right now. Maybe they’re rusted on now? I did spend a winter up here

 

My oem bolts were really easy to take off.


I took the spacers out. Gave them a little while to see if I would get used to them, but couldn’t.

If anyone wants them for discount, pm me. Update: sold

 

Oh yeah. Chitown will help lock them in also. You might get some penetrating oil from the bottom?

 

Hello, I need one set of those, please let me know if I can pay them with the shipping included.

Thanks

Jose C.

 

Unfortunately the hard drive on my mill control is dead, and I need to replace it. I have the parts, just need to find some time to do it before I can produce again.

I have job offers, counteroffers and everything else flying around right now and haven't been home a single night since mid last week. Once that settles I will get on it again for sure.

 

Ok, thanks

 

That is great! Hard on the head, but great for the wallet. Good luck!

 

Thanks! It's nice to be desired I suppose. Super stressed, though.

It's looking like I might stay put right now, in a huge way. The guy I told you about from HQ is pretty heavily involved right now. Updates at this point are an endless rollercoaster, so I'm just going to tape the windows and let this hurricane play out.

 

It must be something juicy to keep those extra 65mi in the commute.

Duck and cover until the winds die done.

 

It is very difficult for a mid level shop to compete with a giant corporation who is acting aggressively (IMO). The smaller place even offered to update the benefits for their entire shop to get me in there, but they are still falling way short. I feel bad in a way, but this is out of my hands now and I never intended for anyone to do battle.

The main thing I care about is management, and HQ wants me to be an extension of them, report to them and nobody in this building will have say over what I do unless I overstep boundaries.

 

It is never easy advice, but in the end of the day, it is your quality of life that matters. If the current place brings out the big guns, the best you can do is point at them and say wow. Being on a dotted line to HQ sounds like a sweet situation.

I kind of feel that I might end up in a similar boat. Hell, after a meeting with the new company, we dropped by my current place to pick up some parts. They had me run inside alone just in case the owner was in.

I did clean up all my stuff but am waiting to drop the bomb until I get one of our guys trained up this week on another off site job. I was bit bummed that I didn't get that one on OT, but it does make the situation easier. I even noted that I could use the OT money.

The new place should understand your situation. Given the location, a bit of moonlighting could be on the table?

 

It really is tough to balance one quality of life vs another. Shorter commute, but riskier benefits that I would have to supplement with less pay, more work and higher stress. Doable, but the big caveat is that my GF's employer was sold and her office is moving from 15 minutes away to 50. She is currently negotiating work-from-home status, which would free her up to move closer to my job. That is the only way I could stay here long term, either that or we uproot and I transfer to another facility (which we are both okay with). She is also okay with finding a different job, but she also has it really good ... and survived as one of five remaining in a formerly 55 person magazine that was absorbed by a larger corporate entity. They are clearly all-in with her.

Moonlighting, perhaps ... but I have nothing to prove as far as skill is concerned. I've done their type of work before, and honestly I would rather pour my free time into the garage project.

 

It sounds like you are approaching it as rationally as you can. In the end, it will at least be an improvement. With the right agreement in place, and the right money, a move could make everyone happy? Surviving at a magazine right now does mean a lot. That's a tough balance.

My wife and I had a lot of conversations about moving and trying to figure out the balance in the past. We're about to starting thinking about that again when both girls graduate. The youngest will be finishing up in middle school this year. We've had more than enough of suburban life.

 

It's all about the little ones! I don't have any (unless you count the pups) yet, but trying to approach this as if I did. I feel like the stress must be even greater if kids were in the equation, will find out some day I suppose.