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

@98tacoma27
@sean266
@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco
@ChadsPride
@PROseur

The one person in particular I'd like to tell you about is this guy named Bill. Again, no last names for privacy and security reasons, but I will tell you that Bill's last name was of German ancestry, and supposedly was the German word for queer. I typed queer into an online translator and the word I got was nowhere near this guy's last name...

Bill, if I remember correctly, was the head of housekeeping at this nursing home. He was in his 50s at the time, and married to a woman roughly the same age, but never had any kids. He and his wife lived somewhere in Delaware County (like an hour away from the nursing home). They owned a house, and he drove a 2005 Porsche Cayenne. I think he was retired and just worked at the nursing home to both give himself something to do and make some money. He drove what was at the time a late model Porsche SUV, and if I remember correctly his house was paid off, so he could not have been doing too badly...

I have photos on Facebook going back to 2008, and I actually had a picture of Bill's Porsche in the parking lot of the nursing home! I did not get my first SLR camera until Christmas 2009 (this picture is dated January 9, 2009) and this was wayyy before I got my first smartphone, so this was probably taken with my Fujifilm Finepix point-and-shoot digital camera...

 

@sean266

Can't remember if you played a role in the creation of my Asperger's thread or not. I didn't know if you'd seen it recently and just wanted to show you far it's come. If you don't want me to tag you in posts, just ask!

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@98tacoma27
@sean266

Bill was great at his job (head of housekeeping) and a good guy, but he was well-known among the IU staffers for being very abrasive and grumpy. I vaguely remember being told by Gwyn and one of the other staffers, once or twice, to steer clear of Bill. He didn't like people getting in his way, and he didn't have much patience for dealing with special ed students and their various behavioral quirks. Once in late 2009, while talking to me right after a hostile encounter with another student, he referred to this student as a "fucking retard." It didn't get to me personally because I didn't particularly care for the guy he was referring to, but it still kind of shocked me. If I remember correctly, the student in question worked at the nursing home over the summer, busing tables. One of the teachers from the IU was sharing this story of how she'd slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting an animal in the road; the animal (I believe a deer) was not hit, but her young kid in the backseat was thrown into the back of the front seat despite wearing a seatbelt and banged up a bit; This student was what I would call an obnoxious animal lover. He told the teacher he would have slammed on the brakes too, if he;d been driving. Bill, despite his infamous grumpiness, was well known to be an animal lover. He had two dogs at the time, and they went everywhere with him and his wife in the aforementioned Porsche Cayenne. The student asked Bill his opinion, and Bill said that even though he loved animals, he would have driven straight into the deer instead of abruptly slamming on the brakes if it would be safer for his kid (and Bill NEVER had kids, yet he still had common sense). Apparently, the student flipped shit at Bill, and needless to say Bill gave this kid a wide berth for the rest of the time he was there (Remember that students were told to give Bill a wide berth)! One time in late 2009, he and this student got into it again, and then after an unrelated (unrelated to Bill, that is) incident in 2009 or 2010, the student was transferred.

 

So, Bill had a reputation for not being the friendliest guy in the world, and he could not stand a lot of my fellow students, but he seemed to enjoy my company...

This was strange, because most importantly, like I said, he didn't much care for so-called "special needs" individuals...

Then, there was the fact that he was like 35 years older than me and had never had any kids himself...

And we could not have been more different politically...

Here's the thing; Who I've voted for over the years will NOT be discussed publicly on TW. There's a reason the voting booths have curtains! I will, however, tell you that I consider myself to be socially liberal and fiscally conservative with a large helping of Libertarian. All I really want is less government interference in my life an the life of my fellow humans, and for everyone to just get along.

Back when I first met Bill, Bush was still in office and though I'd registered to vote as soon as I turned 18, I had yet to vote in my first Presidential Election.

Bill was a democrat, and I was a registered independent. Despite our different in opinion, and Bill's disdain for republicans, even our political discussions were peaceful.

It didn't take long for me to ask Bill if I could eat lunch with him in his office, and to my surprise he said yes. Looking back on it, I think I chose to eat with Bill because I wanted to talk to someone other than the IU staffers who was at least somewhat close to me in terms of intelligence. As long as I didn't have other obligations, the IU staffers had no problem with me eating with Bill, and this became a regular thing.

Bill told me all sorts of crazy stories from his younger days...

Bill was in the Army for a number of years, and I'm pretty sure he was an officer. He did go to college...

During his college years he had a Volkswagen Rabbit with a pop-up glass sunroof. Bill had enjoyed smoking cigars pretty much his entire life, and he claimed to have smoked so many in that Rabbit during the time he owned it that by the time he sold it, that sunroof had turned so black that you couldn't even see out of it!

Bill also told me that one time in college, he got behind the wheel of that Rabbit after having too much to drink. This was back in the 1970s, by the way. He got pulled over, failed the sobriety test, subsequently got a DUI, and his driver's license was suspended. I forget whether Bill was underage and thus a victim of the zero tolerance laws due to trace amounts of alcohol in his system, or if he was 21 or older and was legitimately driving drunk. Either way, his license was suspended and he told he had to apply for a hardship license so he could still drive to and from school and work. He eventually got his regular, unrestricted license back and about 30 years after that first DUI, hadn't gotten a single one since.

When Bill was in Army, he was stationed in Germany for a time. He told me the story of how the Army Jeep, in which he was riding as a passenger, was hit by another vehicle. Even if the Jeep had seat belts, which I highly doubt it did, nobody was using them.

Bill was thrown from the Jeep on impact, and in Bill's own words, he does not bounce...

He just flew through the air and landed on his ass...

I immediately wanted to know how the hell he was still walking, and Bill told me he'd been messed up for a while but had made a full recovery.

The program I was in relocated in October or November 2009, from the nursing home to a small building on the campus of what was then Delaware Valley College (now Delaware Valley University). This was not long after my dad bought the Tacoma.

I turned 21 in March 2010 and by default I "graduated" from the IU program in May of that year.

I found out in 2010 or 2011 that Bill, along with most of the other employees I'd come to know and love, had been laid off.

 

As of this post, my truck has just over 78K miles on it. I just had the tires replaced with brand new Michelins this past Sunday. The sticker in my left doorjamb says like 30 PSI for front tires and 33 PSI for rear. However, those were for the factory 15-inchers. My truck has had 16-inch Platinum Apex rims since October 2013, and thus requires larger-than-factory tries. The rims were a present from my dad, ordered from Tire Rack with BFG tires already mounted and balanced. My mechanic installed the new wheels for free when I brought the truck in for inspection.

I had to bring my Taco to the dealer to get the new pressure sensors programmed, to make the light go out, and for maybe two years all was good. Then, in April 2015, I had to replace one of my BFGs because I came out one morning and discovered a chunk out of the sidewall. That particular tire wasn't made anymore, so I settled for a Toyo from STS. After having the original Dunlops for 4 years and never getting a flat, my luck changed. In 2015-2016, I managed to blow out all but one of my almost-new BFGs, and I ended up with 4 Toyos. Pennsylvania is notorious for potholes. At some point after I had one of the BFGs replaced, my pressure light came on. After finding all tires to be good, I brought it to the dealer and they discovered that one of them was bad. It was replaced, and I haven't had a problem until now.

So, my truck's factory rating is 30 front and 33 rear. My new Michelins are rated at a maximum of 44 PSI. My dad and I deflated them down to 35 PSI to even it out and the light still hasn't gone out...

So, does it seem like one of my TPMS sensors is bad again? The stupid idiot light on my gauge cluster is driving me nuts, so nuts in fact that I might bring it to the dealer early instead of waiting almost 2,000 miles until my next oil change is due...

 

Did you use the reset button under the steering column?

 

I keep forgetting where that is... I'm a dumbass...



Where under the steering column is that again? I'll reset it tomorrow morning before I go to work!

 

http://www.counterman.com/tpms-update-toyota-tire-pressure-monitor-systems/
The "set" button is below the steering column. Should be pretty easy to find. Its a round button on a square bezel.

 

My light came on after a cold snap one night, I guess sudden drop in temp made the pressure drop. I turned the key on, pushed the button until the light blinked three times, then started the engine.... no more light so far.

My Tundra has been a bit more aggravating though, but I think I have a bad sensor there.

 

This 2007 Tacoma belongs to a guy I went to college with. He is the 2nd owner.

When it still had the old rotted frame, this truck was offered to me for $4,000. I strongly considered it...

IMPORTANT: The truck was offered to me before this second recall; the frame was rotted so bad the truck failed the PA State Inspection in March 2017, and my college buddy was on the verge of suing Toyota to get his frame replaced; the frame was just recently replaced under the newly reinstated recall...

TRANSLATION: With about 130K-140K miles on its 2.7L engine, this truck is barely broken in. With a brand new frame, this is the next best thing to a brand new 2nd gen; Current KBB value is over ten grand! Ain't no way in hell he'd ever sell this truck for what he was asking last spring, if he even still wants to sell it (I wouldn't)!

Again, the truck is a 2007 access cab SR5 2WD with like 130K miles on it. As you can see it isn't perfect but is in decent shape. In addition to standard 2nd gen features like the tilt/telescoping steering column and AM/FM CD player, it is also fully loaded with automatic transmission, A/C, cruise, power windows, power locks, and since it's an SR5, variable/intermittent wipers. The truck is totally stock, and I'd consider it to be largely problem-free, except for one thing...

Last time I talked to the owner (pre-frame replacement) was in July 2017. His A/C and heat had mysteriously quit working. It wasn't that the air-conditioner needed a charge and/or the heater core blew. As far we can tell, the A/C system (compressor, condenser, etc) seem to be fine. Same with the heater...

The vents don't blow at all!

It would appear that blower box behind the glovebox has given out. I have no idea if this was fixed while the truck was getting it's frame replaced...

Note that the "Emissions" inspection sticker is good through March 2018, but the "Safety" inspection sticker expired last February. The truck passed the emissions with flying colors, but the frame was so bad that the inspection station wouldn't pass it. The guy just drove the truck that way until Toyota finally replaced the frame, and I think he's hoping he can get by until next February before he gets it inspected again (Can't say I blame him; State inspections suck!)...

 

For $4,000? Buy it

 

You read the whole thing? I was offered the truck for $4,000 prior to the frame replacement. The frame has since been replaced. Blue Book on the 2007 access cab truck is about $10,000 (Roughly the same as my mildly tricked out 2010 regular cab).

I pondered it for quite a while, but I have a 2010. Granted my truck is a regular cab and obviously not an SR5, but even with the frame replaced, this truck isn't as nice as mine (I will be posting more pics momentarily and you will see that the left rear fender is scuffed and left taillight cover is cracked. It was also smoked in.

I considered selling my 2010, then buying and fixing up this one, but I just did't think it would have made economic sense to sell my near-mint 2010 (with less than 75K miles at the time and that I've had since new) and buy a 2-owner truck that's 3 years older than mine with over 120K miles, even if the frame wasn't like Swiss Cheese...

 

dont see why you would sell your truck that is newer and has less miles......?

unless I am totally missing something with this story, I would just keep what you have.

 

Yep, I read the whole thing... You never said anything about paying more than $4000.

 

There's kind of a part two to this. I totally forgot I'd added this story and was on this thread to post it.

Sooo...

I found out a day or two later that my "cousin-in-law" (Cousin's brother-in-law) did not go home with his friends like he claimed he was going to do. He did not get an Uber, a Lyft, or a cab...

After last call at the third bar we went to, we found our way back to Puck. It's about two in the morning, we're both hammered, and it's still drizzling.

It is a tradition on Friday and Saturday nights for the staff to order pizza from a pizzeria around the corner (this pizza place, where I used to work until my truck got hit by a drunk driver, is open until 3am). Two of the bartenders, two of the bouncers, and one of the barbacks who worked that night are shooting the shit over slices of pizza while the bartenders counted the night's earnings.

One of the bouncers is this guy who's three years younger than me, and "fucking with people," including coworkers and his boss, is his favorite pastime. When you have Asperger's like I do and the bouncer in question is known for messing with people, it's hard enough, when stone cold sober, to tell when he's messing with you and when he's dead serious. When you're as hammered as I was that night, forget about it!

So, me and my cousin-in-law show up at my place of employment totally hammered, and I ask politely if I can hang out on the patio until my Uber shows up. Not long before this particular night, some stuff happened (that I was not in any way involved in) that led to my boss changing the rules about employees being allowed to hang out on the patio after hours unless they'd actually worked a full shift. I believe I was on vacation when this happened and hadn't been informed yet.

As I'm wandering across the patio to the table where my coworkers are talking and eating pizza, the bouncer who likes fucking with people is saying "Charlie, employees aren't allowed on the patio after hours unless they've worked a full shift." I keep saying "You're fucking with me," because I think he's BSing me. I keep wandering up over until I'm right at the bouncer's chair, standing over him.

He kept saying things like "Charlie, I'm being totally serious." and "Charlie, am I laughing?"

The other bouncer there is the de facto head bouncer and head of security, and we are quite close. I get on his nerves sometimes, and he gets on my nerves too, but he's a great guy. All of my coworkers know I have Asperger's, and this particular bouncer goes out of his way to help me with my social skills. He even gave me his personal cell phone number, saying if I ever had an emergency and needed a ride, or just needed someone to talk to, I could call him. He steps in and says something like "Let him come in." Then, one of the bartenders there also says "Sit down and have a slice of pizza, Charlie." I then try to invite my extended family member in, and I get a bunch of "Don't push it" looks from bartenders and bouncers alike. My cousin's brother law says something like "It's okay, Charlie," and wanders off. I had no reason to believe he didn't get a ride home with his other friends.

I called an Uber, and it was a good 10-15 minutes out, so I just chatted with my coworkers over pizza and ginger ale. My Uber arrived, I said goodbye to my coworkers, and then I hopped in the Uber and went home.

The next morning I woke up without a hangover, ate breakfast, and drove right back to work...

It was a day or two later when I found out from my cousin-in-law that he had not gone home with his friends. Unable to find them, he had just started walking in the direction of his house, about 30 minutes away by car. Even while totally hammered, he knew the way home, but drunk and on foot, he wasn't about to set any speed records. He eventually reconnected with his friends when they found him staggering along Ferry Road at about 4am, in the drizzle no less...

We still joke about that night to this day!

 

Yet Another Great story.

 

Can't even tell if there's a question in the OP..

 

glad to know that I am not the only one that is confused......

 

What is the point of this post?

 

Story time