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

When l drove my car a couple weeks ago noticed there is a small issue needing fixed. There was a small puddle of power steering fluid on the ground, traced it to the pressure line, thankfully a replacement one is around 20 bucks.

 

It's original to the truck, I couldn't find ones for trucks without the fender flares, and I bought another OEM one from the dealer for basically the same price as I found online...

 

From 2000 to 2002, we lived less than two hours from the Canadian border while my dad was stationed at NAS Whidbey Island. We spent a long weekend in British Columbia, in February 2001, and I didn't need a passport!

 

@ColoradoTJ

How about the time in either 2004 or 2005 when a student swiped a cell phone from the teacher's desk in study hall, and they detained the whole class for almost an hour to question everybody individually? So, 10th grade was weird in terms of study hall. We spent maybe a half hour in one classroom, and then another 30-45 minutes in another classroom. The first classroom was some other teacher's classroom, as in not our teacher, and she's the one whose cell phone was stolen.

So, one of the school security guards and the school resource officer (as in an actual cop with a badge, a gun, and full police powers) showed up and locked down the whole class; I honestly don't think anybody in my study hall swiped the phone, so what these guys ended up with was a class full of pissed off students who felt like their rights were being violated and just wanted to get to class. I also believe that they searched everybody's backpack, which didn't sit well with me even though I begrudgingly went along with it. We missed the "second" study hall and I believe that everybody missed a few minutes of their next class after that.

So, I was questioned by both a security guard and a cop about a theft that I had no part in or knowledge of. They must have believed me when I said "no", because I was sent back to class and allowed to leave; I asked the teacher if she ever got her phone back a week or two later, and she said that she hadn't. All that incident succeeded in doing was making me distrustful of cops and security guards.

 

The aforementioned school resource officer appeared in some sort of public safety address, which was broadcast live to every TV in the school, and which everyone was required to watch; I forget whether this was before or after the teacher's phone got stolen, but we were in the same classroom. This one guy who was a total delinquent with a criminal record, and apparently hated cops, flipped out because he had to "listen to that cop"; I'm assuming he had run-ins with the resource officer before, and luckily maturity prevailed. At least half a dozen other students told him to shut up, and I believe the teacher threated to kick him out of class, which did ultimately shut him up. This particular kid who created a scene in study hall was black, but skin color was rarely a factor.

As I said last night, I knew a lot of juvenile delinquents at Liberty Middle School and Centreville High School; I encountered more students who freely admitted that they had criminal records in Fairfax County, than at any other school or district I've been enrolled in. The majority of them were guys, with it being evenly split between black and white guys. There were quite a few girls who had criminal records as well, or who at a bare minimum had run-ins with police for loitering or drug use. This was from September 2002 to June 2005, from which time I was 13 to 16 years of age. Most of these juvenile delinquents were my age, or maybe a year or two older. The most shocking crime I was aware of, was the white guy who claimed to have been expelled from a school in a neighboring county for smashing a classmate's head with a football helmet.

In 8th grade, one of my classmates claimed to have been handcuffed and detained (but not arrested) for getting into a fight with another guy a year or two prior.

Also in eighth grade, there was this guy in 7th grade math class (I sucked at math) who was about 17 years old in 2002-2003. This made his birth year about 1986. It was no secret that he'd been in jail for a couple years, which is part of why he was still in middle school despite being old enough to drive. I never knew what he did, but I can remember being intimidated by him. Like most guys, regardless of criminal background or lack thereof, he bragged about his sexual exploits (one of my friends lost his virginity when he was 12); I can remember being absolutely amazed that he'd gotten laid at like 14 or 15, when at the time I'd done little more than kiss a girl. Roughly 21 years later, losing one's virginity before being old enough to obtain a driver's license no longer shocks me.

When in my senior year of high school, in 2007, there was a 14-year old girl who was pregnant. Her family was very supportive of her, and she kept the baby. The amazing thing is that her son is now old enough to drive, but she is presently only 30!

 

I don't have much to say about "juvenal delinquents"
All I'm saying is, some people are lucky. Others are not.

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@steelcity2
@TnShooter

Police are starting to give me levels of anxiety that I haven't experienced in over a decade; PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE HERE!

For the record, I 100% support law enforcement and am in favor of a greater police presence in my area; I was stopped and questioned for taking pictures in March 2013, and that led to anxiety that hasn't fully subsided. More recently, it's when a cop gets behind my truck while I'm driving; I did not get a ticket, but I sped up when a green Dodge Charger that looked nothing like a police car started aggressively tailgating me on my way from dropping off Amanda after seeing a movie, and promptly got pulled over for "speeding and swerving."

After five years of decorating my truck with Christmas lights and driving it around without any trouble, I finally got pulled in Souderton on Thanksgiving Eve solely for the Christmas lights. Yet again, I did not get a ticket, but I still freak out when a cop gets behind me for extended periods of time; I also freak out when a vehicle that looks like a police car (in one case, it was a former cop car driven by a civilian) gets behind me. How do I, like, not stress out?!?!

 

@ABA180
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood

I don't know the deal is with all the traffic stops I've been seeing recently recently, but I feel like I see at least one person getting pulled over in my area per day. The last time I got pulled over was November 2023, for having illuminated Christmas lights on my truck, and I didn't get a ticket. That was in Souderton, where I rarely go; I have learned two lessons from that encounter...

1. Do not operate the Christmas lights anywhere north of Hatfield.
2. Stay out of Souderton unless absolutely necessary.

That said, I seriously feel like I see at least a person a day pulled over. It makes me a bit uneasy, not because I have anything to hide, but because it just makes me nervous. With society crumbling the way it has been the last few years, I am very happy when I see marked police vehicles cruising through my neighborhood or sitting in the parking lot at one of the local shopping centers.

Yesterday, I was taking a shortcut home through a residential neighborhood, and @Stitchgirl90 was with me. All of a sudden, I realized there was a marked Ford Explorer from the Warrington Township PD following me closely. After the incident last August when I sped up in response to an unmarked green Dodge Charger tailgating me, I took my dad's advice; I pulled to the side of the road to see what would happen...

The cop drove past me and stopped curbside not that far up the road, giving me a "WTF?" stare as he drove by. Once he pulled over, I got moving again and made absolutely sure my speedometer was below 25 MPH. The cop pulled away from the curb and once again ended up behind, though not as close this time. I made sure I was doing the speed limit and stopped for every stop sign. One I got out of that neighborhood and made a right, I pushed it up to five miles over the speed limit (as weird as this sounds, 5 MPH or less over the speed limit will not get you pulled over in PA; look it up if you don't believe me). There is a townhome neighborhood between my neighborhood and the neighborhood I had just been driving through. I made a left into the townhome neighborhood and watched as the cop continued going straight.

Still, he was initially so close that there's no way he wasn't running my license plate; I've lived in Warrington for eight years, and I have a very distinctive truck. I wasn't speeding, I wasn't swerving, and I wasn't doing anything stupid. A similar thing happened to me in Doylestown back in December 2015 where a cop in a marked vehicle aggressively tailgated me for a good distance before disappearing. That was at night, but it was still light out during yesterday's incident. There is absolutely nothing about my 14-year old truck that should attract the attention of police! If it were some shitbox that was falling apart, that would be one thing, but my truck is in decent condition and has valid inspection stickers. I will also admit that I purposely make truck distinctive so it doesn't look like every other silver regular cab Tacoma in my area (there are a few of them), so if somebody uses a silver regular cab 2005-2014 Tacoma in the commission of a crime, I won't get pulled over and forced out of my truck at gunpoint in a case of mistaken identity. I understand that police have a job to do, but as an autistic guy who has already had one negative experience with police that still haunts him on occasion, being pulled out of my truck at gunpoint and handcuffed in a case of mistaken identity would really fuck me up.

 

It’s the first thing I’ve driven

That was weird that that happened I don’t think you were doing anything wrong

 

And you won't, I went through the same and just bought universals.

I think I still have my takeoffs though if you want them

 

If you can find them, yes! I'll just pay out shipping?

 

Lemme check the garage. They only would have under 10K miles as mudflaps was my first mod haha

 

I believe it was Jordan Peterson that said, "90% of the things we worry about never happens."

You got good friends and family. Worst case you go to jail.
Bail out and deal with it. But talk about "out of proportion".
The odds anything like that happens is about what? .5%

I'd be more worried about my truck breaking down in a bad section of town and NOT having some type of "authority" around to help me.

For me, I don't worry about any of it.
If I didn't do it, and they "pull me over". They were going to anyways.
Worrying about it before hand, during, or after, isn't going to help anything.


If I did something to get pulled over. Oh well.
That's a chance you take. You win some, and loose some.
Best thing to do is, "Don't do it".

 

The only things on the back of my truck right now that could be construed as "controversial" are two Israeli flag stickers on either side of the tailgate. Absolutely nothing political right now.

 

Why do you love truck so much, sweetheart?

 

This is 100% an autism thing and not the result of any disdain for law enforcement...

 

I would NOT pull over and stop.
That would make them more suspicious.

 

I would agree; I was just really freaking out. Like I said, it's an autism thing. I wish I could show the local cops a pic of my truck and ask them to kindly not follow it unless I call 911 and report the damn thing stolen!

 

Exposure is typically a good thing when dealing with fears and obsessions.
I'm not saying you should drive by the police station on a daily basis. But maybe once a week?
After awhile, the presence of police and their cars will be "normal".

Maybe say, "Hello" to an officer if you see them out in public.
After awhile, you'll likely get more comfortable being around them.