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

Laredo...?

Man, a few years ago you could buy a brand new 3-bedroom rancher with central air for like $100K! My uncle who grew up in Texas said that Laredo should be avoided though...

After all, it's right on the border with Mexico and it seems like they're doing drug raids every other week!

 

@Jamesboy2233

One of my personal records is about 170 miles driven in a day, round trip last November.

It was about a week before Thanksgiving and my boss ordered the liquor from a central LCB (Liquor Control Board, the commies that have a stranglehold on everything alcohol-related in Pennsylvania) warehouse about an hour away in Bethlehem, because it was considerably cheaper than getting the booze at the stage store in Doylestown.

The sound guy has a 2010 Ford F-150, but this is always loaded with sound equipment. That leaves only two staffers with pickup trucks; me with my Taco and Edna with her '96 Ford Ranger. Edna's Ranger is not very reliable, so my boss recruited me to accompany her and Edna up to Bethlehem. My boss and Edna went in my boss's Honda Element. My boss and Edna were going to pay for the booze, I was going to meet up them, and whatever didn't fit in my Taco was going in the Element.

So, my boss and Edna get to Bethlehem maybe 30 minutes before me, and I get a call when I'm less than 15 minutes from the LCB warehouse. My truck has Bluetooth and the caller's number shows up on my stereo screen. I immediately recognized my boss's number and answered. She proceeded to tell me that she'd left the check to pay for the booze back at work. I immediately bellowed "Jesus Christ!" My boss understood my frustration and apologized. I had to turn around and drive BACK to Doylestown, pick up the check, drive back up to Bethlehem, pick up the booze, and the drive back to Doylestown!

My boss and Edna decided to run some other work-related errands and grab dinner. Luckily, all of the booze (probably $6,000 worth) easily fit in the bed of my Taco...

 

The Ranger only has like 90K miles on it, but it does not have A/C. The heater does not work and the tailgate doesn't open. Edna describes the brakes as "sketchy"...

 

@Jamesboy2233

Also, the truck has an aftermarket single-DIN Pioneer tape deck that is shoved into the dash opening at an odd angle and it looks kinda ghetto, and it's rolling on 14-inch chrome American Racing wheels that are too damn small for the truck!

 

2WD, 2.3L 4-banger, column-shift automatic...

 

My Taco came with 15-inchers that looked too small, and my aftermarket rims are 16 inches.

 

Who in the hell does this to a Camry?!?!

I'm typically NOT a fan of these "faux convertible" tops, However, on a Caddy, a Lincoln, a Mercury Grand Marquis, certain MOPAR products, or even (*gasp*) a Rolls-Royce, they look good if done right...

On an Japanese sedan or newer American sedan though...

NO!




The late mother of my family's old
neighbor drove a 2003-2005ish Grand Marquis that she bought new and drove until her husband and my neighbor made her give up driving in 2014 or so. This Grand Marquis had a partial landau roof (covering the rear of the roof only) and it had the exact same "DIAMOND EDITION" badging as seen on this Camry. The Grand Marquis also had B-pillar "coach lamps" that operated on the same switch as the headlights and taillights...



This Camry also had the same "DIAMOND EDITION" logos stitched into the leather of the driver and front passenger seat!

 

You mean on mine? I don't take my truck off-roading; Wasn't meant for it...

 

@Jamesboy2233

You seriously don't think the tires on my 2WD truck don't have enough meat?

 

Those Michelins have proven to be the best tires I've ever had! What would you put on a 5-lug 2WD 2nd

 

lol, the way I always rationalized this one was by thinking (or knowing) that the person who drives a car with a ragtop also has plastic covers on all their home furniture

 

I was joking about the age of the owner with one of the parking enforcement guys just now. We saw some telltale signs inside the car that the registered owner is probably collecting social security checks...

 

@uurx

 

Here's something you definitely don't see everyday...

A Lexus SC300 with five speeds and a third pedal!

 

the great thing about cars is there is always that little extra space for individuality

I personally wouldn't mind a ragtop only and if only I was stuck in a donk...

throw some 30" chrome spinners on that camry avalon whatever it is and the rag top kinda starts to blend in much better

nice blue rag top would look good on this red one, really finish out the build you know

 

Rappers and gangsta wannabes are running out of decent Cadillacs and Caprices to destroy, so they've moved on to the venerable Camry, eh?

 

with age comes wisdom.... toyota reliability

 

@uurx

They are super rare, but I believe you could get a base model Camry with a 5-speed manual transmission until 2011. The car came standard with A/C, cruise, tilt, power windows, power locks, etc. TRD does make performance parts for the 4-banger Camry if you can believe that, and there is also plenty of space to put in one hell of a sound system...

 

That's also what I was thinking, plus 2002-newer Camry sedans are much more plentiful than old American land barges...

 

Do what I couldn't do and get yourself laid while you're still a teenager!