Toshi's thread
- Thread starter Toshi
- Start date
Rockstar wheels are now officially out of my hands. Got $172 for them on eBay and the dude picked them up just now. As it cost $96 to get the Nokians remounted on the Tundra wheels I actually made a little bit of profit for my efforts, and now I don't have to see them any more.
Shuttle retrieved from GBS. The damage to the pocketbook was actually less than I'd been anticipating--at least installation for the new parts was all covered under the all singing and dancing tune price. Hell, doesn't look like I was charged separately for the wheel builds!
EBLAS
Big wagon wheels seem to roll over things nicely and haven't made the handling all weird or anything. I came across a few hikers and had a weird error with the Shimano Steps system that turned out (back at the shop) to be a slightly mispositioned wheel speed magnet--net result was that the last climb up from the creek was almost all under my power. Baby jeebus may have cried a bit.
I posted about this a few weeks ago but it bears repeating: Drew Hill Rd is very potholed in places. (Is it still a pothole if it's on an unpaved road?) There are a handful of sections that'd threaten to take out the lower fascia on my Tesla, so it's just as well that I haven't put a hitch on it.
$1,000 in bodywork would screw up the math regarding fuel savings pretty quickly...
$1,000 in bodywork would screw up the math regarding fuel savings pretty quickly...
Last edited:
The fuel savings bit was sparked in part by Eric's comment that his 6.7L PowerStroke diesel in his F-350 needs a $4,800 preemptive part to stave off an $18,000 disaster down the road. Either of those costs eats up a hell of a lot of MPG differences between a gasser and a diesel...
To his comment I posted this link, regarding a new 7.3L gas OHV V8 that Ford is making for their 3/4 ton and up pickups, vans, and bare chassis:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/trucks/a27310861/ford-73-liter-gas-v8-engine/
This means that down the road it'll make its way to Class A gas and Class B and C RVs. I've not been super impressed by the dynamics of Ford's Triton V10 in rented moving trucks and the like so this is probably a good thing, maybe even relevant to my life if I manage to pay down my debts and go roaming the country/world a bit in a decade. That it seems to come exclusively mated to the 10 speed automatic will also be a fine thing indeed for these beasts.
To his comment I posted this link, regarding a new 7.3L gas OHV V8 that Ford is making for their 3/4 ton and up pickups, vans, and bare chassis:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/trucks/a27310861/ford-73-liter-gas-v8-engine/
This means that down the road it'll make its way to Class A gas and Class B and C RVs. I've not been super impressed by the dynamics of Ford's Triton V10 in rented moving trucks and the like so this is probably a good thing, maybe even relevant to my life if I manage to pay down my debts and go roaming the country/world a bit in a decade. That it seems to come exclusively mated to the 10 speed automatic will also be a fine thing indeed for these beasts.
Old article and possibly old news to some of you:
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/how-cafe-killed-compact-trucks-and-station-wagons/
It explains nicely how CAFE is all screwed up, and how it’s led to more F-150s and fewer station wagons through perverse incentives.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/how-cafe-killed-compact-trucks-and-station-wagons/
It explains nicely how CAFE is all screwed up, and how it’s led to more F-150s and fewer station wagons through perverse incentives.
I test fit both Mariko and Yuna on the Mac Ride, static in the garage. Getting started will be tough—can’t use the dropper the way I have it mounted (I need to slam my 150 mm dropper to the seat collar due to my short legs so have the clamp on the dropper itself). But once moving it should work fine with either kid, as I have plenty of torso length to see over even Mariko.Installed: Mac Ride. I’ll try it with the 4 year old tomorrow.
More on this thought in the context of “I don’t want an RV, I want freedom” post from a week or two back:
I’m not sure there’d ever be a time when owning or even long-term renting an RV would make sense for us. Endless highway miles don’t sound appealing in general, although when seeing the Grand Staircase National Parks there would be a lot of driving.
Said driving doesn’t need to be in an RV, though, as I’m more than willing to pony up for nice hotel accommodations (which likely would be cheaper than the depreciation on a big Class A, not to mention nicer than all but a 45 foot diesel pusher bus that’d be a pain in the ass to work with). So what we need is what we have now, basically: a nice minivan, or a Land Cruiser-type vehicle if we’re going to hit some more dicey roads, like Shafer Trail.
Good job me, already having this part done.
I would like to improve some parts of my travel experience otherwise, especially when flying and renting. For trips more involved than just flying in to Seattle for a week or two (and thus not driving too much) I should step it up from renting Grand Caravans. I’ll give Hertz at North Bend Airport a try next time as they claim they have Pacificas instead of ye olde Grand Caravans.
Flying is more interesting. I’ve long held the vague goal of getting certified as a private pilot: see me visiting the Zenith Aircraft Company factory in Mexico, Missouri on a cross-country drive a few years back.
I’ve idly back of napkined before whether it’d ever make sense for me to, say, get IFR and dual engine rated and then rent a plane to fly to North Bend/Coos Bay, and am still not certain of whether that’s even feasible with a layover of a few days. (I’d write off the cost of actually training me because I think that would be fun.) ((For heading to Seattle I’d always fly commercial as commercial first class is readily available and pretty cheap, and because Seattle’s airspace seems like it’d be a bit intimidating, to say the least.))
I wonder how comfortable such small planes would be anyway. I vaguely recall that ones of a reasonable size would also require a fueling stop en route. Kind of sounds like a pain already… with the caveat that the alternative ways of getting to North Bend Airport from Denver are summer-only twice a week direct flights on an Embraer or connecting through SFO at 5-6+ hours total otherwise.
Hmm. At least flying a plane would let me possibly live up the stereotype of an overconfident doctor flying the thing into terrain, though!
Cliffs Notes: RVs are stupid. Flying a small or smallish plane oneself probably is stupid as well. I should just suck it up and rent nicer vehicles and fly first class.
Last edited:
WTF are you on about? Have driven Shafer in both an old Audi *and* a minivan...<snip>or a Land Cruiser-type vehicle if we’re going to hit some more dicey roads, like Shafer Trail.
Doesn’t it have stream crossings? Apparently not as I google it. Regardless there are plenty of other High Clearance 4x4 Only roads in the National Parks and National Monuments that’d chew up the minivan.
Through some google-fu I found a highly relevant thread to these above interests:
http://philip.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000tut
Summary of what it says there is that it’s not really feasible for long trips, and for shorter trips just drive anyway.
Commencal canceled one of my demos! (because they sold the demo bike in question)
The good news is that the one that was canceled was the 455 mm reach large size Supreme DH 27. The 470 mm reach Supreme DH 29 is still on the table, so Aug 12 it shall remain for now.
So Tesla lowered their prices yet again. (Going to be interesting to see what their gross margins were for Q2!)
Most of these changes are humdrum. New default color that used to be optional, this cheaper, FSD getting more expensive yet (but without anything concrete that you get now, still), etc.
One is very intriguing to this author as in the above screenshot. Apparently one can get a $5k discount by getting a 3 Performance with the 18" Aero wheels (and thus no big brakes for sure and no Track Package presumably). With the price drops then a 3 Performance with Autopilot in the default new white color pre-destination is $49.9k…
That said I'm going to do nothing at all now, but in the beginning of December I'll get some trade in quotes, likely so I can laugh at them. December will be when they get all feverish about quarterly results compounded by the now $1,875 Fed tax credit going to 0 (and for CO people the $5k credit going down to $4k in 2020) so maybe, just maybe can I eke out a deal since I do have the FSD package…
It'll all probably be for naught but I like to leave no stone unturned.
Implicit in this inventory dump of Performance Model 3s without the Performance Pack (P3D- in the nerd-lingo) is that Tesla went and firmware updated some inventory Long Range Dual Motor 3s with the Aero wheels (M3D) to Performance spec…
If I could just directly buy a firmware update to get 3.2 seconds 0-60 in my current car that'd be perfect. Maybe Tesla will offer that for a few weeks, like they offered (and as I bought) the FSD upgrade for $2k in March.
If I could just directly buy a firmware update to get 3.2 seconds 0-60 in my current car that'd be perfect. Maybe Tesla will offer that for a few weeks, like they offered (and as I bought) the FSD upgrade for $2k in March.
For @6thElement : long-ish loop at WR (Hecktrack so no Mustang loop and that uphill repeat section). 1:14.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2545352748/
And for @Full Trucker I defined an e-Hecktrack segment. My time (not from today what with going OTB but rather from my prior 24:16 Helltrack effort) is 13:17. That's 2/2 for e-bikes, because #1 is Todd Munson at 11:27. He's the Masters enduro racer guy…
https://www.strava.com/activities/2545352748/
And for @Full Trucker I defined an e-Hecktrack segment. My time (not from today what with going OTB but rather from my prior 24:16 Helltrack effort) is 13:17. That's 2/2 for e-bikes, because #1 is Todd Munson at 11:27. He's the Masters enduro racer guy…
What's the reason you see?I know why.
IMO, they do this consistently a few weeks after the tax credits change, as it did June->July (akin to Dec->Jan last and this year). And sometimes mid-quarter just for the hell of it, apparently.
They didn't change much for the RWD models other than making the fancy triple coat white the default and thus free option, at least.
LR AWD with standard Autopilot in new-base white is still $47,990 + destination - $1,875 Fed - $5k CO. Yours is undeniably significantly less expensive.
Change yours to “FBI Surveillance Van6”
The view of the crowded 2.4 and 5.0 GHz spectra from my house.
Strong.
My actual fastest HECKTRACK time is borked... Strava decided that I started the segment while I was still climbing up, so over 6 minutes are added to what is likely my PR. I rode with my buddy Bobby that day, and his time is 12:48... I'm pretty sure I'm within a second or two (probably faster since I was leading?) of his time... but my activity doesn't reflect it.
I opened a support issue with Strava... less because I care that my time is correct and more because of how piss-poor a job the software did of matching the start point of the segment and flagrant bugs in software kinda make me irritable. That shit should Just Work™ shouldn't it? Their response:
Which is 100% patronizing horse hockey, IMNSHO. I wrote a strongly worded response:
Oh man... I put way too much effort into that, didn't I? But also for some reason, I feel like it would make @Toshi proud... he's a Known Complainer™.
lol at Strava "accuracy"... 
Yeah. GPS matching doesn’t seem too accurate.lol at Strava "accuracy"...
Scratchpad post time:
DEN-OTH in the summer is easy. Just pick a Wednesday or a Sunday. Direct flight. On a 2+1 vs 2+2 layout small plane I don't see the point in paying for first class so wouldn't.
OTH-SEA is more troublesome.
It looks like what we did last summer, drive to Eugene with a one way rental and then pop up EUG-SEA directly, would be better.
Cliffs Notes: My parents live in a place that's a pain in the ass for traveling, as they fly direct to SFO and DEN (seasonal, limited) and that's it.
Last edited:
Thought of the day:
My ideal vehicle would probably be my Land Cruiser... only lowered slightly on reasonable profile, perhaps 28" or 29" tall road-tread tires. With an AWD electric drivetrain swap, that is. 400 hp or so, 300 miles range so maybe 125 or 150 kWh to achieve that given its shape and weight, 350 kW charging.
Yeah, that'd do it.
Too bad no one is going to make such a conversion, a la the Jaguar E Type:
https://www.jaguar.com/about-jaguar/jaguar-classic/authentic-cars/e-type-zero.html
My ideal vehicle would probably be my Land Cruiser... only lowered slightly on reasonable profile, perhaps 28" or 29" tall road-tread tires. With an AWD electric drivetrain swap, that is. 400 hp or so, 300 miles range so maybe 125 or 150 kWh to achieve that given its shape and weight, 350 kW charging.
Yeah, that'd do it.
Too bad no one is going to make such a conversion, a la the Jaguar E Type:
https://www.jaguar.com/about-jaguar/jaguar-classic/authentic-cars/e-type-zero.html
What would rock my world/what's most plausible is if the 300 Series Land Cruiser stayed body on frame (as it is reputed to do) yet came with not only a hybrid but a PHEV option. For that I'd jump through some financial hoops and consolidate my garage.
https://www.autoblog.com/2019/04/22/toyota-land-cruiser-next-generation/
https://jalopnik.com/vancouver-driver-commits-to-driving-down-a-flight-of-st-1836557548
I would totally drive down some stairs in my Land Cruiser if it were a legal “street”.
I would totally drive down some stairs in my Land Cruiser if it were a legal “street”.
I met my brother in law's sister in law--not sure what that makes us--at my niece's birthday party, and said BIL's-SIL mentioned that her family had been on the road in an RV for a month.
They bought a 1973 (?) GMC RV, the 26' variant. Not sure what floorplan but she has a set of bunks, and several of the 26' floorplans had that.
They'll use it for this several-months trip through the usual National Park type sights and then will sell it for close to what they paid or keep it.
I still am not sold on the RV use case as opposed to paying for hotels given what we like, but her plan seems solid financially. No slides to break, all bugs out of that Toronado drivetrain by now hopefully, and at the bottom of the depreciation curve yet with a resale market because it's a unique thing.
They bought a 1973 (?) GMC RV, the 26' variant. Not sure what floorplan but she has a set of bunks, and several of the 26' floorplans had that.
They'll use it for this several-months trip through the usual National Park type sights and then will sell it for close to what they paid or keep it.
I still am not sold on the RV use case as opposed to paying for hotels given what we like, but her plan seems solid financially. No slides to break, all bugs out of that Toronado drivetrain by now hopefully, and at the bottom of the depreciation curve yet with a resale market because it's a unique thing.
No way dude, that thing is RAD!Oh, FUCK THAT SHIT.
