GN2018

Thanks for the pictures. I’m not sure I would get under any truck they hoisted.

A bit rough. Are you going for a restoration (make it look good), or just getting running mechanically sound?

Then have a great time with your new truck. Be safe on the way home. Enjoy the project. Keep us updated (pictures) as you progress.

Sounds like a gift from hell. How much time and money are you willing to put into that truck? Sounds like you’re looking at many hours of work (a week or two if you’re a proficient mechanic) and $3K minimum. Probably closer to $5K. You sure about this? Given all you’ve indicated, can you stay there and fix a couple things, like the steering/front end before you go driving it 700 miles? Before a 700 mile trip, I’d want to know that the front end was safe and that the brakes were good. Then there’s the over heating issue. Sincerely, good luck.

It was mentioned, but I’ll restate. My biggest concern would be whether or not this would show up as an accident on a CarFax. If you plan to sell the truck at some point (assuming you don’t keep it like 10+ years), having an accident on it will hurt the value. Also stated. I’d be on the owner to first, repair it correctly but then to give me a little for my troubles. A couple or even lifetime oils changes sounds good. Especially if you bought the truck there and if you think you’ll buy your next truck there.

Any time I have something worked on, I look for the other parts they may need replaced. I do this because I pay people to work on my vehicles and a significant portion of the cost is labor. For example, if a water pump goes bad and you have to remove hoses and belts, they get replaced. In this case, I’d certainly replace the bearings and seals and anything else that I come across while doing the job. However, you work on your own truck, so the question is how valuable is your time? If I liked wrenching on cars and it was not a part that, if it failed, would strand me, then I might wait until another time.

Oh you have push button start. My son in law has push button start on his Impala. One day the battery went bad. He was stuck at a gas station pump. I got there to help him and figured we should just go get a new battery. I didn’t have jumper cables handy and the store was close. So, I told him to put the car in neutral and we’d push it away from the pump and go get a battery. Guess what, no power, no way to put the car in neutral. There is a process to get the car in neutral, but at this point it was easier to just call road service and get a jump. That’s a long story to say that if you have push button start, read your manual and figure out how to get your car/truck into neutral manually. I don’t recall how to do it, but I think you need a screwdriver. Whatever tool it takes, you should have one in the vehicle and know how to do this.

I thought if you turned the key to the on position the radio would stay on indefinitely. I know it shuts off if you’re just sitting in the truck and you’ve turned off the key. But are you saying you only get 10 minutes even with the key turned?

If I was going to replace it ever, I’d do it right away. Why look at it that way for years only to fix it later when you’re probably closer to selling it. Personally, I’d check into the bump out and matching paint repair mentioned. Actually, I’d probably just live with it. It sucks, but stuff happens. They don’t stay pristine forever.

That sucks. They look nice. Clean install. So, to flush mount, you’d cut holes in the bumper?

Please comment on how those work. Are they pretty bright? Do they light up the driveway (about 20 feet across) when you’re backing up? Any other pros or cons in the choice of lamp? Thanks.

I don’t. I’ve owned black cars and now a black truck. They look great when they’re clean, but that’s only for a short time after cleaning them. As you said, it becomes a second job. When I was thirty, I had a Grand National. I was willing to put a bit more energy into that vehicle. Now, in my late 50’s, and retired, there’s no way I’m keeping my truck that clean. However, I did buy a power washer and a foam cannon. It’s as good as taking it to the coin op wash without leaving home to do it. Therefore, I do spray it down often. Hand wash? Did that once, a month or so ago. Won’t be doing that again. I just take it to the automatic wash. I know, sacrilege, but for less than $10, I don’t have to spend an afternoon to get my truck to look presentable. I do spend I bit more time on the inside keeping that clean because that’s where I’m at and I respect myself and my truck enough to always have the interior up to snuff. Micro fiber cloth and a mild soap (Dr. Bronners Castile Soap) and it’s good to go. I also keep the windows pretty clean. First with a wet rag and finish with Windex and a clean micro fiber cloth.

I totally agree with this. High volume is a great sign of fresh gas and also is an indication that it's reasonably good quality. In a large city or suburb, this may not be an issue as there is such high demand, but if you’re a bit off the beaten path, it’s something to look for. Personally, I use Costco when I’m home. Hard to comprehend how much gas they go through. 4 double sided lanes with two pumps per island and hardly ever a time when there’s not a line. Not to get too far off topic, but I use the same logic when buying meat. High volume meat markets tend to have better meat. At least if it started out decent, it doesn’t have time to go bad (get worse) at a high volume place. For small engine, I use non-ethanol gas. You can find out if you have a station here. https://www.pure-gas.org/ A lot cheaper than that True Gas in a can.

Probably should just leave it out for the metal scrapper. Doesn't seem like something anyone would want or anything I could trust to give to someone. Father in law was known to "rig" things.

Is it generic or did father in law weld that on there for a specific application?