rdonarski

Wow! You guys got a lot of vehicles. Besides for my truck, we have a 16 CRV and an 03 Accord. My wife bought the Accord new and has always considered it 'her' vehicle. After retiring up here full time in 2012, we realized with an inch of snow, it's tough getting up our drive with the Accord. After burning up several tires and tempers, we bought the CRV. On paper the Accord wasn't worth anything by then, so we kept it. It only has 160K on it and I've taken good care of it. Park it in the winter. Wife still loves it. We are thinking about replacing the CRV with something more comfortable. Every insurance bill I get does up and the last claim home or auto that I filed was in 2001 (hail damage on a loaner vehicle). Crazy! All my kids are doing financially better than me, so dying broke is my goal. Just have to figure out how to get the timing right.

I bought my truck new in 2020. I've been retired since 2012. It's the most expensive vehicle I've ever bought. I was concerned I was getting in over my head. As usual, bought it anyway. I was having coffee with a friend last summer when he received a call and asked if I would be interested in a lake monitoring job. Ended up taking the job. During the summer I work 6 hours a day, 4 days a week. Pays $20/hr cash. I'll have my truck paid off before the end of this summer. I monitor boats coming into the lake for invasive species. Unfortunately, this lake has very few boats coming in, so sometimes I go a whole weekend w/o seeing a boat. Do a lot of reading and fishing. Here's what a typical day at the 'office' is for me.

Hey! It's on sale!

Sorry for your loss. I keep telling my kids that I've had a great life and if I drop dead today, that's exactly how I want it. Also, if they work for a place that gives them time for the funeral, don't waste it on that. Take a vacation. Probably only inheritance they'll get from me. My son tells me "You can't die. I have way too many projects for you!" He does keep me hopping.

I couldn't agree more. We lived downtown Minneapolis for a few years. Now we never go there. My daughter-in-law is an agent for the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Buth her and my son were heavily involved in the riots. My son just transports prisoners now days from all over the country. Much better job. Can't wait till they both retire.

My son is a deputy sheriff in the Minneapolis area. Thinks the same way as your dad. Says "I refuse to give a speeding ticket to a law-abiding citizen". If your record is clean, you won't get a speeding ticket from him. A few years back when he was working night patrol, he got a magazine in January with an article about a LEO that had set the record the previous year for drunk driving arrests. His comment was "I can do that!". He made it his mission that year to go after drunk drivers. He didn't beat that guy's record, but he did have the most arrests in the county that year.

I used to swap summer and winter tires on my SUV. Then when I sold it the rims didn't fit the new one. Sold the rims and looked at my options. New rims are certainly expensive plus having to store an extra set of tires. Swapping tires on rims, also expensive. I finally settled on running winter tires year round. I probably only get about 2/3 the milage on them, but I'm fine with that. Living in N WI, it's winter 6 months out of the year anyhow. Have had no performance issues running them in the summer.

My dream truck is my 2020 2500 HD WT. It has everything I need and will be paid for in the next year. It's definitely my 'till death do us part' truck. Beyond that my favorite was the 1950 3/4 ton Chevy with a 4 spd transmission that I learned to drive on. Great truck!

I just ordered an Airmoto Tire Inflator as a Black Friday deal. I have my doubts as to how well it will work on my truck and trailer, but I am leaving on a cross country trip soon and one of my SUV tires has developed a slight leak. I bought it because of the size. We'll see how it all goes.

I 100% agree! Thanks @newdude. I get better information here than I get at my dealer.

Thanks for the help. I ordered one from a GM dealer. My cousin is parts manager there so I can get it at cost. I looked at that car-part.com website. I wasn't aware of that before. It looks great. It also gave me cause for concern I told my cousin it was the base tow haul mirror. When looking at that site I realized some of them don't have the lights on the backside. Mine does. Have to check with my cousin to make sure it's right. I gave him the VIN but not sure if he can get down to that level with that.

I backed into a tree today and broke part of my mirror. They called it the front shroud. It's the part behind the mirrors that is attached with 4 screws. I got the part off but have been unable to find anyone that sells the individual parts. They all want to sell complete mirrors. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your help.

I ended up with Weathertech. GM was cheaper for the mat but wanted exorbitant shipping (2 different sites).

I've got the economy WT model. It has no carpeting and no console. With the sand and salt involved up here I'm good with the no carpeting. I've been looking for a floormat that will go over the hump. I currently have individual ones and with the sand, they go all over the place. I'm not interested enough to pay Weathertech prices though. Want to keep it under $100. Any suggestions?

Just out of curiosity, how often do people grease them. I grease mine once a year but have very low milage. Also wasn't even aware Amsoil made grease. I've been using Costco oil. I'm thinking maybe I should switch to Amsoil for that too, I live less than 50 miles from the Amsoil factory. I've always said oil is cheap and haven't been following my own advice. I change oil once a year too, but so far have only been putting on about 2500 miles a year. I've always used Amsoil Marine Diesel oil in my skid steer since day one. There too, it doesn't get a lot of use and when the Amsoil salesman said it was built for engines that tend to sit a while, I was all in.

Yeah it's amazing to see used truck prices go up. Pretty sure before I get another one, I'm going to have to buy my wife a SUV. Hopefully the truck will be paid off within a year and then it will be time to think SUV. Definitely can't afford 2 car payments.

Congratulations! Retirement is the best job. Got my 'till death do us part truck' 3 years ago and love it.

I have a question on tow haul. My son has a 2016 2500HD 6L gasser with a 6 spd trans. Last year his trans went out. There are known problems with them. He was wondering if the fact that he never uses tow haul could have been a factor . I always use tow haul. He only pulls a fishing boat or snowmobile trailer.

I agree. I own a skid steer. Pulling that with my 3/4 tone is lots better than it used to be with my 1/2 ton where sometimes I had my doubt about what was pulling what. I have a car, a SUV and my truck. If I'm not paying attention, I find my truck to be the vehicle I'm most likely to be speeding in. Just doesn't seem like it's going that fast.

Yesterday I was working my job as a boat inspector at a local boat ramp (checking for invasive species). A gentleman pulled up with a 2500HD LTZ Z71 Sport. Nice truck. I was giving him crap on it being overkill to pull his pontoon boat out. He said he uses it mainly for pulling a large 5th wheel. Has over 80K miles on it already. he and his friend both commented how rough it rides when not pulling the 5th wheel. I asked and he said it has the snowplow option too (although he like me never plans on using it). Anyhow, it made me feel better that it isn't just the difference between the WT and LTZ that makes the rough ride. I really don't mind mine, but this gives me ammunition when my wife complains about it. It's not just because I was cheap.....for a change!

I grow up in LaSalle IL. At 15 a woman offered me a job cleaning her garage on Saturday mornings. Turns out her garage was a GMC - Diamond T garage. By the time I graduated college 7 years later, I was a full mechanic. Only quit because I didn't like the union. Still do a lot of work on my own vehicles plus have several old tractors to play with. Married my high school sweetheart. Have 3 kids and 7 grandkids. Been married 52 years. Moved into data processing. Worked multiple locations, mostly in WI and MN. Retired in 2012 to Minong WI (home of Jack Link Jerky). It's about 50 miles south of Duluth. Winters can be a little tough up here.

I have a 2020 withe the snowplow prep package and my son has a 2016 w/o it. I think his has a more comfortable ride, but his is the LTZ and mine is the WT. I figure that could play into that. I would never put a snowplow on it. Just came with the truck.

When I was 19 (1968) my boss sent me on a bus out to the Diamond Reo factory to pick up a truck for a customer. It had a 318 Detroit Diesel and a 13 speed transmission. I had never seen a 13 spd before that. Sent a $30K check with me to pay for it. Told me it would be ready when I got there. I got there at 6am. Being a stupid kid, when I couldn't get in the main door, I wandered around till I found an open door. Wandered all thru the office including the drafting area w/o finding anyone (luckily for me). Finally left and came back at 8. They gave me a tour of the plant while waiting for final prep. I didn't mention I'd already seen the office. That was during Vietnam and every 4th truck was going to the military. Overall, it was a great experience.

I was there when Diamond T combined with REO. I was assigned the task of converting our Diamond T inventory to Diamond REO. The conversion kits came in a large box including blueprints. It was a fun project.

I started my work career at a GMC/Diamond T garage back in 1965. Being low man on the totem pole, one of my duties was to check every fluid level on every truck we sent out the door new or used. And I don't remember ever finding a new vehicle with a low differential. Times have changed. A new pickup back then was probably 2-3 grand.