The Raven

Damn...that sucks man. Sorry to hear. What's your mileage at?

I do the same. Minus the detailer. Literally all I do is wash, and dry, and my vehicles look showroom new. I wash probably once every two weeks starting late fall through mid-spring (leaves, then salt, then pollen) but generally, once I get to mid-May, I might wash each vehicle once or twice more until November...with the exception of when my truck sees the trails. Otherwise I can just dust them off cause they don't really get dirty.

Yeah...a good synthetic wax gives the same results. 10 years is due to the amount of care moreso than the product...but there still needs to be a good product there. Those warranty terms are made to make sure that the warrantor never needs to pay a claim. Much like concrete paint. But again, a good synthetic wax will give the same results.

Yeah if that's all you're spending then I see no problem with that. Some good waxes cost more than that. The overriding point here is these $2k+ "permanent" coatings are a classic snake-oil style gimmick. Someone figured out how to create a subscription service for auto detailing. Pretty clever really.

Not correct. As shown in that link, I asked YOU for a source. You replied by asking me for a source, without providing one yourself. That's why I replied "no source".

Here's the post where you quoted, and replied to, me asking for a source...

Right...no source. That's what I figured. What's crazy about your numbers is that you correctly point out that the membership of this forum is only a small fraction of total number of trucks sold...but then you go on to assume that every single owner who has had a lifter failure has logged onto the forum here to let us know about it. Strange thinking. YES the membership here is only a tiny sampling of the total ownership of our trucks...but also, the owners who have posted here about their lifter failures are a similar tiny fraction of the total lifter failures that have occurred. I don't have a real number for the DFM-equipped trucks but when a class-action suit was being organized for the AFM trucks, the analyst firm that was contracted for data came up with a number around 12%. The DFM trucks are, without question, worse than that. So it's a lot more than 1%.

That's not what I got out of it - sounded to me like he just traded as-is. That is a thing you can do - problem is that if you do that at any normal time in history you are going to get lowballed by like $10k. He had the good fortune of being in that spot in early 2022, when dealers were willing to do crazy things to get inventory on their lots. So I have no doubt he got full trade-in value at that time. But it's irrelevant cause that's never happening again. I know people who have done this. Best case scenario, you have a good dealer that you've purchased from before, and they give you a decent offer (considering the situation) on your broken truck and a good deal on the new one. It still doesn't work out in your favor, but it can be less painful...especially if you are facing spending $5k plus to get your current vehicle back on the road.

Source for the 1% number? (It's a lot higher than that)

It's not Feb 2022 anymore. You won't get "full trade in value" for your truck in perfect condition today.

Like I said, I ventured into the world of coatings, and one of the big things that I learned is that people's definition of "lasts" varies greatly from mine. I had both CeramicPro and CQuartz professionally done as promotional deals and found that both started to break down already at the 3 month mark. Now, granted, even after a year, there was still some product left on the vehicle...but that's not "lasting" to me. Less than 50% of the vehicle was protected at that point and when I inquired with the dealers they said "yeah you need to bring the vehicle in once a year for "maintenance""...problem is they charge for that...in the $300-600 range. LOL. That's not maintenance...that's a re-application. So basically, when you spend $2k+ for a "permanent" coating...what you are signing up for is a very overpriced protection subscription where they re-apply the product once each year....furthermore, at least with CeramicPro, CQuartz, and (as I later learned) Adams Advanced, you are without full protection for most of that year. This is why I returned to just using good synthetic/blend waxes...there are plenty of good products in the class that last as long or longer than those coatings and cost a literal fraction of the price. I am currently on Pinnacle Souveran and I generally re-apply 3-4 times a year, because I find that there are almost zero holes in protection at that point. I've seen Souveran surpass the year mark according to other's definitions of "lasting" (meaning partial protection) and it takes me less than 30 minutes per vehicle to apply, so i'm hard pressed to explain to anyone why they should pay $1000+ for any coating. I pay $50/bottle and that covers all three of my vehicles for at least a year. My total detailing costs are less than $100/year and I have at least as good, if not better, results than those who pay $1000+ for coatings. Yes I do it myself but if you aren't into detailing and want to pay someone it's still a fraction of the cost for the same results if you stay away from the overpriced coatings. Every time I have this conversation with "coating guys" I always get the "yeah those coatings you tried are garbage...you need to try XYZ". Sure...i'll just spend thousands trying everyone's favorite coatings. As i'm sure you can agree - the detailing world is one of those places where everyone thinks the stuff they use is the best. Once you've been doing this as long as we have you learn that there's no magic, and there's actually not all that much difference between brands in their respective tiers.. There's the cheap stuff and there's the good stuff.

Don't ever pay someone $1000+ to put any kind of "coating" on your vehicle. These things are a huge ripoff. Now, if you want to tackle it yourself that's a different story. Just understand that there's nothing magic about these coatings...the science behind them has been used for at least four decades now. I've been detailing for nearly thirty years and after going through a coating phase, i'm back to quality polymer waxes. They last about the same and are so much easier to apply. But again, if you like the coating idea and can get it done yourself for under $200...go for it.

It never really was a great idea - you pay A LOT more if you wait until the end of your factory warranty. You really should make your decision on the extended warranty within the first year of ownership...because once you pass that first year or 12k miles, the price jumps BIG TIME. After you pass 30k miles it takes another big jump. So you're paying a lot more for the exact same thing...or I suppose you could say you're paying a lot more for the privilege of waiting until the last minute.

Having the check engine light flash from time to time is normal for these trucks. Happens on mine once or twice a month, no big deal. HOWEVER, I have absolutely no weird noises, rough idle, or exhaust weirdness of any kind...there is absolutely no other indicator of any kind of issue. So if all you are seeing now is an indicator light, you have nothing to worry about. But if there's still noise or roughness or some other indication of an issue then yeah that's definitely a problem. This "normal" is new to me too, but it's the reality that politics has forced on us.

No. What's laughable is that you know how much a lifter replacement costs, and how much an extended warranty on our trucks cost...and yet you still hold onto an outdated claim that is disproven by those two facts. I already explained how this works. They absolutely CAN and DO collect $1200 and pay out $3000/vehicle and still cover their costs. Did you even read my post?

Don't get me wrong, like I said, it's ok. I just wanted to point out that Ramsey doesn't deserve any credit...and also that there are better ways to do it. You had the good fortune of having parents with an established business...my parents were blue collar workers so I started out with no help at all - no money no connections. I had no choice but to take out loans for post-secondary education and borrow money so I could have reliable independent transportation and a roof over my head while I built my future. Had I followed Ramsey's "advice" I would have had to essentially sit out my late 20's and early 30's so that I could be completely out of debt just in time to be too tired to party. Instead I had my fun, borrowing responsibly and now that i'm well into an established career that I love and I have a secure future, I have the extra income to get square and still enjoy life. Nothing wrong with that. Retirement looks the same for both of us yet our paths to get there are VERY different.

That's not actually the "Ramsey method". That's just basic 20th century money management. There's nothing special about it, it's the same advice we all got from our parents (if we had good parents - I know not all of us were that lucky). Problem is, the 20th century ended over 20 years ago. If you want to manage your finances like your parents and grandparents did that's ok...but in the 21st century there are much better ways.

It is 100% outdated and obsolete. Furthermore, the idea that putting the $1200-2000 that you would have paid for a warranty in a savings account will cover you is flat out laughable. This is just absolutely terrible advice...like Dave Ramsey bad.

This, unfortunately, is outdated advice. It used to be true, but the ever increasing complexity and ever decreasing quality of modern vehicles have changed the landscape dramatically. When a simple infotainment screen replacement costs $1800, a $1200-2000 extended warranty bill is well worth the investment. Go ahead, put that $2k in your "self-insurance" account and see how far it gets you. If you even have any of it left by the time you get to your lifter replacement you might have a nice down payment for that bill. Yes, warranty companies need to make money to stay in business...but that fact doesn't mean that extended warranties are a bad idea. The "warranty company" in all of these cases is just a broker. They sell the policy, collect a fee, and then that policy is bought by a backing fund where it gets combined with millions of other policies. It is this architecture that allows us to pay $1-2k for a policy that is almost guaranteed to pay out at least $3k over its life...because while DoD V8 and TT V6 pickups are guaranteed losers from a warrantor's perspective, there are far more Camry, Malibu, and Accord policies in that fund that will pay out next to nothing. Perfect example for proof - a 6-year B2B policy on my Wrangler cost $860. Ain't no way anyone is going to make it to the 6-year mark with a JL Wrangler and not spend at least double that on repairs. You could park it in the garage that entire time and you'd still spend more than $860. How are they able to offer that price? Crossovers and family sedans. We V8 truck owners are pretty much guaranteed a $3k+ repair bill by the 80k mile mark...so its pretty simple math for us - if the warranty is going to cost less than $3k, it's a win...and all we really need is powertrain coverage, so really it's a slam dunk.

Yes Bilsteins (5100s and up) are really stiff. I hated them too. On my Tahoe I immediately switched to Rancho RS9000xl...they are adjustable and I was able to play around with damping until I found a place where the truck was very composed but the ride was not ridiculous like the Bilsteins. That said, the quality on the RS9000's is not fantastic...though Rancho is a great company to deal with when you have issues. I've heard the new RS7MT's are a great product but I have not tried them myself. The Fox 2.0's are fantastic both in performance and quality but that's a major price jump from either Rancho or Bilstein.

Maybe, maybe not. It depends. The sidewalls of heavier-load-rated tires are not automatically stronger. Just ask the Jeep guys about E-rated Duratrac sidewalls and you'll get an earful. The load range is a ply RATING. It does not guarantee strength or thickness, and it doesn't even guarantee the number of plies as the name implies. The new generation of tires that has launched over the last five years has much more advanced ply technology than our old favorites, and thus many of the new C-range tires are going to be stronger than the older D and E-range tires. So I would not compare the new Territory MT or Duratrac RT to the OG Duratrac, or any other tire from that era, cause it's not going to be a valid comparison. Subjectively, I will say this - my time as a Wrangler owner has taught me that tire ratings are near useless. No one follows the rules, and they all break the rules in their own creative ways so you can't even count on them to cheat the same. I've simply resolved to prioritize light weight over everything else...well except for a quality tire of course - i'm not going to buy a junk Chinese tire because it's the lightest. So I find the tires that are correct for my vehicle weight (by load desc) and then focus on those that are the lightest in their respective classes.

Reviews are mixed because everyone's definition of "loud" is different. Guys coming from other off-road ATs are going to find these pleasantly quiet, while guys coming from on-road ATs are going to think they're obnoxiously loud. Furthermore, some of these reviews are posted right after the tire is mounted (and as we all know, all tires are quiet when brand new) and others are posted after 5k, 10, 20k miles when the tires are worn in and much louder. Unfortunately, reviews for subjective traits aren't very useful.

It greatly depends on WHICH Sports Bar and WHICH Tonneau. I believe with the OEM Sports Bar you are going to be severely limited, cause it's a pretty long one and will obstruct two panels. With something that's not quite as long, perhaps like the Go Rhino 2.0 that I have, you might be able to get two panels open. You could go the route I did and go with a hard (or soft even) rolling cover...there are sports bars that work with those (the Go Rhino is one - though it takes some creativity).

None. There are no pickups that can be counted on to last 200k miles anymore. Obviously I mean without major work. There is not a new 1/2-ton pickup out there on the market that you will not be doing major engine, and likely transmission work, before 150k...unless you get very lucky. The days of the GMT800 are long gone. This is why my dad still has his 2006 Z71...he loves the idea of a new truck but after seeing mine he was like "HELL NO".

Just wanted to add - my 35's are 50lbs (weighed on my calibrated hanging scale) so i'm pretty positive that the 33's are going to be lighter than that. The stock 32's that come on the new TB's are 39lbs. The listed tire weights are rarely accurate. Also wanted to add - i'm at 7k on mine, and they have so far been the quietest off-road AT i've ever experienced at this mileage. Much quieter than Duratracs, Ridge Grapplers, KO2's, and Baja Boss'. The only tire I would say was as quiet was the Open Country AT3. I wonder what tread life is going to be too but I figure that at this price, and adding in the fact that this tire allows me to maintain factory-level fuel mileage, even if they don't last quite as long i'm still going to come out ahead.