Nanotech Environmental

I've used a fumoto valve on my current truck for over 100,000 km. Best thing I ever did for vehicle maintenance. It makes oil changes so much easier and less messy. I have the nipple on mine & just run a length of rubber hose from it into a 10 liter jug to catch the old oil.

If a touchless car wash is having those kinds of issues, they are using the wrong chemical profile. There are many effective products on the market that are very gentle on the surface, or clearcoat being cleaned, but very aggressive on the dirt being removed. As far as waxes getting stripped, again, the right chemicals will not affect waxes much. Besides, wax gets stripped bit by bit from rain/wind,snow, sun, washing, etc. I never use carwashes with brushes, as they are problematic for a number of reasons.

I've checked mine a couple times and it was pretty close both times.

Heat cycles really don't do anything for an aluminum engine. It's possible they were helpful for old school cast iron blocks waaay back in the day, but serve no purpose on modern engines. Load cycles are a different story. On any fresh engine, load cycles are the only way to get the rings seated properly & you have a narrow window of opportunity to do that - about 20-30 min when brand new.

I was actually referring to my previous truck; a 2006. I used FF on it a few times, but it just couldn't handle our winter road conditions in ON. The salt spray would take it off. My current truck is a 2017 & From new, I use a combo of a heavy asphalt based undercoating and some lighter oil products inside the body work. I still have to go over everything 2x a year, but it looks nice.

My last 2 trucks have been DC's for these 2 simple reasons; It' s usually just me and/or one other in my truck. If I need the rear seats, it's still reasonably comfortable for normal sized people, for normal trips. The rest of the time, it's usually either sales materials, groceries and/or dirtbike stuff in the back. I want the 6.5' box and don't want a truck that turns like a school bus. I'm not interested in the 5.5' box, it's too small to be really useful for pickup related stuff. I use the box for deliveries, recreation and getting building supplies, among other things. I had the 5'8" box on my last truck & the 6.5 is waaaaay better. It's hard enough to park this one when in the city & going longer wheelbase would just make life tougher. This layout give the best of both worlds. I had a single cab at one time and have no interest in ever doing that again.

I have a 2017 that is very close to 100K miles; 4x4 dbl cab, 5.3, 6 spd. My sentiments are similar to yours. It has been the best vehicle I've ever owned & it still drives like new as well. Only have done fluid & filter changes so far. There was one minor recall a while back & the dealer had to re-flash the DIC once, but other than that, it's been a great truck.

Hi George- Sorry for not responding sooner- I haven't been on here for a bit. I responded to your pm.

IMO, you shouldn't exceed about roughly ~75% of the rated tow capacity of the vehicle. Also, keep in mind that the tow ratings are assigned using just the driver and no payload.

Mine is a '17 ext cab 4x4 w/5.3 and a 6sp. Has over 90k miles on it now & It's been the best vehicle I've ever had. Replaced one front hub last year & that's been about it for mechanical stuff(it wasn't wobbling yet, it was growling for a long time, which was annoying). Still has orig brakes. Every vehicle I've ever owned has had small paint chips in all sorts of places & this one isn't any different. I keep a touch-up stick handy for that. The bluetooth can be a bit wonky occasionally. Other than the small issues noted, it's been a great truck.

A passive flush, which uses the transmission's own pump to do the flushing is very safe & is no different than normal vehicle operation. When flushed using an external machine- that can sometimes cause problems.

I would suggest that correlation, causation etc & vice-versa aren't related here. I've held a street licence since 18 and have spent a fair share of time both on and offroad. I've taken several offroad courses taught by world class riders and now spend most of my time in the woods. I've also taught offroad skills improvement courses to numerous riders. I've raced some at a mid level, but really prefer recreational trail riding. Here is some of what I've learned over the years; It takes a short time to become reasonably proficient in a very basic way to handle a bike on the street(riding sense not included). It takes about 5 years(500-1000hrs) to become well skilled offroad. The only riding skills that transfer from pavement to offroad are the most basic riding operations itself; clutch/brake/shifting. That's it. Even then, the braking has to be relearned. HOWEVER, all of the skills acquired offroad(and there are a lot of them) do transfer directly to pavement riding, massively improving the riders skills in handling a bike on pavement. This cannot be overstated. It's no accident that world class motorcycle road racers spend their practice time riding dirtbikes, trials bikes, ice racing and flattrack bikes. It's the same reason why so many dirt track & rally car drivers make great pavement racers- they learn transferable skills you just can't learn any other way. It's easier to teach girls and women to ride offroad than it is to teach guys. You can lose 5lbs and burn as much as 3000 calories in one National enduro. My worst injuries all happened in crashes at speeds of less than 5mph. Graham Jarvis probably isn't human. One needs to learn to be both defensive and offensive when riding on the street. Some of that can be taught, some is instinctual, the rest is luck and experience(if you make it that far) All the skill, sense and experience in the world can't protect you from really determined idiots in cars/trucks etc. Often, it's just luck. Stupid or overconfident riders on the street are their own worst enemies. I suggest to all noob riders that I meet, to learn to ride offroad first. It's much better for them. Not every dirt only person will be asphalt stupid. It's all in their mental approach to street riding, or driving. They also have bike handling skills pavement-only guys can only dream of. Without knowing all the details, I can suggest with good odds that your young Suzuki friend's death very likely had nothing to do with bike handling skills, asphalt or not- he had them in spades. The asphalt wouldn't be a factor. It was something else that caused the death. I rarely ride on the road anymore, as cagers these days are too pre-occupied with non-driving related things. I also get bored easily on the street, which is not a good thing, so I generally avoid riding it where possible. My road riding these days generally consists of a short hop down a back road between trails. If I crash offroad, it's my fault 99.99% of the time- even though I may try and blame it on the tree I just hit, or (insert obstacle here). lol. On the road, the %ages are reversed.

Dirtbikes & more dirtbikes. Got back in the sport at 38 after a 23 yr absence and am now 52. IMO, not many things can clear your head like a good spirited ride in the woods. It's also a relatively cheap way to blow off steam compared to many alternatives- and it's a hell of a good physical workout to boot. Dirtbikes also accidently created the impetus & foundation for my current business.

Thanks for the offer, but no. Even if I were to gather a ton of data, I know what the outcome is likely to be, so I'll save myself the effort.

No. Haven't the patience for that.