Jsdirt

Been carrying a Para Warthog for 4 years now. Everyone laughs (bulky is an understatement). I don't even notice it anymore.

Just raises line pressure, and holds a gear longer before upshifting. Won't hurt a thing - maybe mileage, that's about it.

Gotta love eBay. I did 5 returns this week alone. Latest is a set of e-code headlight assemblies for the Volvo 940. Thing arrives with no directions (would've been helpful, especially since the ad said it comes with the best, easy-to-understand directions on the planet - I had to disassemble and chase wires to figure it out), a right-side marker light in with the left-hand assembly (so I have 2 rights and NO left), and the entire inside lens assembly was broken off inside & just floating around in there, WTF. Adjusters weren't even attached. There were glue fingerprints all over the glass that I was peeling off with my fingernail. Thing looks like it was assembled by a 4 year old with glue everywhere. Taiwanese garbage, and I paid just under $400 for the pair. Guess your paying for the rarity - certainly isn't the quality! The one decent one is installed now, and works great. Wish I knew which was supposed to be the "fog" and which is the "driving". Intuitively I would think that the clear lens is the driving light, and the refracted lens is fog. That's how I wired it up. The one that's installed works great, and doesn't look too bad I guess. Hopefully I get some time out of them. The H4 halogen seems 10x better than the 9004 that were in the stock housing. Much better light output. At least glass won't become all spotty if I get a little acetone on it.

Not in my experience.

Icons are really good. I've had the same set on my truck for over 3 years now. Granted, the truck is garaged and lives in the Northeast, so UV exposure is minimal - YMMV. They seem to hold up & work better than anything I've ever used in the past. I had been using Trico ever since I started driving. Good wipers, but they don't last nearly as long as the Icons do. I use Tricos only on our Grand Marquis, since they're the only ones that don't drag on the hood when they park. They're sized perfect for that vehicle.

Guess I'm in desperate need of a tune for mine. Was always afraid of breaking something. Overall the truck hasn't been very confidence-inspiring as far as build quality goes. I got a Friday-before-Christmas-Eve truck I guess ...

Yeah I forget about all the electronic crap these newer ones have. I can tell it's not the engine that's the limiting factor with my truck - definitely a control system holding it back. My buddy had a '99 Silverado with the 5.3, and had a tune, headers, hi-flow cats, & an intake, and that truck would kill my current Silverado, no question. He ran a 15.5 at 88 at the strip. He was neck and neck with my '72 El Camino. I probably could've got him off the line if the 'Camino could launch without melting the tires every time. Best I could do was a 15.88 with the same trap speed. I should clarify that we didn't actually race each other on the strip (only on the street), but compared time slips.

Yours must've been at the end of it's life. Mine would STOMP any car short of a Corvette off the line, anywhere and EVERY time. Wasn't a car built that could get ahead of me before the lane drop. It would leave my Silverado in the dust in a 60' drag, hands down.

I miss the low end grunt those things had. If only my 5.3 could come close. Needs help - cam, performance cats, & headers should do it ... but I remember a time when ALL of that cost under $300 (minus the cats, since we'd just cut those off ). Plus need a tune on top of all that. Ain't happening in my lifetime. Bet it's all of 4x that now.

That's a thing of beauty! Lots of zeros on the end of that bill, I bet ...

Just MO, but I'd find a body shop before I let any dealer paint anything ... unless you don't care how it looks.

MA roads are 10x worse than NJ's. My road hasn't been paved since the late 50's or early 60's. It's been patched 10,000 times since. If they turned it to dirt, it would be an improvement ... seriously!

You have much better roads down there than up here in the Northeast. The constant pounding and with manufacturers cheaping out, they don't last anymore. My truck needed lowers at 38k (inspection at 34k showed play - guy said he wouldn't pass it next time), and uppers at 50k, along with a strut and a hub bearing. Did them all at 55k, both sides. The older cars lasted alot longer - I still have the same ball joints in our '86 Grand Marquis that I installed summer of '05. Have over 130k miles on them, and I've only had to replace the right lower a couple years ago. That might have been my failure to clean the grease fitting first. I suspected it to be dirty, but got lazy. Bit me in the ass. My '72 El Camino I drove for 11 years, and never did ANY front end work, not even shocks or tie-rod ends. Never needed it.

2 years is great up here. I've seen ball joints fail in 6 months flat. A dirt road in the desert is smoother than half our paved roads up here ...

Amazing how long that stuff can last on smooth roads. In the 2 years I lived in Phoenix, neither of my cars needed any front end or suspension work. That was living!

Yeah, that's what it sounds like. Common failure for a coil of wire. It can easily short to ground with age.

Miracles never cease. I'm legal to roam the streets of the People's Republic of Massachusetts for another year. At least it didn't cost me anything ... but aggravation.

Going to make a second attempt at an inspection sticker. Only 1 monitor hasn't run - EVAP. According to the 1,234,632 pages of MA state law regarding motor vehicle inspection, I'm allowed "one non-continuous monitor" to be "not ready". EVAP is non-continuous, so should be good. Problem with this state is, there are so many damn laws that nobody wants to take the chance of being wrong. We'll see how this goes. Here goes nuthin' ...

That's great! The lefties up here would melt down if we ever attempted to fish with a bow. This place sucks.

Yeah, it's a no-brainer. I did one on a '05 Mustang - super simple. Think it cost like $12 on eBay for the speedometer stepper motor, and about a half hour of my time.

Stupid OBD-II crap. They can't make anything simple. Gotta engineer it so the average person gives up and brings it to the dealer. Hell of a way to make money. I consider it outright theft. I would have to live where my driveway enters a full blown interstate highway in order to complete this damn thing in a reasonable amount of time. http://www.obdii.com/drivecycle.html

Still can't get a drive cycle to complete ...

GM should sell us trucks minus the driveline, like the over-the-road truckers do. We'd certainly get alot more life out of them, and alot less headaches!

That's the very thing that's kept me from doing any mods to this thing, aside from a plug-in tuner, cat back, and cold-air intake. If I lose a tranny, this thing will be down a year before I scrape up the funds and time to do it. As it is, at 86,5xx, I'm starting to notice a sluggish initial 1-2 shift with occasional slippage. Only a matter of time I guess.

How many miles did you get out of the tranny before it let go? I have a sneaking suspicion this might be my next ordeal ....