Recent content by Huie83

I just use a site like cars.com and search until I find what I want. Then I research the dealer to make sure they aren't sheisters before reaching out to their internet sales guy/gal. I negotiate over email/phone and go pick it up. It's hard to custom order a vehicle now because of the...

Honestly, as a suburbanite that just needs something to haul some gravel, dirt, plants, yard debris etc once and a while, I'd look at one. I don't tow anything. I don't have room at my house for a trailer, association so we can't park them outside. I'd love to have a small truck for camping as...

Yeah I hear ya, it's hard. I've had my new car for 8 months now and when I was detailing it the other day I noticed someone had tapped my rear bumper as well as scraped my front bumper corner. I have no idea how as I always park out in the lot away from people. I've just kind of given up. I'll...

I agree. I was really excited that when we moved into our new home last year we had saved up enough to purchase "real" furniture made in the US. For how much we paid I have to say the quality has something to be desired. Assembly and finishing work was pretty sloppy andnot worth the extra money...

I've never had any issues with the Valvoline Express Lube shops I've used. I used them on my fleet vehicle for 3-4 years and then in a pinch on one of my personal vehicles a few times. The nice thing is you stay in your vehicle and can kind of watch them. My girlfriend took her Rav4 to the...

I just use OEM Mopar's in my Jeep's 3.2 Pentastar ( same as the 3.6 just smaller bore) so I don't have to think about it. They are the same price as aftermarket so why not?

When I was 16 in 1999 I purchased my first car. A 1985 Mazda 626 GT Turbo. Had 160K miles and paid $500. Little 2 door, 5 speed with the turbo engine. Drove that thing until it was too expensive to fix and junked it. It had that magnetic electronic suspension, blew a strut and it would have been...

I think work from home has changed this a lot. My GF and I both work from home indefinitely now so really no need for two vehicles anymore without us both commuting. Work from home has improved our quality of life leaps and bounds. Not to mention saving us a ton of money! We save ~$1500-1700+ a...

My GF and I are 99% remote workers now. I have to go in once every few weeks, her maybe once a quarter if that, never on the same day. We are in the process of selling my GF's car now. No use in a vehicle just sitting and having to pay insurance on it. Her car sat for so long recently the...

We just got back from vacation in AZ where we rented through National. We do the deal where you pick a car from the row and go. We arrived at 2PM and there were no cars left in the row, an older gentleman grabbed the last one as we walked up. Luckily as we were standing there someone had just...

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm in the Minneapolis metro area. I've used a few different machine shops for head work in the past but I'm not finding much for engine rebuilders ( with good reviews...) outside of race engine builders in my area. The machine shops I've used were OK for...

Thank you, this is valuable feedback and what I am looking for. Since results are all over the map, these are what I need to hear.

Sorry, I tore apart the top end investigating so it's not currently running. This is when I found silver metal dust ( not large flakes its like super fine sand texture) in the oil in the head and some larger areas in the head that have pockets where the metal could settle.

On a DD maybe but a trail rig I would not want to spin a bearing or throw a rod and have to be towed out. It's starting to sound pretty tappy.

Not really on a set budget, just depends on what I'm paying for. I would pay more for name brand bearings, new ( or fully reman) heads etc. It all depends. What I'm not finding is a reman that lists what they use. I don't really want Chinese bearings etc.