Recent content by Joel_MD

I hate I/Os! 15 years ago I had a 28' Wellcraft cabin cruiser with twin Volvo Penta 4.3 I/Os. The thing was a total lemon. I had problems with the drives, problems with the engines, etc. My father complained about I/Os back in the 80s, and now I understand why. I vowed to never have an I/O...

Thank you. This is the kind of response I was seeking; a person who has actually made a long trip with an EV. Not links to videos, anecdotes, websites, etc. I can find that stuff on my own.

What are made for long trips?

I live in a medium-sized city in North Texas. Electric vehicles are very uncommon here. The nearest Tesla dealer is 130 miles away. I don't know anyone who owns an EV. For those of you who actually drive an EV, what is it like to take a long trip? I occasionally drive to Minnesota to see...

I have a lot of experience with federal government acquisition contracts, both on the government side when I was a budget officer and later a special agent investigating contractor fraud, and also working for defense contractors on contracts of all sizes. It doesn't do much good to compare the...

I always charge a new battery before installation. About 30 years ago a mechanic told me it was a "best practice" and I've been doing it ever since.

Leather upholstery on a 1991 MB is probably real leather, not the "coated" stuff like most cars have today that don't actually require leather care products. If you have Leatherique rejuvenator oil, I'd use that. It's probably the best product on the market.

I lived in Southern California for about five years when I was active duty USAF, from 1996-2001. I remember seeing the C-17s taking off for test and ferry flights. The Clinton administration really slow-rolled the production of that aircraft. It took 24 years to build less than 300 aircraft...

That's interesting. Don't most factory windshields come with a tinted strip at the top? So in PA you can get a ticket for a factory windshield?

I really like Jescar Power Lock paint sealant. Been using it for years. Usually I precede it with Menzerna Final Finish, or something similar to remove imperfections and make it glossy.

Very economical! When I had my 2007 Cummins Ram, it cost me upwards of $90 for three gallons of Amsoil and a Donaldson filter. Although I was taking the OCI to around 20K miles, so maybe I was more economical?

I like the Cardone brand on Rockauto.com. I've bought several over the years. They are usually much less expensive than what you can get at a local retailer.

I did 19,000 miles on my 2015 Ram for the last interval. It was Red Line 0W-20. Analysis showed that the oil stood up well. It would be fine to take to zero on the OLM, which would probably be half as many miles as I did...

If you can get all of that for ~$900 as genuine OEM, I'd say that sounds pretty good. I've done a complete suspension refresh a couple of times in the past, although never on a Nissan vehicle. I like to stick with OEM for springs and bushings. For stuff like tie rod ends, I don't know if there...

I guess the engine in your Impala was swapped at some point? My pop had a 64 Impala convertible when I was a kid. I think the V-8 choices for that year were the 327 and 409.