Random Thought Thread

Murphjd25 said:
I like this new headlamp I got, it clips to your hat and stays put. Has a really strong clip, and up to 500 Lumens of spotlight or flood if I need it. View attachment 2296767
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I’ve been using this one for the last few years.
Goes on my hat bill and stays in place. It has 1, 15, 65 and 200 lumen settings. Plus 1000 lumen turbo setting. And it’s rechargeable.

View attachment 2296777

And it has a display that tells you how much runtime is left in the setting it is on.
 
tokerblue said:
I know it's probably frowned upon to solicit on this site, but I'll do it for $280. Maybe not as good as something yoko yoko would do, but it's a better deal. :D
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Not something I'd do not just because it's cheap but because I don't have the desire to prep the car nor space to set up a paint room do it in.

Just watched an episode of Wheeler Dealers in which they painted the top 1/2 of a Rolls Silver Spirit w/gold paint cans but the mechanic/painter set up a complete paint spray area in his garage to do it in, while I'd have to do it outside in the sun. Matching the colors correctly is also another matter.

It looked pretty good on the Rolls but that's not happening in my case . . .

You may not think so but I'm sure Yoko can attest that $2.8k to repaint the hood/roof of my truck is CHEAP!

I got an estimate of $7k to do the same job. The $7k job might be better but no way I'm going to pay that much just to repaint the hood/roof of a truck that's worth $15k at most.
 
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I have been using a Nitecore like this one nightly for the last few years when taking the dog up the road for her late walk on gravel road and woods. It may be a slightly different model number...in fact it is. Mine is an HC30, not 35.

eng_pl_NiteCore-2700lm-21700-4000-mAh-headlamp-HC35-116463_6.jpg
 
Headlamps... I just got a few Sofirn HS41 for about $25 a piece. The quality is good and they seem to be the claimed 4000 lumens at turn on. I already had a pile of Molicel 21700 batteries. The UI is good and you can keep double tapping for turbo and get it too hot to hold. Decent throw.

My favorite handheld light is the Thrunite TN36. It has a flood beam, maintains 8000+ lumens, and does not get too hot. I use 4 Molicel 18650 in mine. You can find similar lights that are 50000 lumens but after a 10 minutes they are all under 3000 lumens.
 
sgt1372 said:
Not something I'd do not because it's cheap because I don't have the desire to prep the car nor to set up a paint room set up to do it in.

Just watched an episode of Wheeler Dealers in which they spayed the top 1/2 of a Rolls Silver Spirit w/gold paint but the mechanic/painter set up a complete paint spray area in his garage to do it in, while I'd have to do it outside in the sun.

It looked pretty good but that's not happening in my case . . .

You may not think so but I'm sure Yoko can attest that $2.8k to repaint the hood/roof of my truck is CHEAP!

I also got an estimate of $7k to do the same job. The $7k job might be better but no way I'm going to repaint a truck that's worth $15k at most.
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Yes paint prices have skyrocketed !!!!!!

Some things are more than quadruple in price now
 
sgt1372 said:
Spaying the entire truck w/Rhino liner would be another option but that would just look ridiculous.

When I was into offroading, there were a few guys who did and probably now regret that "decision." 🤷‍♂️
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What's the reason? Looks crappy now? Didn't hold up? I'd considered it for off-roading. Some of those narrow trails with brush on either side immediately result in what looks like keyed paint all along the sides, where bed liner would just ignore it (also much more resistant to minor dings and dents).

The times I've seen it, it looked fine (but was still new). One thing I've seen, is that truckbed liner fades from UV exposure, so it makes sense to pick colors where it doesn't make as much difference (eg. Gray vs Black).

*** and I'd argue that removing truck nuts (spaying) would make it look less ridiculous. 🤣
 
bluemax_1 said:
What's the reason? Looks crappy now? Didn't hold up? I'd considered it for off-roading. Some of those narrow trails with brush on either side immediately result in what looks like keyed paint all along the sides, where bed liner would just ignore it (also much more resistant to minor dings and dents).
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Rhino or Line-X spaying the ENTIRE vehicle is effective in doing what you say it will do off-road but it's a very extreme measure that I think is generally unnecessary to protect the vehicle's body (certain parts, for sure, but the whole vehicle? not so much) given my experience off-roading where I never suffered any significant body damage.

Beyond that, it's a certain "look" than would be appealing to a small minorioy of truck/4x4 owners but after you're done w/off-roading (which is more often the case than not), what's the reaction you're going to get when you try to sell or trade in the truck?

Not good (in terms of $'s IMO) and that's what I was mainly referring to in questioning the choice of spaying the entire surface of any vehicle in this way.
You substantially limit your resale market by doing so which will probably cost you in the end.
 
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sgt1372 said:
Finally decided to spend some money "fixing" up my 2002 F250 Supercab 7.3L TurboDiesel 4x4 Longbed truck.

Found a paint shop that will repaint the hood & roof for just $2.8k. The work is scheduled to be done in a few weeks. Will use Poppy's Patina to treat a few spots where the clear has also peeled away but where the paint has not yet deteriorated.

a5FqhlM.jpg


The "plan" is to fix the many dents in it (most not my fault) & to entirely repaint the truck over time. A lot cheaper to do that than to buy a new truck which I really don't need as long as this one continues to run.

Also bought a new OEM grill, aftermarket headlight enclosures & fog lights and a few other parts to refresh the look of the truck when the hood/roof are repainted.

However, an unexpected expense cropped up yesterday.

I parked the truck on the street across from my house, I smelled a strong burning odor. Opened the hood to look for smoke/flames but saw none. All the electrics still worked but not the starter. The truck was dead.

Had to get the truck towed to the shop where my fave mechanic is now working. Just got a call this morning saying that the starter had "burned up!"

WTF??

It cost me $800 to replace it w/a new OEM Motorcraft starter. :(

Think I got ripped off by this new shop. Only went there because my fav mechanic is working there now. Didn't have any choice but to let them do the work -- wasn't going to tow the truck to another shop -- but I don't plan to use this shop again, even though my fave mechanic is working there.

Oh well . . .

Anyway, just had the orignal starter replaced about a year ago, which means it lasted about 20 years! I hardly use the truck and the starter wasn't being used when it decided to burn up. I don't recall but I'm guessing the starter was a cheap rebuild and there's no "warranty" that I can fall back on but . . .

Has anyone else heard of a starter just burning up for no apparent reason? 🤷‍♂️

Update:

The shop owner showed me the burned out starter (sorry forgot to take a pic) but the end of the solenoid housing was completely burned open and there was a track of melted plastic running down the outside of the metal housing. It was a Remy and it was replaced w/a new Ford Motorcraft starter.

The engine actually starts up better now that it ever did w/the burned out starter. Hopefully, this one will last the rest of the life of the truck.
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Sorry to hear about the starter issue. My 1999 Superduty was having starter issues a couple of years ago. I bought one from Ford and installed it myself- much cheaper than a shop. However I noticed a similar issue last year and took it to my favorite diesel folks. Turns out the flywheel was missing a couple of teeth and occasionally that is where the starter gear would be. Got a new flywheel and clutch. Starts like a champ!

I was advised by the owner of that shop as well as the shop I take non-diesel vehicles to never get a reman starter or alternator if planning to keep the vehicle for a while. They both said quality can vary greatly and that it can be hit or miss. Sounds like you got a lemon (if it was installed correctly).

It is crazy to think a hood and roof paint job can be that expensive, but in seeing what folks are paying for new ones, that is just 3 months of payments. 🤣

I like older vehicles and like seeing old ones on the road. I am all for keeping them going.
 
sgt1372 said:
Finally decided to spend some money "fixing" up my 2002 F250 Supercab 7.3L TurboDiesel 4x4 Longbed truck.

Found a paint shop that will repaint the hood & roof for just $2.8k. The work is scheduled to be done in a few weeks. Will use Poppy's Patina to treat a few spots where the clear has also peeled away but where the paint has not yet deteriorated.

a5FqhlM.jpg


The "plan" is to fix the many dents in it (most not my fault) & to entirely repaint the truck over time. A lot cheaper to do that than to buy a new truck which I really don't need as long as this one continues to run.

Also bought a new OEM grill, aftermarket headlight enclosures & fog lights and a few other parts to refresh the look of the truck when the hood/roof are repainted.

However, an unexpected expense cropped up yesterday.

I parked the truck on the street across from my house, I smelled a strong burning odor. Opened the hood to look for smoke/flames but saw none. All the electrics still worked but not the starter. The truck was dead.

Had to get the truck towed to the shop where my fave mechanic is now working. Just got a call this morning saying that the starter had "burned up!"

WTF??

It cost me $800 to replace it w/a new OEM Motorcraft starter. :(

Think I got ripped off by this new shop. Only went there because my fav mechanic is working there now. Didn't have any choice but to let them do the work -- wasn't going to tow the truck to another shop -- but I don't plan to use this shop again, even though my fave mechanic is working there.

Oh well . . .

Anyway, just had the orignal starter replaced about a year ago, which means it lasted about 20 years! I hardly use the truck and the starter wasn't being used when it decided to burn up. I don't recall but I'm guessing the starter was a cheap rebuild and there's no "warranty" that I can fall back on but . . .

Has anyone else heard of a starter just burning up for no apparent reason? 🤷‍♂️

Update:

The shop owner showed me the burned out starter (sorry forgot to take a pic) but the end of the solenoid housing was completely burned open and there was a track of melted plastic running down the outside of the metal housing. It was a Remy and it was replaced w/a new Ford Motorcraft starter.

The engine actually starts up better now that it ever did w/the burned out starter. Hopefully, this one will last the rest of the life of the truck.
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The one on my Kubota diesel side by side quit. They wanted over 400$ for an oem replacement. So I opened it up and the contacts were totally black. I cleaned them up with steel wool and it was back to working like new. There were after market replacements as low as 100$ but I heard from several people that they would not last.
 
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