Not really a tow rig.....BUT......New to me pickup

[2kwik4u]

Well..... big stuff today.

HVAC is fixed. New head control unit got me pointed in the right direction. Had to tear open the blend door actuator and recalibrate the encoder by hand. Wasn't hard, just a little tedious. So temp control is back. Mode select is working. The new linkage from Dorman had a goofy tooth profile and was causing it to bind on dash mode. Retrofitted the old linkage to the new actuator and reinstalled. That solved that issue. So......all the HVAC is fixed and working as it's supposed to. WooHoo.

Now, still have a coolant leak. I didn't replace the push to connect fittings on the heater core, and I think one is still leaking. I have two new fittings, I was just lazy. I'll have to get back on that here soon. It's a tiny leak so it's low priority.

Dash is still apart. I spent too much time upside down fixing the HVAC, hopefully I can get that back together this week.

Biggest part though......tagged and transferred. Means I officially own it now right?!?

First time this trucks had IN tags on it!

 

[BlkGS]

You should really throw some headers on, you know, while you're in there.

 

[2kwik4u]

You should really throw some headers on, you know, while you're in there.

Honestly, headers are WAY down the performance list.

Electric fans and a transmission tune first. The crank fan just SUCKS the top end out of this thing. Then the transmission is setup for a V8 and shifts WAY to early. This is the most anemic 4.3 I've ever driven. Owned a couple and this thing just feels sluggish as dammit. I mean it was under 300hp when it was built and that was 185k miles ago.

Besides, if I'm gonna do manifolds and exhaust, I'm putting Sy/Ty manifolds, turbo and downpipe on there. Of course then I would have to address the crap gears and no locker.

You remember back in the late '90s and early '00s when SLP was making Firehawks? They would upgrade the rear locker from the stock Zexel/Torsen unit to the stronger Eaton units. They then resold the Zex's for $99. They were a direct drop in for the S10 rear ends, and a MONSTER upgrade in performance for those trucks. I think I did 20 of those swaps for the S10 guys back in the day......man I wish that kind of deal would still be around. Got stuck on dry grass moving some firewood for my Mom last week. Open rear diff, crap highway tires, and trying to back uphill had me stuck.

 

[BlkGS]

Somehow I never noticed it was a v6 truck. Honestly, I think I totally forgot you could get something below the 4.8L V8, lol.

I think those v6s were closer to 200hp than 300hp new, lol.

So I agree, no headers, needs turbo manifolds and pair of snails, while you're in there.

 

[2kwik4u]

Somehow I never noticed it was a v6 truck. Honestly, I think I totally forgot you could get something below the 4.8L V8, lol.

I think those v6s were closer to 200hp than 300hp new, lol.

So I agree, no headers, needs turbo manifolds and pair of snails, while you're in there.

The S10s I think were 195hp. The Silverados MIGHT have gotten a bump to 205hp or something like that. Quick google search says 200hp@4,600rpm and 260ft-lbf@2,800rpm. I believe that.

Drove it to work this morning. Didn't have to open the windows to regulate temperature. That was nice. Seats still SUCK so bad. Might be next on the list of things to fix.

Wife and I are still batting around the idea of selling the Q7, and if that comes to fruition, I'll DEFINITELY be swapping the seats for something else.

 

[BlkGS]

The S10s I think were 195hp. The Silverados MIGHT have gotten a bump to 205hp or something like that. Quick google search says 200hp@4,600rpm and 260ft-lbf@2,800rpm. I believe that.

Drove it to work this morning. Didn't have to open the windows to regulate temperature. That was nice. Seats still SUCK so bad. Might be next on the list of things to fix.

Wife and I are still batting around the idea of selling the Q7, and if that comes to fruition, I'll DEFINITELY be swapping the seats for something else.

On one hand, now is a shit time to buy anything with a loan. It's also not an amazing time to sell stuff. But if you were gonna get out of the Q7 and get something fun for cash, and have the truck as a beater, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[2kwik4u]

On one hand, now is a shit time to buy anything with a loan. It's also not an amazing time to sell stuff. But if you were gonna get out of the Q7 and get something fun for cash, and have the truck as a beater, it makes a lot of sense.

Likely would sell the Q7 for cash and just be done with it. At 2yrs into the 6yr loan on it, I'm likely to break even and just get it off the books. Considered the thought of getting her something larger that is capable of towing the boat. Her Rogue is nearing the 65k mile warranty on the CVT, and I'm not sure I want to own it out of warranty on that transmission. I'll daily drive the pickup, and she'll drive the "yet to be named SUV", and we'll be down a big chunk on payments and insurance.

It's all in the planning and talking phase now.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

If I were to sell a late model used car, I would consider doing it now. Interest rates are still pretty good on late model used cars, here is my credit union's (NFCU) rates for today. All the flooding on west coast may help bump the demand for good, late model, used cars.

Auto Loan Rates1

Loan Type	Up to 36 mos. APR as low as	37-60 mos. APR as low as	61-72 mos. APR as low as	73-84 mos. APR as low as	85-96 mos. APR as low as
New Vehicle	4.54%	4.74%	5.04%	6.94%	7.84%
Late Model Used Vehicle	4.54%	4.74%	5.04%	N/A	N/A
Used Vehicle	5.44%	5.74%	5.84%	N/A	N/A

Jim

 

[BlkGS]

Likely would sell the Q7 for cash and just be done with it. At 2yrs into the 6yr loan on it, I'm likely to break even and just get it off the books. Considered the thought of getting her something larger that is capable of towing the boat. Her Rogue is nearing the 65k mile warranty on the CVT, and I'm not sure I want to own it out of warranty on that transmission. I'll daily drive the pickup, and she'll drive the "yet to be named SUV", and we'll be down a big chunk on payments and insurance.

It's all in the planning and talking phase now.

I think the rogue cvt has a 100k warranty on some years. Ours was a 16 and it did, part of a class action lawsuit settlement.

While they're are times it's be nice to have a 30mpg SUV again, I can't say enough about how happy I am we traded up to the expedition. It can be a bit big for a few places, and the wife gets irritated that I try to find a good spot to not get dings, but it's great.

Honestly, I think the best value in SUVs right now is the generation of expedition and navigator up to 2017. It's the old generation with the steel body so it weighsore, but you get most of the modern features and the Ecoboost 3.5 motor. They're also like, half of what the newer gen sells for. Lots of value for the money there.

What you should do is buy yourself a secondary vehicle, like a good TBSS, that way if the truck is down due to age related repairs you've got another car to drive.

 

[2kwik4u]

What you should do is buy yourself a secondary vehicle, like a good TBSS, that way if the truck is down due to age related repairs you've got another car to drive.

I legitimately laughed out loud at this last part. Having owned one already, and having traded it for something else because I didn't want to spend $400/mo on repair/upgrade work. I just......I laughed. I hope that was the intent

Her Rogue only has the warranty through 65k miles. Still part of the class action suite, but we didn't get the full 100k for some reason. I'll dig up the paper they sent. Might be 85k, I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty confident we didn't get the full 100. Either way, if we're only going to have ONE reliable vehicle, it'll be hers, and likely whatever she chooses. I'm a car guy, she's not, so aside from dictating tow rating and AWD I will have VERY little say in what it is. We're just happier that way. SHe likes her friends Durango and that would likely fit the bill just fine for her. Not sure we can get both an honest FS SUV and the boat in the garage at the same time.

If I was to get me another vehicle, it would like be a dirt cheap B7 A4 Avant. They're dead simple to work on, get decent mileage, and are acceptable to drive. I would consider a '12-'15 Ford Focus again as well so long as it had the manual transmission (Ford first DCT wasn't great).

 

[BlkGS]

I legitimately laughed out loud at this last part. Having owned one already, and having traded it for something else because I didn't want to spend $400/mo on repair/upgrade work. I just......I laughed. I hope that was the intent

Her Rogue only has the warranty through 65k miles. Still part of the class action suite, but we didn't get the full 100k for some reason. I'll dig up the paper they sent. Might be 85k, I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty confident we didn't get the full 100. Either way, if we're only going to have ONE reliable vehicle, it'll be hers, and likely whatever she chooses. I'm a car guy, she's not, so aside from dictating tow rating and AWD I will have VERY little say in what it is. We're just happier that way. SHe likes her friends Durango and that would likely fit the bill just fine for her. Not sure we can get both an honest FS SUV and the boat in the garage at the same time.

If I was to get me another vehicle, it would like be a dirt cheap B7 A4 Avant. They're dead simple to work on, get decent mileage, and are acceptable to drive. I would consider a '12-'15 Ford Focus again as well so long as it had the manual transmission (Ford first DCT wasn't great).

It was mostly a joke. I do think your TBSS was just an unloved example that had been neglected and abused. Other than a couple of age rated issues, mine has been fine, and most of the issues have been because I was upgrading while I did upkeep

I've always had a thing for the Focus ST. Did those get cheap? Other than being pretty tight inside, that was a great car. Part of me still wants to find an HHR SS with a stick. Talk about an unloved bastard child, but they were pretty quick, reliable, practical, and did like 30mpg. Fun too. What'd be even better is if they made some Frankenstein monster el Camino type thing out of it so it could be a little pickup too, lol.

 

[2kwik4u]

It was mostly a joke. I do think your TBSS was just an unloved example that had been neglected and abused. Other than a couple of age rated issues, mine has been fine, and most of the issues have been because I was upgrading while I did upkeep

I've always had a thing for the Focus ST. Did those get cheap? Other than being pretty tight inside, that was a great car. Part of me still wants to find an HHR SS with a stick. Talk about an unloved bastard child, but they were pretty quick, reliable, practical, and did like 30mpg. Fun too. What'd be even better is if they made some Frankenstein monster el Camino type thing out of it so it could be a little pickup too, lol.

You're not wrong. I had a poor specimen of a TBSS for certain. Our service manager here at the office has an '07 3SS AWD with like 250k miles on it. He bought it brand new to bury negative equity from the previous vehicle and has liked it so much he's just driven it. Still running on the original engine/transmission with only minor wear parts along the way. The combination of how I drive, and a poor specimen just left a bad taste in my mouth on them in general. I've spent decades around the Sy/Ty community and saw what a pain in the arse those things were to work on and really thought the TBSS was a resolution to that. Then you look a bit forward at something like the SQ7 or SRT Durango and realize the super sport SUV class has come a long way. At this point though they all feel a little "pay to play" to me, either in maintenance/upgrades or loan payment.

I've not driven an ST. I had a '12 SE. Went on the lot in early '12 and said I want a hatchback with a manual. They had 112 on the lot that day, and ONE of them had a manual transmission, so that's the one I bought. It didn't have the "sport package" so it had rear drum brakes, steel wheels and hubcaps. It did have the technology package and a sunroof though. I got to experience the first generation of Sync with that car. It worked OK. The car overall was really good to me. We traded our '03 Yukon in on it when I was driving 150+mi/day and gas was $4.50/gal. It ran strong for only being a 2.0L N/A 4cyl, and got 32mpg no matter how hard I beat on it. I could drive like a grandma and get 33 if I tried, or beat it like a rented mule and get 31. With my grandfathers A-Plan pricing I paid just under $19k for it with 7 miles on the odometer. I was torn when I bought it as I knew the ST was coming, but I needed to make a move and couldn't wait for the '13 model year.

That's the now 11yr old and my wife. You can see our A4 in the background there, another car I probably should have kept.

 

[BlkGS]

That part of the charm of the TBSS to me. It's not over the top luxurious. It doesn't have touch screens to control everything, it doesn't have a million modes to mess with, it doesn't have insanely.over the top brakes that belong on a race car, it's not so compromised in the name of performance that it can't do SUV stuff still. All the parts are simple and easily available since they a bazillion regular trailblazer and envoy and stuff.

They have definitely taken the luxury and performance up a lot since the TBSS was out, but the prices have gone up a lot too. If you look at the Durango SRT for example, if you don't get all the optional extras, the only features it really has.over the TBSS are the power lift gate, cooled seats, and the 2nd ac for the rear (I think the longer wheelbase envoy and TB has this though). If you compare it to the jeep SRT, it doesn't have rear AC but does have a pano roof. Performance, sure, but that can be had with an LSA blower or something.

Truth be told, everything is pay to play. You pay for upkeep, you pay for purchase. Especially with anything semi fast.

 

[2kwik4u]

That part of the charm of the TBSS to me. It's not over the top luxurious. It doesn't have touch screens to control everything, it doesn't have a million modes to mess with, it doesn't have insanely.over the top brakes that belong on a race car, it's not so compromised in the name of performance that it can't do SUV stuff still. All the parts are simple and easily available since they a bazillion regular trailblazer and envoy and stuff.

I love the brakes on the Audi, they're damn expensive (see comments below), but they are effing phenomenal performers. The heads up display, adaptive cruise, virtual cockpit, 4 wheel steering, ride height and damping adjustability; I love all those things. I get flustered at at the tech sometimes, and it is wildly over complicated for what I "need", but damn it's nice to have.

They have definitely taken the luxury and performance up a lot since the TBSS was out, but the prices have gone up a lot too. If you look at the Durango SRT for example, if you don't get all the optional extras, the only features it really has.over the TBSS are the power lift gate, cooled seats, and the 2nd ac for the rear (I think the longer wheelbase envoy and TB has this though). If you compare it to the jeep SRT, it doesn't have rear AC but does have a pano roof. Performance, sure, but that can be had with an LSA blower or something.

Truth be told, everything is pay to play. You pay for upkeep, you pay for purchase. Especially with anything semi fast.

Yea, it's all pay to play. If I just wanted to get back and forth to work, my $1,500 pickup makes a strong case as being the "minimum required equipment" to make it happen. I could make do with less, but there's not much to strip away at this point. Maybe the power locks, and CD player. Doesn't even have A/C currently! Guess I need to decide if I want to keep playing, or just commute ?!?!

 

[2kwik4u]

@BlkGS found the warranty extension. 84mo/84k mile on the CVT in the Rogue. She's at 58k now. Maybe a couple years left at this mileage usage rate. Dates will cover her until Nov 2025.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10211969-0001.pdf

 

[84rzv500r]

Right on… That’s interesting on the Bilsteins… I’ve run Rancho adjustable shocks for years but their QC on the adjustment knobs got worse and worse, and now that I live where road ice melt is present a lot those knobs poor quality really shown through, as in they seize. A friend swears by the Bilsteins, I’ve never used them but was considering them for replacements on my new truck so I appreciate your feed back.

I have a Denali 2500 HD and the rancho shocks literally rusted fell apart in 40,000 miles leaking seals the whole bit... mind you the underside of the truck still looks like the day i brought it home... I replaced with the Bilstein 52XX series and am very pleased it was a step up... also 3 of the 5 goodyear oem tires broke belts at around 38,000 within >500 miles of each other and two in the same week. I went with 35" Coopers and have been very happy and have 5 and 7k miles on the new parts and Im still happy LOL

 

[BlkGS]

I love the brakes on the Audi, they're damn expensive (see comments below), but they are effing phenomenal performers. The heads up display, adaptive cruise, virtual cockpit, 4 wheel steering, ride height and damping adjustability; I love all those things. I get flustered at at the tech sometimes, and it is wildly over complicated for what I "need", but damn it's nice to have.



Yea, it's all pay to play. If I just wanted to get back and forth to work, my $1,500 pickup makes a strong case as being the "minimum required equipment" to make it happen. I could make do with less, but there's not much to strip away at this point. Maybe the power locks, and CD player. Doesn't even have A/C currently! Guess I need to decide if I want to keep playing, or just commute ?!?!

I know guys spending a grand a month on hellcats or teslas. If you put another 4500 into that truck, you're only at 6 months of payments.

That's where I struggle with replacing the TBSS. What is going to be enough better that I'll spend that much money on it? Realistically, anything I buy is 500-750 a month now. At 500 a month, a blower is 14 months. A 6L80 swap is 16 months. So 2.5 years of my expected minimum payment gets me a TBSS that's likely nearly hellcat fast. As much as I'd love a hellcat Durango or something like that, that's a LOT of money for a car, and a lot of money paid to a bank to borrow money. I don't know that I'm really down for that.

 

[2kwik4u]

I know guys spending a grand a month on hellcats or teslas. If you put another 4500 into that truck, you're only at 6 months of payments.

That's where I struggle with replacing the TBSS. What is going to be enough better that I'll spend that much money on it? Realistically, anything I buy is 500-750 a month now. At 500 a month, a blower is 14 months. A 6L80 swap is 16 months. So 2.5 years of my expected minimum payment gets me a TBSS that's likely nearly hellcat fast. As much as I'd love a hellcat Durango or something like that, that's a LOT of money for a car, and a lot of money paid to a bank to borrow money. I don't know that I'm really down for that.

I 100% get that game. I was in that $450-500/mo on maintenance items on the SS. On top of the $189/mo financing payment. I moved into the Sierra that was $589/mo. It was as near as wash as you can get in, what my wife calls, "husband math". The big difference.....time and effort. With the SS, I was spending a few hours a week in the garage fixing/repairing/modifying/etc. When I moved into the Sierra that time dropped to near zero. The thing just ran. For me the timing was important as well. Bought in October, 2nd son was born in April. That time I saved got put into the house to prep for the little one, then to be present to help the wife with a rough pregnancy, delivery, and post partum time. So the time savings was worth the trade for me.

Wish I would have kept the Sierra to be honest. It made life simple and relatively inexpensive on several levels. The Q7 payments sits at $720, and is a little higher than where I would like to be, but it isn't killing us. We traded the Sierra away when I found mice in it, and almost immediately started having wiring issues with the dash. I probably could have tracked those down and fixed it. Honestly there was some bad emotional "ju-ju" on her side attached to that truck, so I used it as an excuse to clear it from our life. As a vehicle though it was damn good to us.

Now....The little one is turning 5 in a few weeks, and my time in the garage has been freed up a bit. I could possibly drop back and revert to a tiny payment and a maintenance/mod budget, and make the tradeoff for time. We've decided that ONE of us needs to keep a 4 door tow vehicle. The Rogue can't tow a canoe, and the pickup can't get us all to the lake at the same time in the same car. So, the current thought experiment is trading both the Q7 and the Rogue in on something slightly larger for her. Combined payments are just over $1,200 between them, and if we could drop that to under $1k, and put her in something like a gently used Tahoe/Expedition, that might be a win. LOTS of moving parts in a deal like that though, so it would have to be structured just right to not loose our buts. Once that move as made, then I would start searching for a commuter car that didn't kill my soul to drive that we could pay cash for.

Who knows where we'll land. I feel like we do this same song/dance every 4-5 years and never get the same answer. Maybe we should lease so we can just turn these things back in and walk away every 4 yrs?!?!

 

[BlkGS]

I gotta say, I would have a hard time not having another expedition class vehicle around. They just do a lot of stuff so well. A pre LT engines Tahoe or suburban with the 6 speed and either the 5.3 or 6.2 makes a very strong case for itself for not a lot of money. No, it doesn't have the latest tech, but it does have a motor that could go 500k miles, and the biggest risk you'd have reliability wise is if the AFM system effa up, which means you have to replace lifters, valley cover, and maybe camshaft. That's like a 5k job if you pay someone to do it and you can get performance parts added to up the ante a little for that money. Expedition of the same or slightly newer time frame are awesome too. These "built from work trucks" vehicles offer a lot of bang for the buck. No, they don't have the over the top luxury of a newer luxury car, they don't drive or ride like a car, and you do have to remember their size in parking lots, but they're immensely useful.

My biggest hurdle right now is the wife is not a fan ofe.adding an older truck to the fleet. She's convinced it's be more time spent fixing 2 vehicles, which may be right. But on the plus side, of that were the case I'd have a backup vehicle so I'd have a lot more time I could spend on it. The TBSS is currently down for a header install, so right now she either has to do daycare stuff and I drive the Vette, or she's stuck at the house with no car. An inexpensive truck avoids that situation, unless they're both broken to the point of no driving, which has this far been rare.

 

[2kwik4u]

@BlkGS

We had an '03 Yukon for a couple years. Traded it in on the Focus. I110% agree with the utility of that class vehicle. It gave almost zero craps what we were doing on any given day, it just did that thing well. Towing the boat 6hrs with 6 people and a weeks worth of camping gear, no problem. Need to pick up a client at the airport, no problem. Drive to/from work, drop the kids at soccer, then make a grocery run, then go pickup a trailer full of firewood all in the same day, no problem. Ours had the 5.3/4L60E driveline with 3.73 gears in it. Had the GM "Gov-Loc" rear end (that works quite well if you maintain it and don't beat on it), and Auto 4wd. Drove it to Milwaukee for a family emergency once, by the time we got there the snow was just over the front bumper deep, and I had marginal tires at best on it at the time. It gave zero craps, and kept us warm and safe the whole way. It was really a great piece of equipment. I think we financed $18k for it back in '06 when we bought it, by todays standards it was a damn steal!



I can't lie.....I did a search a few days ago for a Chevy Avalanche. There are some not terrible deals out there on those with 125k-ish miles. Same driveline and chassis as the Yukon/Suburban. Same interior as well. Then you get that sweet midgate for days when you need to do "truck stuff", and if you find one without all the plastic cladding, they don't look terrible IMO. The black Z71 versions actually don't look terrible to me.