Go Truck Myself! Part 3, Urban Warfare

Here's a little light reading before you read this blog.  Since this is part three, I will post the previous chapters.

Go Truck Myself!

Go Truck Myself! Part 2

When I bought my truck I knew I was going to have to upgrade it.  The first thing I did was add a trailer hitch.  That wasn't hard since Dad had an extra one he bought at a yard sale.  I just needed to buy the hitch pin.

The second thing I did was buy and install new tires.  Even though the existing tires only had 33,000 miles on them, they looked like they would only run for another 5,000 miles tops.  So new tires were bought and installed.

The third thing I did was purchase a toolbox.  Since my truck is a single cab I didn't have a backseat to hold things.  So I really needed a toolbox.  I managed to find a great Husky brand toolbox on Craigslist.

Now comes my final addition, a brush guard.  I had been searching Craigslist for a while for the perfect brush guard.  Ford F-150 trucks from 2009 to 2014 could use the same model of brush guard.  While I had seen a fair amount of brush guards for sale, I hadn't seen one that would exactly fit my truck.

I had checked Craigslist, again with no luck.  I kept scrolling down to the (nearby items) section.  I couldn't believe what I saw.  In Arcadia, Fl., roughly 100 miles from me, a seller had the perfect brush guard.  It was Chrome, and made by "Go Industries."  When I looked them up, I found out that the guard normally cost $650 plus tax.  The seller was selling it for $250.

Long story short, I gave him a call and told him I'd meet him the next day.  I drove to Arcadia, and made it to his house fifteen minutes early.  He had a small cow farm on lots of land.  His wife was the Ford truck driver.  She had sold her truck, and aimed to install the brush guard on her new truck.  However, since her new truck was a 2017 the guard wouldn't fit.

Since I didn't try to argue or dick him over on price he offered to install the brush guard on my truck.  He said he had power (air) tools, and I told him,  "I was no glutton for punishment.  I would gladly accept the help."  I'm glad I did.  It took him, his wife, and me to install that thing.  I'll tell you this though, I'm really happy with the air powered drill.

When you tighten metal bolts, you have to do it bit by bit.  You tighten one, then the next, and do it all over again.  So we went around a few times tightening all the bolts with the air gun.  Once everything was repeatedly tightened down it was completely locked down.

So onto the photos!

You can see just how thick the metal bars of the brush guard are.  They are heavy duty.

Honestly, it looks like my truck is wearing glasses.

Down at the bottom it has tow hooks for towing someone, or someone towing me out the mud or sugar sand.

I feel better having the brush guard on my truck.  Not for country driving, but for city driving.  They drive like crazy here in Tampa.  So if they want to hit me from behind they have to go through my trailer hitch.  If they want to go through the front of my truck, they have to go through my brush guard.

I never felt safe on the roads when driving my Saturn or Ford Focus.  I've noticed folks tend to take you a little more serious when you are driving a truck.  Seriously, it's like urban warfare out there on the roads.  But now I feel pretty good.  I've managed to upgrade my truck how I wanted, and keep the price very reasonable.  Now, the good part.  I get to drive it the next twelve years.

Turning Back The Clock: Adrian Photo Edition

Back in 1993 my parents bought me a 1985 Ford Ranger.  It was the best truck in the world to me.  It was fun, easy to drive, and most of all, I had a truck!  Everyone at school even knew my truck.

One Sunday I realized I didn't have a picture of my truck.  So I had Dad take a picture of me in my suit in front of my Ford Ranger.  The original photo was taken on 9MM film.  So it looks a little fuzzy when scanned to a gif.

So now, in 2017, I wanted to recreate that photo now that I have the first truck since that Ford Ranger.  So here I am in a suit, in front of my 2014 Ford F-150.

Pretty awesome, right?  Maybe I'll have another picture taken in 15 years or so?  Who knows?  But I'm sure it will be an awesome photo.

Go Truck Myself! Part 2

Back on my birthday I bought my first vehicle in 22 years.  I wrote a pretty good blog about it.

Here is it.  (Part 1.)

Go Truck Myself!

I ended up selling my longtime car, a Ford Focus, to a friend of mine.  Included in the sale was my milk crates with all my car supplies.  Things like oil, brake fluid, anti-freeze, rags, window visor, a screwdriver and other hand tools.  So I needed to replace all of those things.

First up, I needed a toolbox to put everything in.  I found a great deal on Craigslist for a Husky brand toolbox.

Now that I have a toolbox, I can fill it... with tools.  Now comes the fun part.  Time for a trip to AutoZone!!!

First up, I needed to make my truck wheel look classy.  So I bought one of the wheel covers.  I think this one makes my truck look... sophisticated.  

I don't know why they put carpet in trucks.  You know us outdoor guys are just going to get dirt, mud, guts, etc. in the floorboards.  So I bought some heavy duty floormats.  I have to say these have some weight to them.

I couldn't leave AutoZone without buying one of those nice smelling tree thingies.  

I ended up buying a lot of supplies now so if I need them later I will have them with me.

I bought oil, anti-freeze, windshield washer cleaner, bungee chords, chrome cleaner (for my toolbox,) dashboard cleaner, and something I had never bought before, microfiber cloths for my mirrors.

That's what I have so far.  I already had jumper cables and a four way.  I still plan on buying a brush guard.  I'm trying to hunt down a used one for a decent price.  I did buy a new set of tires, and am just waiting for a time slot to open up to have them installed.  

So things are looking up for me.  This of course makes me paranoid that one of these terrible drivers around here will plow into my truck.  I've managed to go 19 years without an accident, and I want my streak to continue.  When I have more work performed on my truck I'll make sure to write a Part 3.  

Go Truck Myself!

For the last three months I have visited or talked to twelve different auto dealers.  Well, I finally decided on a vehicle.  It's a 2014 Ford F-150 STX.  It is a regular cab/short bed.  And the funny thing is that I found it in the same color as my Mother's Ford Escape, Lightening Blue.

I searched far and wide for the perfect truck.  How wide?  Well, I set Autotrader's search out to 200 miles.  160 miles away in Fort Pierce, Fl. was Arrigo Dodge, and they had this perfect truck for sale.  While most dealers were $3,000 above KBB price, Arrigo actually lowered their price of the truck to $1,000 below KBB value.  So I jumped on that deal.

Let's go to the pictures!

Pretty awesome right?  The funny thing is I hadn't bought a vehicle in 22 years.  That's right.  I bought my Saturn in 1995, and inherited my Grandmother's Ford Focus in 2005.  So I had not bought a vehicle for over two decades.

The STX comes with the side steps and 18 inch tires.  Although, I will have to replace three of them.  One is new, but the other three are only going to be good for another 5,000 miles or so.

This one came with a bedliner so I don't have to worry about adding one.

It also had the receiver for a trailer hitch.  I did have to provide said hitch and hitch pin.

My first vehicle was a 1985 Ford Ranger.  It was pretty burnt out by the time I got it, but I loved that truck.  I was only able to drive it for three years before it was unfixable.  Ever since getting rid of it I have wanted to return to truck ownership, but finances held me back.  So I am glad to own my very own F-150.

Here's an old photo of me with my Ford Ranger.  Remember, it was scanned from an actual photo taken on 9mm film.  It's not a great picture, but it's alright.  It was taken in 1993.

I'm still looking for a toolbox and a brush guard for my F-150.  I'm taking my time to see what good deals are out there.  As I posted earlier, at least I have started my upgrades with the trailer hitch.

The funny thing was I actually managed to buy the truck on my birthday.  Weird, right?  I didn't plan it that way, but the deal was too good to pass up.  Especially when the truck comes standard equipped with Sirius XM radio.

Bad Luck Windshield, And The Best Way To Ruin A Saturday, Part 2

To understand this post a little better read Part 1.

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2016/09/bad-luck-windshield-and-best-way-to.html

So the good news is that my back windshield is fixed.  The repairman from Safelite Autoglass Repair was a really nice guy, and knew what he was doing.  I really recommend using them to repair your automobile.  They've done a great job for me a couple of times.

I first reported the broken windshield on a Saturday.  Since my vehicle is older, and the station-wagon model, I knew it would take a while to get the replacement glass ordered.  However, they said they would have the repairman out on Wednesday.  I couldn't complain about that.  That was actually quicker than I thought it might take. 

Here's the finished work.

I knew this windshield would be a pain in the butt due to it having the heat strips.  But I have to say, I tried them out the day after installation, and they worked just fine.  Again, I have to give many thanks to Safelite Autoglass Repair. 

Since I can't afford to buy a another car, I have been trying to keep this one in as good a shape as I possibly can.  I don't plan on breaking anymore windows, but if I do, I know who to call. 

Unfocused

For the last 10 years I have driven a 2001 Ford Focus.  I inherited it from my Grandmother when she passed away.  This is it:

I know a lot of people will say, "Why drive a Ford?  Don't you know it means, "Fix or repair daily?"  Well, I have to say that this Ford Focus has needed 10 times less repairs than my Saturn SL2 did.  And that Saturn was supposed to be a higher end vehicle that was 100% made in the USA.  So my Ford is now 15 years old, and I have been really lucky, in that, it just hasn't needed much work on it during it's lifetime.

I think where a lot of people mess up with Fords or vehicles in general is that, they don't do the maintenance on them that they should.  This past weekend I went a bit crazy with the upkeep.  But, I truly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It started with my driver's side headlight.  I noticed that it was dim, and the bulbs probably needed replaced.  I had replaced them three years ago because I believed they where still the original light bulbs, and they were severely dim. 

It was when I took it apart I noticed a problem.  The bulb had all sorts of gunk on it, and the actual plastic headlight unit was melted on the inside.  This is probably due to the insane mechanism that is used to hold in the light bulb.  I think it came apart when I changed the bulb three years ago, and it didn't hold the light in place.  Therefore, the light bulb melted the inside of the headlight unit.

So it was time to get a replacement headlight unit.  I took Dad down to LKQ (You Pull It) auto parts.  They have almost 2000 vehicles on the lot.  Dad and I walked over to the Ford section, and I saw it immediately.  Another Ford Focus.  I got closer, and saw it was also a 2001.  I walked up to it, and saw the whole front end was missing, except the driver's side headlight.  I thought, "Jackpot!" 

It had taken five minutes to walk out to the field, and three minutes to take the headlight off the Focus.  And the good news is that it only cost $30.00 for the part.

So we went to the auto parts store to pick up all the things I needed to do some basic maintenance.  I needed the new headlight bulbs, oil, filter, windshield wipers, windshield washer fluid, air filter, and a cabin air filter.

To make a long story short, we got the headlamp and new bulbs working.  Although, the old bulb cover did not fit on the newly acquired part.  So I ordered one from my local Ford dealer.  But so far the replacement headlight is working.

I was able to get the windshield wipers on, and the wiper fluid added pretty quickly.  I then changed the air filter after pulling four long screws.  The funny thing was the air cabin filter.  I never knew I had one until I checked the FRAM filter website.  So I found where it was supposed to go, took apart everything, and found !!!!!  nothing.  There was never one put there.  Which is kind of a relief since I would have felt stupid having never changed one for 15 years. 

The next day I changed the oil and filter.  I gave my car a good scrubbing, and I used some decent foam glass cleaner to clean all the glass.  So my car is in good shape.  I had already checked my fluids and tire pressure a few weeks before.  So everything is as it should be. 

The only thing left is to stop by Elder Ford and pick up the light bulb cover.  In a weird tale, it seems that Ford made a production headlight, and a replacement headlight.  They took different headlight cap covers.  The headlight that I took off the Ford Focus in the field must have been a replacement headlight since it took a different cap.  That's why my cap didn't fit the replacement headlight.

So my cost for this adventure?  It was $30 for the headlight, $4 entry fee for two of us, $96 for all the parts at the auto shop, $5 to buy new car wash soap after the old bottle ran out, $8 for the new cap.  So figure $143.  It's a bit for the average person, but still better than a car payment.

100,000 Miles

So, my car flipped 100,000 miles today.  That's not bad considering I drive a 2001 Ford Focus SE.  My Grandmother bought it back in 2001 after my Grandfather had died.  He drove a big Ford Econoline Van, and she wanted something smaller.  When she passed away in 2005 I inherited the Ford Focus. 

The funny thing is despite this model's reviews, this has been an awesome car for me.  Very little has gone wrong with it in the almost 10 years I've owned it.  I think that's namely because I have been very strict about routine maintenance, and not dogging the engine. 

I think back to my 1992 Saturn that I had before the Focus.  When it was about 13 years old it was starting to give me all sorts of trouble.  I can't say it was any worse than any other vehicle in it's class, but it certainly wasn't any better. 

This little Focus has really surprised me.  To this day it still gets 25 MPG in the city, and 33 MPG on the highway.  I was actually thinking of getting a new vehicle sometime this year, but due to the way life has turned out I may be keeping this Focus another five years.  But if it still works like it has the last few years that won't be a problem.

Inside the Secret World of Adrian's Hunting Adventures, Part 2

Onto more adventures in hunting.

(Really, do these guys look like they know what they're doing?)


Clip 5.  I am tired.  So tired.  Why?  I put in a lot of work in a very short period of time.  You can even see how completely covered in sweat I am.

Clip 6.  Down the road comes the Weasel (rhymes with Grease-el.)  And it turns out I have shot his hog.

Clip 7.  And the conversation continues.  Notice how the Weasel knows everything except who actually shot the hog?  This clip is kinda funny in that, you can see just how argumentative the Weasel starts getting.

Clip 8.  Finally the tension breaks a bit, and the conversation devolves into crude sexual humor.  This is very typical of men out hunting.  When you are in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't really matter what you say.  The trees could care less what you say.

Stay tuned to part 3.  More fun, fun, fun.