Two days ago:
"Since your grandmother passed, your aunt is moving all the stuff out of her other house and is giving the washer and dryer to our daughter. Can you take the truck down to Norman, meet the movers, pick up the washer and driver, and take them to my mother's house?"
"Umm... yes... if the truck cooperates."
So far my longest trip has been a twenty-mile round trip. This was about 64 miles, and it was pouring down rain. The truck ran like a champ. The defroster is worthless, and at every intersection the windshield fogged up, but the firewall has a pretty good leak somewhere, so as soon as I started driving again it cleared right up. The heater is also worthless, so a coat is a must. The outside mirrors fold in on their own while driving, so I had to look over my shoulder for every lane change. The windshield wipers worked great, but I still have a new wiper switch coming this week.
The Sniper's getting really dialed in. The throttle transitions are better and it doesn't stall, but it still tries to blow the tires off when accelerating from a stop. It's even worse on rainy streets, and the open diff doesn't help. It did see a post the other day with a listing of rear gears, and it looks like I have the 3.73s.
Budget-wise everything's on hold. A couple hundred miles into our Grand Canyon trip the brakes on my wife's 300 started grinding. They're not new, but they're not old. I pulled the front wheels off and the right front caliper is hanging, destroying the outer pad while the inner still has half its life left. Brake parts are on their way. If that's not bad enough, the Mustang's driveshaft is humming pretty good now. It's a two-piece with a carrier bearing and a funky rear joint. I can buy rebuild kits for the CV joints for $150, but it doesn't include a carrier bearing. I'm more inclined to buy the Ford Performance driveshaft - but it's $660. Ouch! But, the Mustang's still in great shape and the parts have been pretty reasonably priced, so I'm going to spend some stimulus cash on it. Still waiting for that stimulus though.
I also spent a few hours at Pull-A-Part yesterday and got a passenger door and driver's fender for my son's Crown Vic, along with a sunburn. We bought his car with a bent passenger door, and discovered that it doesn't seal all the way. The driver's door hits the fender, but only one door at a time will fit in the 300. We're planning on making another trip on Wednesday with the truck so that we can get the other door. In addition, my wife hit one of the railroad ties in our front yard that forms a planter around our maple tree, and dented her door. I found an identical gray 300 at PAP with a perfect door, so I have to nab that as well. Good thing I built my door tool!
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