Update. Kinda figuring out what I need to do with this thing. This is as much a list as it is a ramble for me to figure some things out.
Still unemployed so the money to blow on it is scarce and slow in coming.
Even after I get a job (hopefully soon) I don't think I will be replacing it soon. Need to get back to a better place financially before even a used pickup is considered.
Thus it's kind of a "what to fix and how?" debate.
-Needs tires. They're shot. Still usable but going fast. Pretty soon I'm going to have to start getting fancy with rotating tires to put the crappiest one on the back, the spare in play, and hope the cords/belts don't start showing.
I can get some LT235/75R15 generic AT's for about $500 locally. Been watching for used but nothing has come up lately.
-Needs an alignment. Found a tire place that will cut me a deal on an alignment when I buy tires so I'm waiting on this. Also:
-Needs a new front strut. Might as well do both and since it's McPherson strut I may as well do this before the alignment and tires too.
I could buy new Monroe struts for about $100 but the problem is this thing is lifted. The lift struts for these are crazy expensive ($340 for the set) but they're worth it from everything I hear and they are designed to fix the camber issue the lift causes. Found a slightly used set for $250. Very tempted but money is tight.
-Needs an exhaust tip.
Why you may ask?
Well, a few weeks after moving it started sounding ****ty again. I had gutted the cat a month earlier and this thing was driving better than it had in years. Exhaust was a bit louder but not obnoxious. Sorta a "revvy factory exhaust" sound rather than something bad. Apparently, and I'm blaming this on the "someone backed into it and squished the exhaust" incident from three or so years ago, the weld on the tailpipe where it leaves the resonator after the rear axle broke. Nice clean break all around the weld. The resonator has about a 2.5" hole in the back of it now about a foot from the end of the bumper.
It doesn't sound great and every now and then I can tell it's sucking fumes into the cabin through the fresh air ducts back there. Awesome.
I can do a whole cat back again but that's another $100 or more and a fair amount of work to make happen. I've been scratching my head about it for a while when a solution...although kinda redneck...hit me.
A big ass diesel truck tip!
The resonator is 3.5" wide and about a foot back from the end of the bumper. If I get a big tip that's meant to clamp onto 3.5" pipe it should fit nicely and fill the void. I'd like a turn down but those are hard to find and expensive.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005M1ZCQ4...TF8&colid=2XCY642BOOOWL&coliid=I31NVT4G3P5HQ7
Thinking about that. Will work, tame the sound hopefully, and I can get it locally for a few bucks more.
-Windows still need to be fixed. They bind up about half way as you roll them up. You have to keep pulling them towards the rear while winding them up.
(Although the fiancee's dad sort of fixed the driver's side. I was working on his deck when it started raining. He went out to put my windows up and REALLY bound up the d-side window. I managed to get it back on track and now it works again. It's not right but it winds up and down without binding. Considering asking him to repeat whatever he did on the passenger side.
)
-Needs a bunch of little things. Paint fixes, some interior work, and a BATH. OMG does it need a bath. We're living at a small lake cottage surrounded by trees and bugs. It's filthy, covered in cobwebs, and disgusting.
Right now all my tools are stacked in the fiancee's grandmother's garage while we're renting. Also busy looking for work and trying to finish school. Hoping I can do some of this stuff soon enough. Some of it HAS to happen. I figure stuff like the tires and alignment will affect it's resale value. The exhaust too. Even if I sell it this year if it looks like it does now the value is taking a hit because of these issues.
Shame because after I figured out the cat issue it drives soo much better. That zip it had when I first got it is back and mpg is better too.
, a spool in the rear...fun...if I want to go crazy I can find a set of 5.12 thirds and have better gearing than I do even now.
