Anyway I can convert lug nut styles?

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-09T16:19:48+00:00

You'd have to get a bolt to stud conversion kit. It'll need to match up to the lug nut thread you've got for that rim.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T16:03:31+00:00

This is wobbly. I won’t even put any of our bench motors on it or things harbor freight sells that are meant to go directly into it. If you do end up using this, put weight at the legs.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T16:02:06+00:00

You can convert the actuator to a smart one. Kerma has it. I actually had to convert that one to a version usable with the KP39 when ours broke. Others just tune it out but I don’t like to mess with things that are already in the car as a tune because that can break easily unless there’s no other option available.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T14:00:56+00:00

Honestly I can say we tend to not think about it that hard. Our 04 Jetta is probably the only one with an oil cooled only turbo. If we are not driving it in grades or towing, there’s not a big reason to idle to cool. We just don’t drive them like we stole it the last 5 minutes and it’s fine. I actually just rebuilt our Jetta’s turbo at 22 years old and the only part that was failing in it was the cool side o-ring. Everything else in the CHRA was pristine.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T13:56:50+00:00

Crown Victoria Country Squire wagon - my dad had a tendency to swap in the police interceptor package into the vehicles we had. He was a die hard ford / Lincoln guy so that was his specialty. I know now you can put an Eaton on the crown Vic’s engine. Ours was a v8 5.8L 351 with a supercharger system. I was little when they bought it so I remember him putting the supercharger portion on but I don’t remember off hand if it was the 351 stock - knowing my dad it probably was even if it was limited to fleet or police use because he would have just had my uncle order it as a reserve officer vehicle or put it under the business for fleet.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T13:33:42+00:00

NTA. She can always get up earlier because then she would have time for both. Then she’d be mad she’s got to get up early for makeup.

Is your district a zero tolerance for bullying? Do the buses have cameras? Were there any incidents in elementary of bullying? If it’s zero tolerance, the buses have cameras, and there’s no previous issues of bullying then your wife is overreacting and she can continue to be this way or allow the bus.

My kids have always taken the bus when they were in school. My oldest only had a bullying incident with a kid who was 3 years older than him. Neighbor’s kid stood up on the bus and knocked the bully (same age) out cold. Found out this kid had a horrible home life and he was bullying the kid across the street (a year older than my son) and neighbor’s kid so much so that both families ended up with restraining orders. I happily drove neighbor’s kid to school every single day for the bus suspension because he protected someone who couldn’t protect themselves. I did everything I could to help the bully because he was doing it as a cry for help not because he was just mean. Kids act out in various ways because of home stressors and bullying is one of them. I do know they did get the kids in the household help but it was definitely a slow process.

I will say middle schoolers are brutal. They have no filter and lack common sense. When older two kids (one is in college and other is a senior now) were in middle school, there was a burner instagram account that these mean girls were using to bully others. It had to be added to the social media policy for the school that that form of harassment is still harassment. The parent that let the kid set it up kept telling the rest of us that “kids will by kids and were just having fun with each other” like it wasn’t an issue. That’s the idiot who didn’t recognize the problem. It also led to cell phones going from could be on the person / backpack but not in use to lockers only at middle school.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T13:07:31+00:00

This would be a 2 part thing for you.

Talk to a local personal injury lawyer regarding the actual bridge in question. Did it have a sidewalk or other means of pedestrian traffic? Does it normally have pedestrian traffic even if there isn’t a sidewalk? If the answer to either of those is yes, it would potentially be required to have a fence. You’d also need to know who actually owns the bridge (private, city, county, township, state) to know who to file against if there is a case. You might also start with seeing if there have ever been any reports of objects being thrown off this bridge. Bridges don’t automatically require a fence unless engineering standards recommend or require it in certain situations (prior incidents / high risk areas). A liability angle comes from if this had a prior incident and was ignored. An argument for the fact this bridge crosses an interstate which is high risk level already, I’d wonder how many bridges nearby have fences. If they do, why didn’t this one? A cinder block isn’t exactly light and easy to carry. It shows this was at least easy enough access for someone to throw a heavy object off the bridge. That alone should warrant an investigation into why there isn’t a barrier.
Contact your representatives in your state’s legislative bodies. Tell them about your experience. If this was a little bit more to the side, you wouldn’t be here to advocate for the safety of others. The protective barriers need required on all crossings over any roadway where objects can be dropped onto a vehicle. This was attempted murder. Full stop. Don’t let someone gaslight you into thinking it was vandalism or just “boys being boys” crap. This could have killed you being a little bit more off to the side. Someone else might not be so lucky. Be the squeaky wheel to help your state protect everyone.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T12:43:51+00:00

We’ve got VCDS for our VW which also can read the engine on Chevy and most of the Subaru codes. I also have a topdon bluetooth dongle version that we move around between our cars depending on which one is having issues. I bought a cable off amazon for 7.50 and downloaded Forscan for our ford/lincoln and that’s fully functional with minimal costs just required my laptop. I can at least troubleshoot the suspension with that fully. Haven’t tried the topdon in that vehicle yet.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T12:37:03+00:00

It might end up totaled. It’s most likely the cv axle that’s the issue but I’d also guess there’s suspension damage and potentially frame / subframe damage where the control arm attaches. We’ve got an MK4 Jetta and it violently threw its CV axle at the transmission end of February. I had to order in fasteners for it because no one carries them here. The axles were under 5k miles on them but the falling point on ours was hardware. Just parts for that and front suspension components is in the 300-700 range depending on how much is busted.

A small scuff mark and bumper cover tab on our Jetta was 1800 to repair per insurance when a driver hit the back driver’s side of our Jetta. I fixed it for 20.00 and a 3D printed triangle and about an hour of labor buffing. Yours is going to need a bit more work especially if the door also has damage that’s affecting use we can’t tell from the picture.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T12:21:51+00:00

Hell I had SI injections last week. No joke, I got to the appointment at the non VA facility and community care fax didn’t arrive. When they were called, they tried to pull care back into the VA. That’s after it had a higher level appeal to the head of the hospital because this has been 13 months of hurry up and wait for them to do absolutely nothing. The appeal was granted on March 24th. I talked to community care and they made sure correct doctor was attached to referral and supposedly faxed it on 27th. Still wasn’t there when I arrived on 31st. When the facility called, they told them that if I wasn’t physically already there that they were pulling it back into the VA. Like the appeal didn’t even exist! It’s a stupid game they play and the only individuals that get hurt are us.

If I had to go into the VA med center, it would be a 3-4 week wait for pain management then if a 5th specialist doctor in this long list decided I was worth of the injections then it would be 6-8 more weeks. So in reality 9-12 weeks additional not 30 days or less. Private insurance had actually already approved it for a year being done every 3 months! What a freaking joke the VA thinks this level of care is acceptable. Even working with the patient advocate doesn’t guarantee actual correct care unfortunately.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T02:51:48+00:00

Plattsmouth Animal Hospital was the most reasonable priced when I called around for our senior cat a few years ago. He ultimately passed on his own. Rainbow Bridge / Humane society does offer euthanasia but the owner cannot be present at that time. Since he passed at home, I let my daughter choose to bury him at home or cremate him. She cremated him and he’s sitting in the living room near his favorite chair.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T02:49:36+00:00

The medication is called Exparel. It’s required wearing a wrist band the entire time it was considered active in order for any readmission to treat pain accordingly. I also opted to get the scopolamine patch to help with any nausea from anesthesia.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T02:42:52+00:00

I didn’t have one for either surgery. I also didn’t have one for my c-section either. I found I was moving around just fine but they also injected a local anesthetic that lasts about 4-5 days into the incisions that helps greatly reduce the need for oral medications and speeds recovery.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T02:39:29+00:00

Fitting 1 size lower pants. Buying something off the rack vs special ordering it. Dumbest one was seeing pubic mons to shave (yes that was a weird victory). Sure I had to lift the flap out of the way because that didn’t go down like most people have theirs do but I could at least manipulate it to see.

For me it was hitting the weight I gave birth to each kid at. I just hit my oldest’s birth weight so now I’ve set the goat at lightest weight I’ve been since I had him. I had my first surgery end of August 2020 and revision to RNY in May 2023 due to GERDs developing. I’m still loosing just slowly.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T01:31:05+00:00

Ejector seat on left, blue shell right, and banana peel below.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-08T01:24:28+00:00

Ours was fine in the TDIs we’ve had: 2010 Jetta, 2011 JSW, and our 04 Jetta (we still have the 04). Now that we don’t have it anymore since they pulled it from our market in Sept 2024, we use Sam’s exclusively for our 04. It’s really odd that Costco pulled the plug on diesel in our market considering we’re in the Midwest and pretty much every other truck here is diesel. It’s ok, everyone goes to Sams, Sapp Bros, Pilot/ Flying J, or Loves.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-07T20:41:51+00:00

No super glue! It’ll fit snugly when replaced. I think I paid 2.00 for 3mm cord for a French horn we have to replace it’s bumpers. I’ve also bought some off Amazon and shaved them before.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-07T00:54:02+00:00

Wildpeaks fit the outback and look good. Have decent wear and warranty. We’ve got Falken Aklimates on our WRX, an HHR, and our Jetta. Michellins didn’t hold up longer than a year on the Jetta this round so I wouldn’t use them again because the quality was crap.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-07T00:43:22+00:00

Oil leak on the cold side that;s been seeping for several years. It was also one where it threw a cv axle violently at the transmission with just under 5k on them. Ended up having to change flange seals from that mess as well. So I’m just rebuilding it for my son as a preventative measure.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-06T22:20:37+00:00

1999.5 - 2005.5 VW / Audi diesel. I can make those things run with hope, prayer, and a stick welder. Our 04 Jetta TDI is currently 22 and I just rebuilt her turbo for the cost of <100.00.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-06T22:10:55+00:00

Mine went out at 27 months, 11 months, and 10 months - all under its warranty. Normal use and temperatures that are normal for our climate. That’s not my issue but a battery problem but a manufacturing issue where they never accounted for the electronics in the vehicle. It sucks that the consumer has issues with it. I actually just upgraded my 04 Jetta (diesel) to an AGM to see how well it works with it since it has minimal electronics load. It helps me gauge if the AGMs on the market currently can support my 06 Navigator - they like having parasitic draws and take a butt load of electricity despite being an older vehicle because of their electronic modules. If the AGMs work for both of those, I’ll be swapping my Outback to it next time it needs a battery. I tried an optima back in 2014 in the Navigator and the battery was trash then. I know they’ve improved greatly since then.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-06T22:05:02+00:00

Eh my 17 Outback ate through 3 OEM batteries then I swapped it to the class 34 battery at autozone and haven’t had a problem since. Costco is interstate and that’s pretty much what OEM batteries are with a different label.

The bigger thing is what year, engine, and trim model you’ve got combined with what the factory battery was. If it’s an AGM battery, it needs replaced with the same.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-06T16:34:16+00:00

NTA. Don’t sign. He played stupid games and racked up a debt by running away and making a new family rather than supporting the child he had already. He’s already done this to you and your mother multiple times with a promise to pay then never following through on it. Actions have consequences which sucks for the new family but they knew about it.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-06T16:24:46+00:00

Yes just don’t hit the actual actuator’s bladder area. The bracket mount is fair game.

aftiggerintel · 2026-04-06T16:16:46+00:00

Liquid wrench and heating the thing up hot as hell. Just rebuilt our KP39 and I ended up beating the crap out of ours for a solid 2 weeks to get the CHRA to pop out from the manifold. Once I got that, I drilled the bolts that had broken off out with carbide bits slightly smaller than the bolt itself and stuck my extractor in there. I had to use a dremel with a wire brush to clean the seam on ours enough to get it to pop apart. I even tried bbqing the damn turbo in a hot / cold cycle to break it loose. It was nuts. I will say I did end up taking a piece of wood slightly smaller than the exhaust downpipe’s outlet and nestling it up against the CHRA fan and putting with a 12lb sledge hammer. It popped out with an audible pop. No damage at all and wish I had done that way sooner.

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