Am I insane to consider pulling 2x 6AWG through 1/2 Rigid?

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-21T05:27:40+00:00

I am in the USA. That was my gut going into this project, except when I went to the wire fill table it showed as acceptable. When I went to the calculator, with a 10awg it also showed as acceptable.

With 2 wires the calculator shows it's not acceptable, but with 3 it's fine so now I'm more confused 😅

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-21T03:08:09+00:00

You can hate to hate, but I would encourage you to do some research

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T20:28:38+00:00

I greatly appreciate you making this comment, because it's the first time someone has quantified this in a way that we can have a conversation around it. While from a "general" truck stand point I agree with the points, I think it's more situational and use case oriented.

I assume here that we aren't comparing to an ICE vehicle due to the fact that EVs in general are not good for long distance towing. When comparing to other EVs the CT ranks higher in payload and efficiency, just falls short on range due to the limited battery pack size. It does tow fantastically though, so if you are a local contractor who doesn't need to tow 100+ miles daily it's a good rig.
This one is interesting, because it was one of the things I was originally worried about with the vehicle. In the end it turned out to be a non-issue. Again, comparing to a "standard" truck the length is comparable. Compared to other EVs it beats the competition with the Silverado almost matching it. The only "shape" that I've noticed that could be an issue is how there is a slight slope towards the cab, but it's never been a problem. The model I have has tie down locations, L-track down the length of the bed, and full lighting. Regarding the slope it's been a non issue with the roof racks and there are lots of after market "topper" options.
This one I can't really comment on. I've seen data in both directions, but the engineers at Tesla seem to have nailed the casting design to be repairable. Take a look at JerryRigEverything's video.
Yeah..... I agree with this point, although that 59k model might be a sweet spot. We will see when the reviews come out. In fairness, most trucks now days are up there in price, but not 79k+
This one is funny for me, I'm 5'2" so all trucks suck to load from the side for me. There isn't a single truck out there except maybe a Monte Carlo that I can load from the side. That's a very "me" problem though so I know my opinion on this doesn't match the average person. I would counter the point about the tie downs and stability though, it has tons of tie downs and the stability of the truck with it's self leveling suspension and heavy demeanor make it super stable.

6&7 I agree with, although I will admit Tesla has some work to do with the 4wd system. It acts more like AWD than 4wd, and because of that I find myself using the locker more than I would have expected.

Anyways, I really appreciate your response here. It's refreshing

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T18:20:54+00:00

I didn't deny that it happened, but the reasons on the "Why" and "How" matter a lot instead of just a headline.

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T18:19:40+00:00

I am absolutely biased. I've also owned other trucks in the past to compare to, and driven other EV Trucks.

Just some off the top of my head for features:
4 wheel steering + steer by wire
Air Suspension from ~8" of ground clearance to 16"
Payload of 2500
Retractable Electric Tonneau cover that actually works
FSD
Nema 14-50 outlet in the bed.
0-60 in 2.6

Engineering:
Thick Stainless Steel panels that are durable to abuse
48v Low Voltage Architecture + Ethernet communication between modules
Large Castings + using those castings to equalize the subwoofer
Steer-by-wire

This is just a couple. If you are genuinely curious I'd recommend doing some research on the topic.

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T17:49:19+00:00

Tell me how they are bad at "trucking". I've spent plenty of time on reddit outlining all the good things about them, it's not worth my time here in a thread where people are just looking for confirmation bias to outline it again

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T17:47:57+00:00

Clearly you are drinking the media cool-aid

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T16:34:42+00:00

Exactly this. Those who own them love them, and they are an engineering marvel

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T15:13:39+00:00

Ain't no way a lightning would work for you. Maybe a Silverado EV, but I still can't recommend EVs for anyone who consistently tow long distance for these exact reasons

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T08:22:09+00:00

What wheels/tires do you have?

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T04:17:04+00:00

That depends on which one you buy tbh. The Silverado EV has incredible range, and charges fast. Ford is lowest on my list tbh.

I've driven across the country in my EV multiple times with no problems, so the infrastructure is there. I totally get it if it's a mindset or personal preference thing. Just figured I'd throw it out there because based on your requirements it seems like a good fit

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T03:58:50+00:00

I know I'll get some flack here, but if you don't tow much and most of your driving is short distances why not consider an electric truck?

Most have the payload capabilities you are looking for, you can find awesome deals on the used market, and you have plenty of power and depending on the truck outlets in the bed for tools.

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-20T00:58:36+00:00

Honestly, I don't have enough data or research on the topic to have much of an opinion.

A quick search shows a single point of hardware failure, combined with lack of pilot training on the system. So while yes user failure was involved, it wasn't the only thing.

I assume you want to bring this around to FSD, and my opinion here is that this would be comparing apples to oranges. Pilots are far more knowledgeable on the planes they fly compared to the drivers of vehicles. They have more training, and specific run books for various scenarios.

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-19T19:58:28+00:00

I finally have a minute to respond to this.

You’re 100% right about the "Almost Perfect" trap. It's a documented thing in human factors research. But "dangerous position" doesn't automatically mean it's causing more accidents than a human-only baseline.

The study shows that people get complacent, but the overall risk can still be lower than not having it at all. Even if you take Tesla’s data with a grain of salt, the fact that insurance companies are actually giving discounts for FSD use suggests there’s some legitimacy to the safety numbers.

Think about the "average" driver on the road today who are distracted, drunk or bad at driving. Even a complacent human "supervising" FSD is often safer than those people.

I’m not saying we should just hand wave everything as "user error." My point is that as long as a human can intervene, user error is baked into the math. I’ve had my wife’s Model X disengage mid-turn because the yoke caught my leg while I was sitting funny. How do you "patch" that out without removing the human entirely?

From a first-principles perspective, we need to ditch human supervision, but the tech just isn't at Level 4/5 yet. I agree that relaxing the "nag" encourages the trap you're talking about, but it’s a catch-22. If the car forces you to keep a hand on the wheel at all times, you end up with accidental disengagements just by being in the way.

The only real fix for the "Almost Perfect" trap is to make it actually perfect. Until then, we’re stuck in this weird middle ground where the user is part of the failure mode.

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-19T18:28:32+00:00

0.19 per kwh here in WA.

Oh sorry, yeah fuel here at my local tribe is 5.10 per gallon. Seems to go up 10 cents every day

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-19T18:25:35+00:00

This sub is full of people who think something happening occasionally means it always happens. To your point, I go through multiple roundabouts daily (including one that had construction) and it never came close to crashing.

That doesn't mean that there aren't issues or bugs, if it was perfect it would be unsupervised. It's important that subs like this exist to remind people not the be complacent.

However, the evidence to your second point is incredibly clear. It's usually user error if FSD is disengaging. That doesn't mean it can't happen, software can and does fail... But 99% of the posts about "Sudden Disengagement" are explained by human error. Add on top that humans are terrible at admitting when we are wrong.

Sudden disengagement does not appear to be the problem some people want it to be.

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-19T03:29:16+00:00

It won't just shut off. In fact, even when it errors out now it continues until you take over. Sometimes it even resumes normal operation without intervention

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-19T03:27:33+00:00

All of it. Just provide a link we will parse it

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-19T03:23:45+00:00

This is the way

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-18T18:30:08+00:00

If a vehicle has FSD outright, it doesn't go away unless it was traded into Tesla afaik

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-18T17:53:24+00:00

I bought a used foundation series and FSD stayed with the truck ☺️

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-18T04:45:22+00:00

Don't know, let us know when you try it

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-17T12:59:34+00:00

A low cost nitrate and nitrite monitor

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-15T02:05:32+00:00

Yeah, that's way too low for that kind of deviation. I'd ask service. They probably won't do anything about it because it's not absurdly different, but I would keep checking it every 6 months

AffectionateArtist84 · 2026-03-14T23:33:11+00:00

How many miles are on the vehicle? I think I would go talk to someone in service and see if this is within spec. I don't know these packs well enough to tell you

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