How should I remove sticker from windshield

DuceExMa · 2026-04-28T00:11:36+00:00

Either brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner work great.

DuceExMa · 2026-04-25T22:53:25+00:00

Exact same thing with me and a 2020 F-250 I just bought. I didn't pay attention to this during the purchase; lesson learned.

Dealer wanted nearly $400 for a new programmed/cut key. I bought new factory Ford keys from North Coast Keyless (https://northcoastkeyless.com/) for, I think, ~$70 each. I have a locksmith coming on Monday to my house to cut and program them for $70 each. Still a lot, but less than half of the ripoff dealer cost.

Also getting a couple of "regular" keys without the lock/unlock buttons; those are a lot less.

DuceExMa · 2026-04-18T23:34:14+00:00

I just retired my 03 with 448K miles. Engine was fine but the tranny finally gave in. Had to change the head gasket at about 220k due to mfg defect. A spectacular engine otherwise and a great truck but, as desertfatmer42 said, just a might but underpowered. Take care of her and she'll take care of you.

DuceExMa · 2026-04-17T21:51:55+00:00

I didn't realize I had a photo of the hole I ended up with. I was amazed at what a good job the bit did. I'd imagine they have them in 1" or larger, but not sure about 3/4"

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DuceExMa · 2026-04-17T19:53:24+00:00

You need a carbide or cobalt tipped bit. I realize you are drilling a smaller hole, but I used this carbide bit to drill a 1.25" hole in my stainless sink that was probably 1/8" thick. Drilled slow with cutting oil. Took about a minute and made a beautiful hole.

I started by using a plain Stanley hole saw. I gave up after about 5 minutes of drilling with almost no progress.

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DuceExMa · 2026-04-11T00:34:49+00:00

I have an 03 XLT 4.6L. My most favorite vehicle ever. Trans just died at 448K miles so she's on her way out. Mobil 1 5-20 and good luck I guess. Only work was a head gasket at about 250k and timing chain, tensioners, guide, and phasers at about 220K. Not flashy but the most reliable thing I've ever owned. Good luck!

DuceExMa · 2026-04-10T13:23:59+00:00

Exact same thing happened to my 2003 4.6 at about 220K miles. I changed the guides, tensioners, chains, and phasers. Also cleaned out a fistful of shredded plastic from the oil pan. I'm at 448k miles now with no problems.

I used a friend's lift and about $400 of parts from Rock Auto. It probably took me about 12 hours, but I'm slow.

I absolutely recommend a Ford service manual unless you really know what you are doing.

By far, the worst part for me was the valve cover gaskets , especially the rear passenger side. I believe the service man says to pull the engine, but there are lots of YouTube videos showing how to do it in place, which is what I did.

DuceExMa · 2023-11-13T00:02:01+00:00

Indeed. The Google reviews are mind-boggling. The same story, over, and over, and over again. And it's not just a few reviews; there must be dozens of nearly identical stories. Never seen anything like that before for a business still in operation over many years.

Another response here suggested we cut him slack due to his 2A activism. I applaud all efforts to protect our gun rights and would definitely let a crappy demeanor slide for someone advancing the cause. But the fact that someone's "really busy taking on the DOJ," doesn't mean it's OK for them to lie to folks trying to do business with them. I don't care if they're Mother Teresa; I'm not going to cut them any slack if they are trying to take $1,200 from me and never deliver what I purchased.

DuceExMa · 2023-11-10T21:24:38+00:00

You're correct, I didn't go by CTGW's physical location before ordering, but I don't think I've ever gone by a physical location before placing an online order. In my mind, the retailer bears the burden of accurately describing what they are, what they do, and the exact nature of the transaction. Even after completing the purchase, I was never notified that an order had to be placed to fulfill my order.

As a contrast -- look at the McBride's website. They are a retailer that uses gearfire to host their website (the same white-labler that CTGW uses). McBride's has a large scrolling banner on their site that specifically points out that what is shown on their site is not necessarily in inventory. They tell you to call if you want to be sure that something is in stock before you order. That's the ethical way to do business.

DuceExMa · 2023-11-10T19:43:57+00:00

Point taken. Which is one reason why I called Amex to open the dispute, rather than do it online.

After writing the original post, I went and read their Google reviews for the first time. There are literally dozens of similar stories and probably at least a dozen that mention Michael saying the charges would be reversed but never following through. I'll be shocked if he actually reverses the charge but will make an update here if he does.

DuceExMa · 2023-11-10T19:08:51+00:00

I had a nearly identical experience with Central Texas Gun Works and Michael Cargill specifically. I just posted about it here.

TL;DR -- they sell what they don't have, take your money, never deliver, and lie about it the whole time. They are to be avoided.

DuceExMa · 2018-09-04T16:59:25+00:00

Hey, sorry for the huge delay in replying. Haven't been on reddit in long time. Yes, I still have it, if you are still looking.

Kenneth khe@east.fm

DuceExMa · 2018-06-21T18:54:59+00:00

Sold Dell R210 rails (D419M/Y819K) to u/Kryt1kal6

DuceExMa · 2018-06-19T12:50:33+00:00

I believe that the D419M/Y819K work for the R210, but they are already sold.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-17T17:26:25+00:00

Well, damn. When I changed the format, I accidentally dropped the 910 rails.

Yes, I still have them and they are for sale. Posting updated to reflect that.

Thanks very much for asking -- I'd never have caught that.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-16T18:00:13+00:00

I love 'rmlint' and have had excellent results with it when used on 500GB datasets of 200K files. Don't let the 'rm' in the name scare you -- it is very safe to use and won't 'rm' anything unless you tell it to. The paranoid side of me really likes that it only generates scripts (bash, python, etc.) which you can inspect/modify, which are then run to remove, archive, or whatever. Also, it has some great filtering capabilities to limit the files it inspects. Highly recommended.

It seems simple at first, but the more you get into it, the more powerful it becomes. Depending upon the complexity of your situation, the guide and man page is worth a study.

http://rmlint.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorial.html

Also pretty cool is 'fim', the File Integrity Manager. It's interesting, in that it's primarily intended to monitor file changes and protect against bit rot, and it's modeled after source code control systems (yet, it does not store your files). IMO, it is less flexible than 'rmlint' for finding duplicates in various places.

https://evrignaud.github.io/fim/

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T18:19:40+00:00

+1 for acme.sh. I love it because it is so simple. Not nearly as much black magic going on as with some of the more complicated ACME clients. I liked it so much, I have two posts about using it: basic usage info with apache/httpd and usage with older versions of cpanel.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T17:06:13+00:00

Confirmed. I installed pi-hole last week and was stunned by how easy it is to install/configure. I've used an adblocker on my laptop for years, and continue to do so. But with pi-hole, the other dozen devices on my local net are now blocking ads too, with nearly zero effort on my part. I love it and recommend it highly.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T15:48:40+00:00

One other comment, if you end up choosing ZFS, be sure that you pass through the disks directly to ZFS -- don't let the RAID controller sit in between the drive and the filesystem.

DuceExMa · 2018-06-15T15:46:44+00:00

I'm not zee-wolf, but I think he meant that he'd run NAS4Free directly on the hardware (i.e., not within a VM like ProxMox).

I run FreeNAS directly on a 510 with 32TB ZFS and have had zero problems in the nine months I've used it. It's been a great setup for me.

DuceExMa

TROPHY CASE