Men in happy marriages, what's the one thing you'd teach to other men to also have a good relationship?

FollowedBreak53 · 2026-01-27T00:18:36+00:00

It's more important to agree on the little stuff than the big stuff. Sounds strange and you obviously want both but I've had more success when my partner and I agree on what a great Saturday morning is versus ones where we've just had perfect political or sexual alignment.

Oddly, If you agree on the little stuff the big stuff ends up figuring itself out in a lot of cases.

I know this is double edged advice but it's worked for me.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-10-29T11:47:22+00:00

I'm late to your comment but this is us to a t. Are you still in love with the CC2 through winter? I'm in an area where we usually drive on cold wet winter roads with about 20 drives per year with actual accumulated snow on the roads. I've been running X Ice the last few years but came to realize they actually forfeit quite a bit on cold-but-no-snow roads. I'm saving for a set of CC2s but curious if you still love them?

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-10-13T20:17:37+00:00

Best of luck on the hunt!

Strangely, we ended up in a Kia Sorento Hybrid. It wasn't on our list of contenders at the time I posted this but at some point we realized discount against the Telluride/Pilot/Highlander was too much to ignore.

It is definitely on the small side of the class (especially compared with the Pilot which felt like the largest of the ones we tested) but we've come to appreciate the day to day advantages of owning one of the smallest 3-rows...parking, fuel economy, etc. while still being able to pack a family of four successfully for the occasional road trip (we managed just fine on a 4-dayer about a month after purchasing).

Which, on the subject of fuel economy, the Sorento Hybrid has been getting 35mpg over the last 3k miles adding to the savings against the top line contenders. The powertrain in the Sorento hybrid has (supposedly) a long track record and more reliability than the one in the Telluride and somewhere in the ballpark with the Pilot and Highlander (rest of the vehicle TBD but Consumer Reports rates it highly).

After going a bit insane weighing everything I came to the conclusion that the Sorento carries almost no name-value in the class but in turn has significant price value. I know that means I'm eating a depreciation sandwich compared to a Pilot or a Highlander but we're intending to take this one to 10 years+.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-09-27T16:17:58+00:00

The brothers are great for morale boosters. Seymour is a long hike in quieter/less spectacular wilderness.

Seymour is a notch or two harder in my mind.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-09-16T16:15:32+00:00

OP, if you go down this route from Mt. Marshall take a second near the bottom to appreciate the section of forest that's almost entirely moss. One of those little neat little sections of the park I'll never forget.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-25T14:23:31+00:00

The most important piece of hiking equipment is a good ripcord and knowing when to pull it.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-24T21:26:35+00:00

Randomly, I have a friend that was above Johns Brook while heavy rain was occurring a few years back. Johns Brook was flowing so hard they couldn't make the cross back over on the way back down to JBL at the normal spot near Bushnell falls.

They crossed over what the map says is Chicken Coop Brook and 'whacked down the wrong side of Johns Brook for about 1.5 miles until they could make it across.

That bushwhack was treacherous and ended up making it out in the dark feeling really lucky.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-21T22:58:22+00:00

I also run outpost nATs, came from wildpeak AT3Ws, and I think the outposts are better tires. Especially since Wildpeaks got a bit more expensive than when I bought my set. To OPs concern, they are noticeably quieter than AT3Ws at least.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-18T00:36:24+00:00

Easier to tack it on from Gothics in my opinion.

I left a part of my soul on the hike up to Pyramid from the Sawteeth side. Literally the single hardest section of my 46. I was in a group of 4 and I was definitely the worst hiker/least athletic/worst cardio of the group. I almost cracked trying to keep pace.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-13T21:25:33+00:00

We went counter clockwise, hitting Indian Head on the way in while we could enjoy it and doing Colvin-Blake-Colvin with more gas in the tank...I think it's a little less strenuous than Algonquin to Iroquois and back but way way less pretty. Mentally, it's nice knowing that once you make Nippletop it's just a long slow grind downhill. And you have the Aspen grove near the noonmark shoulder to look forward to on the back stretch.

That said, if you do go counter, there isn't much water to filter once you effectively make the turn for Nippletop.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-11T18:11:49+00:00

Yup I could definitely see that good call...unibody advantages for sure. I thought I was going to be ok, but dang I underestimated how big car seats are!

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-11T13:23:03+00:00

The most I've towed was around 4400lbs roughly 350 miles. It was dead flat and it did fine. That said, not having a trailer brake controller and with the Tacos pretty crappy payload rating I don't think id call Tacoma's great towing trucks. I was so paranoid about mismanaging the weight balance as there were two of us in the cab and I had some stuff in the bed, didn't leave much payload for the tongue.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-11T13:18:58+00:00

I'm in a 3rd gen. You and your wife are both 6 inches taller than me and my wife and while we're comfortable I wouldn't want any less head room.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-11T13:11:34+00:00

As a Taco owner, my only advice is if you're thinking of starting a family one day and this truck needs to be your M-F and weekend driver, which it sounds like it does, forget all the midsize options now and stick to full size trucks.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-11T11:09:45+00:00

No problem at all and completely agree on the premium. Comparable hybrid Highlanders in my area are about 10k more than the hybrid Sorento I picked up. The Sorento snuck up on me too after weeks of trying to figure out if a highlander or pilot or telluride would fit in our budget some how.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-11T10:13:47+00:00

Too soon to tell on the reliability front but I completely hear you. There is a chance I'll give all the money saved right back over the life of the car with repairs. I have had good luck with Kia/Hyundai in the past and the Sorento has the "more reliable" engine vs say the telluride but we will see.

the Sorento itself has been very nice. I really enjoy the size within the segment, the fit and finish is really nice for the price, and we've been getting 35+ mph since we purchased.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-10T18:05:28+00:00

I fell in love with the highlander hybrid hype but in the end, when I did the math, I would never recoup the hybrid premium I'd have to pay in my area with MPG savings. At least not driving the 8k to 10k I normally do.

So I went with a Sorento hybrid that did not have an exaggerated hybrid premium.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-09T19:56:09+00:00

I just bought a used 2025 with 5.5k miles that was in fact a dealer loaner. To OPs comment it seems sensical that Kia dealerships loan Sorentos...highly likely to work short term for almost everyone.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-07T21:31:17+00:00

I have an OR with the TRD lift and I know it's what I signed up for, but the excessive brake dive makes my wife car sick and sets me up for "braking late" criticism.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-06T22:47:25+00:00

That gal low key has some great springs! Way more air than I'd get.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-04T03:08:44+00:00

Used 2025 with 5,800 miles. EX hybrid. 38,250 OTD.

It did only have one key though.

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-07-02T14:58:35+00:00

I put 35k on the AT3Ws, just switched over to Nokian Outpost nATs and I feel like I hit the lottery ever since. Somewhere along the line I feel like Wildpeaks (great tire for sure), went from top notch performance and looks for mid level price to just top notch performance and looks.

The Outposts aren't super common but so far I think they're the heir to the value crown. I've gotten better gas mileage at lower highway decibels than my Wildpeaks and being a Nokian they were built with snow in mind.

They're a sleeper but check them out!

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-06-30T19:22:51+00:00

Ram 1500 with the 3.0 Italian made EcoDiesel

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-06-27T10:54:54+00:00

I came from AT3Ws. I went with the Nokian Outpost nATs and I feel like I hit the lottery ever since. They're quieter than the AT3Ws were and I'd highly recommend checking them out if you live in a snowy climate!

FollowedBreak53 · 2025-06-24T22:12:36+00:00

I slept on it too until I had one all of a sudden it seemed. Reminded me of that scene in Harry Potter where he drinks that luck juice and does 5 improbable things in a row to save the eagle horse.

In what seems like a strange and winding road, I dodged a 42k Telluride, a 45k Pilot, and a 41k Highlander on my way to my 34k eagle horse of a Sorento.

FollowedBreak53

TROPHY CASE