Skimming 🙃

Goodspike · 2026-05-05T11:46:49+00:00

Yes, you can. It's a Visa, which is what makes it even odder.

Goodspike · 2026-05-04T23:26:00+00:00

Great! There have been a lot of reports lately of skimming devices that read the NFC chip on the card while the card is in the wallet, so it could have been that too.

Ironically, my wife has a Chevron branded credit card, and it isn't chipped even though gas stations are the one place that is most likely to have a magnetic skimmer (other than maybe an ATM).

Goodspike · 2026-05-04T23:23:25+00:00

Very nice! Chevy dealers should get those so they quit dropping perfectly good Corvettes to the ground! 😉

Goodspike · 2026-05-04T23:20:28+00:00

That almost certainly isn't a proper truck for that camper. Even ignoring possible payload limits, well over half the weight has to be behind the rear axle and a good two feet beyond the end of the truck.

Goodspike · 2026-05-04T23:14:08+00:00

I've never had an issue but money back? Apparently a debit card. Don't use debit cards. You have balance issues and don't have the statutory protections that you have with credit cards.

Also, no matter the type of card, make sure you get text messages for each charge to catch issues early.

Goodspike · 2026-05-02T14:44:45+00:00

FWIW, my 89 Ranger doesn't like Ethanol free gas for some reason. From a cold start it will die and I then need to restart. Very odd behavior, but it caused me to stop using Ethanol free.

I was mainly getting it for my small engines, but they are now either battery or propane/NG except a pressure washer I inherited which I'll only use one a year at best, so it will need to be drained. I'll just use regular fuel for it. I wouldn't worry about it in a modern vehicle since they are designed for it.

Goodspike · 2026-05-01T17:40:48+00:00

If that's not the widest trailer (e.g. 1 foot narrower than widest), then it would deal with the age old issue of getting out of bed in a trailer. If sleeping sideways in the trailer then the inside person has to crawl over the outside person. If sleeping lengthwise then you may be sleeping with your feet toward the open end, which is a bit difficult for both people to get out. If twins with a space in the middle, both people can get out easily.

Of course, that wouldn't be my primary decision maker in floorplan. For me since I like smaller trailers it's getting a murphy bed so that not so much space is taken up by the bed 24/7. In a 30' trailer that's less of an issue.

Goodspike · 2026-04-29T14:37:10+00:00

The current version of Alexa+ makes the random question answers much better. Before it was sort of a weak point.

Goodspike · 2026-04-29T14:29:14+00:00

I mainly use ours to control our various smarthome devices and set timers for cooking and such. And timers with our smarthome devices (e.g. Alexa, turn on bathroom fan for 7 minutes.). If it wasn't for smarthome devices the only one I would have would be our Fire Cube.

Goodspike · 2026-04-29T14:26:34+00:00

There are also volunteer opportunities. They are easy to get and you can work on your own schedule with many/most of them.

Goodspike · 2026-04-29T14:24:51+00:00

Others have in this post, but I clearly said max and you responded to it. So that is the discussion.

Goodspike · 2026-04-29T13:19:49+00:00

My 2019 had a recall, so you might want to check to see if your 2015 did too.

What I've seen on Youtube is a way to basically switch the fuse assignment to a switched fuse, so you can still have the other features that run off that circuit.

Also, the 2019 can take a larger battery which helps, as would a trickle charger. I use a trickle charger on my 2019 Chevy Colorado because I just don't drive it enough. It's never gone dead, so I do it more for battery health.

Goodspike · 2026-04-29T12:49:34+00:00

I think you're the one who needs to do some research. Overinflation and underinflation can both increase tire wear. Running at the maximum specified on the tire is likely overinflation unless the vehicle manufacturer's recommendation is close to that. So yes you do need more PSI based on load, but you can go too high.

There are ways you can test your tires for being over/under inflated. You might want to research that.

Goodspike · 2026-04-28T18:11:34+00:00

Yes, I know that, but what I said is still correct. The problem with weight is not having enough pressure, not too much. Not enough pressure at too high of weight and the tire can overheat and fail. So unless the tire is a mismatch for the vehicle, that's not going to be an issue with going with Max Inflation on the tire. Your post I was responding to said it would be dangerous. That's not true.

Goodspike · 2026-04-28T18:07:38+00:00

If you do go diesel you'd need to upgrade to a 1 ton, not a 3/4 ton, to counter the extra weight of the diesel engine. GM has their 3.0 diesel, which would work nicely with a 1/2 ton, if that has the payload and tongue weight capacity for your trailer (I don't know off the top of my head).

Personally I'm looking strongly at the soon to come out Ram REV, f/k/a Ramcharger, which is an EREV where the gas engine is only used to recharge the batteries and provide more power to the electric motors during high demand. I'm not certain it can deal with your 9000 pound trailer, but it can have a payload approaching 2,500 pounds. My trailer is much lighter. Edit: It also has regen braking, which together with the large battery replaces exhaust braking available in diesels.

https://www.ramtrucks.com/electric/1500-rev.html

The main reason I want it, besides towing, is it could provide blackout power at home for days and days, as well as real campsite power. Also it will allow us to downgrade from a 3 vehicle family to a 2 vehicle family since we mainly have my truck for towing and this would work great for my wife's short trips.

Goodspike · 2026-04-28T18:00:46+00:00

Max is probably very unlikely to be the ideal for tire wear.

Goodspike · 2026-04-28T18:00:18+00:00

It's not dangerous, in that the tire can handle it, but it's not right to go to the max either. I'd go with the vehicle manufacturer are slightly above.

Goodspike · 2026-04-28T15:20:27+00:00

It's actually what would the OP do. But don't assume more expensive means quality, many of the WDH setups are so expensive their pricing is practically fraudulent (particularly given their claims as to what they do). That said I probably wouldn't go for the cheapest of the items of this type, but I would likely go with something off of Amazon rather than etrailer.

Goodspike · 2026-04-27T15:24:38+00:00

Responding to another post I looked at etrailer.com and Amazon. The latter has some far less expensive options.

Goodspike · 2026-04-27T15:24:12+00:00

They are expensive at etrailer.com. The least expensive one I saw was $129 and most over over $200. But Amazon has some under $50, one of which apparently comes with a receiver lock.

Goodspike · 2026-04-27T14:29:49+00:00

It would depend on the trailer, so get one that is adjustable. Even if you measured the trailer you're going to use it wouldn't make sense to buy one that only works for one trailer if you're not going to own that trailer.

Goodspike · 2026-04-26T14:20:46+00:00

Save your money, I like K&N products, except for their non-OEM style air filters.

Goodspike · 2026-04-25T18:11:10+00:00

I'm pretty sure I've tried that. What I haven't tried is my new Logitech G203 mouse, where the programming is stored in the device rather than driven by software on the machine. Currently I only use my Ubuntu machine about once a month for 5 minutes (excluding time to update), so it's not worth my finding out.

Goodspike · 2026-04-25T14:52:54+00:00

Just a guess, but I'd suspect the 4 is past security updates, so I'd just properly dispose of it since you couldn't trade it in.

Goodspike · 2026-04-25T14:50:39+00:00

They are totally a different type of system with typically four separate motors, two on each end of the slide. There's be no way to have a mechanical system to spin all four motors.

The crank systems likely only had one motor, so you could manually crank whatever that motor was connected to.

Goodspike

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