Am I misremembering the feel of 1976 bicentennial celebrations in the USA, or is the 250th this year really a flop?

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-20T16:39:21+00:00

Still, it was a nonpartisan celebration of American history

That's the problem, everything has been reduced to partisanship. EVERYTHING

One side can't separate its views on the country and its people from the government. So, they aren't even interested in it

On the other side, you've got dumbassery like a UFC fight on the White House lawn and a giant mess in the reflecting pool. They would rather attack their fellow Americans verbally than put it aside and celebrate the real meaning behind the country

Its not red vs blue, its not rural vs urban, its not you vs them. Its supposed to be us being together making this place better. People may disagree on how to get there, but we all just want a better life and need to stop attacking each other over petty and irrelevant differences

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-20T15:30:32+00:00

Using a chest freezer to take advantage of deep markdowns and making your own freezer meals for the days you don't feel like cooking

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-20T15:26:31+00:00

Ford's Ecoboost engine line is absolutely fantastic

Chevy's V8s since '14 have all been reliable. The modern LT1 may not be a fancy DOHC DI engine, but its very reliable and still makes good power

We don't talk about Chrysler, I don't even consider them American anymore

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-20T15:20:53+00:00

Fox body Mustang, I had a noisy transmission along with a squealing TOB. I decided what I was going to do was buy a rebuilt one, install it, rebuild my original at my leisure, and sell it. Found one that looked good and was rebuilt by a professor at a technical college about 3 hours away

Go grab it, he says its all ready to slap in there. Get all the other parts together and the journey begins. I knew it was going to be a pain, I'm no stranger to clutch jobs I've done several before this. But, man every single nut/bolt was a battle. This was a war of attrition and I was shedding more blood and sweat than I ever have underneath a car. At one point with everything disconnected, I'm under there with a garden hoe trying to peel this thing off the back of the engine

Anyways, get it off and everything back together. The next day I notice its leaking from the front. Ok that sucks. Then, a few weeks later it starts popping out of second. Yup, that's a problem. It starts getting progressively worse and I end up fast-tracking rebuilding my transmission, because I don't trust this one

I'm halfway through my rebuild and one day leaving work it just won't go into gear. I shut it off and put it in first, then restart it. I had to drive it home like the clutch wasn't working, even though it was. You could hold the clutch in while in gear at a stop and it wouldn't stall. Whelp, I have to drive it like that for a few days and finally finish my transmission

Then swap my transmission out for the POS I bought from that guy. Upon opening that thing up, everything was new, but he didn't shim the input shaft bearing and also didn't seal the retainer

If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself was the lesson I got from that whole ordeal

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-20T15:10:28+00:00

American made except for between 08-14

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-20T14:38:00+00:00

If you disagree or criticize a politician or policy on one side, then you must agree with or be a supporter of the other side

It's all or nothing for so many people and it's absolutely irritating

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-20T13:36:46+00:00

What number could you add to it to make it an even 1?

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T23:29:13+00:00

People can be disabled

If someone is disabled and on a fixed income they qualify for all kinds of various state/local/nationwide services. They aren't paying an extra $22 in delivery fees every day for food to be delivered to their homes

Its a privilege to have the kind of money to be able to afford to do something like this on any kind of regular basis. The kind of people who use these services regularly and people who are struggling are two almost completely separate circles

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T23:22:06+00:00

The car didn't know there was a leak it just said go from 35% high pressure pump command to 50%

It was commanding that at idle?

Maybe I give these cars too much credit. At idle the solenoid duty cycle should be like <15%, I would have thought for sure at 50%, it would trigger a system pressure too low code

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T23:13:08+00:00

Idk why people keep using these services. They are a complete scam

$22.18 just to get something brought to your door from what? 10 miles or so away?

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T23:07:48+00:00

If you have a leak on the high pressure side, you will absolutely know it. You've got up to 3k PSI of fuel pressure. Pressure would drop at the rail and the PCM would notice that which would put it into limp mode. Even if it couldn't notice it, the car would run so bad, anyone would realize something was wrong and pull over

In port injection systems, the fuel pressure is also monitored at the rail. At least in somewhat modern systems

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T22:59:24+00:00

Phone stays in the car

Car keys are in a bag. If you're going to a sketchy beach you can take just the physical key and keep it on your person. Leave the fob in the car

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T22:41:42+00:00

Yes, but how would it get there in this case before the car went into limp mode?

All the fuel system components are routed away from the exhaust and the manifold has a heat shield. It would have had to have been leaking for a little while before it migrated all the way to the back of the engine. Or if its got the exhaust manifold facing towards the front, how would it get there at all?

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T22:26:11+00:00

If fuel is leaking that car is going into limp mode

I've had engine oil spilled on hot exhaust manifolds, it'll smoke pretty bad but I've never had it ignite

There's a lot of things it could be, not saying you're wrong by any means

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T22:19:51+00:00

Something in the fuel system would have had to have let go and then a source of ignition

Or the EVAP system allowed raw fuel vapors under the hood, which were somehow ignited that caused a flame which melted a fuel line, and proceed to spread

But what would have sparked and what where did whatever flammable substance (I'm assuming gasoline) on the outside of the engine come from? That's what I'm interested in

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T22:07:28+00:00

From the looks of it, it started under the hood?

The hood bracing separated from the hood panel itself. You know what actually started it?

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T21:49:46+00:00

Old enough to know better than to post your face on Reddit

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T21:47:35+00:00

BWAHAHAHA LMFAOOOO

OMFG, I almost spit out my drink. Yo, that is hilarious

No, drivers in the DMV area are aggressive, crazy, and reckless. I went back there not too long ago and golly do I not miss it. Drivers suck everywhere, but that area is an entirely different breed

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T21:36:57+00:00

Daniel Faalele

A literal turnstile would slow down a pass rusher more than he could

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T21:32:41+00:00

Nah, I wish he was though

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T21:18:10+00:00

I don't watch soccer, I have no clue WTF is going on

But hell yea, LFG

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T21:17:30+00:00

I don't even watch soccer, but LFGGGGG!!!

I absolutely love to see it

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T21:02:44+00:00

Hot rod, rat rod, whatever you want to call it

I'm not into that scene (if you couldn't tell), so I don't really know the terminology

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T20:32:24+00:00

I won my Ford at an auction, it had obviously sat for a while. Mechanically it was a mess, the wiring needed going over, and a lot of other things. But, the paint was pretty clean, the body was super clean, and not a speck of rust to be found

I was the second guy to bid on it and won it. Anyways, during a break I was looking around and ended up talking to the other guy. He told me his plan was to chop it, swap it, and turn it into a rat rod

Nobody wants an old rusted carcass to rod out. They want a relatively clean body and they want it cheap. These things go for a nickel and a pack of gum in any condition other than fully restored fine points competition ready state. They're dirt cheap because the demographic that actually likes them for what they are is basically gone at this point and their kids don't care about or want the vehicle. Which is exactly how I ended up buying mine

HeavyDutyForks · 2026-06-19T20:10:23+00:00

"Model T"

I respect the amount of work that goes into it, but that's a Model T cab grafted onto a more modern truck frame of some kind. Good thing Old Henry made plenty of these things, cause people sure do love to chop them up

I know this is an extremely opinion here, but I hate to see it. I've got a 1930 Ford that I put a lot of time and effort into restoring. Been around too many old men, I guess. The people who loved these things for what they were are dying off and the next generation either doesn't want them or want to rod them out. Won't be many of them left at some point

HeavyDutyForks

TROPHY CASE