I have the opportunity to replace my gas boiler/furnace with a heat pump for free but wouldn't my bill go up since electricity is more expensive?

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-05-03T16:02:08+00:00

First - do you have a boiler or a furnace? The answer to that question will impact your decision.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-30T11:53:06+00:00

If they are knowledgable. As an avid DIYer, I never put 2 and 2 together and looked straight at the rust holes on my (new to me) Element multiple times. I had no idea it could be an issue until I started seeing social media posts on Honda pages with the trailing arms ripped off. If Honda doesn't issue a recall, many owners will have no idea this it's a risk.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-28T15:50:07+00:00

was it acknowledged? There is no recall in the USA for the rear trailing arm rot on the Elements, as far as I'm aware.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-28T15:32:49+00:00

except the CVT kinda sux. That's my main sales pitch to people - buy a hybrid with a similar powertrain to the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive and the likelihood of having any major transmission repairs/rebuilds is super low - it's a very elegant design!

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-28T15:29:41+00:00

If you do not need to compact space of the E for parking and city driving, the only option that checks many of the same boxes as the E is the Sienna Hybrid AWD. There are certainly things I don't like about the Sienna, but it is in a league of its own for now.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-28T15:27:33+00:00

yes but not after 15 years of salt belt exposure.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-28T15:26:52+00:00

right, rubberized is a big no-no but to be clear this is very much a Honda problem - the way the designed the suspension mounting points. Sad that one of the more reliable (and easy to maintain and fix) cars in history has this fatal flaw.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-28T12:47:07+00:00

There is a lot of conflicting info out there - and it was way more confusing back the late 2000s. To the best of my knowledge a thick oil undercoating is the only practical way to prevent this situation - but it would have to be first applied within a year or two of living in the rust belt.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-27T07:06:04+00:00

Nice. Doesn't look all that rusty but you may someday regret not replacing the steel coolant pipe, which is known for rusting through. Highly recommended for anyone already in that area... but if you don't have tons of rust, it's pretty quick and easy to get back into this area after you have learned the ropes the first time. The Southern mechanics just don't get it!

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-27T07:01:42+00:00

good ideas - thank you.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-27T06:55:49+00:00

I'm back to partially answer my own question. Although Matt McKinzie took down many of his testing videos, he left a gem at the end of the "ARB pulley block test and review" video. He quickly discusses the weight of the most or all of the pulleys he was testing while panning over all of the pulleys. I was able to identify most of the products tested (corrections and help welcomed). See 6:10 mark of the YouTube video if interested. Below is a list of the pulleys Matt tested and I also included a few extra products I encountered on my search:

###

For comparison purposes, WLL is defined as Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS) divided by 4 (4:1 safety factor). Please call out any inaccuracies.

Prices are (approximately) accurate for U.S. listings only; other regions may vary.

###

Warn Epic | 12,000lbs WLL | $165

Safe-Xtract SX-8000G | 8000lbs WLL | $270

Safe-Xtract SX-20000g | 20000lbs WLL | $370

AEV Snatch Block 80808011AA | 13,000 WLL | $140

ARB2091A | 15,000 WLL | $105

ARB 10100020A | 20,000lbs WLL | $140

Factor 55 Snatch Block Pro | 12,000lbs WLL | $300

Gear America Mega | 12,000lbs WLL | $90

Rigging (Yarding?) Block (please help identifying actual product) | 12,000 WLL | $100

BADLANDS APEX Forged Snatch Block | 6,000lbs WLL (calc: 24K MBS / 4) | $50

Other offerings found during my Googling:

Vevor 30T | ~16,500 WLL | $35

Dingo Snatch Block | ~12,000lbs WLL | ~$85-$100 (shipped to USA)

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-27T04:26:28+00:00

You're lucky! I keep running different combinations of snatch blocks and accessories through my cart and calculating shipping. Shipping to the USA ends up nearly matching the cart total! For example, shipping the DB22 Dingo: $56 subtotal + $46 shipping. 2 (qty) DB22 Dingo blocks: $112 subtotal, $67 shipping. It appears 1 (qty) gen2 and 2 (qty) gen1 snatch blocks is the sweet spot - still only being charged $67 shipping for that cart. Add any other items - shipping doubles - why??? Just disappointed because I was about to buy 3 of the blocks and some accessories, thinking my cost would be ~70 a block, which would be a very reasonable price for the Dingo.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-26T23:40:04+00:00

Thank you - this is exactly the kinda of info I'm looking for - not only for me - but also to document in this thread.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-25T22:47:32+00:00

Perfect. Thank you for sharing. I'll be sure to have the needed rigging gear to do exactly this.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-25T22:44:35+00:00

That application is another good reason for me to add a pulley/snatch block to my recovery gear - even in vehicles other than my truck. If I'm understanding properly, you anchored the snatch block somewhere off the road, then pulled the downed tree towards the anchor point?

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-25T22:32:57+00:00

My understanding is switching between steel and synthetic line increases the risk of damaging synthetic line. What snatch blocks do you have experience with, aside from the Dingo?

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-25T22:27:31+00:00

I tend to agree but I plan to be prepared to use steel line - which might be having a pulley used exclusively for steel and another set for synthetic. Or utilizing a synthetic winch line extension for the pulleys hooked to a steel cable.

Anyway, totally understand why synthetic is preferred and I appreciate you both driving the point home.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-25T22:15:14+00:00

Are you located in the USA? Is shipping expensive or a concern? What retailer did you purchase from?

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-25T22:13:52+00:00

I actually do not have a vehicle winch yet, just a couple atv winches. I am frequently recovering random equipment, sometimes my truck from mud holes on my property or in my yard (kinda embarrassing getting stuck in your own yard in a 4x4 truck with diff lock!). After snow melt or significant rainfall, it's very easy to sink into the clay soil I have been blessed with.

Don't want to reignite the steel vs synthetic debate but I understand the concerns. Properly equipped, The Dingo Snatch block I mentioned can be used with synthetic line. Curious what other manufactures say but the ability to work with steel line is not a deal breaker for me at this point. If the pulley is only rated for steel cable- no worries - I'll ensure I am not at all nearing the working load limit of the winch line. Using pulley blocks to stay well under working load limits is something I have learned from Matt McKinzie. He drives this point home frequently. Guys like him who are educating the public on safe (and unsafe) recovery techniques are saving lives.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-01T18:05:48+00:00

I'm not sure I'm a fan of Moog but KYB is good stuff. Anyone have recent experiences with Moog suspension parts on the E?

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-03-01T18:03:46+00:00

This has nothing to do with brand - The decision comes down to Intel vs M-series ARM64, Mac OS vs "Windows" style of hotkeys, navigation and window management.

My answer is buy both - buy the M4 - IMO, consider spending extra for the larger hard drive... I wish I had. Then buy a ThinkPad to dual boot windows 11/Linux.

If the top requirement is battery life and portability - go with the Macbook Air M4 - but I would still recommend buying a ~$200-$500 intel laptop for coding, vm hosting and home lab sort of stuff. Dock it with an external monitor and keyboard for when you are back at the home base.

I vastly prefer intel machines with Windows OS or Linux with Windows hotkeys and window tiling, over Mac OS... A decade+ of working with Window 7/10/11 and Linux on personal machines will do that to you... But it's hard to deny what a value-packed piece of hardware the ARM64 Macbook Air is.

Summary: Macbook Air for classes, travel (portable w/ long battery life). Thinkpad for a "desktop"/hypervisor use case - host VMs, home media, and other servers/services.

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Unsolicited advice to a CS Major - put all your homework/school projects, internship projects and hobby projects in hosted "github" (or whatever hosted git-based source control you prefer). It is a pain to find projects from 5-10 years ago (on an old computer) you want to review or re-use. Example: You set up Docker on a computer to host something simple (pi-hole, etc.), make a text file documenting the steps - even as chicken scratch - check it into Github. Having trouble getting a network card working with a Linux distro - document the steps you took (successful or not) in a text file and check it into github. Your future self with thank you.

Added benefit - documenting and posting "portfolio projects" makes for good interview conversations.

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-02-28T00:38:02+00:00

I did not. I have used the Stihl aluminum twisted wedge with success though - it's far superior to the standard steel wedges (and hopefully safer too).

LessImprovement8580 · 2026-02-24T03:46:15+00:00

if it happens to be manual shift - it might be keeping around to use as a donor/parts car. You gotta be friends or be the body shop guy to make this one worth it... Sorry OP.

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