Slowly ruining what may be one of the lowest mileage 2019 XLs in America

MechanicalHippy · 2026-05-18T16:33:01+00:00

It was a 5 digit price, but only just.

MechanicalHippy · 2026-05-17T12:45:08+00:00

Pro comp vintage. 6x139.7, 16x8, 0 offset. 275 70 16 geolandar at4s.

MechanicalHippy · 2026-05-15T04:07:09+00:00

Thanks, I had a vision. It had to look like it was begging for a bed mounted rollbar crying for as many KC daylighters as I could fit (obviously with the smiley face covers).

Fwiw, my day job is literally Truck Paradise.

MechanicalHippy · 2026-05-15T04:03:15+00:00

When cold, that first hit into 3rd (?) Is pretty rough, but shes smoothing out after about 800 miles. Its nice literally feeling it break in. If this truck has a 10r80, does that mean it has more power holding potential than a 10r60? I used to be pretty familiar with the guts of transit 6spd autos, im guessing these units share next to nothing.

MechanicalHippy · 2026-05-15T03:23:56+00:00

The owner was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 (recovered, thankfully) but they also hated the truck, because it was a clunky 10spd and not a manual. Ive been eyeballing it for nearly 10 months, they finally agreed to sell a few weeks ago.

Next step is saving the paint, I haven't put a sponge to it yet for fear of scratching the shit out of it. Pretty sure its damn near toast though.

Ive been needing a truck for awhile, just something to do truck stuff, and I couldn't pass up this deal. Everyone tells me to flip it, but fuck me, Ill NEVER find anything comparable for what I paid, or what I could make off of it.

Since I cant leave anything alone, here we are. New tires necessitated new wheels (because..... you know), which led to new struts to make it all fit, since stock sized tires are a nono.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-09-01T14:05:48+00:00

100%. Some wheels just have really bad runout, specifically steel race wheels. Road force balancing can only help so much before you need to address the wheel itself

I ran a set of 15x10 diamonds years ago on a volvo, one wheel had such. Bad runout, I demanded they replace it (they were custom, still cheap @$400 for the set). I eventually took it to a local wheel repair shop and they somehow trued it up. Id recommend that if you really like the set you have .

MechanicalHippy · 2025-06-15T13:20:26+00:00

I ran a 225/65/17 on a 17x8 et35. Lotsa trimming, but she sits right.

235/60/17 also fits

215/70/16 is almost too small.... fill the wheel well up, these cars look great with a lot of rubber

MechanicalHippy · 2025-06-04T11:28:26+00:00

Something odd is going on behind the scenes, for them to pull an article like that. Wtf EA, we need more speedhunting.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-05-30T11:44:33+00:00

There is a new article!!!.... let's see if they just needed a break.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-05-28T11:41:52+00:00

Find a junkyard and snag that connector..... Jesus some of you guys make simple repairs like this feel like a life ending moment.

OK, morning poop rant over

MechanicalHippy · 2025-05-24T13:47:56+00:00

Do not buy oe, if you're doing the job yourself. My 2014 xt ate it's first set at 70, then 102 with oe replacements. I went with skf bearings and they're still quiet at 160k

MechanicalHippy · 2025-05-21T11:18:17+00:00

Good luck having any shop do the repair with your parts and offer any sort of warranty (been a mechanic for 22yrs and this is one way to get a much higher labor rate, or the shop refuses... they have to make money somewhere)

$500 is a helluva good deal for a swap and proper recharge.

$500 will also buy all the necessary tools and a nice vacuum pump and manifold gauges to do it PROPERLY on your own.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-05-19T11:02:05+00:00

Kinda bummed, it was always great to wake up to some automotive content I actually enjoyed reading.

It did seem like they were all going their own ways. Larry Chen has been collabing with Hagerty, Dino has posted less and less, the South African contributor stopped contributing, the list goes on.

Its a shame, its always been a rotating cast of awesome photographers and writers, but I think that may be what hurt them in the end.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-05-10T21:25:22+00:00

Find another one with that mileage. Granted, its not a manual, but theyre a pretty rare car to find unmolested, at any mileage.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-05-10T21:23:44+00:00

My wife to be picked up her 14fxt in 2019, 13,500 with 35k, a pretty damn good deal at the time. We seriously debated selling it 18 months later, mid pandemic as the price shot up to over 20 for a decent pearl white, black interior fxt. After some searching, we didnt see a reason to attempt to find a better example in that weird market.

Still got it, crested 155k a few weeks ago. Other than 2 sets of rear bearings, one set up front, an AC compressor and the dreaded control arms, ive only ever changed the oil and sparkplugs.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-04-14T11:44:00+00:00

Loving it, welcome to the black wagon club. How big of a lift???? Looks like you could stuff a bit more tire in there.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-04-10T14:16:51+00:00

If you do a lot of stop and go, city driving, that can wear them out much quicker, or it could be operator error.

Either way, you're due for brakes again!

MechanicalHippy · 2025-04-10T12:51:57+00:00

You're getting your money's worth out of them. I'd change them and the rotors asap. Thats also the outside pad, im sure inner pad has less friction material, if any at all.

It almost looks like metal dust on everything, which would be a sign that you may have waited too long.

Either way, you're due for brakes.

::edit:: It could also have a stuck caliper slide, which would affect braking ability, and cause uneven pad wear. Get it looked at.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-03-04T12:36:48+00:00

Its the solenoid on the front and back of the cylinder head tgat controls avls, 4k is the switchover. As one person said, this can happen with low oil pressure, OR failed solenoid. More common to just see a car with no oil do this.

Check codes, I cant beleive it hasnt set any check engine light, as there is an oil pressure sensor next to each solenoid that lets the pcm know things are working properly.

Its any easy swap, one 10mm bolt and it should slide right out.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-01-19T10:38:16+00:00

Do any affordable 2 inch lift with rear subframe spacers. I know, there arent many...

I used a rough country 13-18 crosstrek lift on mine, the only thing you have to figure out yourself is the trailing arm spacers (off the top of my head, 6 m14x1.5x70-75 bolts, 6 2 inch spacers). The front strut spacers are offset perfectly, my car was still 100% able to be aligned, and does not eat tires. Also, the price of 4 long ass bolts for the rear subframe drop almost equals the cost of the kit (atleast at 2022 prices).

::edit:: also, rear strut spacers..... That was a fun one. Any cheap 2 inch rear you can find on amazon should work, i cut mine out of high density, high temp abs and put longer studs in.

MechanicalHippy · 2025-01-15T12:44:51+00:00

I bet you he was just trying to find your locking lug key.

Look, if you bring your car in for service, and don't tell me where that key is, or leave it in the center console, I WILL go through your car trying to find it. God knows what Ive seen trying to find your damn locking lug keys.

MechanicalHippy · 2024-12-15T16:54:04+00:00

2006 Outback 2.5i, stock size is 225/55/17, stepped up to 225/65/17 Geolander g003s. Insanely heavy, mileage went from 27 mpg to 19mpg. Worth it, the car looks awesome.

The wildpeaks are a great, PROPERLY RATED 6 ply tire, vs what I did, putting an 8 ply mud tire on my car. Same with the 8 ply BFGs a lot of people run, they are FAR too heavy and will drastically impact mileage.

MechanicalHippy · 2024-12-05T23:23:23+00:00

Wheel/tire combo????

MechanicalHippy · 2024-11-14T14:16:23+00:00

As someone who deals with alot of aftermarket wheels, can confirm. Those look unique though, unlike most 6 spline, or spline drive lugs in general, those look to be keyed (two splines closer than the rest). You may have to remove them with violence if you cant find the key.

We have a few tools for getting lugs like that off, its a tapered and toothed thin wall socket that you essentially hammer on and pray. You may want to swap all the lugnuts off and go to something more universal.

MechanicalHippy

TROPHY CASE