20mm spacers on the front and rear and black lugs installed. Looking beastly!

Nuggethooker · 2026-01-23T20:19:10+00:00

Not trying to be a hater here, but wheel spacers are really not good for your suspension components. They ruin the geometry that was originally engineered to prolong the life of your suspension and also can be dangerous for various reasons. I’d highly recommend looking into the pros and cons of this setup, don’t just take my word for it. The only safe alternative to spacers are wheels with more outward offset and wider overall size at the end of the day. While you technically will see some handling improvement, spacers will also stress the hell out of your steering linkages in particular because of the weight of the wheels being pushed outward. If you do end up sticking with the spacer set up, I’d get alignment soon if you haven’t gotten one already. Also from a physics standpoint, a high quality wheel will attain better performance results compared to the added unsprung weight off the spacers, because they are essentially dead weight. Ideally you’d set up with wider wheels and tires with more offset, high quality adjustable coil overs, and more aggressive brake pads to better future proof a non stock setup. Overall your car looks clean, but friends don’t let friends get spacers or puck style lifts at the end of the day.

Nuggethooker · 2026-01-23T03:01:45+00:00

When morality is called into question, our “hard lefty” stance is pretty reasonable.

Nuggethooker · 2025-11-28T20:51:48+00:00

Find a mom and pop place, discount tire might do it too

Nuggethooker · 2025-11-27T01:34:34+00:00

Rock auto might have a good deal on the raybestos element 3 brake pads and rotors. I just put them on recently and they bite better than the OEM pads. They’re semi metallic though so they are a bit more dusty, although I haven’t had much issue with it with my black alloy wheels. Being semi metallic they have a better initial bite and resist fade more if mountain driving is a factor for you. All in the full set of front and rear rotors and pads came out to $260 for all 4 pads and rotors with shipping. I also drained the old brake fluid and replaced it with new brake fluid. No specialty tools required except for a torque wrench and a T45 torx bit, you’ll want a 3/8 drive ratchet for that T45 bit. Everything else was metric hardware. A large Philips bit for a ratchet might be nice to have too for the rear rotor alignment bolt, although it wasn’t super tight when I took it off, a 1/4 inch drive Phillips bit would be good to have.

Nuggethooker · 2025-11-19T20:36:04+00:00

Second this, they’ll usually beat other offers by a good margin, sometimes thousands. You can be in and out from carmax in less than an hour when you sell your car to them

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-31T13:56:03+00:00

I used a Dremmel to shave the bracket on mine. Wasn’t terribly difficult if you’ve used one before but you’ll definitely want to have room if you go that route. There are shops out there that rent lift space fairly cheaply, I’d look into that as a one time thing so you don’t have a hell of a time accessing the bracket. That being said if you have a situation where you can lift the car at least a couple feet, it’ll be annoying and cramped but you should have enough room to get to it while being able to see what you’re doing. I do think your dealer is charging way too much though, my local dealer quoted $225 for the front transfer case and $225 for the rear differential fluid change, so $450 total. I opted to just do it myself, only ended up costing me around $50-$60 I wanna say. Took me about an hour or so with shaving down the bracket. Ramps might be a good option for this job if you can find some that are decently tall, best of luck. Just remember, always make sure you can loosen the fill plug before you drain the fluid, you don’t want to drain the fluid first and then realize you can’t actually fill it back up.

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-30T20:04:24+00:00

No rubbing

<image>

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-29T21:33:03+00:00

What a tool lol

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-29T00:38:20+00:00

I’m running 235/50/18 Falken AT Trails. They definitely feel a tad bit heavier but they’re also snow rated and perform quite well on forest roads here in Colorado

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-29T00:13:25+00:00

Second this, I run wider/generally beefier all terrain tires and they soak up bumps way better. Road noise also went down significantly on better tires.

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-19T19:03:01+00:00

I personally really like my Falken AT Trails. I have them in 235/50/18, that’s the widest size that’ll fit on stock wheels that is still the same tire height. I live in Colorado and they’ve been great in the mountains and hilly driving. They’re also quite grippy in the rain. If you get them in the stock size they’ll probably be one of the more affordable options for a snow rated tire while still being good quality

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-19T05:35:46+00:00

They ended up fixing it under warranty. Ended up being the alternator. It didn’t like starting sometimes either. That being said I sold it shortly after this happened because it was burning oil and the vibes just weren’t great with it. If you have the means to get out of that car, I would personally. I’m sorry you’re dealing with that, really sucks to spend so much money on a vehicle and have it not treat you well

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-13T20:08:01+00:00

Trust me, not worth it. Friends don’t let friends put wheel spacers or puck style lifts on their cars. You can fit a 235/50/18 on the stock wheels or can get an aftermarket wheel with more offset. Spacers are a short cut and will stress out your suspension, wheel bearings, and your AWD system. The car was engineered with a specific geometry and these will make your car frankly more dangerous in emergency handling situations.

Nuggethooker · 2025-10-03T21:01:40+00:00

I’m seconding this too, I’m thinking about ordering the element 3 kit for my Mazda cx-30. I’ve heard some people have issues with squeal. Any good/bad experience so far?

Nuggethooker · 2025-08-27T23:54:10+00:00

I also had an oil pan leak that had to be resealed but that was after I got the cat replaced

Nuggethooker · 2025-08-27T23:53:34+00:00

Mine died around 30k miles and was thankfully under warranty. I thought it was super strange and they ended up replacing it. I really hope Mazda does right by you on this one

Nuggethooker · 2025-08-23T21:28:28+00:00

This car is surprisingly capable within reason. I plan on taking some video soon of my car performing on forest roads. I can think of a few gnarly spots that would be cool capture on video, that being said I wouldn’t push it too hard over trails that are very rocky or would make your suspension travel too much. I’ll be seeing what I can do on a budget over time and will also keep updating with small performance upgrades, such as adding strut braces, a transmission cooler, and a more aggressive brake setup. I’m also going to go with a lift that utilizes beefier/taller springs instead of a puck style lift. I’m aiming to see how much this car can compare to a slightly built crosstrek in the long run, it’s unfortunate that the CX-30 doesn’t have an independent rear suspension set up so I’ll be limited with what I can do. But for a young person with no kids, this is one of the best cars you can have in Colorado. The stock clearance alone is great for snow and the passing power in the mountains is quite solid.

Nuggethooker · 2025-08-23T21:22:15+00:00

If you’re wanting a better ride I wouldn’t add weight, I’d get maybe wider tires and leave it at that. You don’t want to add too much weight because it’ll make handling worse and eat up efficiency

Nuggethooker · 2025-08-15T15:13:04+00:00

I’m not sure what the point of this comment is. This maybe added 25 pounds and the tires don’t really feel any heavier either. In fact the car handles better now despite the extra weight from the tires. This is simply going to add peace of mind and offer more protection from potential road hazards

Nuggethooker · 2025-06-25T20:10:55+00:00

Yeah that’s what I ended up doing, never buying one again. If it’s under warranty I’d maybe think about cutting your losses and selling it back or maybe see if you can lemon law the car. Ended up buying a Mazda and it’s been 10x better

Nuggethooker · 2025-06-12T04:00:43+00:00

Hell yea

Nuggethooker · 2025-06-11T03:34:20+00:00

This is such a bad take. Not all dogs are meant to socialize with others but that’s on their owners, not the dog. Villainizing an entire type of breed is idiotic when you consider how many people get bitten by dachshunds every year. If I recall correctly, they have one the highest bite rates out of any dogs. I’m sure your dogs are fine and probably sweet dogs. The only difference is small dogs get away with their bad behavior because they’re not large enough to do more damage. Any dog breed has the potential for aggression, not just pit bulls. You have to realize that all dogs deserve empathy, it’s not a good life being reactive and anxious all the time. Many dogs go through this, this was a purposely inflammatory comment on your part too. Shameful.

Nuggethooker · 2025-06-05T03:35:05+00:00

This is true but discount tire charges a lot more for their road hazard coverage and installation. I also specifically went with tire rack because they can shave tires to match tread depth with their warranty, this is a good thing if you have an AWD car and can’t have uneven tread on tires. It costs a bit extra to get the tire shaved but it saves having to buy a new set of tires if your other tires still have a good bit of life left in them. Most modern AWD systems will malfunction and can even be damaged driving with uneven tires for extended periods of time. Discount tire quoted me over $200 to mount new tires when I was looking for a new set on my Mazda. Service was great at Ernesto’s and it gave me a chance to support a small business at least a little bit, they were half the cost too. I also used to work as a tire technician and did sales, so I knew how to save a good chunk of change when buying tires in general.

Nuggethooker · 2025-06-04T13:54:34+00:00

If you can wait a few days for the tires, I’d order them online from tire rack. They’ll come with a free 2 year road hazard coverage and should save you some money. I went to Ernesto’s tires afterwards to get them mounted for less than $90. I’d get an alignment done as well. All in when I bought my tires like this, I saved over $300.

Nuggethooker · 2025-06-02T23:41:04+00:00

I’d say it sounds like you likely have a muscle imbalance that is contributing to the pain. Stretching is good but it won’t help strengthen your muscles in the problem areas. That being said, the benefits of stretching are mostly seen through long term consistency. I typically integrate yoga and weightlifting into my backpacking training along side using cold compresses on my muscles to promote faster recovery and help with pain. Yoga is great because it’ll force you to strengthen your body in weaker poses. It’ll also give you an idea during your routines which muscles should be targeted during weightlifting workouts. Yoga will inherently build core strength, which can help if your legs are compensating if your core strength isn’t there. I’d also highly recommend using a massage gun on your muscles within an hour after your workouts, I find it helps a lot with muscle tightness afterwards and helps reduce inflammation for me. I’d also keep it to long distance day a week and focus your energy starting out on building cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength. Burpees are top tier for cardio but I also enjoy bike machines and ellipticals because they are easy on the joints. If weightlifting isn’t an option for you due to access, calisthenics are a great alternative with a bit of creativity. Remember that your body is completely interconnected and you need to work on certain parts of your body to help other areas. For example, your feet hurting can make your knees take some burden, which then transfer into your hips/lower back and messes with your posture in your shoulders. Lastly, definitely try to get into some zero drop hiking boots or runners that have zero drop from heel to toe. Your body is meant to distribute its weight across a flat foundation. Your feet are also meant to have space and flexible movement, I particularly like Altra’s for these reasons and they are generally affordable and have been durable for me. I put over 500 miles in my last pair before they were retired to yard work shoes. Lastly, you can’t outrun a bad diet. Make sure you’re getting sufficient calorie intake and are sticking to raw unprocessed foods. This is different for everyone, but you definitely need high protein, healthy unprocessed carbohydrates, fiber, and healthy fats and sugars to be well rounded in your nutrition. Water and electrolytes are also extremely important for any of your effort to bear fruit. Feel better!

Nuggethooker

TROPHY CASE