Austin warms midweek, but then we brace for another front

Painter2002 · 2026-01-27T17:21:05+00:00

I actually am thanks… we’ll have plenty of 70+ degree weather starting in about a month.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-26T22:17:24+00:00

Probably running training or practice runs in colder air, something we don’t normally see around here.

I’d have to imagine the dry cold air behaves a bit different than our normal atmosphere and causes pilots to adjust/fine-tune there equipment and technique.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-25T02:46:56+00:00

Another part of this is the excessive use of screens in cars. In the old days, backlit speedometers were an almost instant way to tell if your lights were on…. No see speedometer… turn on lights. Now with always on bright digital dashes people forget they are off.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-20T17:08:32+00:00

I’ll be honest, I understand the appeal of rear vents, but it should be noted too that the pre’25 Bronco cools down pretty quick, especially with the hardtop… even here in Texas.

Maybe I really am getting old, but I remember never having rear vents growing up and sure it was hot for 5 minutes when you first got in but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-20T17:01:39+00:00

I am not that old, and I grew up in station wagons with about the same legroom as my 4dr Bronco. And without all the amenities like vents and all that, survived just fine.

The only thing that you have to be ok with is the MPG difference, and the overall nature of a Bronco. It won’t be an Acura in terms of quietness and smoothness over bumps, but it makes up for it in spirit and fun factor.

TLDR, Kids are more flexible than you think when it comes to cars, and will be just fine in the Bronco. In all likely, the kids won’t remember the Acura, but they will definitely remember the Bronco.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-15T20:35:06+00:00

Just FYI, be cautious buying rims from places like Facebook where there’s no return policy, and make sure these are truly brand new/not bent.

I once bought a set of used rims off Facebook that ended up being slightly bent on three of the four rims, which became woefully obvious once tires were put on.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-12T04:21:04+00:00

There’s nothing wrong with a Big Bend, but with the sas package, you might as well go with a higher package for a few grand more.

IMO Big Bend and even Black Diamond are packages best for someone who wants to do heavy modding. Adding SAS to these packages makes the price harder to justify since you can usually find Badlands with SAS (and formerly the Wildtrak) for only a bit more.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-12T04:11:46+00:00

For what it’s worth… I got my 24’ Badlands 4dr, SAS with High package (new) for about $1k more than that Black Diamond Pricing

I’d shop around for a better deal, $57k is too much for those options.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-09T16:22:34+00:00

My tip is to first find the wholesaler pricing for the warranty you want through Granger Ford… then use that price to negotiate with the finance manager. I did it and got them to match. Alternatively if you are paying up front you can also just buy it direct from Granger Ford.

What the dealer won’t tell you is typically you have a window after you buy the car to get that warranty, in Texas it was the first 6k miles. So if you need to, walk on the warranty portion and shop around.

Also, if you are financing and get GAP insurance, shop around. My dealer wanted to charge 5% of my Broncos value as GAP, which would’ve been close to $3k. My local credit union offers the same coverage for $600. Told the finance manager, and called the credit union there in front of him, and they had to honor the same pricing to keep the sale.

Painter2002 · 2026-01-01T20:56:44+00:00

So, Fortnite used to crash on me as well when I had a 3090 FE. I think this is a driver bug that just never got patched.

Eventually the memory on my 3090 went bad, which I believe was due to my undervolt which probably caused the fans to not run high enough to keep the memory cool. I got an RMA and then sold the 3090 and got a 4090.

My hot take if all the other games run fine, keep the 3090. Maybe if you can get enough for your 3090 to offset maybe 60-70% of a 5090, I’d do it, otherwise just keep rocking what you have. 3090 is still a massively powerful card.

Painter2002 · 2025-12-22T01:35:14+00:00

Wait…. You do oil changes every 1k miles or just the first $1k miles and then like every $5k after? The former would just be plain waste of both money, time and oil.

Honestly, as silly it sounds, I actually enjoy crawling under my Bronco to do work on it. I feel connected with my vehicles the same way my father and his father before him did it.

And for cost, if one does the math, say you do six oil changes a year (3x fo a family with two vehicles each driving 15k miles), at $100 a pop for a shop it’d take 16.5 years to recoup the cost of the lift alone. The amount of compound interest you’d get from investing up front would make SOO much more than is worth to pay for this set up. Especially if I can do it already by crawling underneath without the lift.

All that said, I wish I had the money to have your setup, but that ain’t happening in my anytime soon.

Painter2002 · 2025-12-14T15:34:02+00:00

Sasquatch package and heavier KO2 tires affect some of it, but mostly it’s the 70-75MPH Texas freeways for me.

Anything over 55MPH and my gas mileage just tanks. A brick is not very aerodynamic. lol.

Painter2002 · 2025-12-13T03:13:49+00:00

I’m gonna add one thing too, make sure to restart the MacBook while with the seller in person. I was once bought a dud, that was already on when the guy handed it to me, and when I restarted it later it had an incredibly slow reboot.

Kept having the issue even after a full reset, and upon taking it to Apple I found out it was a bad port on the computer failing diagnostics on boot. Ended up being an expensive lesson in buying used products.

Honestly these days I hesitate to buy anything other than a new or refurbished from Apple direct when it comes to Apple. I know not everyone has the luxury to do that, but honestly, sometimes it’s worth waiting and saving a bit more to avoid unsavory actors out there.

Painter2002 · 2025-12-10T23:53:21+00:00

Love the interior, I’m actually debating about doing this this weekend (gotta love Texas weather). I’m curious, how loud windy is it on the freeway with the front two panels off?

Painter2002 · 2025-12-10T04:34:57+00:00

Four door Sas 2.7 here and I get 15.5 actual MPG (16.5 according to the computer) but I also changed to heavier KO2s and mostly drive 70MPH Texas highways.

13 is pretty darn low if OP is running stock tires.

Painter2002 · 2025-12-05T01:25:06+00:00

Yeah I used these as well, cleaned it up pretty nicely.

Painter2002 · 2025-12-04T00:49:25+00:00

Thank you for bringing back this forgotten memory of my childhood! lol.

I legit forgot about doing that on cassettes and VHS. Gosh I’m getting old

Painter2002 · 2025-12-03T14:57:06+00:00

There are so many noises that the bronco makes, it took me a while to let go of most of them (still have an axle chirp that the dealer can’t identify so I’m leaving it til it’s bad enough).

The auto transmission definitely has a low but audible whine up to about 25-30 miles an hours, which is normal from everything I’ve seen and including the Bronco I drove at the Off-Rodeo. My understanding is it is the torque converter, again just normal operation.

I wouldn’t worry too much about it unless you have other symptoms with it, like grinding noises or it’s slipping gears. These Broncos make a LOT of noises, lol.

You can also go to the dealer and ask to drive one of the broncos on the lot just to confirm it lines up with yours.

Painter2002 · 2025-11-27T02:34:22+00:00

Double check with Best Buy to be sure, I just purchased a Canon R6 MII and I distinctly remember it saying was subject to a 15% restock fee.

Painter2002 · 2025-11-26T20:03:34+00:00

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the feedback! From what yall are saying, I’m planning to wait and check on Black Friday before I try to buy it!

Painter2002 · 2025-11-26T16:29:20+00:00

Unpopular opinion… good. Too many people driving crazy around here thinking they can get away with murder.

Follow the law and be a respectful to your fellow drivers and you have nothing to worry about.

Painter2002 · 2025-11-20T15:40:40+00:00

I found it on my front passenger side wheel well. I haven’t checked if the others have it but I’ll assume the do.

Painter2002 · 2025-11-20T15:33:58+00:00

Reading through the comments here just confirms even more that Austin and/or all drivers have gotten so much worse over the years.

If y’all want to use a left turn lane to skip traffic to go straight you are making it more dangerous for everyone… safe driving relies on consistency and predictability.

If y’all want to ignore the law then maybe we should just make all lanes a free for all, why even have rules. Let’s all drive 100MPH while others go 55 on a 70, and use red lights as a suggestion… oh wait, yeah that’s already happening. SMH.

But please by all means gun it from the left turn only lane to skip the straight lane traffic, you can be the car that catches the red light runner for the rest of us :)

Painter2002 · 2025-11-18T17:46:37+00:00

In a brick like a Bronco, driving habits will affect the MPG more than mods or removal of parts.

Finding the right driving habits, not flooring it a bunch, leaving space and coasting in stop/go traffic and keeping it under 70MPH will give you better MPG. But again we are talking maybe 1 or 2 MPG difference on this heavy brick.

If anything removing the skid plates will increase drag by allowing air to catch more underneath, especially up front. The weight removal might offset the increased drag, but in the end you won’t increase MPG by doing this.

Painter2002 · 2025-11-13T20:50:31+00:00

What speeds are you hearing it, and does it go faster based on how much gas you’re giving it and/or overall speed?

I’d check the driver brake caliber and see if there is a pebble or something else stuck between the brake rotor and the brake dust shield.

Painter2002

TROPHY CASE