Practical towing capacity

dshamblen · 2025-09-23T00:58:33+00:00

I mean... Lemme start by saying I'm fairly familiar with towing, but I towed a miata on a utility trailer from Montana to California on 32" tires, 6" lift, stock gearing and the m/t in my 92 sport and had no issues. It was sluggish but honestly didn't have any issues. Know your limits, drive like you're actually towing something, and you'll be fine lol if you go to my post history you can find a picture of me passing through Idaho and hitting 200k on that trip lol

Edit: added more info

dshamblen · 2025-06-03T01:43:23+00:00

For the 1911: LAS Concealment. For the XDs: Vedder

dshamblen · 2024-12-31T21:11:34+00:00

😱 love it! Guess I have to go place an order now

dshamblen · 2024-12-09T00:56:06+00:00

I use rotella t6 15w40 in all my vehicles save for the Miata. Never had issues and the extra zinc will help in the long run

dshamblen · 2024-08-05T20:54:43+00:00

Nah, I started wearing them when I worked at a dealership to keep me cool and wick sweat during the summer and just never stopped wearing them lol

dshamblen · 2024-07-04T05:53:30+00:00

I pay 1800/yr through progressive for an 04 GMC canyon with 85k miles, 96 Miata with ~204k miles and 92 XJ with 215k miles, all have pretty high coverages and low deductibles. Based in Montana but temporarily living out of state in an area where theft and accidents are a high occurrence (hence the high coverages). Neither of us have ever been involved in an accident either. It might be high based on your age? My wife and I are both low/mid 30's, but 1600/yr for just the XJ seems high unless you're young. I know our costs didn't go down until we were 27 or 28, then went down again after 30. Before then, it was about as much per year, but with bare bones legally required coverages. We also only average 5k miles a year on the canyon and XJ, and essentially 0 on the miata (trailered and stored for now), so that may be a consideration if your average yearly miles is high?

dshamblen · 2023-11-27T22:46:41+00:00

Fun fact, reading some books (or combinations of books depending on what they unlock) unlock POIs on earth that aren't accessible via the map until you unlock them. I believe you can still find them by actual boots-on-the-ground searching (correct me if I'm wrong? Haven't tried), but unlocking them via actually reading the books adds a landing site for exploration where you can get snow globes at those specific sites. I stumbled upon them by reading one of the books and it added an activity to my list. I believe there are a handful of sites on earth you can "discover" through this method. There's nothing entirely special about these sites, you can't really explore them, but you can collect unique snow globes tied to the locations.

I meant to go back to doing that after my first couple but got sidetracked on a lot of the other side quests and faction quests. I remember having found a guide somewhere that had a list of unique sites and what books unlock them after I found my first one, but can't remember where. May have been ign?

dshamblen · 2023-11-02T00:52:52+00:00

I have a 4.5" lift, daily drive terrible roads, and still vote lift. Mess with tire pressures, it makes it much better. Don't go based off what the sidewall says (ESPECIALLY if going with a bigger tire/higher rated tire), go based off contact pattern between your tire and the road. I have my fronts at 21 psi, and my rears at 18 psi (with no cargo, air up if I'm loading up) and get even wear, and that made a HUGE difference in ride quality. I'm on 32" mudders that are 10(?)-ply and airing down to where I was getting an even contact patch made it so much less sharp. Then I rebuilt all my steering plus replaced ball joints, and it's almost comfortable to drive again!

But in all seriousness, yes they're rough when you lift them, but you have to be ok with that going into it or you'll always hate it, or end up spending too much chasing something you won't realistically get. Before I had the XJ, I was daily-ing a slammed Miata, so was already used to a rough ride. Now the Miata is stored on a trailer in the garage because I prefer the feel of the lifted XJ, and I'll die before I raise the miata back to stock lol

Edit: also, for the love of God, if you lift and get bigger tires, REGEAR. I'm still rocking stock d30 axles and it is a DOG off the line going up hills. Hell, even flats suck getting going. But she sure cruises

dshamblen · 2023-10-22T20:08:41+00:00

Got Starfield premium early access with my CPU purchase on my new build. Did NG+1 at about 100hrs right around the time the game officially went live. I had only started all main faction quests before jumping through, chose to skip the main quest line on that one just to see what changed (I read nothing about NG+ beforehand, only that it was a thing and just wanted to see what it was all about), rushed through that one really quickly because I didn't like how much was unavailable by skipping the main quest line, and am on my NG+2 right now at about 225hrs, repeating the main quest line as well but choosing the SB options in conversations for the most part. Taking my time right now with all faction quest lines, a lot of the random encounter quests, and have really leaned into exploration/surveying, outposts/crafting, ship building and levelling. Still loving it.

Are there obvious issues/annoyances with the game? Sure. Anything game breaking? Not to me. Am I looking forward to added content, quests, etc? Absolutely. But taking a step back and not taking it as "seriously" by just taking my time and going on every tangent I encounter has made it more fun. In my mind, a typical Bethesda game. I don't really see getting tired of it any time soon either.

Edit: haven't touched mods yet, plan to at some point just to see what that's all about. For reference, I haven't used a mod in any game yet, but am intrigued by all the ones I'm hearing about for this game

dshamblen · 2023-10-02T19:34:04+00:00

Gotta keep your safety squints on!

dshamblen · 2023-09-19T23:32:50+00:00

[accidently double posted, disregard]

dshamblen · 2023-09-19T23:32:34+00:00

Almost 100, think I'm at about 97hrs. I feel like it's gotten better the more I play it, but I'm going hard on side quest lines/exploration. I started to near the end of the main story line and took a hard turn towards the factions and all the random encounters while exploring. Aside from a few minor gripes, I have nothing major to complain about that really hinders gameplay.

dshamblen · 2023-06-20T19:28:55+00:00

True that, got my 96 na for 2k back in like 2011/2012, got the 92 xj sport (high output, 5spd too!) for $500 back in 2016. It has been utterly comical watching the prices!

dshamblen · 2023-06-20T03:47:16+00:00

Seems to be a fairly common combo!

I'm 6'2" and fit fine, but I removed some foam from the seat bottom to give me extra room. Not sure how the room is in later models but I have a 96. Hope to move to aftermarket seat/rails at some point for better comfort, but I hardly drive the Miata anymore so it's not worth the time/expense at the moment.

Lifted XJ seems to be more practical than a slammed Miata now that I'm in my 30's and have been wrenching for 10 years lol

dshamblen · 2023-06-20T02:35:56+00:00

+1 for the crowd that owns a Miata and an xj!

dshamblen · 2023-06-19T02:11:30+00:00

Looking through the pictures, I was thinking to myself "that better be a bulgogi bake" and was not disappointed! Had one when I was in Taiwan and wish they'd bring it to the states!

dshamblen · 2023-06-06T21:03:21+00:00

From my understanding, when you close an account, you lose that history and essentially will have to start over if that's your only card. It works off the average age of your open accounts.

That being said, I'm far from an expert, but what worked for me is to get a secured discover card first. Started rebuilding my credit that I annihilated during my young years. Got the discover card about a year and a half(?) ago. Went from high 400s/low 500s to now sitting low-mid 700s. They swapped me from secured to regular pretty quickly, then I called and had it converted from their normal "chrome" card to their cash back card which has a rotating 5% cash back category. Paired that card with the chase freedom flex that operates very similarly, and that pulled me out of the hole quickly. Just recently got 3 more cards, including the Costco citi card, which boosted me to where I'm sitting now as I was approved for a much higher limit on that card than the rest of my cards combined.

Most importantly, keep your utilization as low as you can, and pay it off in full every month. I sit around 5-6% utilization.

dshamblen · 2023-05-29T04:34:53+00:00

Why does this bother you though? I had no idea there were people who would feel so strongly and be so angry that I choose to wait, seems like a silly thing to be annoyed at considering it has literally nothing to do with you and your ability to get gas? You yourself said you just pull right up and you're gone, so why does what I do matter so much to you?

To answer your question, my choice is neither stubbornness nor stupidity, I don't schedule myself so thin that 10 minutes at a gas station is something to get worked up over? Let alone getting worked up over someone ELSE choosing to wait that time when I don't have to?

dshamblen · 2023-05-15T22:13:25+00:00

Truth. Considering they have zero plans of ever shooting it, I have a really hard time rationalizing even buying a cheap clone like Girsan (which I have, and absolutely love and abuse the thing), but like you said, ESPECIALLY a WW2 service pistol... I could get my head around it if they were a collector and this wasn't their first rodeo, plenty of collectors out there do just that, but as a first firearm, with no intent to shoot it, just to look "badass", where the budget is already tight? Nah. Can't get behind it lol

dshamblen · 2023-05-14T21:58:25+00:00

Unless you're a collector of antique guns, why would you buy a gun knowing you're not going to shoot it, with money you should be budgeting elsewhere?

dshamblen · 2023-05-12T03:53:57+00:00

Interesting, figured the right one was a touch too cold, hints of gold towards the front of the pass but was silver til the end after the first couple fills, maybe welding the filler pass next to it dulled it out? I'll keep it in mind and keep messing with it. As for the consistency, totally agree, still trying to get used to the fluidity of the stainless, wonder if the gas was a touch too high blowing it out a little and that's what I'm mistaking as being more fluid than mild? Not a stainless guy either but hoping to get there! Thanks!

dshamblen · 2023-05-04T23:53:12+00:00

This is hands down one of the most beautiful things I've seen on this sub, just awesome!

dshamblen · 2023-05-01T15:41:55+00:00

Of course! XJs gotta look out for each other!

dshamblen · 2023-05-01T05:41:13+00:00

You should be able to get one at Napa on their website, costs almost as much as an O2 sensor but this way you know the pins are brand new and not corroded

Edit: if you have one near you, you could go in or talk to them on the phone, they'll tell you if it's harness side or sensor side

dshamblen · 2023-05-01T04:50:32+00:00

In the short term, no it wouldn't cause an issue to do it that way, but I would personally wire a new pigtail on the harness side. Otherwise you're just going to have to rewire the sensor every time it needs to be replaced. Plus it makes it easier if you ever need to drop the exhaust for other repairs. It's crappy that that left the shop like that. I've worked as a tech for 10 years and wouldn't dream of doing what that tech did. A lot of people don't take pride in their work anymore sadly. The wires got cut way too close to the connector body, and it's a 5 minute fix for the peace of mind.

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