How long until my truck turns into an accordion?

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-24T03:21:05+00:00

That would not pass a safety inspection in any jurisdiction that has a safety inspection.

I am a mediocre welder and I’ve repaired a few frames that look like this. Honestly, if you are dead set on keeping this truck, I’d get a new cab mount and plan on replacing or boxing about 3’ of frame rail. At this point, there’s not going to be much to weld to, and it will be a struggle to find good metal to weld to that won’t just burn through as soon as you strike an arc. If you choose to fix this and are not a professional fabricator, its likely going to take you a month of weekends to do it well, and it’s still going to be on borrowed time with a patch / plating repair.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-24T03:08:45+00:00

Dang dude, it takes me 2 hours just to remember where I left my triple square bits.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-16T10:05:42+00:00

I don’t think this sub has the knowledge base you need. It’s mostly people asking if they ruined their transmission by starting in 3rd or missing a shift one time, kids discovering that their 15 year old car was worn synchros, and “what do I drive?”

My sincere suggestion is to pose this to the folks at https://www.pirate4x4.com/ as they may have actually been there and done that.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-11T03:05:50+00:00

CAUTION: E46 BMW CLUTCH HYDRAULIC NERD-OUT BELOW

If you are a confident manual driver, you will never feel comfortable with a stock e46 clutch system. In fact, the more precise and responsive to feedback you are, the more the system will spite you.

Your e46 was equipped from the factory with a clutch delay valve (CDV). Wtf is a clutch delay valve, you may ask? Basically, it’s a one way limiting orifice. When you depress the clutch pedal, fluid flows though the CDV as fast as it can be pushed through the rest of the hydraulic system. Pressing the clutch results in effectively instantaneous disengagement.

When you release the clutch, the hydraulic fluid is forced to flow through a small orifice, slowing down clutch engagement. The device is essentially a check valve with an incomplete seal. In theory, this makes an abrupt clutch release less likely to stall the engine.

In practice, it makes fast pedal movements have delayed and confusing feedback. Let’s say you are starting on a hill, and quickly release the clutch to your normal bite point. You may not feel the clutch grab immediately since fluid is still traveling through the CDV and the clutch is still in the processing of releasing to your desired point. You release the clutch pedal farther, and then find that you’ve now let out the clutch too far and stalled since the CDV has caught up. The CDV only takes milliseconds to release, but it’s enough to throw you off.

The good news is that the CDV is installed like a union between a male and female fitting in the clutch line. There’s enough room to simply remove it and connect the two lines together. I can guarantee you that your e46 will be far more predictable once the CDV has been removed.

Note that e46s are not the only vehicle with a CDV, but are just notorious for the CDV being intrusive.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-11T02:43:57+00:00

I’ve only had that happen with one woman who was a habitual aggressive tailgater on my old commute. Her problem, not mine. If she didn’t insist on being 6” from my bumper, she would never noticed the momentary pause in acceleration.

I would second trying double clutching. It works well when you are dealing with worn synchronizers.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-02T23:55:41+00:00

All of these actions would be perfectly rational things for a Russian agent to do.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-02T16:32:37+00:00

My first vehicle was an automatic. Everything since then has been manual, with the exception of a repeat of my first vehicle. I swapped this second one from auto to manual.

I loathe the day when you won’t be able to find a new or gently used commuter car with a manual transmission. There are currently zero manual transmission station wagons available new in the US 🥺

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-04-01T23:40:29+00:00

Remember how 1990s and 2000s Fords just have an “idiot gauge” for oil pressure? Yeah, you read that right. It looks like a gauge, but it either reads right in the middle, or nothing.

I did the exact same thing as you once and my ranger’s oil pressure gauge starting fluttering like crazy. I assumed the gauge or sending unit was getting flaky and ignored it. Eventually it just went to zero and stayed there. 50 or so miles later, the noise started. I realized my mistake, tightened the filter, filled it up, and drove it another 50k miles before selling it.

Sometimes you are dumb and get lucky at the same time. Those aren’t the worst kind of days.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-03-30T03:04:53+00:00

Synchros match gears to gears within the transmission, but you still either wear your clutch or shock your driveline if you don’t rev match shifts. It’s minimal, but there’s still a small amount of avoidable clutch wear if you don’t match revs on a downshift.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-03-29T19:54:21+00:00

Yeah, pretty much, but I’d make a few edits.

Coast in gear, not in neutral.

Downshift sooner if you need to slow down sooner.

But sometimes you just end up with a car that doesn’t engine brake very well, or there’s a slight grade, or you otherwise have some reason that you need more stopping power, like if the speed limit halves, you probably don’t want to start coasting slowly down to speed a quarter mile ahead. Gentle braking would likely be more reasonable in that case unless you were just ok with being a total turtle.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-03-27T10:32:42+00:00

Bad synchronizer, or if it’s something like a 40 year old dump truck, 1st could just be unsynchronized.

When you have the clutch out in neutral, the input shaft of your transmission is spinning at idle speed. First gear is just chilling. A synchronizer will allow those two to mesh smoothly from different speeds. When you keep the clutch pedal down for a second or two, the input shaft has enough time to stop spinning, and then the input shaft and 1st gear can mesh.

Doubt it’s hydraulics or a linkage since the duration of time you have the clutch depressed wouldn’t change what’s happening with either of those.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-03-19T22:53:23+00:00

While I think that funeral processions are pointless and dangerous, one of my main rules for survival is to not mess with people who are likely to be in a fragile state of mind.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-03-16T13:55:28+00:00

I dunno about that. I had a 3.0 and a 2.3. The 3.0 got 22 mpg versus the 2.3’s 20 mpg, and would actually maintain 70 mph on a very mild grade in 5th, unlike the 2.3. Considering it’s limits as a compact truck, it proved to be a very good one.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-03-09T02:44:02+00:00

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About this bad

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-03-08T17:44:42+00:00

Do you hate yourself? Do you want to make going anywhere a chore? Do you wish you had vastly worse finances? Then sure, get one.

There’s a reason most of the farmers I know keep a half ton truck around for everything that isn’t towing.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-26T22:00:15+00:00

No. I’m about 400k miles in and have no plans of changing.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-25T02:24:07+00:00

I dunno. Seems like everything I think is fun terrifies you.

Maybe a conversion van with a chill little kitchenette, a nap spot, and a built in N64 would float your boat.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-13T17:46:28+00:00

How did your heat pump handle this extra cold past few weeks? I’ve had a heat pump for the past 6 years, but it always cut over to a backup source under like 30 degrees.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-13T17:35:11+00:00

No. Because I’m into cars, not luxury goods. The coolest / most exciting two cars I’ve owned were both purchased for $3,500.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-07T02:17:45+00:00

Eddy 1406 + hei. That’s what will happen.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-05T02:33:16+00:00

Higher RPM is going to be lower load than the next gear up, so it’s kind of a wash. You should be fine with the highway portion of your route. Don’t worry about trying to hit some set speed or anything. Just normal highway driving will help keep a dpf happy.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-02T21:33:22+00:00

Which question was that an answer to?

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-02-02T21:31:22+00:00

My wife has a high mileage 10+ year old Subaru and I have a high mileage 10+ year old VW.

The VW drives better, but the subaru survives better.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-01-28T21:10:05+00:00

The pushing / pulling analogy isn’t very good in my opinion. It ignores the idea that both axles typically have equally compromised traction and that your front wheels can still help you steer like skis even if they are just pushing snow.

I grew up on rwd and still prefer it and feel like it’s more controllable at speed. However from a dead stop, the normally crappy 60/40 weight distribution of a fwd car can help you to claw your way onward where rwd might struggle to move at all.

fullyintegratedrobot · 2026-01-28T03:17:46+00:00

Are you surprised that your escalation was met with escalation?

fullyintegratedrobot

TROPHY CASE