What did you do to your Tow Vehicle today?

[2naEagle]

I don't know why it took me so long to getting around to doing this.
Installed the Builtright Rear Seat Release.
https://www.builtrightind.com/produc...r-seat-release
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It's always nice to have a little extra room for emergency supplies.
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[ttavasc]

Used it to haul a big load of debris from the current bathroom/kitchen remodel to the county transfer station. Then scrubbed all the bugs and dirt off it from last months Utah trip. Later this week it gets an oil change in preparation for the last trip of the season.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Re-shaped the front bumper and lower air dam on our way to Delaware camping. Apparently a Jetta station wagon didn't fit between me and the Subaru I was following at a safe distance! I left too much room and he squeezed in between as I-495 traffic was stopping.

I also found a failure with my ProPride hitch. Found it when we were hooking up to leave. Talked with Sean Woodruff @ ProPride and they are going to refurb the hitch head after I send it back. Bearing was completely gone! Once home I pulled it apart and found the other bearings have some water in them too. Supposed to be permanently lubed and sealed I guess.

[Midnightmoon]

Sorry to hear about your issues on 495. You don't by chance run a dash cam in your truck do you?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

No dash cam but I do wish I had one. Trooper said I was basically at fault because he was completely in my lane and had made the stop before I sandwiched him. Made his Jetta quite a bit shorter on both ends. Trooper was nice and felt bad giving me a ticket...so he didn't! He said if I argued it in court I would probably get it thrown out anyway so he said to heck with it. Would have been a day off work plus a 300+ mile drive back down.

Side note, we got 10.3 mpg on the entire trip with all but 20 miles towing. That is setting the cruise at 68 mph most of the way. Tons of traffic so lots of stopping and getting back up to speed.

[Midnightmoon]

I just started using one this summer after almost being involved in a similar issue to yours.

Again, sorry for your bad day. I hope it all works out for the best for you.

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by LiftedAWDAstro

Re-shaped the front bumper and lower air dam on our way to Delaware camping. Apparently a Jetta station wagon didn't fit between me and the Subaru I was following at a safe distance! I left too much room and he squeezed in between as I-495 traffic was stopping.

Ouch! Hopefully not much more than a new bumper for you. Not a good look for that Big Horn front end We've almost been in this situation a few times so I did add the dash cam before we headed out this season. Nice of the trooper to drop the ticket. Good luck with the repairs.

[Bookemdanno]

Originally Posted by LiftedAWDAstro

Re-shaped the front bumper and lower air dam on our way to Delaware camping. Apparently a Jetta station wagon didn't fit between me and the Subaru I was following at a safe distance! I left too much room and he squeezed in between as I-495 traffic was stopping.

I also found a failure with my ProPride hitch. Found it when we were hooking up to leave. Talked with Sean Woodruff @ ProPride and they are going to refurb the hitch head after I send it back. Bearing was completely gone! Once home I pulled it apart and found the other bearings have some water in them too. Supposed to be permanently lubed and sealed I guess.

That's just a darn good excuse for a new BIGGER (aftermarket) bumper!!

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by Bookemdanno

That's just a darn good excuse for a new BIGGER (aftermarket) bumper!!

Exactly! Get a ranch hand bumper and it’ll probably be less than the stock replacement one and you won’t have to worry about Jettas or deer or anything else getting in front of you [emoji23]

[Cannon]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

Sorry to hear about your issues on 495. You don't by chance run a dash cam in your truck do you?

I started using one after a woman on a cell phone missed her exit on 285 in Atlanta and stopped in the lane. I had it locked down and went to the emergency lane and barley missed her. I purchased the Rand McNally RV GPS from camping world for $279.00 w/coupon. It has RV GPS where you can set your height and weight, a dash cam and rear view camera hook up. You can turn on dash cam, and run gps and rear cam at same time.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Originally Posted by Bookemdanno

That's just a darn good excuse for a new BIGGER (aftermarket) bumper!!

That was my thought too! I have been looking at different ones but then I remembered my rock-crawling Astro I built that had a monster bumper that I mounted a 9,000 milemarker hydraulic winch to and after a couple years around here it was showing signs of rust. Every 2-3 years all the heavy duty hardware on the "Sweet Pickle Bus" (front bumper, full skid plate, rock rails, diff guards, plow mount etc) all needed fresh paint. Even POR-15 is no match for the sand and salt they use on the roads here.

That said, I authorized the local body shop to repair to factory specs. Truth is, this truck will never see any more offroad than a dirt road! I've gone stale in my age! LOL

[jbrnigan]

Getting ready to leave for California, changed the oil and filter, put some air in the tires, cleaned the windshield. California or bust!

[2edgesword]

Replaced original front shocks (90K miles) on my F-250 with Bilstein shocks. The hardest part was getting the nut off top of the shock on the passenger side. It was frozen solid and even after spraying WD-40 and letting it sit for an hour the bolt portion rather than twist off via the threads stripped completely off the shock. I had to use a deep socket, universal ratchet extension and two additional straight extensions to make the long reach from the top side of the engine compartment to the top of the shock. There was no way to get any leverage on that nut from inside the wheel well.

Getting the new shocks on required using the jack to compress the shock so that the bottom bolt hole on the shock lined up with the lower bolt. I think I'm getting to old to be doing this stuff in my driveway. My wife comes out every hour to check and make sure I have had a heart attack or collapsed from heat stroke. I may wait until things cool down before tackling the rears. And I've learned in life the job you've never done before and think will take you an hour will take you three hours.

[Vasquez Kid]

Originally Posted by 2edgesword

Replaced original front shocks (90K miles) on my F-250 with Bilstein shocks. The hardest part was getting the nut off top of the shock on the passenger side. It was frozen solid and even after spraying WD-40 and letting it sit for an hour the bolt portion rather than twist off via the threads stripped completely off the shock. I had to use a deep socket, universal ratchet extension and two additional straight extensions to make the long reach from the top side of the engine compartment to the top of the shock. There was no way to get any leverage on that nut from inside the wheel well.

Getting the new shocks on required using the jack to compress the shock so that the bottom bolt hole on the shock lined up with the lower bolt. I think I'm getting to old to be doing this stuff in my driveway. My wife comes out every hour to check and make sure I have had a heart attack or collapsed from heat stroke. I may wait until things cool down before tackling the rears. And I've learned in life the job you've never done before and think will take you an hour will take you three hours.

This made me laugh. I, too, did my shocks in two stages. The good news for you is that the rears should be much easier than the fronts. Was for me.

Yeah several years back I'd of done all fours during a lunch break. Good things come I time I suppose...

Love my new Bilsteins tho!

Cheers.

[ttavasc]

Took it to the dealer for a full synthetic oil change, front diff and t-case fluid exchanges, cooling system flush and cruise control recall. Up to date on the severe maintenance schedule and ready for a run to northern AZ later this month to finish off the season.....

[Marcm157]

Got tired of the harsh ride of my F250 - Yes, I know it's a truck not a luxury car but the ride was excessively harsh and there was a lot of front end wheel hop. I installed Bilstein 5100's all the way around. What a phenomenal difference! You still know you are in a truck but the wheel hop is gone as is the nasty bounce when traveling over multiple bumps in rapid succession. Probably the best upgrade I've done to any tow vehicle I've ever owned...

[Bandit12]

Put on a set of Dash Design cool mesh seat covers.

[Chet & Marie]

Put on new Michelin Defense tires. See posting in tow vehicle forum. Delighted with their performance.

[Mach1tosh]

Got back from the 4 day boondocking trip, first outing with the Timbrens.
Truck was way better, virtually no squat in the rear and the WD hitch put the right amount of weight on the front wheels. No lighting up the sky or spooky steering feel. I can live with a firmer ride for the improvement in balance.

[ttavasc]

Did some work trying to salvage my BakFlip VP. The heat from our trips to the southwest have really taken their toll on it the last season or two. A couple of the panels have now delaminated and the back half has a noticeable sag in it. I added a strip of aluminum solid angle across the back joint and fastened it with some #10 bolts with oversized washers from the top side. Still sags a bit but not nearly what it was before. Plus it's keeping the delaminated panel sandwiched together. It's not quite 5 years old and I'm rather disappointed that it hasn't held up better. Given how pricey these things are I'm not really interested in replacing it so soon.