dudemonster

I attempted to again install the Cusco Power Brace Rear Member Side (687 492 rs). This install is frustrating. First problem is the rear lateral control arm doesn’t play nice when unbolted from the frame and won’t easily line back up to accept the new bolt. Bigger PITA is the other attachment point. They direct you to use a hole in a frame piece that is a bit big so they provide a bracket with a nut welded to it (lower left in linked pic) to slip in from a side slot in the same frame piece but the bracket doesn’t sit still and is loose in the area behind the frame hole. With only two hands it’s hard to lift the brace and try to find that nut and engage without it getting squirrelly. Anyone install this part and have a tip? https://d1vv73x37cbx43.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/4/image/9d3082b4bec2d774d16a712307ac9d2a/8/8/88279_4_b9ec6e20-681d-4411-bd99-630476390dca.jpg

My LGT is up on stands and it looks like it’ll be that way for the next few weeks since I’m going to leave it in the garage here at the WV cabin and drive my truck back to NoVA tomorrow. So I’m not putting miles on the LGT, and am spending less coin on day to day stuff as well. Cooking in and no buying lunch at work. Adds up. Now what to do? Save for the kid’s college fund, or buy more Cusco? Hmmmm...

Installed my Cusco 687 492 FM braces today. Started on the 687 492 RM rear member braces but the rusty bolt and nut on the left LCA was a total MF and the combination of too short jack stands and a sore right shoulder from a crash during an Easter family bike ride meant I had to get medieval with levers and what not. TLDR: bolt is out, new bolt isn’t going in because LCA is playing hard to get. Tomorrow’s problem...

Braces arrived today, +2 days from estimate but with Feb in the mix I call it on the nose. Hope to install next week during Spring Break.

9 mil non sequitur

Buying a house in NoVa is no joke. Not the insanity of NYC or what appears to be most of the west coast now, but still absurdly expensive.

One thing I liked about the Golf R, and I guess now the GTI and other Golfs, was the shiny piano black dash trim. One thing I didn’t like is how smudgy the shiny piano black trim would get without constant cleaning.

I’m a fed so we’re teleworking and taking turns having one person in the ofc. After my next turn we’re heading to the WV mountains where I’m going to futz with the LGT in the garage. Also, home schooling the kiddo each day. Apparently they’ve changed math. Have had to google some terms. For 3rd grade math. WTF?

I agree about the paint durability. I had a lot of scratches and a shallow but long vertical dent (acquired as an anonymous gift in the Dick’s parking lot) on my RDS door and had to have body work and a re-spray in order to save the pinstripes the PO had on the car (not a huge fan but they’ve grown on me and I didn’t feel like peeling them off both sides). But city parking has left quite a few scars on her.

I’m with the Meats. Ambivalent and non-plussed. Looks like a little bit of a lot of different sedans rearranged and...voila! New but same. Of course, opinions are subjective, and I confess I haven’t been paying attention much (though I am just befuddled by the aggressiveness of the Camry’s looks, bit of a shark jump there). Was not super psyched by anything I saw at the DC car show this year. Except for those really tall vans. Could do a lot with those. But I digress.

I’m totally stealing “smoke show”

Yeah, went with the max legal. When at home I’m parked outside so went with the darker shade to cut heat. Doesn’t actually look that dark. Wife’s Ascent’s factory tint looks darker to me. And I am no longer enjoying a lifestyle that would be of any interest to law enforcement if they did notice; if they are pulling me over it’s more likely going to be for how fast I’m driving. Mea culpa...

2012 Nissan Frontier SV 4x4 King Cab. VQ40 V6 AT. Love it. Keep it at the cabin in WV but bring it east when needed.

Had the windows tinted. Hadn’t done this on any previous cars. Went with 3M Color Stable “nano-ceramic hybrid” as much for heat reduction as looks. Not super dark result, which suits me. VA limits are 35% for front and 50% rear/back. $350 and 90 minutes this morning at a well-rated shop in Vienna, VA. Can’t roll windows for 3 days or so, which means I’ll be driving the truck to work since I have to pass through a security check to park.

In the neighborhood of the price for new, but with the added benefit of not having to wait for 2 months...sigh...

We should send amusa over to pick up all of those AE 86 parts.

You called it. Andy’s Sport said the same. Not in a hurry enough to spend more elsewhere so now I’m waitin’ on the boat from Japan.

FRSport notified they are out of stock on 687 492 FM, despite their site saying it was available, and that it would be 2 months getting it from Cusco JP. Canceled and ordered at andysautosport.com for $139 (free shipping). Let’s see how they do.

I second that, having relied on bumpers and frame bits to keep me on the right side of the dirt more than once.

Frsport.com $132.30 plus shipping. Will definitely report on the result.

Have to say that shopping for the braces isn’t super easy/transparent. CUSCO uses a part number for different braces that differ by one or two letters, and many vendors have pics that don’t correspond to the specific brace. “687 492 FM” gets you a lot of different pics and my fingers are crossed that where I bought mine yesterday gets it right. Even the Cusco US site is wonky.

Lehigh? Yeah, we had to work to make our time up there memorable, though there’s a lot I don’t remember too, because college.

The U. Jesuits and kegs = rugby fights and philosophy debates. Good times.

I went to school in Scranton. Interesting place. Centralia Mine Fire, “30,000 lbs. of Bananas” and, my personal favorite, the Knox mine disaster where the company told the miners to dig upward under the river and emptied half the Susquehanna into the mine. Had to use train cars to plug the hole. Damn cold in the winter there but a great place if you like pierogis.

Yes, the old the-best-boat-is-someone-else’s-boat model. I was able to convince the wife that it would make more sense to buy a truck than to load 3 kayaks on top of the LGT or her Ascent, even if they’d fit. Bought a ‘12 Nissan Frontier and have used it a lot. Of course, part of that usage is rationalizing the purchase after the fact, since follow-through is key to marital harmony. But one thing she will never go for is a motorcycle, due to her father being a firefighter/EMT and telling stories of scraping riders off I-77 or unwrapping them from trees in the middle of the woods. So, yeah, kayaks...