Are prices like this everywhere?

[ponytug]

I asked around but probably asked the wrong people if they thought I needed new shocks on my truck with about 130,000 miles on it. About 90% highway interstate miles. They all said definitely so I went ahead and ordered some new ones for the front since they are the easiest to change. I changed the first one in 45 minutes and the second one in about 30 minutes.

To my surprise I didn't need shocks. The old ones felt just as good as the new ones. I wasted an hour and $82 by buying new higher quality than OE shocks from Rock Auto but at least I saved $200 by installing them myself.

Anyone want a great deal on some good used 1995 Ford shocks?

Thanks for the offer, but I'm pretty well stocked up with all of the 1995 Ford shocks that I need... Personally, I think predicting when shocks are due is a losing game; I think that it matters so much on how, where, and how heavily loaded a vehicle has been driven. It doesn't take too much of an overload to blow a shock.

I always did the four corner bumper test. Jump onto each bumper corner of the vehicle, and watch the rebound. It isn't perfect, but it seems to work. At some point, I guess it becomes an agility test for old timers as well...

All the best,

Peter

 

[tradosaurus]

I asked around but probably asked the wrong people if they thought I needed new shocks on my truck with about 130,000 miles on it. About 90% highway interstate miles. They all said definitely so I went ahead and ordered some new ones for the front since they are the easiest to change. I changed the first one in 45 minutes and the second one in about 30 minutes.

To my surprise I didn't need shocks. The old ones felt just as good as the new ones. I wasted an hour and $82 by buying new higher quality than OE shocks from Rock Auto but at least I saved $200 by installing them myself.

Anyone want a great deal on some good used 1995 Ford shocks?

Almost 30 yr old shocks and 130,000 miles? I would have changed all of them. Price is cheap. No way the old ones were as good as new. Probably could have waited but why?

 

[Alan W.]

Almost 30 yr old shocks and 130,000 miles? I would have changed all of them. Price is cheap. No way the old ones were as good as new. Probably could have waited but why?

No. I had the same experience. Over 100,000 on my Ranger. Gotta need shocks at that mileage. Put Monroe magnums on it. They were not as good as the old ones. Getting ready to have them replaced under warranty again for the second time. Bouncy bouncy.

 

[5030]

My furnaces or furnaces I’m responsible for date from 1922 to 2012…

Of course the older ones are not as efficient but sure are reliable…

I imagine the 1922 will be around long after I’m gone.

Central furnaces from the 1950’s seem very well built to me… of course they have a belt and 3 drops of oil each month on the motor bearings.

Almost all my service calls are furnaces less than 20 years old… blower motors, circuit board, igniter… with heat pumps being the most trouble bar none…

Makes me wonder if efficiency and reliability can be attained…

The two items that seem to fail often on a condensing furnace is the draft inducer and the hot surface ignitor. The ignitors are pretty cheap but the draft inducer assembly isn't. If you price a draft inducer assembly, they are around 400 bucks and installation is somewhat complex. Another reason why we went with the 10 year parts and labor warranty that Bryant offers on their Plus 95 furnace. Our old (and replaced) Bryant Plus 90 ran like a top until the secondary HX got plugged which was in part, my fault as I was never told the burners needed to be replaced every few years because propane tends to foul them. Needless to say outfit that installed the old one and the outfit that installed the new one are not the same.

In reality, the Bryant is only needed as a backup furnace, the primary heat source in our home is the corn burner. Only time the furnace comes on is when it's soo cold and windy that the corn stove cannot carry the heat load and the furnace has to run to maintain the heat load.

With 3 500 gallon propane bottles (we own them all), we use about one bottle of propane over the winter. The shop has propane fired in floor heat (PEX) but also has a corn burner in it which I keep on low when I'm not working inside and it's well insulated too. Air conditioned in the summer, heated in the winter. I like a comfortable shop to fiddle around in and it's had to beat a warm floor on your feet.

 

[ultrarunner]

My shop has radiant PEX with dedicated gas water heater...

Never used it and the original owner used it once... for me the shop temp is always ideal... 65-70 as ground floor, well insulated, triple glazing...

He came from a cold climate and did not realize SF Bay Area had near ideal...

 

[5030]

My shop has radiant PEX with dedicated gas water heater...

Never used it and the original owner used it once... for me the shop temp is always ideal... 65-70 as ground floor, well insulated, triple glazing...

He came from a cold climate and did not realize SF Bay Area had near ideal...

Gets cold here. I hold the slab temp at 60 in the winter and summer. Very nice to work on in the winter. Was easy to install as well (before the slab was poured). I use a dedicated propane water heater as well, filled with Cryotek PEX solution. That way if something fails, it won't freeze, Cryotek is good for 40 below. 4 zones with a Califfi distribution system. Once it's set up it's really hands off. I control the entire system with a Honeywell remote bulb thermostat, the bulb is in a bored hole in the slab and topped with epoxy.

 

[tallyho8]

Thanks for the offer, but I'm pretty well stocked up with all of the 1995 Ford shocks that I need... Personally, I think predicting when shocks are due is a losing game; I think that it matters so much on how, where, and how heavily loaded a vehicle has been driven. It doesn't take too much of an overload to blow a shock.

I always did the four corner bumper test. Jump onto each bumper corner of the vehicle, and watch the rebound. It isn't perfect, but it seems to work. At some point, I guess it becomes an agility test for old timers as well...

All the best,

Peter

My truck is very heavy duty suspension with 8800 gross weight. If I jump up and down on the bumper it doesn't move. It has a camper top on it and was never used for heavy loads. We used it as a camper when we went trail riding in the Ozark mountains pulling a 3 horse trailer. The diesel was needed to negotiate the hills without having to drop down into 2nd gear as we had to do with my 1990 F150 with a 302 V8. Other than for trail riding I used it to haul a trailer load of hay twice a year and a trailer load of shavings once a year. A couple of times a year to haul a trailer load of material from Home Depot. It wasn't unusual for it to sit up for 2 months at a time unused in a shed.

It probably has less than 500 miles on it driving on unpaved roads and it only averaged about 4000 miles a year for the last 27 years. Since changing the front shocks made no difference in the ride and since all the weight is in the front with a diesel, I see no reason to change the rear shocks now.

 

[MossRoad]

$2.94 in northern Mississippi this evening.

 

[Hay Dude]

Paid $4.89 for OTR diesel yesterday. $4.39 for off road.

 

[scootr]

10/4/2022 Regular gas in Temecula Costco gas station today is $5.83, premium gas is $6.22 and diesel gas is $6.24.