Good Morning! 63F @ 6:50 AM. Plenty of sunshine. High near 90F. Winds light and variable.
This'll be the warmest day of the year so far, and the grasses are drying out accordingly. Golden State, here we come.
WNG, curious if you bought one of the Consumer Reports printouts on the Tundra before you went the Costco route, and if so, how did your price compare to what Consumer Reports said was dealer cost? Regardless, I hope you're happy with the new truck. I liked my 4Runner OK, but I liked the 4WD SR5 pickup I had before it more. The cab was quieter, especially when the 'Runner was loaded with gear, and smelled better, especially when the 'Runner was hauling something unsavory (like buzzard pie). :laughing:
Started yesterday by pulling the windshield on the donor van in order to get at the spot welds that hold on the roof. The glass had a foot long crack in it already, but I somehow managed to cut enough of the seal away to remove it all in one piece. Then I used a knotted wire brush in the 4 1/2" angle grinder to clean the paint off the drip rails and corner posts to uncover both the spot welds and the brazes on the posts. Got maybe 2/3 of the driver side drip rail welds cut, but not enough to allow the roof to pop up and let me know I'd cut deep enough.
I was using the cutter in a battery powered drill, and it did a pretty nice job of quickly slicing through the metal. The point in the middle is spring loaded, and it takes a lot of pressure to get it to retract, which keeps the cutter centered on a center punched divot on the spot weld. By the end of the first hour of whack-drill whack-drill, my wrists and forearms were sore, the drill was very hot, and I'd chewed through the charge in both batteries I had for the drill. That's when I learned that the charger didn't like the old batteries anymore, reporting that both of them were defective. Then I found that HomeDepot.com wants an astonishing $100 PER BATTERY for replacements! :shocked: With four or five tools that use the same battery, I'm pretty much locked in to replacing the batteries, but I might end up with a Chinese knock off from Amazon. But first I'll give the local Batteries + a shot at rebuilding the old ones. Anybody here use their service before?
Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin!