I finally bought a house in Cave Country! W00T!!!

[stuartv]

^^^^ If only it was a PHEV!

When I want to get to ME or FL, I want to go straight-through. Bad enough when we have to stop for Fuel and potty breaks after 6 hour+.

An EV just won't cut it for distance unless you are an incremental traveler.


ETA: Oh they scoot. But nothing like the Lightning HP version does - freaking scary in 150 pickup configuration.

Ditto. I love my EcoDiesel. I can actually go over 700 miles between fuel stops with plenty of reserve. Usually, closer to 800 miles. Having a 33 gallon fuel tank is awesome when you get 25+ MPG at 80 MPH. And yes, I have driven out a full tank without stopping several times.

I am chomping at the bit for the new RamCharger to come out, so I can line up for a 2nd or 3rd year model.

Plug it in and get 145 miles of range on battery alone. Onboard 3.6L V6 gas generator and 27 gallon gas tank to charge the batteries while driving and have 690 miles of total range.

And, 660 HP. 0-60 in 4.0 seconds.

I will happily trade my EcoDiesel in for one of those (in the 2nd or 3rd year of production).

 

[The Chairman]

Are you high enough that ground water and river surge won't get to the battery on that? Check with your insurance carrier to see what they quote before you bite. I've heard and read a lot of stories about rates getting stupid in FL for E-vehicles

I am way, way, way out of the flooding zone. We get momentary puddles, but nothing that's deep or lasts more than a few minutes. I made a point of that when I bought.

 

[The Chairman]

This helmet comes with a gopro mount. I might try to see how that works.

 

[The Chairman]

I'm sitting here at my laptop, and I fell asleep. Fortunately, my lap table prevented my head from bouncing underneath the couch. Unfortunately, I'm going to have a bruise shaped like a keyboard.

 

[The Chairman]

FWIW, there was no splatter. I welded in my shorts and sandals, and did not have to worry about burns. I didn't use gloves either, and I'd be surprised if I have any flash burn on my hands tomorrow. This handled just like an oxt/acetylene torch, but cleaner.

 

[-JD-]

This is not my prettiest weld, nor is it my ugliest. I tried to weld below the 1/2" from yesterday, and it did not like that abused metal. Unfortunately, when I moved up to the upper section, I had a leg spasm and dipped the electrode. It's welded, but don't expect me to share a pic of it.

View attachment 834761​

Yes, I had a negative ground, and a positive torch. You have to pay attention to the basics, especially on first set up. I saw the configuration on a YouTube vid, and just went with it. Pain forces you to try shortcuts, which always seem to become very long cuts. I didn't change anything else, and found that simply moving the pedal to be more under me, made all the difference there. I didn't use any filler here, just melting the edge of the caster into the angle iron leg. I have the lower 2 inches to finish this one, but it will probably be tomorrow for that. I'll swap electrodes and resharpen the one I balled for use another time. FWIW, I did scorch the bearing cup a tad, but the swivel is unimpeded.

Yea, well, doesn't look like it is gonna fall off...

Ditto. I love my EcoDiesel. I can actually go over 700 miles between fuel stops with plenty of reserve. Usually, closer to 800 miles. Having a 33 gallon fuel tank is awesome when you get 25+ MPG at 80 MPH. And yes, I have driven out a full tank without stopping several times.

I am chomping at the bit for the new RamCharger to come out, so I can line up for a 2nd or 3rd year model.

Plug it in and get 145 miles of range on battery alone. Onboard 3.6L V6 gas generator and 27 gallon gas tank to charge the batteries while driving and have 690 miles of total range.

And, 660 HP. 0-60 in 4.0 seconds.

I will happily trade my EcoDiesel in for one of those (in the 2nd or 3rd year of production).

I waited, and waited, and waited for the frequently teased a diesel Wrangler (then Gladiator too), and then the crippled the damn thing so that it had a significantly lower tow capacity than the stupid gasser!

Impressive! but I don't need 4 second 0-60 in a truck. For me I'd rather see a smaller/lighter, optimized, super efficient single-speed range-extender genset and more battery. I'm more than capable of kicking it on early when I know I have a long run. Of course that wouldn't cut it when I throw my 24' 10K box trailer on it to head to ME.

Back to my 2003 E350 with a 7.3PSD. I WISH 20+mpg was possible (well, when not going downhill), but hopefully (and possibly) it will out live me. And it will take take that trailer with only one stop.

 

[The Chairman]

I'm not a Dodge or Jeep fan. The Willys were awesome, but the recent editions seem to be all hat and no cowboy. My first car was a Ford you never probably never heard of: the Cortina GT. The nice sales lady, who really knew her Fords, had never heard it before. She even Googled it, because she thought I made it up. Honda and Toys are my real favorites, but they are lagging behind Ford.

 

[stuartv]

I had only Ford trucks for about 20 years. F150s, F250s, and F350s. Every motor they made during those years - except a 7.3L PSD. The 7.3 was too much of a dog for me. I had 3 6.0L PSDs, though. They sucked for other reasons, but at least they were not as dog slow as a stock 7.3.

I switched to a RAM 1500 in 2009 and have never regretted it for a single second. Nothing but RAM 1500s since.

There is only one thing I miss from my Fords: That keypad you can (could?) get on the door that lets you lock/unlock the vehicle without a key. I really do wish my RAM trucks had that.

 

[The Chairman]

That keypad you can (could?) get on the door that lets you lock/unlock the vehicle without a key.

Yeah, baby! I love that. I put two on my T350, and my Edge has it in the driver's side window glass. There's even a hidey hole in my Edge and the Mach e, to store the real key. I can start, lock, or unlock either with the Ford Passport phone app. Not the Transit though. She's a 2016. I love the sheer power I have from the Eco-boost V6 in either my Transit or Edge. They are more than peppy, and I can pass a lot of gas stations before filling up. The rear brakes on the Transit were a bit funky. I had to pull the half axles to put on new rotors. She's getting a new warranty drive train this Friday. Only 74K and I can hear that carrier bearing sing. I'm hoping to dump both my Transit and Edge Friday. We'll see.

 

[The Chairman]

FWIW, if someone steals the new Fords, you can disable them from the app and let the popo know where to pick it up.