Random Thoughts Thread

[balthazar]

The one Wrangler I was in was shockingly cramped. And I hated the raised lip at the door sills; I would be on my ear every 4th time out of the vehicle.

[surreal1272]

25 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Which is why I've driven Grand Cherokees for over 20 years instead of Wranglers.  I've ridden in and test driven several Wranglers over the years, and think they would be fun for weekend use if I was really, really into off-roading.  But I find them too loud, harsh and cramped as a daily driver.

Every time I ride in Wrangler of any year, I feel like a bobblehead with palsy. Would never, in a million years own one with my back and hip problems. 

[Robert Hall]

Just now, surreal1272 said:

Every time I ride in Wrangler of any year, I feel like a bobblehead with palsy. Would never, in a million years own one with my back and hip problems. 

Yes, bouncy ride.  With my back I'd be in a world of pain if I had to commute any distance in one.  I recall riding in one for with friends on I-70 in Colorado from Denver to the mountains about 15 years ago--was about an '03-04 vintage-- with the soft top on we had to yell at each other to talk...so loud at 70 mph.   After a couple hours it got really tiring.  I'm sure the newer ones are better (esp. w/ a hard top on) but probably not that much.

[balthazar]

I'll add this here- back around '17 when we bought the '11 Liberty for my son, I was shocked to see a couple Wranglers on the lot for $42K. As crude and youth-freindly as they are, I assumed they were more like $25K. 

I forgot- I drove a Wrangler as a plow truck one winter maybe 8 yrs ago, (it had poor traction) but that's hardly any indicator of on-road comfort or anything.

[surreal1272]

11 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Yes, bouncy ride.  With my back I'd be in a world of pain if I had to commute any distance in one.  I recall riding in one for with friends on I-70 in Colorado from Denver to the mountains about 15 years ago--was about an '03-04 vintage-- with the soft top on we had to yell at each other to talk...so loud at 70 mph.   After a couple hours it got really tiring.  I'm sure the newer ones are better (esp. w/ a hard top on) but probably not that much.

From what I understand, they still have the same problems with wind and noise. Just a hard no for such a niche vehicle that routinely prices over $40K.

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

The one Wrangler I was in was shockingly cramped. And I hated the raised lip at the door sills; I would be on my ear every 4th time out of the vehicle.

The latest wrangler, the 2018 up adresses a lot of issues with earlier Wranglers. 

 

I find myself hiking more than wanting to go four wheeling. And I think the new Bronco, when it finally goes into full production in August, will kick the Wranglers ass in so many ways.

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

From what I understand, they still have the same problems with wind and noise. Just a hard no for such a niche vehicle that routinely prices over $40K.

Again, I am convinced Bronco will be much better. 

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

I'll add this here- back around '17 when we bought the '11 Liberty for my son, I was shocked to see a couple Wranglers on the lot for $42K. As crude and youth-freindly as they are, I assumed they were more like $25K. 

I forgot- I drove a Wrangler as a plow truck one winter maybe 8 yrs ago, (it had poor traction) but that's hardly any indicator of on-road comfort or anything.

They had to heavily discount Gladiators to get rid of a bunch of them. Wranglers were moving, Gladiators were not. 

Wranglers are stupid hot around Columbus and elsewhere. On a recent trip to North Carolina it seemed like every other vehicle was  aWrangler. And they hold resale like nobody's buysiness. The 97-2007 Version has frame rust issues that would make toyota blush. 

Kick ass Impala. 

[surreal1272]

5 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Again, I am convinced Bronco will be much better. 

I have no doubt about that. I would take one over a Wrangler any day.

[balthazar]

25 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

The 97-2007 Version has frame rust issues that would make toyota blush.

NOTHING can make toyoter blush.

[ccap41]

Independent front suspension will make the Bronco 100 times better on-road. It might not be 100% the Wrangler off road but 95% would still be great. 

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of the Bronco, an NE Ohio Ford dealer posted on FB one they got in for training...

 

[Robert Hall]

I do like the smell of freshly mown grass... been very gray and rainy today, yard guys finally made it out at 6:30. 

[surreal1272]

37 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Speaking of the Bronco, an NE Ohio Ford dealer posted on FB one they got in for training...

 

Two door is the way I would go (and the V6). Who knows? Maybe one year I can swing a $40K splurge. For now, I'll just have to enjoy the lunchbox (what I call my Flex).

[David]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Speaking of the Bronco, an NE Ohio Ford dealer posted on FB one they got in for training...

 

That is a very Sharp looking SUV and way better looking than the Wrangler IMHO.

As one who owned a 1994 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Edition in Green, it was cool at first, then the noise became a pain and eventually the repairs. Traded it in as the only time I did within the same year for my 1994 GMC Suburban. So much better than the wrangler.

World longest walking suspension bridge just opened. Very cool!!!

 

[surreal1272]

11 minutes ago, David said:

That is a very Sharp looking SUV and way better looking than the Wrangler IMHO.

As one who owned a 1994 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Edition in Green, it was cool at first, then the noise became a pain and eventually the repairs. Traded it in as the only time I did within the same year for my 1994 GMC Suburban. So much better than the wrangler.

World longest walking suspension bridge just opened. Very cool!!!

 

That bridge is a... ...for me

 

Beautiful but my vertigo will simply not allow me to do that.

[balthazar]

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

That bridge is a... ...for me

 

Beautiful but my vertigo will simply not allow me to do that.

 

Vertigo must suck!

Another form of vertigo that sucks just to say I sympathize with you.  I dont know how me posting this sucky U2 song sympathizes with you, just go with it...

 

I dont suggest you listen and/or view to the next couple of  songs because of your vertigo...

 

 

And this next U2 song, one could say I was numb to your vertigo condition. In revenge, you could think I was the one sitting down instead of The Edge and you were the one torturing  me for being insensitive to you...

 

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by oldshurst442

[David]

2 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

That bridge is a... ...for me

 

Beautiful but my vertigo will simply not allow me to do that.

I can totally respect that! My mom has fear of High places and Vertigo and she says when she is near places like this bridge, she feels it is sucking her down to the floor far below on top of all the other things she feels.

She simply cannot understand my love of high places, edges, etc.

[trinacriabob]

Random thought: a blast from the past ...

A Challenger seen in a parking lot in a small town in the hot and dusty Central Valley of California while on a late 2013 road trip from Portland to SoCal and back up.

[A Horse With No Name]

16 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

I have no doubt about that. I would take one over a Wrangler any day.

It would drive much better and be much more reliable and fuel efficient I think. 

7 hours ago, David said:

I can totally respect that! My mom has fear of High places and Vertigo and she says when she is near places like this bridge, she feels it is sucking her down to the floor far below on top of all the other things she feels.

She simply cannot understand my love of high places, edges, etc.

Ride amotorcycle across the Mackinaw bridge in Michigan...

9 hours ago, balthazar said:

I love fried chicken, but what's that ugly Toyota doing out front of the chicken joint? (Horse ducks wrench thrown into the stable...)

13 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Speaking of the Bronco, an NE Ohio Ford dealer posted on FB one they got in for training...

 

I love it in black, if I ever traded my black Ranger in....

[A Horse With No Name]

17 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

Every time I ride in Wrangler of any year, I feel like a bobblehead with palsy. Would never, in a million years own one with my back and hip problems. 

For the Money, I would own a Chevy Trail Boss full size pickup. 

This is entirely HOT. GM got both the Silverado and GMC really right. I know David doesn't like them, but I would buy one in a New York minute. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

[surreal1272]

8 hours ago, David said:

I can totally respect that! My mom has fear of High places and Vertigo and she says when she is near places like this bridge, she feels it is sucking her down to the floor far below on top of all the other things she feels.

She simply cannot understand my love of high places, edges, etc.

It is not a fun thing. I love hiking but I am very selective when it comes to vantage points. Sometimes its not so bad and other times, it damn near paralyzes me. There is no middle ground with it.

[Robert Hall]

8 hours ago, David said:

I can totally respect that! My mom has fear of High places and Vertigo and she says when she is near places like this bridge, she feels it is sucking her down to the floor far below on top of all the other things she feels.

She simply cannot understand my love of high places, edges, etc.

My Mom and Dad were like that.  In 1998 when they visited me in Colorado, they didn't enjoy the ride I took them on winding mountain roads w/ steep drop-offs on the sides and no guardrails, or walking over the Royal Gorge suspension bridge... 

I like funiculars and going up in gondolas/cable cars/etc as long as they are enclosed.  Something open like a ski lift where I'm sitting in the open with my feet exposed kind of freaks me out...

 

[surreal1272]

No one will ever convince me that the current gen Durango is not just a taller Magnum.  

For the record, I got really bored at 1AM and decided to confirm for myself and import the top image into Photoshop have a little fun. Everything there is pure Durango except where I cropped off the top and angled the rear profile down to resemble the Magnum profile. Even the nose is all Durango, just pinched. Looks spot on like a Charger. It's not a perfect conversion overall but you get the idea. They screwed up not giving the Magnum at least one more generation IMO. Imagine a Hellcat Magnum AWD! I know I can (and yes, I am 10000% aware of my personal bias here).

Edited May 4, 2021 by surreal1272

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo)

I love this picture!

[David]

4 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

For the Money, I would own a Chevy Trail Boss full size pickup. 

This is entirely HOT. GM got both the Silverado and GMC really right. I know David doesn't like them, but I would buy one in a New York minute. 

 

Yes, I do not like them over all, but this is the RARE one they actually have that looks decent. Not as decent as GMC, but this one is not bad. Better than I think all the other trims they offer.

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, David said:

Yes, I do not like them over all, but this is the RARE one they actually have that looks decent. Not as decent as GMC, but this one is not bad. Better than I think all the other trims they offer.

It just has the look....and the performance to back it up. Major props and respect. 

[trinacriabob]

12 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

My Mom and Dad were like that.  In 1998 when they visited me in Colorado, they didn't enjoy the ride I took them on winding mountain roads w/ steep drop-offs on the sides and no guardrails, or walking over the Royal Gorge suspension bridge... 

I like funiculars and going up in gondolas/cable cars/etc as long as they are enclosed.  Something open like a ski lift where I'm sitting in the open with my feet exposed kind of freaks me out...

Bingo.  It all comes down to it being enclosed.

Put me at the top of a skyscraper.  As long as it has a railing or it's glassed in.  I loved visiting the CN Tower in Toronto.  I've been 3 times - first in 1996.  Being over 100 stories above Toronto and the lakefront is remarkable.  I'm easily up there for over 1 to 2 hours.

I might agree with your parents if it's a real edgy and substandard road.  My parents got wigged out by CA-1.  Driving south on CA-1 - a good road - between Monterey and San Simeon is not the place a driver should get overly confident.  (Unless it's a chase scene from "Basic Instinct" or something.)

[A Horse With No Name]

 

Our Raction for this Video....

Balthazar...why can't it be a 1956 Pontiac?

Drew...Why can't it be a sixties toranado...

Robert Hall and T.C Bob....the 70's cars were better....

Dave 87 RS....brings up interesting points....

OldsHurst....posts the entire MTV video play list from 1984.

David....posts links to this converted to Electric...

[Robert Hall]

^always liked these.  The '84 silver over black more so than the '83 black over silver.

[A Horse With No Name]

14 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

^always liked these.  The '84 silver over black more so than the '83 black over silver.

I had a co worker that had a mint one stolen and stripped, sadly. Jeremy was devastated...that was about 20 years ago. 

Obviously Fake women have legs....

l will have to keep this in mind hiking and camping this weekend. 

[A Horse With No Name]

[A Horse With No Name]

I post a lot of videos, but please check this one out. Fantastic vocalist with a band I like, Happy Wednesday Morning eveyone. 

 

Thought this was fantastic. 

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by A Horse With No Name

[A Horse With No Name]

Last one for awhile. She has a lot of clear thinking. 

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Last in line, Fantastic use of green on a vehicle. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4269376529792128/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_general&referral_story_type=general&tracking={"qid"%3A"6958794107855009730"%2C"mf_story_key"%3A"30458595144733471"%2C"commerce_rank_obj"%3A"{\"target_id\"%3A30458595144733471%2C\"target_type\"%3A6%2C\"primary_position\"%3A5%2C\"ranking_signature\"%3A4980535275777163264%2C\"commerce_channel\"%3A501%2C\"value\"%3A5.6313418775411e-5%2C\"upsell_type\"%3A108}"}

[A Horse With No Name]

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by A Horse With No Name

[trinacriabob]

2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Too funny.  I was not expecting this news. 

Thought that this graphic might only show Bill, which would have been "drier" in its humor.

[trinacriabob]

3 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Balthazar...why can't it be a 1956 Pontiac?

Drew...Why can't it be a sixties toranado...

Robert Hall and T.C Bob....the 70's cars were better....

Dave 87 RS....brings up interesting points....

OldsHurst....posts the entire MTV video play list from 1984.

David....posts links to this converted to Electric...

Haha.  As soon as I saw the front grille slats on the YouTube cover, I knew it was an 1984.

I'm a little partial to the mid-'70s for sentimental value and, mostly, liked that GM cars then did not have CCC (Computer Command Control), so not much at all in the way of sensors and electronics to control the engine ignition system.

The downsized intermediates were actually more attractive, especially with the 1981 reskinning!  Their only down sides were that their widths did not allow for the really interesting sculpted dashboards of the mid-'70s and, for those who wanted them, (stock) engines with displacements of 350 c.i. and above.

That said, the most comfortable car I've ever owned was also a 1984 (don't know if I'm repeating myself) Cutlass Supreme coupe.  And really comfortable because it was the Brougham model.  With a measly but reliable 3.8 liter (carbureted) V6, I referred to it as "The Little Cutlass that Could."  Here's a scan of a photo taken of it in NorCal.  I miss this car.

 

[David]

One Mans Dream car is almost done.

 

Best thing for MB auto's  

 

 

[David]

Very interesting read, seems three American autos are considered great for conversion to electric.

The Five Best Classic Cars to Convert to Electric Vehicles (automobilemag.com)

[trinacriabob]

12 minutes ago, David said:

When you didn't know any better, you might have thought these were cool, or cute. I'm just talking about the basic small fastback, as opposed to the notchback.

Then, when you learned how "reliable" (cough) they were with some of their engines, like the "ping up a storm" 140 c.i. 4 cylinder, you might not have liked them as much.

I could hardly see Sean Connery and Jill St. John outrunning and outsmarting the authorities in Las Vegas in one of these - even if in the most potent Mach model.

[Robert Hall]

My brother had a '76 Mustang II Mach 1 briefly back then...silver and black. Don't recall what engine it was, it had replaced a '74 Vega GT.   He didn't keep it long, next door neighbors backed their '72 Olds 98 into it, mashed in the side.   He got it fixed and traded it on a '74 Firebird Formula 400. 

[balthazar]

28 minutes ago, David said:

seems three American autos are considered great for conversion to electric.

"Automobile", yet they think the 1st gen Charger was a hatchback. 😆
Dumb premises, dumb article.

[Robert Hall]

2 minutes ago, balthazar said:

"Automobile", yet they think the 1st gen Charger was a hatchback. 😆
Dumb premises, dumb article.

Conflating 'fastback' and 'hatchback' sounds like.    

Trivia--what was the first production US market hatchback (not a wagon) from a US automaker?  I'd assume it was the Vega or Pinto for MY 1971.  

Probably was something European available in the US before them, though. 

[David]

On 5/5/2021 at 9:43 AM, balthazar said:

"Automobile", yet they think the 1st gen Charger was a hatchback. 😆
Dumb premises, dumb article.

I aim to provide a laugh on crazy auto articles.  

I honestly do like the looks of this car.

[David]

Cool Semi Trucks of the Past!

1964 Ford Big Red Gas Turbine Semi Truck, Class 8

1964 Ford Big Red Gas Turbine Truck | Ford Media Center

[David]

WOW, Some of the early Mustang concepts are butt ugly.

Mustang Design Origins | Ford Media Center

[balthazar]

20 minutes ago, David said:

I honestly do like the looks of this car.

It is a great looking & terrifically-designed car. The fold-down rear seats are awesome. I tried to buy a red '66 383 Charger once but it didn't work out.

4 minutes ago, David said:

WOW, Some of the early Mustang concepts are butt ugly.

I think some folk look at the design process as a collection of final designs, when the truth is (even at the full-size clay stage), that it's a singular procedure with many many steps toward the end product.
The first gen Mustang is just about perfect from all angles / proportions. Spot-on. And I have no use or interest in them (too common).

18 minutes ago, David said:

1964 Ford Big Red Gas Turbine Semi Truck, Class 8

The tractor of this still exists, restored but privately owned. 

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, David said:

Best thing for MB auto's  

This era of SLs (late 50s thru at least the mid 80s) are incredibly crudely & shoddily built.