Why do molehills turn into mountains?

[rusty ol ranger]

Me and the warden....err...wife are planning a little 3 day vacation to sault st marie (in the upper penisula, about 5.5 hrs or so) at the end of the month. Since her escape has the worst seats known to man (in my opinion) and she wont let me take rusty im getting the F250 ready for the trip.

Now besides the obvious expense of feeding a 460 for 300+mi one way at 75-80mph i dont really have any worries about the truck.

But one thing thats been bugging me for 2 years is my mirrors. The drivers side one (its the old school swing away with the big square heads, not the ranger style ones) was stuck out, and the passenger side one was so loose as soon as you hit 40mph itd blow in.

So i got out the mapp gas, heated up the pedestal, and broke the friggin bolt off inside. No matter how hard i tried it wasnt coming out. Of either mirror.

So, i call my buddy whos good at extractions, take the mirrors over and he welded a nut on one and was able to turn it out, but the weld ash burnt little specks all over the mirror (shit), and the other stud broke off flush and he said he didnt wanna even try drilling and tapping stainless.

Sooooo now my3 dollars in bolts just turned into 120 dollars in mirrrors.

Now, when i got the mirrors, of course the pedestal is too short, by about an inch. Ran to hardware got longer bolts, and stainless spacers.

New bolts are to long.

Back to hardware store...

anyways....to save a long winded story, a 30 minute, 3 or 4 dollar job turned into a 2 day, 150 dollar cluster**** because ford couldnt antiseize a damn bolt.

 

[Dirtman]

In the future tell your friend stainless, even in its super hard knife blade form is easy to tap. Use tap magic #70016T fluid. Even regular HSS bits and taps will work (if they are new) if you use the right oil.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

In the future tell your friend stainless, even in its super hard knife blade form is easy to tap. Use tap magic #70016T fluid. Even regular HSS bits and taps will work (if they are new) if you use the right oil.

Really? I will pass that along. Im not good with that kinda stuff i had no idea either way.

 

[Dirtman]

Yup. Oil (the right oil) can make all the difference when drilling and tapping hard metals. Tap magic 70016T is super thick high sulphur oil, it reeks but it lets you shred through things like butter that would just snap the tool off if you tried to do it dry. I use that stuff for titanium stainless and weird hard steels like leaf springs and I do not use special bits. Regular HSS.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Junkyard seats are like $40/pr... might have been easier/cheaper to upgrade the seats in the Escape...

 

[Snoranger]

At least you have nice new mirrors now.

 

[97RangerXLT]

eh, get an inflatable donut and a lumbar support to put on the seat back and drive the Escape.

The wife has a 2015, and while the seats aren't horrible, they aren't great either. if we go on a trip, the Buick Lucerne is the car of choice, it is very comfortable, but gets lousy gas mileage (not near the extreme of your f250 mind you... but not in the lower 30s like the escape...

AJ

 

[Uncle Gump]

I don't think the escape seats are all that great myself... whats worse is my right knee on the center stack. But it sure beats walking....

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Yup. Oil (the right oil) can make all the difference when drilling and tapping hard metals. Tap magic 70016T is super thick high sulphur oil, it reeks but it lets you shred through things like butter that would just snap the tool off if you tried to do it dry. I use that stuff for titanium stainless and weird hard steels like leaf springs and I do not use special bits. Regular HSS.

I always just used WD40 lol. But i will defiantly get some of that to have on hand. Can i just order it offline? Or do i gotta go to a speciality shop?

Junkyard seats are like $40/pr... might have been easier/cheaper to upgrade the seats in the Escape...

Possibly. But it still lacks general stretch out room.

At least you have nice new mirrors now.

Yes. I sat in the drivers seat for like 10 minutes amazed i could see something besides my own reflection in the pass side one.

eh, get an inflatable donut and a lumbar support to put on the seat back and drive the Escape.

The wife has a 2015, and while the seats aren't horrible, they aren't great either. if we go on a trip, the Buick Lucerne is the car of choice, it is very comfortable, but gets lousy gas mileage (not near the extreme of your f250 mind you... but not in the lower 30s like the escape...

AJ

It does get damn good mileage. She pulls 28 out of it pretty regularly. My 460 running 75mph....ehhh.....ill eaisly clear both tanks before we get to the hotel. Itll get 12 or 13 running around with a very easy foot and staying at 55-60. Ive never ran it far at freeway speeds without towing...but im expecting *at best* 10.

I don't think the escape seats are all that great myself... whats worse is my right knee on the center stack. But it sure beats walking....

Thats one of my biggest bitches. When im cruiseing i like to rest my foot up on the trans tunnel.

 

[Dirtman]

Wd-40 is not a high pressure lubricant. I use it on soft steel as a coolant but its useless on anything hard. You can get tap magic anywhere. The hard stuff amazon has. Use the xtra thick stuff once and you'll see the difference. Slow... Slow... Slow...

 

[Saddle Tramp]

Whatcha gonna do in the Soo? Last time I was there was in 89.

 

[Dirtman]

I've threaded gun barrels with the heavy tap magic and normal HSS taps for suppressors. That's pretty much the hardest steel you can run into.

 

[JohnnyO]

I got a repro mirror for my Trac from 1A Auto but I think it was about $60 or the same as you paid for two.
My wife drove a friend's 2018 Escape from Pittsburgh to Anchorage, AK last year (friend moved there) and didn't complain about the seats but then bucket seats don't fit all buckets.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Whatcha gonna do in the Soo? Last time I was there was in 89.

Not sure. Pry check out the locks, cruise over to superior, maybe go blow money at the casino if its open....

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I got a repro mirror for my Trac from 1A Auto but I think it was about $60 or the same as you paid for two.
My wife drove a friend's 2018 Escape from Pittsburgh to Anchorage, AK last year (friend moved there) and didn't complain about the seats but then bucket seats don't fit all buckets.

Nah i paid 60 a piece. So 120 for both. I coulda got an OEM one but they were 120 a pop.

The seats in hers are literally the same seats in a Police Vic. Hard as a rock and unsupportive.