Modern Anachronist

Oil drain valve

Last oil change I installed this oil drain valve instead of the plug on the oil pan.

Given the number of roles that Fessick has to fill, and my thin wallet, I need to be careful with how I go about the build. I don’t want to install something and learn later that I need to remove it because it interferes with another thing, or because I started cheap and later find I need a capability that I hadn’t prepared for.

Roof rack

The factory roof rack on the Excursion is a joke. In order to keep the car garagable, the crossbars basically sit flat on the roof. Those crossbars flex under any sort of a load, so when you put anything on the roof, you’re denting the roof.

I used the factory rack once and vowed that I would never use it again.

Door lock actuators

When I bought Fessick, none of the power locks worked (as far as I knew). Meh, who cares?
When we got back from our first camping trip however, I couldn’t get into the hatch. I unloaded everything that would fit through the back doors and disassembled the hatch to get it open and finish unloading.
Apparently, one of my children (looking at you, youngest son) had pressed the 7 & 9 buttons and locked the hatch.

New Floor for the Yurt

This is a project I’ve wanted to do for at least eight years. I finally made a round floor for my round tent.

Turning parts into ca$h

When I took the 35″ wheels & tires off, the wife asked me why I brought them home & what I was going to do with them.

I took some photos & listed them on Craigslist for sale. My asking price was high, but my understanding is that everything is negotiated on that site.

Project goals

Or What’s Fessick going to be when he grows up?

My wallet won’t support a vehicle that can’t do everything. And I mean everything.

Feature Creep

Let’s look at the airbags as an example of feature creep.

An air suspension is great for towing because it lets you have a soft luxury suspension when you’re traveling light, but add stiffness when needed for towing. You can add air at any fuel station, or even with a bicycle pump.

Brake Lights

The easiest job that requires two people.

One of my co-workers informed me that only one third of my center brake light was working.

Time for an upgrade.

Front Wiper and Washer

When I bought the truck, the left side washer nozzle didn’t work very well. It sprayed washer fluid, but when stopped, the fluid landed about 4 inches from the bottom of the glass. When moving, the fluid didn’t make it to the glass. Being that this wasn’t keeping the truck off the road, it was a low-priority repair.

After our final snow storm of the spring, the driver’s side wiper was only clearing the top and bottom third of the blade. I thought the blade had torn, so I bought new ones. Fancy, high-tech, bridgeless wipers.

This made things worse