Be prepared

As an Eagle Scout, I still try to prepare for any contingency. One of the common roadside emergencies is a flat tire.

For the past 35 years of driving, I’ve carried a traditional four way tire wrench to remove & install tires – but the Ridgeline doesn’t have a good place to store it!🤬

The good folks at The Ridgeline Owners Club have given me some sound advice.

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The Death of Fessick

A sad day indeed, but one that I’ve known was coming for a long time. Today, I said goodbye to Fessick.

Farewell, faithful friend.

When the running board broke under my weight. Removing the running boards made it painfully obvious that the rocker panels were totally rusted out.

When the Neutral Safety Switch started getting wonky. To start the car, I need to switch between Park & Neutral until the switch completes the starter circuit.

When the parking pawls stopped engaging reliably. If I’m parking on a grade I have to go in and out of Park until the transmission manages to hold the car in place. Now the parking pawls seem to have failed completely, I’m parked against a pair of wheel chocks.

When the front hubs started whining. Actually, I’m not sure if it’s the hubs or the brakes, but there’s a definite whine from the front end.

Realistically, I could have fixed any of these issues, but when you stack them all together, it just doesn’t make sense.

The Excursion really doesn’t fit into my lifestyle. I live between NYC and Philly, this truck isn’t a good city vehicle.

I don’t do any heavy towing. I don’t cart around seven passengers.

In the six years I’ve owned this truck, only once have I used a feature of this truck that is unique to it. When I built the tiny shed, Fessick lived in the backyard with all my tools and materials.

And now the search begins… {note – the search actually began several months ago.}

Picking Nits on the Ridgeline

I’ve had the Honda for just over a week now, and the development in automobiles from 2001 to 2024 is astounding. When Fessick rolled off the assembly line, neither mobile phones nor USB were widespread technologies, streaming audio wasn’t even an option, and high end cars had CD changers. Now with wireless CarPlay, my phone and all its associated connectivity is integrated into the car, I’ve got USB-A and -C ports, but the CD player has found the end of it’s road.

When I sit down, press a button to start the engine without unclipping my keys from my belt, the audio I was streaming to my phone routes to the car speakers, and directions to my doctor’s appointment show up on the dashboard, I feel like I’ve stepped into the future. (Also, I know that these features aren’t really high end these days. I’m driving a Honda, not a Rolls.)

That being said, I’ve found a few flaws that really bug me.

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A New Car!

Can you hear Bob Barker in your head, or is that just me?

Shiny!

Well, the new truck has been added to the family. As much as I love Fessick, the needed repairs were getting to the point where they didn’t make sense. After several months of shopping I purchased a 2024 Honda Ridgeline RTL in Sonic Gray.

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CAD (Cardboard Aided Design)

I know that I’m not the first one to come up with the idea, but much like graph paper is cheaper than lumber, cardboard is cheaper than any other building materials; especially when you keep your empty cereal boxes.

I’ve got this metal parts organizer in the garage. The biggest problem with it is that stuff gets lost in the back. I decided to make bins so I could easily get everything out. The perfect material would be sheet metal, but I’ve never worked with sheet metal before. Enter CAD.

I’ve made three prototypes, and finally got my design where I want it. My out of pocket expense is, some blue tape, three empty cereal boxes and a utility knife blade, so zero dollars. Now it’s time to get some metal and start making bins.

In the past, I’ve used cereal boxes & tape to dummy up lots of projects. The original camp kitchen idea was done in cardboard. This exercise proved that the vision I came up with while high was not something I could achieve and led to the simpler version that I originally built from wood.

I always keep a few empty boxes in the shop, you never know when you’re going to mock something up.