Clutch’s deep thoughts thread...

[Clutch]

Poverty level in Palo Alto... $107K/year for family of 4...

Median home price is $964K. Supposed to crack one million dollars next year.

Most of it is tech money...wonder where some of that money is coming from?

Check out #6 on this list.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.mic....iving-massive-public-subsidies-from-taxpayers

 

[bkg]

Median home price is $964K. Supposed to crack one million dollars next year.

Most of it is tech money...wonder where some of that money is coming from?

Check out #6 on this list.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.mic....iving-massive-public-subsidies-from-taxpayers

Interviewed at a San Fran-based company a few years ago... w/ VP of Sales and CFO... my first question to the CFO was "please help me understand why you would start and run a company in the most expensive location to do so in the US." I don't remember his response. I was in a bad mood and decided I didn't want the job after the VP of sales showed up late.

EDIT: Re: the list you posted... I can't give it too much credence since it doesn't explain the details on the subsidies. I remember when congressmen and media were touting accelerated depreciation - which is available to almost all companies - as a subsidy.

 

[Clutch]

EDIT: Re: the list you posted... I can't give it too much credence since it doesn't explain the details on the subsidies. I remember when congressmen and media were touting accelerated depreciation - which is available to almost all companies - as a subsidy.

yeah, I don't even know anymore. To see the gross excess of places like Palo Alto....and hearing the refugee stories my wife has been telling me since she got back from Thailand and Burma. One guy escaped from Burma when he was 14, had to sneak through the jungle on foot to get to Thailand...his whole family was exterminated.

And it is still screwed up over there, still having genocide. They managed to get into Burma, (took a couple days just to get there by plane and vehicle) as soon as they got to the village, they were chased out by the authorities...since they didn't want them filming over there. Told them they needed to leave by 8:00 am the next day, or else. What the "or else" was I don't know...nor do I want to know. it was a little sketchy to say the least, the local police confiscated their passports for bit before they asked them to leave.....she said it was a bit tense there for awhile.

The world is so screwed up. I dunno, I feel guilty arguing in here over 1st world problems.

 

[phsycle]

Just came across this. Disappointing the fuel tank is only 18 gal. Payload and towing cap X'ed out for now, along with MPG.

 

[Clutch]

Just came across this. Disappointing the fuel tank is only 18 gal. Payload and towing cap X'ed out for now, along with MPG.

yeah the gas tank could be more, IIRC the new Tacos are 21. My first gen is only 15 annnnnd I get 17-18 mpg if I am lucky. Have been driving that thing 16 years now, and have been fine...haven't ran it out of gas yet.

I know people yammer on and on about range....especially about those spendy new small diesels. "it is sooo worth the extra cost, because of the extra range!" meh, bunch of tossers! Fraaaack man, those new trucks are made for the US market....reading somewhere that we are never more than 145 miles away from a McDonalds, range....pffffttt....yous don't need no stinking range...

Soooo, if the new Rangie gets 24-25 mpg HWY, like some of us are hoping, basing my guesstimate off the Lincoln MKC with the 2.3 Eco 285HP/305TQ 20City/27HWY, an 18 gal tank should be more than enough. Puts it at 450ish mile range...on a trip you could stop at Micky D's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on one tank of gas.

Another curiosity is the curb weight difference between the F150 and it. Thinking payload, towing, mpg differences. Wonder if you're just better off getting a F150 with the NA V6. Tell ya,....I kinda miss an 8' bed.

 

[phsycle]

Yeah, a 5 gal gas can in the bed takes care of any sort of “range” issues. Even venturing into the back country.

I wonder if Ford will go aluminum with the Ranger. I assumed they would when they announced its return but I was wrong.

 

[Clutch]

Yeah, a 5 gal gas can in the bed takes care of any sort of “range” issues. Even venturing into the back country.

I wonder if Ford will go aluminum with the Ranger. I assumed they would when they announced its return but I was wrong.

Since I generally always have the dirt bike with me when I travel, usually have one or two 5 gal cans with me on the moto trailer. My Beta is a 2T, but oil injected...so never have a can of mixed fuel. What is ever left from the bike, I dump in the truck. But rarely rarely ever needed to...do it so the gas doesn't sit around and go bad.

Highly doubt it will be aluminum. Why I am thinking the curb weight between the F150 and it will be real close.

Tacoma AC V6 is roughly 4300 lbs
F150 Super Cab 6.5' Bed 2.7 Eco 4700 lbs. (can't get the 3.3 NA V6 in the Super Cab as far as I can tell) RCLB NA V6 is 4393 lbs.

Guessing the Super Cab Ranger vs SC F150 6.5' bed will be within a couple hundred pounds of each other...so splitting hairs.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Yeah, a 5 gal gas can in the bed takes care of any sort of “range” issues. Even venturing into the back country

I'm one of the tossers Clutch hates, I would like an extra 100 or 150 miles from my fuel tank. I hate jerry cans ever since one leaked camping and I had to spend 2 damn weeks (doing the Toroweap trip) with the smell of gasoline permeating everything in the WilderNest. Screw that, I don't keep gas inside the truck anymore and don't (and basically won't, at least anytime soon) have a swing-out rear bumper. So they sit on the roof rack that I have to put on just to carry the fuel that should be nice and safe in a tank designed to carry it under the truck. It's a load of crap that we don't get diesels and aux or long range fuel tank options on our trucks.

BTW, that McDonald's things is a stupid measurement. It assumes you're getting 15 MPG in 2WD high on nice highways. You might only be less than a tank-full away from a town if you data mine a map sitting your house in San Francisco but say you're in the Needles District (which Mr. Von Worley probably never heard, being in the middle of flyover country) you'll need that extra 10 gallons or the MPG of a rattling diesel. I'll repeat until I'm cold and dead, I don't want a diesel to pull junk or go 900 miles between Interstate stops. I want one to bounce around backroads without worrying that my 1GR is getting 6 MPG. A 19 gallon Toyota pickup tank gets you (say) 475 miles with a D-4D on pavement (assuming 25 MPG) and not all that much less in low range.

 

[phsycle]

I'm one of the tossers Clutch hates, I would like an extra 100 or 150 miles from my fuel tank. I hate jerry cans ever since one leaked camping and I had to spend 2 damn weeks (doing the Toroweap trip) with the smell of gasoline permeating everything in the WilderNest. Screw that, I don't keep gas inside the truck anymore and don't (and basically won't, at least anytime soon) have a swing-out rear bumper. So they sit on the roof rack that I have to put on just to carry the fuel that should be nice and safe in a tank designed to carry it under the truck. It's a load of crap that we don't get diesels and aux or long range fuel tank options on our trucks.

BTW, that McDonald's things is a stupid measurement. It assumes you're getting 15 MPG in 2WD high on nice highways. You might only be less than a tank-full away from a town if you data mine a map sitting your house in San Francisco but say you're in the Needles District (which Mr. Von Worley probably never heard, being in the middle of flyover country) you'll need that extra 10 gallons or the MPG of a rattling diesel. I'll repeat until I'm cold and dead, I don't want a diesel to pull junk or go 900 miles between Interstate stops. I want one to bounce around backroads without worrying that my 1GR is getting 6 MPG. A 19 gallon Toyota pickup tank gets you (say) 475 miles with a D-4D on pavement (assuming 25 MPG) and not all that much less in low range.

Can you physically fit a larger tank underneath without removing the spare? I hate rear mount swing bumpers as well. It would aggravate me so much every time I had to access the tailgate.

Leaky gas can would suck. But to me, it's the lesser of the evils. Diesel comes with its own issues. Larger tank means it's a longer truck or I have to place the spare somewhere else. No thanks. Couple gas cans--cheap and easy.

Perhaps another solution for you may be a Rotopax. I hate the Expo-Bro look of them. But it stores the gas outside and profile is slim.

But I was disappointed that the Ranger is full 3 gallons less than the current Tacoma. I don't think the size of the truck is any smaller.

 

[phsycle]

Since I generally always have the dirt bike with me when I travel, usually have one or two 5 gal cans with me on the moto trailer. My Beta is a 2T, but oil injected...so never have a can of mixed fuel. What is ever left from the bike, I dump in the truck. But rarely rarely ever needed to...do it so the gas doesn't sit around and go bad.

Highly doubt it will be aluminum. Why I am thinking the curb weight between the F150 and it will be real close.

Tacoma AC V6 is roughly 4300 lbs
F150 Super Cab 6.5' Bed 2.7 Eco 4700 lbs. (can't get the 3.3 NA V6 in the Super Cab as far as I can tell) RCLB NA V6 is 4393 lbs.

Guessing the Super Cab Ranger vs SC F150 6.5' bed will be within a couple hundred pounds of each other...so splitting hairs.

Yeah, probably not a huge gap between the two. Hope they eventually do go aluminum and squeeze another mpg or two out of it.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Long Range makes a 34 gallon tank that can be fitted to 127" wheelbase 2nd & 3rd gen Tacomas. Stock location, no moving spares or exhaust re-routing.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/long-range-fuel-tank.530547/

I'd go that way if I had $1,000 laying around. I'd also have to really think about the left-right weight imbalance it would produce.

I have a set of Scepter 20L surplus cans, they are pretty leak-proof (at least for me, never tried shooting one to really test it). They've swelled, sometimes a lot, but how they don't leak is pretty amazing. Although what leaked in my truck was actually a Scepter, although consumer grade 1.25 gallon mixed with 2-stroke for the weed eater.

 

[Clutch]

I'm one of the tossers Clutch hates, I would like an extra 100 or 150 miles from my fuel tank. I hate jerry cans ever since one leaked camping and I had to spend 2 damn weeks (doing the Toroweap trip) with the smell of gasoline permeating everything in the WilderNest. Screw that, I don't keep gas inside the truck anymore and don't (and basically won't, at least anytime soon) have a swing-out rear bumper. So they sit on the roof rack that I have to put on just to carry the fuel that should be nice and safe in a tank designed to carry it under the truck. It's a load of crap that we don't get diesels and aux or long range fuel tank options on our trucks.

BTW, that McDonald's things is a stupid measurement. It assumes you're getting 15 MPG in 2WD high on nice highways. You might only be less than a tank-full away from a town if you data mine a map sitting your house in San Francisco but say you're in the Needles District (which Mr. Von Worley probably never heard, being in the middle of flyover country) you'll need that extra 10 gallons or the MPG of a rattling diesel. I'll repeat until I'm cold and dead, I don't want a diesel to pull junk or go 900 miles between Interstate stops. I want one to bounce around backroads without worrying that my 1GR is getting 6 MPG. A 19 gallon Toyota pickup tank gets you (say) 475 miles with a D-4D on pavement (assuming 25 MPG) and not all that much less in low range.

You don't need the range, not in the US. Plenty of fuel stops everywhere. For every one Micky D's....how many gas stations are by those Golden arches? Which was the point. We have 15 within a 3 mile radius and 2 McDonalds. Even when there isn't a Micks, there is a gas station. Or take places like Baja...plenty of entrepreneurs out in the middle of no where, willing to sell you gas. We do Baja on bikes with 80-100 mile range.

I get roughly 265 miles out of my tank. Have never run it out of gas in the back country. Even here in Idaho which can be pretty remote, there is a dirt bike ride where you can ride darn near all trail from Utah to Canada. Only need a 150 mile range. All those trails you can parallel in a vehicle. One of our friends does Death Valley trips a lot...to ride with him, all you need is a 200 mile range, that is it.

Have learned my lesson about carrying gas inside the vehicle too....had damn near a whole gallon of chainsaw premix spill in my 4Runner...boy that sucked for while.

I dunno, maybe because I am always putting gas into bikes via a jerry can, I don't mind them. Even with that, I rarely have to use them for the truck.

 

[DaveInDenver]

You make valid points. When I really think about it I've only had to actually use jerry can once, on the Maze. I've carried them several times, Toroweap, Rubicon (we came back using US50 in Nevada). But if I use them it was just to get rid of it rather than strictly needing it. With good planning you can usually work around long stretches with a ~300 mile range. On the Maze there was no choice, the needle had wrapped and the light was on and we weren't anywhere near close to the marina. I would have run empty.

 

[Clutch]

Yeah, probably not a huge gap between the two. Hope they eventually do go aluminum and squeeze another mpg or two out of it.

Yeah, I guess we will see.

If a person really wanted that NA 3.3 V6, think the F150 is a better buy, kinda blows they don't offer it in the Super Cab...I keep on looking at the RCLB, but not sure if I could live without an Extra Cab, as mine seems like it is always full of stuff. Keep a duffle with some clothes, couple pillows and sleeping bag back there pretty much full time. Some times I'll get a wild hair and go camping after work....kinda since have a camper on there full time.

 

[Clutch]

You make valid points. When I really think about it I've only had to actually use jerry can once, on the Maze. I've carried them several times, Toroweap, Rubicon (we came back using US50 in Nevada). But if I use them it was just to get rid of it rather than strictly needing it. With good planning you can usually work around long stretches with a ~300 mile range. On the Maze there was no choice, the needle had wrapped and the light was on and we weren't anywhere near close to the marina. I would have run empty.

Coming from the dirt bike world riding in the back country, where the max I ever had was a 200 mile range. I just don't see why guys need 450 out of their trucks/suvs. Maybe they don't like stopping very much...but after riding 200 miles straight....you're ready to get off and stretch your legs a bit.