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We had record breaking temperatures in Illinois this weekend. Mid 60s all weekend, it was amazing. Meanwhile my south eastern family is complaining that their 70 degree weather was "too warm for February" and they wished that "it would at least get a little chillier." Took advantage of the weather to do a little washing/detailing on the truck. I've never been one to enjoy washing my car (just look at my Chevy and you'll see why. Can't polish a turd....) but I took my time and it turned out okay. Never really done anything more than hose it down with water so this was a foray into unfamiliar waters. I spent about half an hour in the car cleaning aisle at wally world just trying to figure out what the heck I was doing After much deliberation I picked up some rim and wheel cleaner, tire shine, quick detailer, leather cleaner, and some microfiber towels. Everything went smoothly except for using the leather cleaner. I may have screwed up a little when I tried to clean my steering wheel. It seemed to be waaaay too aggressive and actually seemed to take some of the leather off. It used to have a very glossy shine and feel to it (may just be oil from hands) but now the part where I cleaned feels rough in comparison. More a matte finish I guess. Anyone know how these KR steering wheels are supposed to look and feel? Did I screw it up my trying to clean it? Hopefully not, but anyway, here are a couple pics.
Oooooh, shiny. I'm assuming this is how they're supposed to look lol
Done washing it, before I put the quick detailer on. The detailer was easy to apply, but I'm not sure what benefits it actually has.....my sister's fiance swears by it though so we'll go with it.
Even decided to break out the scrub brush and take care of the weather mats. They stayed clean for all of 15 min
Aaaaand 15 minutes after I finished I took it on a road trip haha. Oh well, it's not a show truck.
I don't know if this helps any, but here's a pic of a brand new F150 KR steering wheel. It kind of has a sheen to it, but definitely not glossy. The glossiness comes from the oils in the hand and from the fact that the constant rubbing basically "polishes" the leather.
Well, after about a month of use my steering wheel has lost most of the "roughness" that it got from cleaning it. I think I prefer the feel of the leather that I cleaned, but I'm pretty sure I was stripping leather off so I probably will not be doing that again regardless.
I finally bit the bullet and bought an exhaust! Driving my Chevy around town was so much fun that whenever I got in my F150 I got a little sad because it had no rumble or roar to it. I called several shops in the area and every one of them just quoted me a price for a Flowmaster kit + labor, normally around $1,000. Is it just me or is that a very poor way to do business? When I got my Chevy's exhaust done I paid $300 for true dual Flowmasters with mandrel bent pipe and some really good tips.....I know I got a really good deal on it, but seriously? $1,000 just seems stupid high to me. But after calling around doing some research online I decided to spring for the Legato Performance exhaust. All stainless steel which is a must up here in IL and from the very few videos I could find it sounded pretty good! Should get here sometime next week, really looking forward to giving this truck a little rumble.
Well, after about a month of use my steering wheel has lost most of the "roughness" that it got from cleaning it. I think I prefer the feel of the leather that I cleaned, but I'm pretty sure I was stripping leather off so I probably will not be doing that again regardless.
I finally bit the bullet and bought an exhaust! Driving my Chevy around town was so much fun that whenever I got in my F150 I got a little sad because it had no rumble or roar to it. I called several shops in the area and every one of them just quoted me a price for a Flowmaster kit + labor, normally around $1,000. Is it just me or is that a very poor way to do business? When I got my Chevy's exhaust done I paid $300 for true dual Flowmasters with mandrel bent pipe and some really good tips.....I know I got a really good deal on it, but seriously? $1,000 just seems stupid high to me. But after calling around doing some research online I decided to spring for the Legato Performance exhaust. All stainless steel which is a must up here in IL and from the very few videos I could find it sounded pretty good! Should get here sometime next week, really looking forward to giving this truck a little rumble.
What I found was cheaper on my '16 was to buy the muffler then pay for installation. I swapped the muffler on mine within 3 months. Lol. It's not loud enough for my taste though, so I'm fighting myself to not get the resonator removed and do an axle dump. Lol
What I found was cheaper on my '16 was to buy the muffler then pay for installation. I swapped the muffler on mine within 3 months. Lol. It's not loud enough for my taste though, so I'm fighting myself to not get the resonator removed and do an axle dump. Lol
I thought of doing that as well as a budget option, but I knew I wanted dual pipes out the back so I'd be itching to change it anyway. Better to just get it done with now lol. I did ask a couple shops about buying my own muffler and having them do everything else but after the cost of the muffler and then labor/parts it was still getting into the ~$750 range which was more than I wanted to spend. Shops up here seem real finnicky on what they can and cannot do, I think it's something to do with the "no exhaust modifications" law. Oh well, what you going to do. This Legato system supposedly has a 100 day guarantee so it I hate it I can always send it back and get something else installed. Reviews I've seen on it were pretty positive though so I'm hopeful!
I thought of doing that as well as a budget option, but I knew I wanted dual pipes out the back so I'd be itching to change it anyway. Better to just get it done with now lol. I did ask a couple shops about buying my own muffler and having them do everything else but after the cost of the muffler and then labor/parts it was still getting into the ~$750 range which was more than I wanted to spend. Shops up here seem real finnicky on what they can and cannot do, I think it's something to do with the "no exhaust modifications" law. Oh well, what you going to do. This Legato system supposedly has a 100 day guarantee so it I hate it I can always send it back and get something else installed. Reviews I've seen on it were pretty positive though so I'm hopeful!
No exhaust modifications law?!?! What kind of commie crap is that?! Haha. They just don't want to hear all that American freedom coming out of the pipes. I want mine louder, but at the same time it's nice to have a quieter truck after my last one. Haha.
I'm itching to change something else on my truck. I've got Rancho Quicklifts on order that should ship next week. Then once I find out about this potential job offer in Dallas, and decide if I'm taking it or not, I'll either buy new wheels and tires, or wait for a while. I've got the money sitting there to do it, but if I move I'll need all that for moving.
No exhaust modifications law?!?! What kind of commie crap is that?! Haha. They just don't want to hear all that American freedom coming out of the pipes. I want mine louder, but at the same time it's nice to have a quieter truck after my last one. Haha.
I'm itching to change something else on my truck. I've got Rancho Quicklifts on order that should ship next week. Then once I find out about this potential job offer in Dallas, and decide if I'm taking it or not, I'll either buy new wheels and tires, or wait for a while. I've got the money sitting there to do it, but if I move I'll need all that for moving.
Yeah, IL vehicle regulations are awful. It's illegal to modify your suspension such that your bumper is greater than 3" higher/lower than stock. All trucks are required to have mud flaps and you're not allowed to modify your exhaust "in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle." Thankfully in my experience, none of those are enforced too heavily. Seems like they're meant more as just excuses to pull over shady vehicles. My exhaust on my Chevy is of decent volume and I've never run into any issues.
You'll have to let me know how the Rancho's are, I've been thinking of leveling the front of mine, but it already seems to ride rough as it is, I don't want to make it any worse. Good luck on your job stuff in Dallas! I've got some family there, nice city for sure. What wheels/tires you thinking of putting on? When my Toyos die I'm not sure what I'll put on, but i know I want to keep the KR wheels.
Yeah, IL vehicle regulations are awful. It's illegal to modify your suspension such that your bumper is greater than 3" higher/lower than stock. All trucks are required to have mud flaps and you're not allowed to modify your exhaust "in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle." Thankfully in my experience, none of those are enforced too heavily. Seems like they're meant more as just excuses to pull over shady vehicles. My exhaust on my Chevy is of decent volume and I've never run into any issues.
You'll have to let me know how the Rancho's are, I've been thinking of leveling the front of mine, but it already seems to ride rough as it is, I don't want to make it any worse. Good luck on your job stuff in Dallas! I've got some family there, nice city for sure. What wheels/tires you thinking of putting on? When my Toyos die I'm not sure what I'll put on, but i know I want to keep the KR wheels.
That totally sucks!
I ran them on my '07 and absolutely loved them. Soaked up a lot of body roll and leveled the truck. I had them paired with RS-9000XL's, 5 setting front, 4 setting rear. Setting 1 is way too soft and pillowy. Gave it a much better ride. I've already swapped my rear shocks for BOSS, made the ride a lot better. Thanks! I'm not sold on wanting to move there, but if they're gonna pay enough more than my current job I might be swayed. Haha. It's a nice city, just not sure I want to bail on my current one yet.
I'm planning on 20x10 -19 Hostile Gauntlets in chrome, with 33x12.5 Nitto Ridge Grapplers. I wanted to get into 35's again, but on this newer body style with the crash bars fitment gets tough unless you start hacking them out...
Well, my exhaust got delivered last night around 6:30pm and I had it on about 2 hours later. The quality of the kit was pretty good, all stainless steel as advertised with excellent packaging. There's a good bit of drone around 18k rpm that might get old so we'll see how that turns out. Other than that it sounds really good! Got a crappy video last night that I'll try to put here until I get a better vid (weather is crap right now). Don't mind the right tailpipe in the video lol, I hit a rather large bump and it knocked it out of place. That leads me to my biggest complaint with this kit, the clamps. No matter how tight I got them it seems liked I always had some play in the system. I have some more adjustments to make on the tailpipes to get them level (stupid me didn't think to check) and after I get that done I might take it to a shop and have them tack weld everything in place.
02-20-2017, 10:00 AM
After much deliberation I picked up some rim and wheel cleaner, tire shine, quick detailer, leather cleaner, and some microfiber towels. Everything went smoothly except for using the leather cleaner. I may have screwed up a little when I tried to clean my steering wheel. It seemed to be waaaay too aggressive and actually seemed to take some of the leather off. It used to have a very glossy shine and feel to it (may just be oil from hands) but now the part where I cleaned feels rough in comparison. More a matte finish I guess. Anyone know how these KR steering wheels are supposed to look and feel? Did I screw it up my trying to clean it? Hopefully not, but anyway, here are a couple pics.
