monkeylizard

They use cardboard end caps on the filter media instead of metal, use substandard materials for the seal and anti-drain back valve which hardens, have too few and too small holes for good oil flow, and have cheap tin and plastic spring plates instead of a steel coiled spring. The filter media itself is also more porous allowing particles to stay in the oil and keep cycling through your engine, and there's less of it. All of this mattered less on older cars with lower pressures and more forgiveness (ranging from higher tolerances to actual materials like iron vs aluminum). The Fram Ultra is better, but it's not as good as the better ones. I'd use one if I had to, but would leave an old good quality filter on before I'd ever use a basic Fram. He cuts into a Fram at the 10:00 mark. Look at the cheap construction. Jump to 19:45 to see the amount of filter media in the Fram vs Wix.

I get the joke, but back in ye olden days we all ran 10w-30 dino oil and changed it every 3K miles and the spark plugs every other oil change. Speed Limits were 55mph or less. If the car made it to 75K miles, we were lucky and bragged about a car that lasted more than 100K. Now we have engines producing gobs more HP and torque per cubic inch, go 10K plus between oil changes, and we feel cheated if our car we run at 80mph+ for hours at a time and punish in stop-n-go traffic doesn't go 200K without significant mechanical repairs. We don't start bragging until we get one to 300K. All of that adds up to synth oil and fancy filters. A small price to pay, IMO to NOT go back to the bad old days of needing a repair kit with spare belts and hoses in the trunk. I have used Bosch, Purolator Pure One, and Mobil1 and have no problem using any of those on a daily driver and going for a 10K OCI. I'm pretty sure Mobil1 is what's currently on 2 of mine. They're all way better than Fram basic and plenty for most needs. They're not as good as the top tier Napa Gold/Wix and Purolator Boss, but it's hard to say if the top-tier ones provide any actual benefits over the "plenty good" tier. For a performance car/truck or something that sees harder driving, they're probably still fine since the OCI should be less, but since Napa Gold and Wix cost about the same as filters in that "plenty good" tier, I've switched over to those if I'm buying a filter individually. I'll use the "plenty good" tier if I'm buying oil too and the parts store has a bundle deal with the oil I want. I don't skimp on my cars' maintenance (oil, coolant, transmission fluid, etc.) or safety items (brakes, tires, wipers, brake fluid). It pays for itself in peace of mind (quality safety items) and longevity (quality fluids). But I'm always open to new information. Seeing videos of cut open filters helped me understand what's good and bad about the brands. Watching videos of oil performance makes me question my exclusive use of Mobil 1 and Castrol Edge. Amazon Basics, Walmart's Super-Tech, and Costco's Kirkland Signature (all 3 appear to be the exact same thing) all look nearly as good as the higher priced ones I like. Even those budget-focused brands should be plenty good enough for today's engines for normal driving. I probably wouldn't use it in a track car. For now, I'm sticking with Mobil1 and Castrol, but that may change.

Stick with Wix and Napa Gold filters. In their absence, good (but not as great as those two) options are Mobil1, Bosch, and Purolator PureOne. The Purolator Boss is (I think) a newer premium product from them that appears to be on par or at least close enough to Wix/Napa Gold. I grabbed one for one of my latest OCs as part of a bundle deal at Advance a few weeks back. It looks like the higher end Frams are made of good components, but their base stuff is such utter garbage that I simply don't trust the brand at all.

Yep. Wix and Napa Gold are the same. Both are top-notch. Something to note for you DIYers with newer cars still under warranty, make sure the oil you like meets the manufacturer standards. My '18 JLU Wrangler has some goofy Chrysler standard that's not printed on Mobil1 or Castrol GTX bottles, but is on Pennzoil Platinum (not regular Pennzoil). I also use Mopar filters. Once you're past the warranty period, use whatever oil and filter you want, but don't give them any excuses to deny a claim during the warranty period.

Another DIYer here. Basically, if conventional and synthetic are available in the weight you need, either will work just fine. Neither will harm your engine. The difference is mostly in longevity. Dino oil needs to be changed every 3-5K and you can push it to 7500K in some cases especially if you are real easy on the engine and you're not running it in the hotter weather. Synthetic is good for ~7500-10K on the low end. In some engines, the manufacturer recommended intervals is as long as 16K or more between changes. My older engines call for 3K intervals but I do them with synthetic at 7500-10K or 12 months whichever comes first. The internals are still clean, no sludge in the valve trains and shiny smooth cylinder walls all around. As pointed out above, many current engines require 0w-x oil and that's only synthetic. Not all filters are the same, either. Fram sucks. Napa Gold and Wix are identical and some of the best you can get. Mobil1 and Purolator Boss are also pretty good. There are plenty of YT videos where folks have cut some open and it's crazy how much the quality varies from one brand to the next.

That's by design so you can bayonet the other side from the safety of your own trench.

I hope we're starting to see the end of the madness. I'm seeing more and more in-stock ammo, but still at elevated prices (like .70+/rd FMJ 9mm). Here's hoping the supply is catching up and we'll see some declining prices over the next few months.

In "The Neverending Story" those Sphinxes shoot lasers out of their eyes and vaporize anyone trying to pass them who isn't worthy.

I have an MHP anodized aluminum head with a patio base mounted to my deck with a hard line to the house's natural gas supply. No tanks to change. I replaced the H-burner and ignition after about 12 years of use, but the head is as solid as ever. https://www.mhpgrills.com/

I have no need for an axe . . . . but dang it! now I want one of these!

We flooded in 2010. Another 2 feet today probably would have put it in my garage and crawl space. Today was less than relaxing.

+1 to that. 4-Rivers is really good. I've hit the one in Gainesville (which has the added bonus of having an attached 4-Rivers bakery for fresh baked cakes/pies/cookies/whatever), Tallahassee, and Winter Garden. I've never been disappointed.

Agreed. Avoidance is the best defense. I was replying to m16ty who said There's no duty to retreat at all.

There's no duty to retreat in Tennessee, period. Inside or outside a home.

... nevermind

I think you're conflating two different legal items. There is no civil recourse against a shooter whose actions were adjudicated to be justified. This is NOT the same as the police not making an arrest or a DA choosing to not press charges. AIUI, in those cases, a shooter would still have to go before a judge to have the criminal case reviewed and judged to be self-defense to get the civil immunity. Likewise if the shooter is charged and tried and wins, they would have civil immunity. This is true regardless of where the self-defense shooting occurred and stand separate from Castle Doctrine. Castle Doctrine is a separate item which aids the shooter in being adjudicated as justified self-defense. As mentioned above, it means the prosecution has to prove the shooter was NOT in reasonable fear of his/her life/serious bodily injury or the same for another person if the self-defense shooting occurred in the shooters home, vehicle, dwelling, or place of business. Away from those places the shooter has to prove they were in fact in fear of imminent death/serious bodily injury

In that case I'd have been on the horn to the home office raising holy hell over it.

Yep. Anything you say (or post) can and WILL be used against you.

.. double post

11 years ago my mother in law was home when two thieves kicked down her door, took her to a bedroom, put her on her knees and held a gun against her head. They kept asking where the safe was and she kept saying they didn't have one (which was true). She begged and pleaded for her life and eventually they took cash from her purse and left. It's unsolved to this day.

I like the original Bronco 2, but the new Bronco Sport is

Didn't I see you walking in the neighborhood in a pair of these? The ducks at the 1:04 mark would be good for hunting season.

I'm still rocking my '06 Mazda Tribute (aka Ford Escape gen 1 with better brakes and suspension) with over 200K miles on it. The Ford Duratec V6 keeps on chugging along.

Yeah, that's basically it. The new Bronco = Bronco and the new Bronco Sport = Bronco II....but fuglier. Like Erik88, I also thought the Sport looked a lot like a gen 2 Escape, especially from the side. The rocker panel trim looks almost identical to it.

@Steaks this is the best advice you're going to get all week. The law is pretty clear on when deadly force may be lawfully used and it requires "a reasonable belief that there is an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury"*. This is true in your home or anywhere else you might lawfully be. In your home you're presumed to have that reasonable belief, but the facts can refute that. A classic extreme example to illustrate the facts refuting the presumed belief is of a homeowner who holds an intruder at gunpoint, has them on their knees, ties them up, and shoots them in the back of the head. The homeowner is not in reasonable belief that there is imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury at the moment the trigger is pulled and the facts will prove that. This is not justifiable self-defense. This is murder. There are plenty more examples like Chip's naked napper, or a homeowner luring someone in so they can kill them, etc. The short version is that away from home, you have to prove you had reasonable fear. At home, the prosecution has to prove you didn't.** This is the burden of proof Chip mentioned. Read the law for yourself here -Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-611 specifically paragraphs b, c, d, and e. Para. c lays out the presumption of belief. *"Serious bodily injury" is defined in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-106 Look at (a)(36). **Note that it's not strictly limited to your home. In TN it applies to a residence, business, dwelling or vehicle.