Yep... same for my hemi 4x4 commander. Keeping that for a lot longer. Next maintenance project is new hub assemblies all around.

I did the Dynatrac free spin hubs with RCV axles, Carli ball joints, Carli heavy duty control arms, Thuren springs and steering linkage on the front of the Power Wagon. Next is custom valved 3" King shocks. My custom valved Bilstein 7100 shocks are shot.

Seems they want ECONOMY cars to cost $30k.
And normal cars between $45 and 60k.


The inflation rate doesnt match the middle class income average. If the "real world economy" doesnt str8en up. Theres going to be a lot of restless natives. Homes are overpriced, CAR PAYMENTS are crazy and theres a tax surcharge and interest rate on everything from your car to gas to home to picking your nose... not to mention the ridiculous insurance pricing on a person 45+. It seems like they dont let up on males. No matter what our bracket is.

When you have people WILLING to pay those prices. Things will stay high. Car companies make vehicles that make them the most profit. Trucks and SUV's.

Too many people define themselves by what they have vs being who they are. Capitalism as a system is great. But the ideology attached to it is toxic. Not making a political discussion. This is where my depth ends. Just a general statement and it's not intended to say any other system is better or worse. Just relative to the car price situation. I'm saying this.

Yea..... keeping up with the Joneses. Or one upmanship. Take your pick. We have become a material society. I'm a good example. :shakes head: 4x4, SUV, sports car, motor home, motorcycle, guns, and more guns. He who dies with the most toys wins. Wins what.....I have not clue.

Yup, just looked at a new loaded power wagon a couple weeks ago. Great truck, loved it- was $65k :eek: with electronically actuated 2 speed transfer case, no mechanical shift linkage and so much tech to break and go wrong out of warranty. :shakes head:

Why I’m keeping my jkur forever and just repair and rebuild as necessary, new v6 reman engine, $3700 plus install, not too shabby. :tup:

Basic as hell and simple, love it, we’ll get a new jlu every few years for my wife’s daily driver and we’re keeping our sports car forever as well as it’s the last turbo 5 cylinder non hybrid Audi will ever make.

You win a cookie, but since you’ll be dead, I’ll eat it for ya. :tup:

for all its flaws, capitalism on its worst day, is still better than socialism/communism.

But, like most things in life, moderation and common (uncommon?) sense is key. Too much unbridled under regulated capitalism is very destructive in that it naturally leads to monopolies in most industries (big tech is a geat contemporary example) and massive wealth inequality with a few super rich and everyone else poor/working poor.

Capitalists, aka business owners have no loyalty to any country, only to make $$ and please their shareholders if publicly traded company. When America was the worlds undisputed #1 economy, this worked for our population well, but as China is superseding us, it is only natural in this economic system for our companies to cater to them since they have the bigger growing middle class and wealthy class.

Starting in the 1960’s, as labor costs began to creep much higher and the opportunity to offshore labor/manufacturing began to make $$ sense, our American companies did just that and our govt looked the other way. Now from a shareholder/investor perspective this has been fantastic, but the real world result is a shrinking middle class/working class and a growing service sector which most of those jobs don’t pay as well as skilled manufacturing jobs, and now with the automation/ai revolution those jobs if they did come back, would be filled by robots.

The answer, if there is one, is a capitalistic system with a strong ethical compass, which is whats missing today. This is where common sense govt regulation should play a role, to enforce, for lack of a better word, economic patriotism which would provide “fairness” for our workers

Conversely, labor unions need to wake up and realize, a dude working the line at a gm plant doesn’t and shouldn’t be making $80k per year (yes, that’s accurate for a lot of the folks with around 20 years). Of corse gm wants to close as many plants as possible in that environment. That should be around a $40k per year job with benefits once you get some seniority.

Like I said balance and moderation on both sides are key.

Mmmmm, dynatrac...:yawn: :yum: (Homer Simpson voice)

Would love a set of prorock 60s. Rusty, if you’ve got a spare $13k burning a hole in your pocket, you know what I want for Xmas. :tup:

:rofl2:
Yea, at some point you look around and say to yourself, where did all the this stuff come from? :confused:

The more things you own. The more things own you. You get to a point where the up keep over whelms you, and you can't stay ahead of it. :shakes head:

My AAM axles are equal to the ProRocks. :tup: