Had to order one? I'm afraid to ask where you live, I have countless places within five miles from me where I'm sure I could get one...ACE hardware, Clark Industrial Hydraulics, Pep Boys, NAPA, etc.

 

Oh man if I could go back and do it all over again..... You're living the dream, and this explains the endless energy and time you have to work on your truck.

Now that being said, the kid in me says, "do it, build a BA truck." The struggling adult part of me says take that money and start a 401k or Roth IRA. Do that and you'll be the only person in your graduating class able to retire sometime before death. So seriously, if you've got that kind of coin burning a hole in your pocket; go talk to someone about setting yourself up to live large in retirement. And believe me, in 5-6 years there's nothing the chicks will find sexier than financial security!

Now I feel old, time to get back to yelling at the kids to get off my lawn.

 

Good ol Francesville Indiana. There isn't even a good auto parts store in town I gotta go 15 minutes further. Auto zone didn't have it. Local hardware store didn't have it. ACE didn't have it. Tractor supply didn't have it. And it's not that they didn't have any 12 point, just not that small without buying a 400 piece kit which I didn't need to. I will eventually get a good set when I move out cuz I usually use my dad's tools unless I need a specialty tool.

Haha if you think your struggling between those decisions lol. I have been lucky enough to land a great job and have been working as much as possible for the last 3 years. I've earned the guys trust and he is sending me to a CDL school so I can get my class A faster and start running local loads for him, and that should about double my income,, not that there is a lot to double but while all my friends are getting there "business degrees" that everyone and there mom has I should be able to make/save a decent amount. The an is to sit down with an investment guy next month and look at a Roth IRA to get started. Then once I finish this set of mods to my truck I'm claiming to be done until something breaks but we will see how long that lasts. I'd really like to pay cash for a house so I figure that'll motivate me enough to just drive the truck.

I almost had planned to drop $8000 ish to get it painted for a car show this summer. Then I started talking to my parents about the possibility of moving out and I realized I was gonna need that cash more than the shiny truck. . . So I'm kinda glad I stopped that haha.

 

You think that truck is a cash sucking Black hole.....Go to college, I've always been a proponent of going to a trade school and get a real skill, I've been following Mike Rowe and his foundation on the subject of the skills Gap going on in the USA, and when he pointed out how many unfilled jobs that are out there. and the only reason they remain so is nobody wants to get their hands dirty anymore, got me convinced real quick. His foundation also hands out scholarships to trade schools every year......anyway I'm off the soapbox now, you just tweaked a nerve that's all......

 

Another proponent of trade school here, came out after my apprenticeship earning good money with good benefits, and more importantly, no debt (academic) whatsoever. I believe in it so much (and to further the future of my trade) that have been an instructor down at the apprenticeship for the past 8 years.....

(Sorry for getting off topic, same nerve I think....)

 

Oh yeah college definitely costs more. I didnt know all that about Mike, thats pretty cool. My hands are dirty every day haha. If I did go to school Itd definitely be a trade school. Some kind of mechanic or metal working deal.

No debt thats pretty cool.


We found a nerve that you guys share. . .


So I crawled under and checked my mounts by the oil pan. The rubber felt good and flexible not like it was dry rotting or anything. From underneath it looked fine. I tried to feel for cracks or bent metal and did not feel anything. Ill try again tomorrow with some better lighting.

 

Sorry, I struck the nerve here. I'm also a big fan of trade school. I came from a family that didn't believe in it though and I followed the path they laid before me, right through five years of engineering school. Tried to double major in electrical and mechanical engineering averaged 18 credits a semester for 4 of those years. And ended up hating the job enough to give it up to be a carpenter. Playing with dead tree carcasses isn't my favorite thing, and I hate heights. But it's better than the desk.

I always wished I'd gone to trade school to be a welder or diesel mechanic.

​​​​​​pain commando, it's good to see you've got the financial scene figured out. That's rare in your generation. Actually it's just pretty rare.
​​

 

Yeah it seems like a lot of kids are forced to go to college. It's kind of a waste of money if they don't know what they want to do. And most of them don't. And it changes a lot haha.

I don't claim to have money figured out but I'd like to think I'm further ahead than most people my age.

 

What are you teaching? As I enter my second childhood I want to do some machine shop work for my career.

 

I teach electrical apprentices for my local Electrical Training Alliance (formally the NJATC) which is a IBEW/NECA apprenticeship program. We cover a wide gamut of subjects! I still think I learn more from them at times than what I can impart on them...

It's actually a pretty good set up. The apprentices earn money while they learn by working full time, come to school in the evening, and there are no tuition costs directly to them. The only expenditure they have is their school books. We have recently started a program where if they have perfect attendance and maintain a 90 average they will actually receive their next years books for free also. So they can turn out after 5 years with a valid skill set, a well paying career, and not saddled with mountains of student debt....

 

There is a lot to be said for a good trade school. I saw Mike on a talk show a couple of years ago and he mentioned he had just been to a large CAT dealer/shop and the manager told him that she had something like five positions to fill and no qualified candidates. These jobs started at ~$120K/year after apprenticeship.

 

Sorry Pain, we didn't mean to steal your thread......

 

I was just about to say that haha.

I don't care