Car mods / trends that need to die

Irv said:
Tavern pizza. From what I've seen of those who speak of it online, more Chicago natives prefer that over deep dish. Deep dish gets more attention because it's so dramatically different than other pizza styles, and thus inherently controversial.
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Living here all my life I can verify, every party with pizza I’ve ever been to had tavern style. I used to get scolded for complaining about the square cuts, I always got short changed with the useless corner pieces or the middle squares that are impossible to hold without getting greasy 😆
 
MadMikeyL said:
I won’t even get involved with those Subaru rear wheel bearings anymore. After quoting 2 hours, then spending the better part of 4 hours with torches and hammers and air-chisels, fuck that. Tell them to take it to the dealer, let Subaru deal with their own fuckup!
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Watch this video. It will change your life brother. I've seen people wail on these things with hub shockers, cutting into knuckles, torches, etc. With this method, no hammers, no heat, no drama. Just make sure you have a sharp M14x1.5 tap. Outbacks are easier than Crosstreks since they don't have any of that parking brake drum garbage in the way.
 
That’s nice and all, but that car is nothing like what I see up here. I knew it wasn’t going to be that bad when the rotor came right off without even hitting it once with a hammer. Then he’s talking about it being a TN car while he’s in FL. Buddy doesn’t know what rust is! Towards the end when he just knocks the bearing out of the backing plate with a small hammer, that’s pretty much fantasyland if you’re in the northeast. I’ve only done one where I was able to knock that out with a 5lb sledge. All the others the whole backing plate had to come off and the parking brake taken apart so I could put it in the 20 ton press to get the bearing out of the backing plate, and the last one, that made me say never again, I had to pull the bearing, the backing plate, and the axle all as one, had to get the bearing housing cherry red and then use the press to get the axle out, and then had to heat the backing plate cherry red and then use the press to get the bearing out of the backing plate! And then I still couldn’t get it back together because the combination of heat and pressure warped the shit out of the backing plate once it cooled, so the car wound up sitting on the lift for 2 days waiting for a new backing plate from Subaru. FUCK! THAT! SHIT!
 
I'll grant you his car is nice and clean and he doesn't get five pounds of rust flakes falling off when he touches anything. That said, I am in Michigan. This works on rusty garbage up here. The Outback bearings I just did were very rusted and took a bit of effort with the forcing screws to get them out, but they did come out cleanly. Not quite as easy as popping a lug stud out and using a combination of 1/2" bolt and a nut going through the lug hole to press against the knuckle, but really not bad at all. The Crosstrek I did took quite a bit of pounding to get the bearing out of the stupid 1/2" thick backing plate so I guess I did need a hammer there. I'm serious. Give this method a try at least once.
 
KevinVarnes said:
I'll grant you his car is nice and clean and he doesn't get five pounds of rust flakes falling off when he touches anything. That said, I am in Michigan. This works on rusty garbage up here. The Outback bearings I just did were very rusted and took a bit of effort with the forcing screws to get them out, but they did come out cleanly. Not quite as easy as popping a lug stud out and using a combination of 1/2" bolt and a nut going through the lug hole to press against the knuckle, but really not bad at all. The Crosstrek I did took quite a bit of pounding to get the bearing out of the stupid 1/2" thick backing plate so I guess I did need a hammer there. I'm serious. Give this method a try at least once.
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Maybe. We’ll see how I feel whenever the next Subaru comes in with a bad bearing. I will at least bookmark that YouTube video for future reference.
 
Vicinity said:
I misread and approved that you would put a SVT badge on the focus!
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I have a custom plate that reads SVT BIRD on my car. I also bought some 5.3 badges but haven’t put them on the car. I like to keep it somewhat of a mystery.
 
Trunk Monkey said:
I like to keep it somewhat of a mystery.
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This is the conclusion I keep coming to, I tried Cobra badges, 4.6 badges in the modern 5.0 font(which I still think are neat and still have them but didn’t like them on the fenders) but I prefer the vagueness of the small stock V8 emblems in the end.

I’ve also got a pair of the red/black/chrome Cougar SE badges that go in place of the stock ones on the C pillars, and even though I quite love the look of the emblems themselves, they don’t vibe with my car. Even though he upbadge of using them wasn't factory to begin with
 
Kidd-7 said:
With the Suicide tank right behind you so you can hear the gas sloshing around? That’s great. I had a 71 C10 like that.
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Funny story about that gas tank behind the seat. Someone put a couple pea gravel in and when you got down to about a gallon you could hear them as you took a curve. That meant better get gas. Well, one day leaving college i heard faint rattle, I was running later than usual so I said it can wait till i get off work. Drove 20 miles to work and after quitting time I joined my buds and went to eat. They dropped me off on their way home and I was going to cross the street for gas and of course, it fired and immediately died like something broke. Hmm, well lets check the points, nope, Hmm, oops here's the Po Po. Aww shoot it is officer Cruse. At least he is a friendly and once he recognizes me says hey you want me to have dispatch call your dad. Oh Hell no. I can unlock store and alarm to call if I need him. After a few minute of him holding a light he leans into that mic and says Dispatch this is officer Cruse at the Cash & Carry. Would you call Mr. Thomas and tell him his son is broke down. Well, dad got there and says try it and it cranks but no start. I explained I done checked distributer but timing might have jumped or something. ANNND he says you got gas? Ummm gage says an 1/8th. Not what I asked. I said I was going to get some as I needed some. He had proceeded to pull the fuel line off that Quadrajet and said take gas cap off and blow in the filler (Old F100 has cap right next to the driver's door) so I blew in the filler and he said Figured- Your out of gas-not a drop. I can still hear that laught from officer Cruse. So those little pebbles mean everything and a gauge anint worth a crap. I laugh about it and tell my kinds how things used to be. They be like cell phone? Ha not for another 10-12 years. Back then things were different.
 
Controversial opinion but, base Fusion / Focus wheels on MN12’s
At least get the higher trim wheels, like the titanium package.
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
Controversial opinion but, base Fusion / Focus wheels on MN12’s
At least get the higher trim wheels, like the titanium package.
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I try to be live and let live with them as the wheels aren’t ugly like many aftermarket options, but I can’t help but bite my tongue anytime I see them “you know the 16” Sport or SC wheels fit too right?”

I’d also add more diameter at the cost of more positive offset is an outright downgrade. I’m not a fan or endorser of spacers, but even stock 15”s simply with 1/4-1/2” spacers paired with lowering springs will enhance the look of the car more than any random 17-18-19-20” wheel will.
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
Controversial opinion but, base Fusion / Focus wheels on MN12’s
At least get the higher trim wheels, like the titanium package.
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This may be a bit of a surprise to some, but I'm not familiar enough with the base model wheels off the top of my head. I've seen enough Fusions and Focuses to figure it out though.

All of those OEM Fusion/Focus wheels are uninteresting. I'm amazed at how boring they can make a split 5-spoke wheel look considering split 5-spoke designs are generally my favorite going back to the Momo Sport. Even the split 9-spoke of the Focus RS is just meh compared to other split-spoke designs with at least 5 spokes, like the GT500 or 10th Anniversary Cobra.

Any of the snowflake wheel designs don't belong anywhere near an MN12.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
I saw a car with those strobing brake lights the other day and I legitimately thought there was something wrong with it’s BCM 😆

On the subject of lighting I have a few simultaneous modern peeves, old cars designed for round or rectangular sealed beam/halogens with modern LED/HID retrofits, complete with halos or weird shaped random shaped DRLs and often blacked out inner housings

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These are by comparison less offensive but just look like a harbor freight flashlight…

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I’m not fundamentally opposed to upgrading output but these are ghastly and every time I see an old car or truck with upgraded lights they have a variation of these examples.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also wish this light trend would die, though it’s not quite as prevalent on old muscle cars as it was 10 years ago…

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You must love shit bird 🤣
 

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KevinVarnes said:
I thought the Fusion wheels Little Ice Cable put on his car looked pretty sharp. I think he painted them black later.
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The sport wheels look pretty good. I think it's the base wheels that are disliked.
 
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Those are Fusion SE wheels. I had those on mine before finding and switching over to the 19” titanium package wheels.
 
I think those Fusion SE wheels are fine. They look completely flat from some angles and lighting conditions, but they're interesting from others. I don't like how so many of the OEM wheels for those cars have spokes that flare in or out so sharply at the rim, but those aren't bad.

What catches my attention the most in that pic of the Titanium wheels is the giant bubble on the sidewall of the rear tire. :oops:
 
Ok I have a new one, and sorry, not sorry, I keep picking on BMWs but this one is BMW specific, (though it’s kind of on the level of dodge bananas) painted or covered BMW grille braces… yes people really do this lol

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The presence of those braces in the first place is a purposeful eyesore, so I don’t know why people would want to call attention to them… I don’t see owners of 25 year old GMC Sierra owner painting theirs neon colors!

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I don't know...

I kind of like seeing something through the grille. That's one thing I don't like about my car: the grille is too small. I've been considering swapping to a Cougar front bumper cover, but without the Cougar grille, thereby having a large opening, probably with a floating bird emblem. Has anyone done that?
 
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