Parents mad about mods

[Robb]

WOW

Yea, you opened a huge can of worms here! This argument will go round and round with those who pay for their truck and those that don't.

Simply put (and you may not understand this for another 16 years but) their house, their rules. They don't quite understand what you are doing and they are going to stop you until they do.

Don't get pissy! I mean geez, they gave you a helluva truck and pay for your gas. I am sure you see many other ppl at your school who are much less fortunate.

My advice, "simma down!" Do your mods in moderation. I have a feeling you are doing a bunch of stuff all at once, and spending a lot of money at the same time. Your parents may just need you to slow down a little. Come up with a mod, explain to them why you are doing it, save up for it, and maybe they will come around.

I hate to say it but, they are probably being really good parents even though it is tough for you to see right now.

Robb

 

[psychotic]

Robb, i do pretty much agree with you... this post was mostly venting.... i did explain the mod in full detail however. My dad simply said he didn't think i should do it because he didn't think it would help much. I can't explain anything to my mom about a car, so she just simply heard the "don't think you should do it part". It just confuses me how they let me get a $100 intake a few months ago, and $150 for clear corners and a grille last month... but something for free and they get suspicisious. They are true believers in, "if its not broke don't fix it"... which is why they totally take advantage of not tuning up a car for 100,000 miles, and they also think that if it doesn't cost anything, it isn't worth anything. I just bothers the crap out of me sometimes

 

[Jason_25]

psychotic, if your 96 is like my 95's then it isn't too tough, but not easy.

I will do alot of things to my truck, but this is one thing that I will not. I will leave it up to Ford to flush it and change the fluid. That way if it blows up when I leave there I can atleast try to blame it on them.

Yeah the amsoil powerfoam is probably the same stuff but I'm not a big fan of buying stuff on the net and having to wait for it. You can get seafoam at carquest.

My biggest tuneup performance improver was replacing my MAF with a new one. Costed me 100 bucks from Advance auto and my truck actually comes alive when I stomp it.

 

[psychotic]

i've cleaned my MAF, but i probably won't get a new one til i can get the larger flow one, its about 150-200 more than a replacement though. I think we have a coupon laying around for transmission flush from Ford, it still costs a lot though, will they put in mobil 1 synthetic if i ask them to?

 

[Hartman]

Psychotic, I feel your pain on some things, but on others I don't. I can relate to you, because I am 17, and I was given my dads 95 XLT, but that's where the similarites end. My truck is paid off, so I don't have to worry about a payment, which is GREAT. I pay half of the insurance each month and I pay for gas. I don't mind though, because I have a very good job in which I make $9 an hour, which is great for a 17 year old punk like me. My dad was not very enthused when I startin modding my truck. He thinks it's a waste of money, but I told him that it's a hobby, and if I do it in moderation, than it should be OK. You have to gain your parents TRUST. Explain to them why you're doing whatever mod, and be HONEST with them. Eventually, they will see that it is better for you to be under your truck, covered with grease, than being out and selling drugs, having sex, etc.

Sometimes, you have to be sly about it! Drop hints that you're going to do something. My dad was totally against me buying new rims and tires. But he wasn't mad when they arrived because he knew I had planned it. Have open communication with your folks, and compromise, that'll make everybody happy!

 

[Joe93]

Well since it is pretty much theres i still see nothing wrong with what he is doing. If I had kids I would rather the actually take care of a car given to them instead of beating it to death and just saying ohwell momy and dady will buy a new one. I think its great that he is learning things about his explorer at an early age. I can think of atleast 20 other things he could be wasting money on, drugs, alcohol and such but it looks like he is wanting to pretty much spend it on his truck.
When I bought my jeep XJ myself and started moding it my parents were verry happy that I was learning how to be responsible instead of spending the money on drugs and stupid ass crap. I say keep up the mods if they alow don't let some people here get to ya. Here is waht I did when I started building my Jeep. I tolled my parents what i wanted to do and why I wanted to do it and the reason for doing it. Just sit down and tell them what you would like to do and why and if it is ok with them. Good luck

 

[psychotic]

my parents say waste of time/money... but i like learning things about cars. its nice to have my friends asking me about how to do stuff on their cars. Even my friends with rice burners ask me how to do stuff, cause they don't really know, they even have air intakes installed for them. If it were up to me, i'd be learning how to rebuild the engine.

 

[Hartman]

All this stuff you're telling us, you should be telling your parents! Set them down, both of them, and tell them that it's serious to you, and try to make them listen.

 

[EliteConcept]

well i pay for everything and some for my truck.....
i acutally still owe the bank a little on it since i took a loan out on it...
my parents did help me come up with a down payment for it when we bought it, but thats it.

My parents know that i will have to take responsibility for all my actions and that i need to think things through before i do anything to somethign that cost as much as a car.....and they know i will .. my dad is really into cars, hes an classic car buff, and both my parents i would say support my love of modding my truck, my dad helped me just this past sunday install my ranger 4x4 air dam...


on another note
i'd say theres something wrong with your truck if its getting 13mpg
my 92, V6 OHV , gets 17 mpg city, and about 21 highway
all i do is try to maintain it regularly,....infact just had the tranny filter and fluid changed today for $50.

 

[Alec]

I think there's been very good discussion here, but also some very rude comments made and some opinions that shouldn't have been voiced. Thankfully the thread has gotten back on track, so I won't close or edit it for now.

Plain and simple, if your parents are paying for stuff they have a say in what goes on with the truck. But of course neither parents or their children are completely logical all the time. My personal take on the skid plates (and I didn't know before this that you were lowered that much) is that you should've kept them even only for the street; due to the lowering.

Just let things smooth out a bit, and they should over time. My parents first frieked out when I started doing stuff (even just intake and exhaust). But hell, this morning I was cutting up my fenders and they said: cool, looks good!

Good luck.

 

[MONMIX]

Originally posted by psychotic
in hopes of better mpg, and a lil better acceleration...

Is that combination even possible ?

Hey man , just one piece of advice , love your folks man , they probabally love you. They just don't understnad that's all.
Like Robb said you'll understand one day.
There is a saying " The older I get , the smarter my parents get "
That is the truth.

 

[Jason_25]

Originally posted by psychotic
i've cleaned my MAF, but i probably won't get a new one til i can get the larger flow one, its about 150-200 more than a replacement though. I think we have a coupon laying around for transmission flush from Ford, it still costs a lot though, will they put in mobil 1 synthetic if i ask them to?

No I doubt it. Just use the Ford stuff. It's synthetic already and the Ford engineers have it mulled over the formula for it for years to make sure it works well with your tranny.

 

[Fish Man]

hey, i can relate. im 17. the reason you get 13 mpg is cause youre 17. ok, at least thast my personal experience. i pay for my mods. i dont have a job, so all my mods are super cheap or free. my parents are pretty cool about it, only one they didnt appreciate too much so far was the drilled airbox.

 

[asp84]

Yah, Smart Azz, probably better thing you don't have kids.....lol I'm sure you can't relate to "modding" your truck out.......

Al

 

[EliteConcept]

what does gettin 13 mpg have to do with age?


FYI i'm 19, got my truck when i was 17, and i've always got 16-17 mpg city.

hhhhhmmm weird

 

[VairKing]

Well I am going to have to agree with a lot of the things said before. One thing that was barely mentioned (and only applies if you don't do drugs/smoke/drink accesivly) Workin on cars is a much better hobby than doing those things. Modding out a car will do a pretty good job of taking all your money, therefor not having any for the naughty things...

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Pshchotic, I would let Ford do the tranny fluid change. If Olathe Transmissions is still aroud you could take it there. The place in Raytowm that recently rebilt tne tranny in the wifes Taurus will do my tranny fluid change for $50. The tranny does not have a drain plug like the oil pan. Another thing about taking it to a shop is they could tell by the fliud and stuff laying in the pan as to how your tranny is holding up. If I had the wifes fluid and filter changed a year ago it may have saved me $1700.
As to the parrents telling you no you can't do this to your X, get used to it. A wife will tell you the same thing. Beleive me! I wanted to replace the safari bar with a pre-runner style and got :frustrate . She was also mad becuase I removed the bug deflector taht was not quite a year old because it was not helping a bit as far as bugs wee concerned.

 

[Hartman]

Not to be rude, but I'm not going to marry a woman that is going to ***** and moan about petty things like taking off a bug shield. Life is too short to get mad at someone for that.

 

[94EBexplorer]

well, my g/f ( who i live with... so i might as well call her my wife ) shes all for every mod i do to the truck... and shes all about 4wheelin too .... only thing i ever get yelled at is my impulsive buys.... buts shes down for everything and anything... not to often you can find a hot chick to like cars and at least wanna know about em... but you could do mods your parents wouldnt know about drill air box.... etc... none visible things... haha my buddy has an Xtreme Blazer.... and he put a super chager on it and his wife didnt even know... she asked him what that big whistelin was .... he said it was a bearing going... haha

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Hartman, you've got a lot to learn about women.