JUNE 25, 2025
VOLUME 64
Apparently, I am not the only one that thinks it’s time to re-think the automotive offerings to the public. Check out the Slate Truck below.
When things like this happen, it’s a sign that changes may be on the horizon for car buyers. It could also be a giant failure. But with Amazon being involved it has probably been thought out pretty well.
JUNE 21, 2025
VOLUME 65
I am writing this from a much different point of reference than my usual material. As my readers know, I have been fixated on national politics for a very long time. But my real passion is anything with wheels and an internal combustion engine. Aircraft have wheels so they also fall into my category of intense interest. I recently sold my 1943 Dodge Weapons Carrier. This vehicle had the original drivetrain, and it all worked like a Swiss watch after 82 years. (I guess nowadays you could also use Japanese watch)
The basis of this article is that a truck or car manufactured in 2025 is probably unlikely to be operable 82 years from now. There are a lot of reasons for that, but basically, they are far too complex, with operating systems never intended to last 82 years. My Dodge had simple, analog ignition system, that would still work after the unlikely event of an E bomb attack. No digital components, all analog and purely mechanical. You could repair it with simple tools, in some remote location.
I also own a 2007 Chevy Suburban, and there is a reason for owning an 18year old truck. New Suburbans have a litany of issues, a number of them which render the vehicle inoperable. In an effort to make them more fuel efficient, Chevrolet installed direct fuel injection which requires very high fuel pressure. The fuel pump is very prone to failure. When it fails, the truck will not roll and has to be dragged onto the tow truck with special slide plates. But that’s not the end of the story. The fuel pump is buried below the intake manifold and is expensive to replace as you might imagine. Some of these failures are happening very early into ownership of a brand-new truck. Beware, this is happening to a lot of new GM products with V8 engines.
Another issue with late model GM trucks is the cylinder deactivation system which automatically turns off four of the cylinders under light load to conserve fuel. My 2007 has this feature. Sounds like a great idea, and when working properly is seamless, you aren’t aware you’re only running on four cylinders at 70 mph on the level freeway. Here’s the problem, it can cause valve lifter failure. GM has faced numerous class action lawsuits over this problem. Replacing valve lifters is expensive unless you’re a skilled mechanic with a large assortment of tools. I have the oil changed in my truck every 3,000 miles, keep the filters clean, and don’t abuse the engine. My truck has 153,000 miles on the clock and “knock on wood” have not experienced a problem. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly apprehensive.
Ford trucks and cars are experiencing problems of different types, but just as frustrating. The new F150 Hybrids are a nightmare of mechanical and electrical problems. They are on the list of 15 vehicles that will suffer significant mechanical failures within the first 40,000 miles. If you have a high end F150 and submerge the taillights while launching your boat, it could cost you $3,000.00 for new lights. They just happen to be part of computer system. Try dropping your laptop in the water and see how well if works afterwards. This begs the question; why would Ford put such an integral component to the vehicle’s operation in a totally vulnerable location?
Virtually every Jeep product currently manufactured by Chrysler/Stellantis, is on the list of 15 Vehicles to avoid. This includes engine and transmission failures to suspension problems in the Jeep Rubicons. Despite the spin from the company managers, the quality of the Chrysler cars is terrible, and isn’t getting better fast. When you watch the video, they are betting big on EV’s which is suicidal. In my opinion, expecting European executives to understand the American market is a huge mistake.
The geniuses in the auto industry keep chasing the so-called perfect vehicle that will satisfy every whim, and in my opinion, most car buyers want a car that gets reasonable fuel milage, is comfortable to drive while offering reasonable safety features. It also has to be reliable; few people can afford big repair bills while simultaneously making astronomical payments plus insurance. Make no mistake, insurance premiums are based on how costly it is to repair a complex machine. As for me personally, I prefer knobs and buttons over touch screens in the middle of the dash. Knobs and buttons are tactile; you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to adjust the heater or air conditioner. GPS is great but give me old school controls.
Most of all, give Americans a choice of a good basic automobile, at a good price, that is not going to require a full-time mechanic to keep all of the do dabs and what nots operating. I don’t know a single person that is salivating over self-driving cars. I know several people that should actually own one, their driving is atrocious. But that’s another topic for another article. Likewise, most people I know don’t think electric cars are a good idea unless you’re on the golf course or living in Seizure World.
Bottom line here. I watch a lot of car shows where guys search out old cars located in crazy locations, drag them out in the sunlight, and a few hours later they are running and driving after sitting for 35 years. That my friends is a testament to the quality and engineering that was present in the auto industry many years ago. They made cars that the common man could drive and maintain for years with simple tools and basic knowledge. I’m afraid those days will never come back. We are saddled with complex digitally controlled machines that sometime even the factory trained techs can’t repair.
Look for Steel Pencil to start writing more diverse content and less political stuff. It’s hard to compete with Donald Trump dominating the daily news scene. He doesn’t leave much room for political opinion guys like me. With Mr. Trump at the helm, it’s non stop action and I love it. I have complete confidence in his decisions and actions. That makes it possible for me to pay more attention to Vice Grip Garage.
Give yourself a gift of happiness behind the wheel, drive and old car. Better yet, buy one and travel back in time to a better place. The old cars are not fast, don’t stop well, but life moved at a much slower pace back then. They are the time machines for real. Happy trails.
JUNE 17, 2025
VOLUME 112
Freedom can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow. When people have the freedom of expression, the ideas they express can be very disturbing, and cause undesirable reactions. We hear people preaching tolerance, but tolerance is difficult when it is tearing at the fabric of the nation you love, and to which you readily pledge allegiance, and have a very strong conviction of defending its flag.
My family has been on American soil since the 1700's, immigrants from the mother country of Great Britain. When I have the opportunity to raise our flag, privately or ceremonially, it stirs deep emotions. Watching a military flag raising, with a bugler playing the Star-Spangled Banner is almost overwhelming. So, watching someone desecrate our beautiful flag while holding the flag of another country is the ultimate test of restraint. My gut instinct is to annihilate the perpetrator. I make no apologies for my feelings.
When Biden and his gang of thugs threw the gates open and said “come on in, we’ll give you lots of free stuff, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I’m thinking; “why would an American president do such a blatantly unlawful thing”? He and his minions arbitrarily threw all of our immigration laws in the trash. And, in my opinion it was out and out treason. I wrote in one of my blogs in the early days of the mass invasion ( yes, it was an invasion) that foreign nationals were waving the flags of their homeland while marching across our border. I made the comment at that time; this is not going to end well. These people are on a conquest, they have no intentions of becoming Americans, they want to live in the land of “milk and honey”, taking advantage of our generosity. When that scenario is in play, the invaders have no respect for the host country or its citizens.
Conservatives caught on pretty quickly, that it was all about bringing about a rapid change through demographics. The Democrats vigorously denied it early on, then openly admitted it months later. The first thing that comes to mind is how can that happen, non-citizens can’t vote. The Democrats had already thought of that years before, when they started connecting drivers’ licenses and voter registrations. Then they started expanding the mail in ballot process, “game over”, the citizenship of the voter just got lost in the chain of events. I do commend the Democrats for one thing; They will hatch up a plan, knowing it may take years to come to fruition, but they see it through to the end. The beauty of that is that it took so long for it to happen, nobody noticed it until it was too late.
Now that Trump and Ice are deporting their new voters by the thousands, it leaves them no choice except to start burning down cities, looting, and destroying property. Trump and his followers are well aware that the rapid influx of unvetted migrants was loaded with bottom feeding scum. We have to rid our country of these “low lifes” for the good of the American citizens. This is evidence of a troubling state of mind among Democrats. They are willing to sacrifice your safety, and the safety of your families in the quest for power.
Actually, they are willing to throw away the Constitution and Bill of Rights in the quest for all out power. I think it’s rich that their new motto is “no kings” when Biden and his ilk were as close as you were ever going to get to out and out monarchy. The Trump administration is attempting to rid our country of the filth that Biden allowed to walk in. Biden was attacking everyday Americans that dared question his un-American actions. Biden and his thugs were trying to force every debased and immoral idea in the books down our throats for four long years. They were literally stealing our tax dollars to fund immorality at home and around the world.
The Democrats bend the laws until they break and then lie like dogs to cover it up. Check the list below and think about the last four years under Biden.
Considering all of the above, and the countless lies told to cover it up, the scumbag Democrats want to claim that Donald Trump is acting like a king? Donald Trump is executing the wishes of the voters to clean up after the Democrat shit show.
It will take at least two more terms of a MAGA based president and administration to purge the filth and corruption to an acceptable level. I’m not naive enough to think you can ever truly eliminate it, but I believe it’s possible to keep it under control.
There are so many more things to talk about, but for now I need to wrap this one up and take care of other chores. The next item on the agenda is where did all of these crazy people come from. You have to be a complete moron to stand in front of vehicles attempting to block the roadway and end up getting ran over. People have had enough of this stupidity and more and more of these half-wits are going to get hurt or killed. Every day citizens will only tolerate so much before they “break”.
God Bless each and every one of you, stay safe and pray for President Trump, he is facing some very dangerous times. Pray for the US of A and for our precious freedom.
JUNE 8, 2025
VOLUME 111
My friends, this is just one migrant shelter in one state. Think about how many times this is playing out across our nation. The Massachusetts Governor was doing this to enhance her standing with the Democrat party at the taxpayers’ expense. Don’t kid yourselves, this is also going on with the homeless shelters and on and on.
There should never be another Democrat administration in the Whitehouse until they clean up the corruption in their own party. The sheer magnitude of the graft and corruption going on in this one shelter should cause every one of us to start asking questions of our state and city officials non-stop.
Let me know what you think after watching this video. Are you as mad as I am?
JUNE 1, 2025
VOLUME 110
Elon and his band of “gumshoes” discovered what we all knew was going on, but had no way to prove it. The politician rats have been stealing our tax dollars for years through NGO’s. Pretty clever, USAID passes money to an NGO, and that NGO passes on to another and the paper trail gets harder and harder to trace. Eventually the money ends up back in the bank account of the corrupt politicians. Not just a couple of thousand, several million dollars.
So, think about this for longer than 26 1/2 seconds and it will start to come into focus. Base salary for a representative is $174,000.00 per year, the speaker receives $223,000.00 per year. Base salary for a senator is also $174,000.00 per year. So, why would you spend between two and three million dollars to campaign for a job that only pays $174,000.00 annually? Several congressmen have estimated net worths of over 100 million dollars. In 2024 estimated combined net worth of all members of the 115th Congress amounted to about 2.43 Billion dollars. Check out the article below
https://www.snoqap.com/posts/2024/6/18/the-wealth-of-us-members-of-congress-a-comprehensive-review
I don’t think there is any doubt in anyone’s mind that a fair amount of corruption is afoot in our Congressional chambers. As a matter of fact, throughout our entire government. Sadly, I would bet the farm that none of the perpetrators of this massive theft of the people’s money will ever be held accountable. The feds demand you pay your taxes in full on time or suffer the consequences. Then the bastards waste it by the bucket loads with no remorse or thoughts about pumping the brakes now and then. It’s just spend, spend, spend, and then ask for more when they start running low.
How does this make you feel that you’re pretty much running your little legs off in the hamster wheel to keep this government operation afloat, and then they have the audacity to steal your hard-earned dollars and enrich themselves and their families. This is how revolutions are born.
MAY 18, 2025
VOLUME 109
MAY 10, 2025
VOLUME 108
VOLUME 107
APRIL 27, 2025
VOLUME 105
APRIL 22, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6denkE_Cxk
APRIL 5, 2025
VOLUME 64
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