u/Remy1738-1738

Hey all - basically what the title says. I’m just looking to maximize my return on spend that happens monthly. I get catering supplies/ingredients from both warehouses and the Costco business center as well as other restaurant suppliers (restaurant depot, seasoning companies etc)

I will also add I have not had a visa in years - I have 2 chase bank accounts and had multiple credit cards through them for the bonuses(ink preferred etc)but all except my debit cards and bank accounts were all closed after I had to file a ton of disputes for a large sum against a contractor who did a foundation repair on my house incorrectly and went MIA. They ruled in favor of me but to this day I believe chase has deemed me too high a liability or similar to open more credit cards.

Thanks for any advice!

Hey all - I recently decide to add a meadow creek cooker to our operation. It’s out main chicken pit - and it uses a fair amount of charcoal!

I’m insulating it with fire brick to help efficiency but I’m reaching out to ask those who do volume and track/streamline their costs…..what do you do for charcoal in your operation?

I’ve checked academy, Costco, heb- generally you can get 2 18lb bags of blue kingsford for like $18 on sale - or slightly better on 40lb bags but I’m wondering if it makes more sense to make our own. We pay about 150/cord for hard wood. I’m not sure yield and if that would make sense but I’m open to to.

Anyways - let’s hear it! What do y’all do? Thanks!

Hey all - I'm 33 and have been looking for my first truck ever (despite needing one for the last decade). It's dedicated to work only (pulling our catering trailer, our smoker, cords of wood, just job stuff) and I have a little gas miser 38mpg Honda for longer commutes.

I'm mechanically inclined (ex army electrician and just finished my timing belt and water pump on my 01 seqouia) so I was looking at older trucks. The seqouia just didn't have the oomph to move our trailer. I needed utility so a long bed and ideally big cab was on the radar. My budget max was 14k and I figured that wasn't going to get me too much in the realm of diesels so I started researching reliable older gas trucks. I finally ended up on this 2500HD Sierra. She's an 02, has a dent in the bed, some faded clear coat but NO rust at all. 118k. 8.1l vortec annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd a ZF6 6 speed! 14k plus the $500 estimated in gas to drive it across the country 1500 miles.

I feel like I was going crazy between the 5.3/6.0 gas search and transmission differences/waffling between maybe an older diesel but I think I found a happy medium of more than enough power to do anything and everything I could need a truck for in the foreseeable future and (hopefully) reliability.

So - I have to ask. How'd I do? It's a lot of money for a 24 year old vehicle but.....well the market is wild. I'm over the moon finding a manual transmission. My 70 year old father worked for GM for 30 years and I remember camping trips in a fleet avalanche northern michigan growing up so he's going to have a stroke when he finds out the MPG this thing gets.

Anything I need to know? Mods or parts I should replace that weren’t great design? I think it’s super cool to have the utility of a diesel for what I paid for it. The interior could definitely use a CarPlay unit and maybe some fancier trim bits. I'm also wondering how the 4.1 gearing drives compared to 3.73 and what ya'll would recommend as shift points etc for the manual in this configuration for highway/mpg maxing on the 1500 mile drive back.

Anyways here she is (and the smoker she'll be moving)! Any and all input appreciated I'm pretty excited.

https://preview.redd.it/do6i908k6k0h1.jpg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c7778fe2d47881dc8d07ec68df2d9d411068196

https://preview.redd.it/etmblmok6k0h1.jpg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7376a0dd3ab2f7f9820c2c3edfba617950ae0871

https://preview.redd.it/gi40e34l6k0h1.jpg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be5747926eb03191d5ade1c1f486fb0dca90327e

https://preview.redd.it/ebsc3fll6k0h1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4d6ff4b1fede5bee0d597bf3154b1ea6351571d

https://preview.redd.it/84cn94yl6k0h1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97db6626998b567b9896a184bcd4142d61c0cea6

https://preview.redd.it/3hj6q0qm6k0h1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16a887292622adce8a3c2bbce7835135f521d078

Hey all - I know I need coverage but no insurance company will even quote me. I drive a 2001 Toyota seqouia that costs maybe all of $2000. I have a commute from the country in michigan to work, I don't have the option of public transportation out here. I have to work as I have bills like everyone else (mortgage, etc). I'm 33m, clean driving history aside from the below 2 accidents. Married and my wife has tried to put me on her policy as well with hard no's all around.

I had 2 cars north side San Antonio texas totaled out in the last 3 years. One was shot up (kid was selling drugs and ran into my egress garage to avoid getting shot and they shot up my Honda fit). I bought it back, fixed the can bus harness that got clipped and drove it with holes in the side for another year.5 until I was tboned by a drunk driver. My next Honda fit was stolen from a completely different apartment complex and found a month later with some tweakers living out of it (blood and needles/heroin all through the dash with the airbags pulled out). I bought that one back after I settled and insurance dropped me/no other insurance would quote me due to too high of a liability. Drove it until it was hit parked at night in my parking spot and totaled (of course I didn't have insurance so pretty much woke up and it was just "get it towed and get over it". I'm just wondering what the heck my options are? I want to cover my vehicle to some extent/be in compliance but if no company can even give me a quote/timeline of "when" I may be able to be quoted I don't know my options. I no longer even live in SATX - I moved back to michigan where I live off a nice country road in Oakland County.

I do have a catering company - one of my thoughts were that I could insure a vehicle as a business asset and whomever drives it is covered (myself included) but I was posting here to see if anyone else in the industry has some input or leads on where I should start.

Thanks for any advice!

Got a decent deal (14k) on this rust free southern 02 2500 6 speed. I've been needing a truck around our farm kitchen/moving the smoker around and towing a small catering trailer so I found one down south on the tail end of our cruise. I know it gets awful mpg but I'm going to be using it literally only for work (things that bring back $). I have an older 2013 Honda fit for running longer distances/mpg. I do plan on driving it 1500 miles back up north in a few days as a test. I have AAA and such if disaster strikes but I'll check it out pretty thoroughly before.

I do have a few questions around this platform

1. what's the rustiest failure points? I plan on fluid filming it to death once I get it back in michigan and would like to know if there's any spots in particular that are easy to miss

2. The oil consumption issue. Does anyone have any insight into what causes this/any fixes?

3. The interior. I'd like to bring it to a bit more comfort/modern spec if possible. Nothing crazy, just something with CarPlay and maybe some pieces from a Denali or something similar that may crossover? Just wondering what comfort changes those of you with this style truck have made if any.

Thanks for any advice. Here's the pics. Clear coat is beat on the hood and cab top and there's a ding in the passenger cab top but fantastic underneath and 118k on the odometer.

https://preview.redd.it/ik44fkl2280h1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=656b98d3afc18f74da95376b3a57781ace1ab836

https://preview.redd.it/8kpv98f3280h1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e05653a5e980f0447fe177f94093f8d9f3d85620

Hey all. I’m looking for advice on the best GMT800/900 series gas trucks for reliability and functionality. I prefer to spend around $10,000 but could go up to $14,000 for the right vehicle. I’m fairly DIY oriented and comfortable with repairs (currently working on the timing belt and water pump on my ‘01 Sequoia). The truck needs to haul a 7,000 lb smoker for my BBQ business, serve as a winter spare vehicle for my wife and me, and possibly plow the driveway. Any towing of the large 32’ trailer would be restricted to just the farm it’s located on and not public roads, as I know these trucks aren’t made for towing that kind of capacity.

I’m based in Michigan, where clean trucks are rare, but I spent the last 5 years in San Antonio, TX, where clean trucks are plentiful. I plan to buy one there and drive it back. I’ll have a good shop in SATX check it out before purchase. I’ve been looking at options like the 5.7L Tundras as well as the GMTs.

Thanks for any advice

Hey all. I'm hoping for some help crunching down to the years and models I should be looking at for older diesel trucks with my budget and use case. I "Want" to spend 10,000 - I can spend up to 15,000.

I'm fairly DIY oriented (Currently doing a water pump and timing belt plus every other seal that could leak on the frontside of my 01 seqouia) so vehicle repairs aren't too scary most of the time. I have a garage and an alright set of tools plus the almighty internet. I was a electrician in the army back in 2010. I am looking for one with the DEF system removed for obvious reasons.

I find myself needing something more powerful than the seqouia for a work vehicle. Work would be hauling my bbq business's 7000lb smoker and possibly moving the 18000 lb 32' trailer once in a while as well a 14' enclosed trailer for catering and just a spare car in the winter if the wife or my daily driver little gas miser cars go down for repairs. I've considered the GMT800/900 platforms and still sort of am but the robustness of a diesel and the rarity of a clean one is pulling me that way.

If you're not from the midwest...clean trucks in Michigan don't really exist. I'm 33 now and I lived in San Antonio Texas the last 5 years and the clean body/oil field trucks were all over the place. Compared to my dirt road michigan hellhole (just winter lol) it's night and day. I figure even worse case scenario I'm bringing up something worth considerably more by driving it back instead of flying. My wife and I are taking a cruise out of Galveston before the season starts, picking up a rental car in Houston and driving back to San Antonio. She was staying with her sick parents in San Antonio for a week and I was going to fly back from Houston but have been set on finding a work truck to drive back on a few legs. It'll be fluid filmed every 6 months everywhere once I get it home. Keeping that seqouia from rotting out so far.

Anyways - let's hear it. What is the best platform within that range as far as model year and anything else I should be looking for or aware of? I am mechanically inclined but due to my unfamiliarity i would be getting a good shop in SATX to go over anything pre purchase (my buddy owns a body shop and knows a few reputable people). As a utility vehicle I don't mind a single cab long bed but beggers cant be choosers and I understand this is begger money in the diesel class.

Thanks for any advice!

Hey all - story as old as time. One owner old person vehicle with low mileage in great shape - but she smoked.

It’s not the worst but it’s there. My wife isn’t happy with it so I’m fixing it. I already ordered a new cabin air filter and I’m assuming there’s some sort of car or handheld wet vac and chemicals out there that would make cleaning the seats and headliner easier but I’m hoping to get some recommendations from this post.

I have seen things like ozone machines as well and wonder if anyone here would recommend something like that?

Any help appreciated! Thank you

Hey y’all, I am going on a vacation with my wife tomorrow and unfortunately, I have some unused ingredients on the counter. I have tomatoes, lemons , limes, tomatillos, avocados, and some fresh basil and other fresh herbs, as well as vegetables like cucumbers, romaine and other things inside the fridge. The avocado, tomatoes and tomatillos are pretty easy. I figure I can cut them up and freeze them. They are all just salsa or guac ingredients. I’m a little stumped on what to do with the limes lemons as I thought I would use them, but then I read that that juice doesn’t last that long. as far as the fresh herbs go, I’m not sure if I could freeze these possibly separated by bags or chopped and they would still be good to use for cooking?

Thanks for any advice! I tend to overbuy and hate throwing good stuff out.