u/Tech-Mechanic

Yesterday, the Jeep suddenly started barely running under about 2,000 rpms and stalling at idle. Managed to get it to a shop to avoid paying for a tow. I assumed (hoped) it would be an air sensor or something else simple. Turns out it's the EGR valve which they're charging $860 to replace.

I have used this place for many years and they have always done excellent work. They've never been exactly cheap but I'm of the opinion you get what you pay for. And they're not the most expensive place around either.

It's all a moot point now, since i need the car and I already told them to do it, since I assume they weren't price-gouging me, based on my past experience with this shop... But, after looking at the part, it's like $300, even if they get it from Chrysler. And, even though I can't find a video of someone actually replacing one, it doesn't seem all that difficult. It looks like it could be done in an hour, but my shadetree knowledge is limited since I don't know the replacement procedure.

But, I'd like to at least know if I'm getting screwed here... Is roughly $560 in labor to replace this part in any way reasonable? Even if they're charging for the diagnostic, it still seems high.

I'm still trying to decide if an OLED is right for me. When people talk about OLED's performance in a bright room, what do they mean by "bright"?

For instance, only one wall of my house's living room has windows. They are both facing the sun after about 1PM. But I have rubberized drapes that cut out a lot of the light. You can read in that room during the day, but just barely, so I assume that's dark enough... But what about a medium sized room with a couple of 60-100W bulbs (not facing the TV) is that considered a bright room?

I would honestly just pull the trigger on a 65" C5 right now, but there's the issue I've read about the HDR appearing dimmer in game mode with PS5... But again, how dim is "Dim", in real terms. Testing videos on YouTube show the numbers. But I have found the discrepancies that show up on instrumentation measurements are not always noticeable to me when just looking at the TV.

I have a 2023 Hisense mini-LED Tv that I've been happy with. It's pretty bright. I'm concerned that an OLED TV might seem kinda dim to my eyes, after using the brighter Hisense. The TV I get will be an all-around screen. 4K discs, streaming, PS5, PC monitor. So it will be on a lot. (the Hisense has seen almost 18K hours in just over 3 years) So, I'm also worried that I might wear out an OLED, prematurely.

Sorry if these are rudimentary questions but, where I live, I cannot go see TVs on display, except like at WalMart.

I noticed this problem exactly three years, to the day, after I purchased it. (luckily I got the five year warranty)

I can just get a new U8 delivered for free tomorrow, spend an extra $200 and go with the UR8 (which I can't really find any reviews for). Or ditch Hisense entirely and go with an LG C5 OLED for $400 more.

I've been pretty happy with the U8 but, I'm bummed that the backlight took a shit after only three years, although I have to balance that with the fact that it has a lot of runtime. I assume mini LED tech' is a bit better than it was on the previous model... Should I expect the U8 to have a longer panel life than my U8H?

I guess the UR8 is brand new so I assume that's why reviews are scarce. Does anyone know about the UR8, or have any info about what kind of an upgrade the U8 would be compared to my U8H?

Thanks in advance!

I have a 6mm/06 that my grandfather built in the 60's. He was a gunsmith and also had a set of dies made for it by RCBS. Hasn't been fired in maybe 35-40 years because I don't have any brass for it. (had a couple boxes at one time... but you know how these things go) I shot it a bunch back in the day, though. It's a tack-driving screamer! I don't have any ballistic info but I remember Grandpa saying he thought the MV was well over 3,500 FPS, with a 96 grain bullet.

I want to get it back in bench-shooting condition (doesn't even have a scope, currently) I have been considering re-chambering it for something more readily available but, since I just discovered that I actually have about 3,000 6mm bullets on hand, I've decided to start loading for it, at least until I run out of 6mm supplies... Or until I shoot the barrel out. It's gonna get hot!

It should certainly be easy to neck .25\06 brass down to .244 (that's what my grandad did) but, since I also own a .25\06, I would prefer to use something else just so that I can tell them apart from the .25's by sight.

I have a bunch of .30/06 brass, which would certainly be distinguishable from .244 at a glance. But one thing I'm worried about here is having necks end up too thick. I may have to turn down the outsides of the case necks after trimming to length, which means a lot more work. That brass has to go somewhere, and I assume it won't all go into growing the neck length. I have a trimmer but, no way to shave off the OD. If case necks thicken and I don't turn the necks, when I run the newly formed cases into the sizer die, the inside diameter might be too small to allow the bullet to fit without wanting to buckle the neck/shoulder junction. If I am able to seat the bullet into the case without turning them, the bullet will force the too thick brass in the neck back out to the sides, and the case may be too tight to fit the chamber, or worse, still fit the chamber but be thick enough that the case neck can't expand enough to properly release the bullet when fired, resulting in skyrocketing pressure. Maybe even into the disaster zone... Looking at the case dimensions, it looks like I might be able to use .270 Win brass, which would mitigate this risk somewhat.

One question I have is, can .30 or .270 cal, in its annealed state, be necked down to .244 with one pass, or will I need an intermediate die? Do I want to anneal before or after resizing? Or both? My grandfather obviously knew all this stuff. We were close and I absorbed a lot of information from him. But seem there are always questions you forgot to ask someone who isn't around anymore... Wish I knew a Medium. I could hold a seance.

Any further tips on resizing brass would be welcome.