Pickup Trucks
2020 Chevy Silverado HD reveals its big angry face
2019 Jeep Gladiator Is a Glorious Jeep Pickup
"The last time Jeep offered a pickup truck, Lee Iacocca was CEO. Over the 26 years since, enthusiasts clamoring for a Jeep with a bed have been let down by Chrysler Corporation, DaimlerChrysler AG, Chrysler LLC, Chrysler Group LLC, and FCA US LLC. But now the wait is over. The 2019 Jeep Gladiator is ..."
Australian Cops Are Seizing Illegally Lifted Pickup Trucks as Part of a Lame Crime Initiative
"Nothing says police state like this nonsense."
IIHS Study Says Midsize SUV Headlights are Blinding Everyone
"The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been systematically tearing apart every segment over inadequate headlights for the past year. In its most recent study, midsize SUVs took a beating, with only two models garnering a “good” rating for their illumination capabilities. The other 35 continued a trend of providing lackluster performance from a safety standpoint — especially non-luxury offerings."
Tons Of Chevrolet Silverados Are Missing Their Tailgate Handle Bezels And It’s Driving Me Nuts
My Dashboard Camera, A VIOFO A119
People often ask questions about my dashboard camera.
I have a VIOFO A119 with the GPS base. You will want the GPS base, not just for logging, but because it makes it very easy to remove from your truck to download the photos (it just slides out of the GPS base, with the standard base, you have to unplug the USB cable each time you remove it).
With the GPS base, you get a second plastic-only base (USB wire connects directly) for using in a second car in the package. The cost with the GPS base was around $100 (it was $90 without the base plus $10 for the GPS base). You will also need to buy a Class 10 USB card which are about $25 from a local retailer. 64 GB gets you 6 hours of video at 2560×1440, which is automatically overwritten oldest video first. I have two cards to store things while on vacation. Plugs into any computer with a USB port, looks like a USB hard drive when it plugs in.
http://www.viofo.com/home/30-a119-1080p-60fps-dash-cam.html
I am very happy with it, and has very good quality on sunny days, with some pixelation issues in low light levels and if there is a lot of trees moving in the picture. As soon as you get it, you will want to update the firmware to A119.20160829.V1.1 from their web page (it’s possible the newest models have this firmware version). The newer firmware allows you full control over the labels (you can turn all of them off) and adds an option for MPH rather than the earlier firmware’s Km/h only option. The firmware can be updated from any computer with USB port as you just have to download a file on it in a specific folder from VIVOFO’s web page, and it can be installed on any Mac/Linux/Window computer with a USB port.
The camera is powered by a USB cable (11 foot cable included). It starts recording automatically when plugged in, but should be put on a switched outlet in your truck, so you don’t kill the battery. Make sure you have a steady voltage supplied to the USB port, as it will stop recording shortly after losing voltage and may corrupt the currently recording file if it repeatedly loses voltage, like if you have a rough road, and the power connection is flipping on and off.
All of the relatively affordable dash board cameras are from China. They don’t make many many American ones, as they aren’t as popular in America. But I’m pretty happy with what I got, and it was well packaged and good quality for being an obviously Chinese model (and everything was in English).
Here are some my observations about using my dash camera in my truck.