I paid right at $1k for everything, without the cover, the gears and labor ran about $850 I think. Probably will pay a little higher out here than you would have back in CONUS, but it didn't seem too outrageous.

 

When i joined in 86, the bonuses were about $10k. I remember thinking I could buy a car or a bike with it. Now you could damn near buy a house with what they are paying. It still doesn't make up for a life of servitude...not to mention the fact that it is nearly impossible to live a normal life. I've been married 17 years now and I don't think I would be able to say that if I had stayed in!

 

thats a damn good deal. the cheapest i have found is $1100 without a cover.

 

wow, I see some gears come tax time

 

Keep in mind though that is only for the rear axel because I'm only 2WD. I'm sure your's won't be double that, but should give you some sort of idea what you may be charged for both axels.

 

I wouldn't say it's nearly impossible to live a normal life. Sure going to sea is tough and you do spend long periods of time away from family, but the Navy is recognizing the strain on families and working to improve it. Also I have been married for 13 years and my wife is very supportive of my career and going where I needed to go to advance my career. Of course she did 10 1/2 years herself before getting out and I think that makes a big difference. Women who have never been affiliated with the Navy I think have a harder time and struggle more with their husbands being gone for those deployments.

Of course it's also worked out very well for my wife now because I don't have to worry about taking orders somewhere just for the sake of my career (since I'm an AGCM now) and she gets to live in Hawaii for the next 3 years.

 

I will go out on a limb and say that your situation is not the "norm". I feel very fortunate that I left when I did. Too many guys were cheating on their wives and too many wives were cheating with other squids back home when we were deployed. It was a circus. Many of my friends stayed in just because they were unable to cope in civilian life, even though they hated it. I would not give up the experiences I gained in those six years...but I am glad that it was only six years. I love coming home every night and seeing my kids and playing with my dogs and driving my truck and riding my CBR1KRR in the mountains and watching my 60" plasma TV and talking on the internet...the list goes on. I admire lifers...and in a way, I am jealous that you will retire at such a young age and have all the time in the world to do whatever you want. It just was not the life for me. My job was stressful and so political. It was the farthest thing from what I wanted to do. Thanks for your service and be careful.

 

oh...I was getting quoted for front/rear install + parts...ouch

btw, your truck has/had me completely fooled. I thought for sure it was 4x4

better be careful, or Rickover will start haunting you

 

Well I have been able to get out on the highways here over the last couple of days and really get on the accelerator. I have to say these new gears have really reinvigorated the truck. It seems I have really gotten back that lost power from the lift, tires and stock 3.55's. I push the gas pedal and can feel it really move now and no more gear searching climbing some of the hills around here. I really want to find a dyno though and get the truck on one so I can see what kind of HP I'm pushing now. I'm running my first tank of 92 octane and the 92 Troyer performance tune for the first time ever and although I'm seeing more, I'm not really seeing as much giddy up as I thought I would. The gears still have less than 100 miles on them though so I am still taking it easy and that may be part of the reason.

 

Damn I want gears! It would be a hard decision since I'm saving for a house. Maybe I'll hit it big in Vegas when I go in a couple of weeks and I can bring enough home to install gears. I really want these gears since I drive my truck everyday. I think I would really appreciate them.

 

I'm glad I got them installed,would have been nice to have gotten them earlier when I was in MS and I drove more. Out here in Hawaii I just don't drive the truck as much. Back in MS I would put 1500 miles a month on the truck, out here it's looking like I'll do that in 2-3 months. Want to get out on the highway more and feel the gears, but don't want to burn gas just for the sake of driving the truck.

 

go for it...I drove around the Island yesterday and drove about 80-90 miles. That should only be about 1/4 a tank for ya and about 3 hours of your time. I really liked the H3 part

btw, where are the FX4's? I've only seen 1 04+ Fx4

 

H3 isn't too bad, especially if you drive it on the weekends. Just wait until you see the traffic on H1 during the week, it's nuts. Have you been offered housing yet or been over to the housing office yet? Don't accept Camp Stover if they offer you that, you'll be sitting in traffic if you do.

Not a whole lot of F150's running around on the island. Parking spots are very small so parking these bad boys is sometimes a PITA.

 

I too recently added gears. Precision 4.10's on mine. Mine has no lift and huge tires though, just the OEM 20's. Made a noticeable difference.