(SD4)Very messy prints... Possibly my settings?

Where to begin,,,,
Layer height set that to .2963 for first and all other layers.  Yep, that's a good place to start.
A calibration cube (not what you printed) is a single perimeter with no top.  The main thing you are using this for is to calibrate the proper extrusion.  So set your profile to print that same 20mm cube but tell it 1 perimeter with zero infill and no top layer.  You'll end up with a shell of what you have pictured above.  Then use a caliper and measure the wall thickness and use that information to adjust extrusion multiplier in your slice profile.  Do this until you get an actual single wall thickness of .48. That is what you have the extrusion width set at so it stands to reason they should be close to the same in reality.
It sounds as though you are not using z lift and that's a good thing but requires everything else to be near perfect to prevent the nozzle from dragging through the previous layer.  The other feature that isn't adjuster properly is retraction.  You'll want to play with this a little bit to find that sweet spot that avoids gaps or blobs on a layer change.
The biggest area of concern is your E: VREF clearly needs adjusting and will reduce or eliminate moire (diagonal pattern on the walls) when dialed in properly.

definitely the things wardjr suggested.

a 0.4 layer height is much too large for a 0.4 nozzle - should be no more than 80% of nozzle diameter maximum...
and due to the fact that SD uses imperial threaded rods for Z axis movement, trying to use an even number for layer height doesn't work well - you end up with an odd layer every so often. the 0.2963 layer height works quite well.

a single wall calibration cube should look like this:

in Slic3r's print settings:
perimeters: 1
solid layers - top: 0, bottom: 1 or 2
Infill: 0

have you measured the diameter of your filament in several places (straight off the spool) and entered the average? (cant tell from the screenshot - the tool tip is covering that part).

the extrusion multiplier should be set at 1 for the first calibration print.
after printing, measure the wall thickness, then average the dimensions.
formula for calculating the extrusion multiplier:
0.48 (desired dimension) / actual print dimension (average) = new extrusion multiplier (round to 2 or 3 decimal places)
enter the new multiplier, save settings, re-slice and re-print to verify.

Whoa thats very interesting about the even numbered layer height! I had no idea. thanks for that info! And sorry about the blocked photo. My filament is 1.75 and measured at pretty close to that. I only buy Octave as I read many good things about it.

Roger! I shall measure and average that and change that now

Ahhh ok I shall put that on the back burners and address that a bit later. I spent the last hour reading a few articles on retraction and will do the retraction cube test now and see how it goes! Then move on to looking up VREFs

Ok so sadly I was not able to print the retraction cube test because my X motor is binding like crazy again. This time I cant even move it in manually. Even with my VREF set to the highest, it doesnt move. I loosened my belt and can move it with the motors off smoothly and easily.

One thing I just noticed is that my X belt is not level between the two pulleys and when I move my carriage by hand the belt on the pulley (motor side) moves up and down by about 1mm or 2. The pulley doesnt move but the belt does. So Possibly this is why i have so many binding problems?

I saw the solidoodle Y belt leveling video (I couldnt find one for the X belt) but I applied the same thing about loosening it and moving the carriage left to right a few times to let the pulley line up its self, and thats where I tightened the grub screw.

yes the one on the motor pulley. My idler pulley didnt come with a grub screw in it and I never put one in, because I read I didnt need it? idk haha

But here's a photo

You can see that my belt on the idler pulley side is higher. Could this be why I have constant binding problems?
I line up the belt straight, but as I move my X carriage left and right, one side will always move up and down. So Im guessing that one of the pulleys is just a hair at a angle? just a theory of course and not even sure if this tiny difference is why I get binding.

Yes it moves smoothly and pretty easily, just as smooth as easy as moving my Y. and with the belts off it moves extremely easily and smooth. Much easier than stock, my stock use to need one hand holding my machine down when sliding or would move the whole printer. So its easy to move compared to that, but thats all I have to compare it with. haha

Ok so I noticed that it only binds in the back thirds of the print bed. When I move it close to the front of the print bed it moves smoothly and not so much noise. but as I move it back, it binds.

Maybe its a over heating problem then? Sometimes, but very rarely, it will move okay in the center, but only about 3 or 4 times then bind again and only moves when I move it closer to the front.

If I can get my printer working long enough, the fan attachment will be top priority for sure.

My thought would also be misaligned X rods. They can get pretty torqued up in there and out of shape if the holes are really tight. You could also have the belts off by a tooth or two, which is causing the X gantry to be out of square with the rest of the machine.

Ok so I may or may not have found a problem. Idk if its related to my X binding problem. But my left Y carriage (idler pulley side) is cracked. Which might cause this wobble I was talking about.
My carriage didnt come like that, and idk how long it was like that or what caused it. odd. but here is a vid of the wobble and crack.