Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

abacomike

stickguy said:

look like normal wipers to me. do they work any better?

Just got home after driving in torrential rains for 45 minutes on the Florida Turnpike. The wipers didn't chatter or skip at all. So it would seem that the solution to the problem is "weightier" wiper blades. They worked perfectly for the entire trip.

stickguy

I never tried ramps like that either. Back when I still crawled under the car, I just used the curb. drove across the driveway and put the outside wheels up the curb. Gave enough clearance to slide under, and I knew that wasn't going to collapse on me! worked fine as long as the drain plug angled down (meaning the tilt put the plug at the low point). Getting that and the filter off was the only reason I ever had for going underneath the car. Back when I still did it.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

isellhondas said:

When I was young I fancied myself as a television repair guy. When I was about 14, I got pretty good about pulling out tubes, putting them in a sack and taking them to the nearby supermarket where they had a tube testing machine...I know...SOME of you must remember these! I would quickly learn which tube had failed and much to the joy of the rest of the family, the old black and white Magnavox would live again!

I knew what tubes were but I didn't know what a capacatior was nor did I know that they could store electricity even when the set had been unplugged for over an hour. Well. one day I found out....BIG TIME and that ended my career in electronics. that is until I got my Ham radio.

And heaven help you if you didn’t discharge the connection to the picture tube (CRT) before you tried to remove the high voltage wire from it. Same thing when you wanted to remove the horizontal output tube that was in the vented high voltage cage usually located at the bottom right corner of the chassis. An old time TV repair man showed me a black mark burned though one of his fingers under the nail as proof that you better not forget to discharge these circuits before working on them or removing the tube. That finger looked pretty bad even after years since he forgot, ONCE.

jmonroe

.....another reason to call...."The Guy".

How much do you pay the people who feed and bathe you?

Real men don't have to get electrocuted or change a tire to feel like a man.

If calling a guy to change a tire makes you feel like a man, have at it.

You can change your own tire or you can have someone else change the tire....that has nothing to do with making you a man. There are a lot of young kids and women who can change a tire, do an oil change, drive a semi-truck, drive a bus, fix a transmission....has nothing to do with who they are as a person or their gender.

Real men just are men, they don't have to brag about changing a tire to prove it.

It’s funny that you think young people today know how to change a tire. LOL.

stickguy

half the cars it seems don't even have a spare tire.

plus, don't pick on young people. I bet most middle aged people don't either. And old people that maybe knew how, are too old now! Plus, with the huge wheels/tires you get these days (especially on an SUV or PU), those suckers are really, really heavy.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Had to drive the 15 pack after lunch again yesterday and really do hate it! But with our social distancing policy, there can only be one body/row going forward. The Dodge minivans can only be used with 3 total drivers. And for some reason, a lot of the lead drivers no longer drive the chase vehicles and just let the other drivers figure it out. I didn't want to really do it yesterday but the first guy asked said he wasn't quite up to it and would I do it instead? He's a few years older than I and we've become fast friends so of course I said sure but did throw in, "I'd rather not". But once he said he wasn't up to it today, I just said "no problem" and took over the driving.
Still very happy that shorts are now allowed on daily basis. Assuming and hoping that this new policy will stay in effect throughout the year. We do have a very short, moderate winter down here but some days, with the winds, it can get a bit chilly. On those days, long pants are the way to go. I just want to be the one who decides what I wear in that respect. They've already chosen our shirts for us so I like getting to chose everything else. Hoping they also change the color and material of or new shirts to. We look like Kermit the Frog with the current green they chose and the polo shirts don't breathe so well and get hot. They aren't perforated like the older polo's were and hoping they go back to that other breathable material next time. We've had over twenty days of 90+ weather and it's damn hot to be honest. Luckily the 15 packs have decent a/c units in them, two actually, since these are big vehicles.

Very fancy down there. We never got any shirts and you don’t even get a hat until 5 years of service. Some of the guys look like they dress from the Goodwill bin.

In fact we didn’t even get ID badges. Sometimes we’d go to an Enterprise location in another state and had trouble gaining entry because they wouldn’t take our word that we worked for the company.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

I have a set of ramps. Used them maybe twice. I could never get them to stop sliding every time I tried driving up on them which made for some thrills. And I never trusted them anyway. Decided it wasn't worth it.

I’ve got ramps very similar to those. Never had and trouble. I would have one foot on the brake and one on the gas and tease both a bit to avoid wheel spin or back slide. Once you got to the top you had a foot on the brake to prevent overshoot.

The guy in that video was too much a cowboy.

stickguy

those looked like small ramps anyway. Just need a longer top flat part. easier landing, and more stability.

they are also trickier when you are driving a stick.

sda

Bored today. Wife out shopping, 90+ outside. Decided to listen to a few albums from my college years. Boy has time gotten away. Who recognizes this?

tjc78

I have that same brush.

stickguy

I still have mine in the basement. with the little red bottle that fits inside the handle.

Michaell

snakeweasel said:

roadburner said:

stickguy said:

I bet a 4 door is lighter and stiffer than a 2 door also.

If a coupe has a B pillar there shouldn't be any difference in torsional stiffness; in my experience with BMWs I've found that any weight difference is a function of how the car is optioned.

stickguy said:

If not having a moonroof for that reason is important, should be a reason to get a 4 door!

The reason I don't like sunroofs is because they add @65 pounds to the highest point on the car- and in the case of the M3 or M4 it's even worse- because a hole in the roof replaces the CF roof with steel...

65 pounds really isn't a lot if you're discussing cars that can weigh over 2 tons.

That's a good point.

Assuming a curb weight of 3500 pounds, 65 lbs. is less than 2% of the total weight.

How much does that really raise the center of gravity - less than an inch? I'd guess that 99% or more of the driving population wouldn't know - or care - about that.

And for the remaining 1%, your last name would have to be Senna or Earnhardt to really have it matter.

suydam

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

You can change your own tire or you can have someone else change the tire....that has nothing to do with making you a man. There are a lot of young kids and women who can change a tire, do an oil change, drive a semi-truck, drive a bus, fix a transmission....has nothing to do with who they are as a person or their gender.

Real men just are men, they don't have to brag about changing a tire to prove it.

Here's a solution; the next time I-or someone else-discusses DIY maintenance or repair, feel free to brazenly announce how you are able to use your phone to call someone to do it. Deal?

Why are you so crabby about this? The only person brazenly announcing anything is you. Some people are DIYers, some aren’t. I don’t know why you think that’s some kind of test. I’m happy you enjoy it, but I’m not bowing in awe either. Can’t we just all get along without casting aspersions (or as my significant other would say, “casting a Persian”)?

sda

stickguy said:

half the cars it seems don't even have a spare tire.

plus, don't pick on young people. I bet most middle aged people don't either. And old people that maybe knew how, are too old now! Plus, with the huge wheels/tires you get these days (especially on an SUV or PU), those suckers are really, really heavy.

I remember changing a tire on our old Datsun 510 with the flimsy scissors jack it came with. No bumper jack for that! I remember rotating tires using all five tires, jacking up each corner of the car one at a time, tire off, tire on, next corner, tire off, tire on, etc. What a pain. Then having to put the newly designated spare back in the trunk, properly secured. No loose tire or tools allowed. I’m tired just thinking about it.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

isellhondas said:

When I was young I fancied myself as a television repair guy. When I was about 14, I got pretty good about pulling out tubes, putting them in a sack and taking them to the nearby supermarket where they had a tube testing machine...I know...SOME of you must remember these! I would quickly learn which tube had failed and much to the joy of the rest of the family, the old black and white Magnavox would live again!

I knew what tubes were but I didn't know what a capacatior was nor did I know that they could store electricity even when the set had been unplugged for over an hour. Well. one day I found out....BIG TIME and that ended my career in electronics. that is until I got my Ham radio.

And heaven help you if you didn’t discharge the connection to the picture tube (CRT) before you tried to remove the high voltage wire from it. Same thing when you wanted to remove the horizontal output tube that was in the vented high voltage cage usually located at the bottom right corner of the chassis. An old time TV repair man showed me a black mark burned though one of his fingers under the nail as proof that you better not forget to discharge these circuits before working on them or removing the tube. That finger looked pretty bad even after years since he forgot, ONCE.

jmonroe

.....another reason to call...."The Guy".

How much do you pay the people who feed and bathe you?

Real men don't have to get electrocuted or change a tire to feel like a man.

If calling a guy to change a tire makes you feel like a man, have at it.

You can change your own tire or you can have someone else change the tire....that has nothing to do with making you a man. There are a lot of young kids and women who can change a tire, do an oil change, drive a semi-truck, drive a bus, fix a transmission....has nothing to do with who they are as a person or their gender.

Real men just are men, they don't have to brag about changing a tire to prove it.

It’s funny that you think young people today know how to change a tire. LOL.

Ok, might have got that part wrong

driver100

I think these statistics are on the high side (I think fewer people could do these things), maybe people don't like to admit it but:
*36 percent of those studied said they don’t know the first thing about fixing a flat tire.
*The new survey, conducted by Cooper Tires, discovered that nearly half of American car owners aren’t confident they’d be able to change their car’s oil.
*A third aren’t confident they could even pick out the correct oil their car needs in the first place and a quarter wouldn't know how to jump start a car should the situation arise.
*Even using an air pressure gauge on a tire to check tire pressure can prove to be too advanced a task for nearly one in five Americans.

omarman

casting a Persian

Good one! After losing to Lennox Lewis Mike Tyson said "I might fade into Bolivian."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tLrIkPK8kg

explorerx4

Another way to look at it,:
64% know how to change a flat tire.
50%+ are confident they can change there oil
67% are confident they can pick out the correct oil
80% know how to check tire air pressure.

omarman

But 85% of Americans have a driver's license.

imidazol97

Looks to me like they overshot the end of the ramp by gunning the car up and on.
User error.

I made my own wooden ramps out of some 2x10s, or maybe 2x12s. I tapered the end cuts
using my circular saw and nailed them together layer by layer. So I have a gentle ramp with some
bite to the edges. Hasn't failed me yet, but then I gently edge the can onto the ramp with gunning
the engine. LOL

ab348

sda said:

Bored today. Wife out shopping, 90+ outside. Decided to listen to a few albums from my college years. Boy has time gotten away. Who recognizes this?

I still have mine. Also have the stylus cleaner they sold.

driver100

omarman said:

But 85% of Americans have a driver's license.

Bad enough, but, right into a police car...the one that just wrote a ticket......and now he has to write another ticket.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

Another way to look at it,:
64% know how to change a flat tire.
50%+ are confident they can change there oil
67% are confident they can pick out the correct oil
80% know how to check tire air pressure.

Yes, much clearer....but, when I think of all the people I know, maybe 40% could do these things, but, only 10% would actually want to be bothered. I think when 80% say they know how to check air pressure...they mean they know how to get their car to a Good Year dealer.

sda

ab348 said:

sda said:

Bored today. Wife out shopping, 90+ outside. Decided to listen to a few albums from my college years. Boy has time gotten away. Who recognizes this?

I still have mine. Also have the stylus cleaner they sold.

I have that too with the small mirror and brush.

28firefighter

I’m on a roll this week. Installed one of those ring camera big brother doorbells at my front door.

Tried to avoid licking the wires.

coldinohio

discwasher

columbia missouri made (originally)

several Mizzou posters here

tjc78 said:

I have that same brush.

roadburner

stickguy said:

I never tried ramps like that either. Back when I still crawled under the car, I just used the curb. drove across the driveway and put the outside wheels up the curb. Gave enough clearance to slide under, and I knew that wasn't going to collapse on me! worked fine as long as the drain plug angled down (meaning the tilt put the plug at the low point). Getting that and the filter off was the only reason I ever had for going underneath the car. Back when I still did it.

I bought a set of ramps a few years ago that have worked great; they don’t slide and are virtually impossible to drive over. However, I usually just use my ancient 4 ton Craftsman hydraulic jack or-more usually-my Snap-On aluminum jack and stands.
Simple.

roadburner

stickguy said:

those looked like small ramps anyway. Just need a longer top flat part. easier landing, and more stability.

they are also trickier when you are driving a stick.

You have to be pretty boneheaded to screw something up with the newer ramps.

roadburner

snakeweasel said:

roadburner said:

stickguy said:

I bet a 4 door is lighter and stiffer than a 2 door also.

If a coupe has a B pillar there shouldn't be any difference in torsional stiffness; in my experience with BMWs I've found that any weight difference is a function of how the car is optioned.

stickguy said:

If not having a moonroof for that reason is important, should be a reason to get a 4 door!

The reason I don't like sunroofs is because they add @65 pounds to the highest point on the car- and in the case of the M3 or M4 it's even worse- because a hole in the roof replaces the CF roof with steel...

65 pounds really isn't a lot if you're discussing cars that can weigh over 2 tons.

My Club Sport weighs 2800 pounds- and it most definitely makes a difference.

28firefighter

It’s less the weight though, and more about where it is on the body, right? An additional 65 lbs lower down or distributed at the four corners is much different than top dead center.

stickguy

explorerx4 said:

Another way to look at it,:
64% know how to change a flat tire.
50%+ are confident they can change there oil
67% are confident they can pick out the correct oil
80% know how to check tire air pressure.

apply the usual lying response correction factor. Probably 50% in this case.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

It’s less the weight though, and more about where it is on the body, right? An additional 65 lbs lower down or distributed at the four corners is much different than top dead center.

Exactly!

explorerx4

@stickguy,
For some posters, I'm used to applying the inverse, so that's what I did.

roadburner

For those of you who don't follow CCBA, found an interesting G20. Obviously not ordered by a poseur/wearer, as it is RWD(as it should be) and it has the Track Handling Package- which gets you M Sport Brakes, an M Sport Differential, and the Adaptive M Suspension. The only downside is that it is slow- it's barely a 13 second car. I'm looking into whether Dinan has a tune in the pipeline, as another 50-75 hp would probably add enough grunt to make it entertaining.

Jason Cammisa at Road & Track reckons the G20 is not a complete return to form, but does note,

"The 330i is, at least when equipped with all the M-Performance bits is, a substantial dynamic step forward from the Novocain-steering and Buick-suspension F30, catapulting the 3-series back into the thick of competition. Same goes for its interior, which has been elevated from drabby-shabby to perfectly nice."

On top of that, Car and Driver picked it over the S60, G70, and Giulia. The Brit magazines all give it 4-5 stars as well. I did like the G20 M Sport loaner I had recently, despite it being AWD- so I may go check this one out.

jmonroe1

Bad enough, but, right into a police car...the one that just wrote a ticket......and now he has to write another ticket.



Better yet the cop should get that dopes license yanked.

jmonroe

ab348

28firefighter said:

It’s less the weight though, and more about where it is on the body, right? An additional 65 lbs lower down or distributed at the four corners is much different than top dead center.

If you were driving the vehicle in competition, maybe it changes things *slightly*, which would be part of why you don’t see such things on racing cars I suppose.

For street use? Come on.

explorerx4

Interesting story about Hertz bankruptcy.
If you have a short attention span, don't watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUxlFpDgOU

roadburner

ab348 said:

28firefighter said:

It’s less the weight though, and more about where it is on the body, right? An additional 65 lbs lower down or distributed at the four corners is much different than top dead center.

If you were driving the vehicle in competition, maybe it changes things *slightly*, which would be part of why you don’t see such things on racing cars I suppose.

For street use? Come on.

I use my cars for both street and track- and you can feel it on the street.

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

Interesting story about Hertz bankruptcy.
If you have a short attention span, don't watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUxlFpDgOU

That sounds like many farmers I know, getting over leveraged and then having one or two bad crop years. I disagree with the author’s clickbait premise that greed caused the collapse. A few dozens of millions spread around the upper management was a drop in the bucket compared to $20 billion in debt. What was the alternative, let all your executives jump ship and leave the company in turmoil. Like it or not $10-20 million in compensation for a CEO is routine these days. If they had turned things around they would have been heroes.

My own business model was to not take on any kind of debt. While ultimately safe it restricted my ability to ramp up production or take advantage of new opportunities. I couldn’t afford to risk losing my home but I also never made a whole lot of money.

Capitalism rewards risk but the downside is pretty brutal.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

ab348 said:

28firefighter said:

It’s less the weight though, and more about where it is on the body, right? An additional 65 lbs lower down or distributed at the four corners is much different than top dead center.

If you were driving the vehicle in competition, maybe it changes things *slightly*, which would be part of why you don’t see such things on racing cars I suppose.

For street use? Come on.

I use my cars for both street and track- and you can feel it on the street.

I can imagine additional weight exerts greater force the higher it sits on the car. Like a lever. But I bet most people wouldn’t notice the difference.

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

I disagree with the author’s clickbait premise that greed caused the collapse. A few dozens of millions spread around the upper management was a drop in the bucket compared to $20 billion in debt.

I didn't need to visit the link to agree with your conclusion.

sb55

I did a marathon drive last week. I have an Airstream trailer that we decided to store in Natural Bridge, VA for the winter, so we could get to it without too much risk of bad weather for a planned trip in March. Anyway, then COVID-19 happened so the trip was cancelled. Last week, Vermont relaxed it's quarantine rules, so I decided to go get it. I left at 4:30 am. Coffee, Mountain Dew and snacks were in play, and I made the 720 miles in 11 hours. Got the Airstream out of storage and was at a campsite to de-winterize (in 98 deg. heat) by 4:30. All went well. The original plan was to hang out for a day and recover from the trip. But I felt OK so decided to leave the next morning. I figured that it would take 2 days towing a 30' trailer and not being able to go quite as fast. I guess that I got in a zone, because I felt fine. I made the trip home in 11.5 hours. I only stopped for gas twice and peed in my towed house, so minimal contact. I didn't know at my advanced age if I could do a trip like that, but was glad that it worked out.
Some observations. The Silverado with the 6.2 motor and max tow package is great for me. It got 23.3 mpg on the way to VA and 13.3 towing a 7000+lb trailer on the way back. That's with the A/C on the whole trip. As for COVID-19. Bathrooms on the NYS thruway had every other stall, urinal and sinks roped off. Electric hand dryers sealed. Almost everyone was masked. Had to pee again in a PA rest area. No social distancing inside and hand dryers were operational, but most were masked. One more pee in VA. No social distancing, hand dryers operational and most not masked. Glad to be back in Vermont!

driver100

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I disagree with the author’s clickbait premise that greed caused the collapse. A few dozens of millions spread around the upper management was a drop in the bucket compared to $20 billion in debt.

I didn't need to visit the link to agree with your conclusion.

Me too. If a CEO can make an extra few $billion profit a year because of his skills....then paying him an extra $million or two is well worth it.

graphicguy

sda said:

Bored today. Wife out shopping, 90+ outside. Decided to listen to a few albums from my college years. Boy has time gotten away. Who recognizes this?

Have the DiscWasher...and I have an automatic unit that wets, spins and dries albums, too. It’s sitting in a box, somewhere. Toto...now there’s a group I haven’t heard in a long while.

Cool throwback!

graphicguy

oldfarmer50 said:

explorerx4 said:

Interesting story about Hertz bankruptcy.
If you have a short attention span, don't watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUxlFpDgOU

That sounds like many farmers I know, getting over leveraged and then having one or two bad crop years. I disagree with the author’s clickbait premise that greed caused the collapse. A few dozens of millions spread around the upper management was a drop in the bucket compared to $20 billion in debt. What was the alternative, let all your executives jump ship and leave the company in turmoil. Like it or not $10-20 million in compensation for a CEO is routine these days. If they had turned things around they would have been heroes.

My own business model was to not take on any kind of debt. While ultimately safe it restricted my ability to ramp up production or take advantage of new opportunities. I couldn’t afford to risk losing my home but I also never made a whole lot of money.

Capitalism rewards risk but the downside is pretty brutal.

Well said!

graphicguy

A (relatively) local winery had an outdoor tasting complete with social distancing, a band, and this view from the rear of their property that the GF and I attended last night. Great night...until it rained about 2 hours into it. Still....good to do something like this. They made it safe.

explorerx4

I was more focused on the history of Hertz, not the money part,
Guess everyone judged the book by the cover.

roadburner

tjc78 said:

I have that same brush.

Me too!

roadburner

suydam said:

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

You can change your own tire or you can have someone else change the tire....that has nothing to do with making you a man. There are a lot of young kids and women who can change a tire, do an oil change, drive a semi-truck, drive a bus, fix a transmission....has nothing to do with who they are as a person or their gender.

Real men just are men, they don't have to brag about changing a tire to prove it.

Here's a solution; the next time I-or someone else-discusses DIY maintenance or repair, feel free to brazenly announce how you are able to use your phone to call someone to do it. Deal?

Why are you so crabby about this? The only person brazenly announcing anything is you. Some people are DIYers, some aren’t. I don’t know why you think that’s some kind of test. I’m happy you enjoy it, but I’m not bowing in awe either. Can’t we just all get along without casting aspersions (or as my significant other would say, “casting a Persian”)?

I’m sincerely sorry I put a twist in your delicate undies, but not to worry- I’ve reconciled myself to the fact that there are some individuals who define themselves by their ability to use a phone. And I promise to make every effort to keep in mind that not everyone who posts in this topic can tackle such fiendishly complex tasks as reading their owners manual, checking the oil or checking and adjusting tire pressures(even though we somehow manage to teach those procedures to 16 year old students at Street Survival).

Having said all that, if I DID do something that made you “bow in awe” I would have to admit that I would immediately question whatever I had done.

ab348

explorerx4 said:

I was more focused on the history of Hertz, not the money part,
Guess everyone judged the book by the cover.

I did watch the video. The guy doing it might not be an idiot but I'd guess he often gets mistaken for one. In one breath he criticizes them for leasing their fleet, then he goes on to talk about how they leveraged the fleet assets to borrow money. You can't do that if you don't own the fleet, so what is it? As for the rest, he skims over the 9 straight profitable quarters and then after setting up the premise it wasn't the shutdown of travel that killed them, says just that. I'm sure the private equity bunch and Icahn did suck money out of the company, but they had over 2 years of consistent profits until the travel ban hit. But the narrator obviously didn't want a good clickbait headline to go to waste.

abacomike

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I disagree with the author’s clickbait premise that greed caused the collapse. A few dozens of millions spread around the upper management was a drop in the bucket compared to $20 billion in debt.

I didn't need to visit the link to agree with your conclusion.

Me too. If a CEO can make an extra few $billion profit a year because of his skills....then paying him an extra $million or two is well worth it.

A few million or two would be appropriate, but the amount corporations dole out to top executives is usually 60-100 million dollars in bonuses which is ludicrous and outrageous while working peons slave on the line to make those billions in profits.

Everyone in a successful company should benefit from huge profits because achieving record profits is more than realized by great leaders - it takes a great "team" to be truly successful.