Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

Mr_Shiftright · December 2015

Working a bumper jack is kind of like placing a piece of cheese on a rat trap.

slorenzen · December 2015

Mr_Shiftright said:
Working a bumper jack is kind of like placing a piece of cheese on a rat trap.

Had a couple close calls with those bumper jacks!

A tire block can be your friend!

Remember the Citroen DS series? THAT was a cool way to change a tire(or tyre)...

Mr_Shiftright · December 2015

Yep, just flip a switch...of course, being French, on the rear tire you had to remove the entire fender first.

ab348 · December 2015

But it was only held on with one or two bolts!

xwesx · December 2015

Guys, thank you very much for such a great read after the weekend!

I had a fun time this weekend working (periodically, anyway) on the plow truck in the driveway. It was a few degrees below zero on Saturday, and about -10 yesterday.

The problem seems to be something in the "pumpkin" (aka, differential) on the front axle housing. These Fords have a Dana 44 front axle and a Dana 60 rear. Anyhow, I was trying to get to the point where I could start turning stuff to see where my problem likely lay, and I couldn't help but praise the simplicity of tearing apart the front (disc) brakes. Those calipers are a real snap to remove, and replacing the pads is incredibly easy as well. If that was the job, I'd say maybe thirty minutes for both (including tire removal and install) is about all you'd be in for.

Then, I decide that since I'm working on the truck this extensively, I might as well do a little more to shore up nagging issues. One of those is lack of rear brakes. I haven't had them for years now due to a suspected blown wheel cylinder, but it never bothered me much until the front axle tore itself apart. Without the front wheels being bound to the drivetrain, stopping the truck does not stop the rear wheels from turning. Talk about interesting.....!

So, I figure rear drums... how hard can this be? The answer? Not too hard, save for the fact that they were designed by the spawn of Satan! I had to remove the half-shafts (e.g., axles), followed by the wheel bearings, in order to even remove the drum! I can't imagine who thought this was a great design, but after all that effort to get in there, I not only replaced the wheel cylinders, but also replaced the pads (shoes) at the same time. I don't think any of them were that bad (maybe 50-80% of new), but there's no way I ever want to get in there again. LOL

So, about six hours of work total and I have "new" rear brakes that will, hopefully, work now. I think I'm going to put new shocks on it today since those are God-only-knows how old (I think thirty years is a good guess) and completely worthless, as well as attempting to open up the front differential and drain the syrup (75W-90 diff fluid) in preparation for my next operation....

I sure hope I can get it sorted out before the next big snow! The temps are supposed to get down to below -20F by mid week, so probably no danger of snow in the short-term, anyway. The going is slow at these temperatures, though.

xwesx · December 2015

Hahah! Oh, dear. We do get off-topic in this thread, don't we? For some reason, I thought this was the Project Cars topic I had read just before CCBA. Oh, well. The appreciation expressed did apply to this thread!

Mr_Shiftright · December 2015

That's true...one bolt I think. It was pretty easy to do.

ab348 said:
But it was only held on with one or two bolts!

stickguy · December 2015

No way I am ever moving to Alaska. That is for sure.

stickguy · December 2015

Should finish your garage. A heated space would make the work easier!

Mr_Shiftright · December 2015

I worked there for a year. If you're the outdoorsy type and you can also manage to get out of there for a trip to Hawaii in the dead of winter, you'd probably enjoy the lifestyle. But if you're just up there working 24/7 on some ghastly pipeline or some such, it can be grim. Hopefully you've got the right vehicle, right house, right job, and a girlfriend!

xwesx · December 2015

stickguy said:
Should finish your garage. A heated space would make the work easier!

Very true. I have pretty much given up on ever being able to use that space for anything workshop-related, but I still hope to some day be able to park a car or two in it! We lost a portion of the space to a "bedroom" for our son over the summer. My wife insisted he have his own space, and that was that. The good news is that it is only an 8x8 space we carved out for him, yet it is a pillar of space efficiency and is actually pretty roomy.

Still I briefly regretted selling my Fiesta, as anything longer than that will not fit on that side of the garage any more. Hmm.... that Elise might fit, or maybe I should start looking for a nice motorcycle.

Mr_Shiftright · December 2015

I really like the looks of the Triumph Thruxton. It's not a fast bike at all, but very sexy in a traditional Triumph way (if it's good enough for Brando it's good enough for me) and pretty light in weight. I don't care for bikes you have to pick up with a crane. Ducati just came out with a Scrambler if you want more of the high-tech look/design.

ab348 · December 2015

xwesx said:
Guys, thank you very much for such a great read after the weekend!

So, I figure rear drums... how hard can this be? The answer? Not too hard, save for the fact that they were designed by the spawn of Satan! I had to remove the half-shafts (e.g., axles), followed by the wheel bearings, in order to even remove the drum! I can't imagine who thought this was a great design, but after all that effort to get in there, I not only replaced the wheel cylinders, but also replaced the pads (shoes) at the same time. I don't think any of them were that bad (maybe 50-80% of new), but there's no way I ever want to get in there again. LOL

Ford engineering is often very odd. My brother told me his Ranger has a "power steering cooler" that is a pipe carrying the fluid around the perimeter of the front subframe or engine compartment? Seems an odd solution.

xwesx · December 2015

Sometimes I think that the reason some of these things are so odd is because they take something they created for an entirely different application, put it on a new application, then add a couple extra bits in order to make it "work." All seems perfectly fine until you have to fix it!

Michaell · December 2015

OK folks, quiz time.

I saw a vanity plate the other day while delivering. I am wondering if one of you can figure out what type of car it was on.

The plate read GOZIRA

tjc78 · December 2015

ab348 said:

Guys, thank you very much for such a great read after the weekend! So, I figure rear drums... how hard can this be? The answer? Not too hard, save for the fact that they were designed by the spawn of Satan! I had to remove the half-shafts (e.g., axles), followed by the wheel bearings, in order to even remove the drum! I can't imagine who thought this was a great design, but after all that effort to get in there, I not only replaced the wheel cylinders, but also replaced the pads (shoes) at the same time. I don't think any of them were that bad (maybe 50-80% of new), but there's no way I ever want to get in there again. LOL
Ford engineering is often very odd. My brother told me his Ranger has a "power steering cooler" that is a pipe carrying the fluid around the perimeter of the front subframe or engine compartment? Seems an odd solution.

They did the same thing back in the 80s on the police cruisers. The "cooler" was literally a length of tubing bent into a loop that ran in front of the radiator.

stever · December 2015

Mr_Shiftright said:
I worked there for a year.... Hopefully you've got the right vehicle, right house, right job, and a girlfriend!

Just had two different sets of Anchorage houseguests visit this past week. If you want to retire up there, just wait about two years for the bottom to really drop out. With the oil bust the state is pretty much broke but the housing market hasn't quite heard the news yet.

Note that I said retire; either that or bring your own job with you.

If you missed the Road Trip thread (speaking of cars....), I'm in a rental 2014 Prius for ~11 days. So far so good, in spite of only having one USB port and a lack of cupholders.

fintail · December 2015

GTR?

Michaell said:
OK folks, quiz time.

I saw a vanity plate the other day while delivering. I am wondering if one of you can figure out what type of car it was on.

The plate read GOZIRA

fintail · December 2015

I have been receiving banner ads for special year end Ducati offers - low to zero rates depending on where you look. I don't know if I would call the Scrambler modern looking - it seems like a retro thing for hipster manchildren for me, but it looks cool for that. No doubt better tech than an underbraked carbureted old thing.

The Hypermotard offers are almost tempting, I like those.

Mr_Shiftright said:
I really like the looks of the Triumph Thruxton. It's not a fast bike at all, but very sexy in a traditional Triumph way (if it's good enough for Brando it's good enough for me) and pretty light in weight. I don't care for bikes you have to pick up with a crane. Ducati just came out with a Scrambler if you want more of the high-tech look/design.

berri · December 2015

Ford engineering is often very odd. My brother told me his Ranger has a "power steering cooler" that is a pipe carrying the fluid around the perimeter of the front subframe or engine compartment? Seems an odd solution.

Nah, probably the cheapest way to solve something

Michaell · December 2015

fintail said:
GTR?

Michaell said:
OK folks, quiz time.

I saw a vanity plate the other day while delivering. I am wondering if one of you can figure out what type of car it was on.

The plate read GOZIRA

Exactly.

nyccarguy · December 2015

@Michaell - Happy Birthday!

Michaell · December 2015

nyccarguy said:
@Michaell - Happy Birthday!

Thanks!

xwesx · December 2015

Regarding the F250 plow truck project (for anyone interested), I posted an update over in Project Cars. I thought I would get myself back on track regarding discussion differentiation before I got in too deep!

The summary: Not good. LOL

tifighter · December 2015

xwesx said:
Hmm.... that Elise might fit, or maybe I should start looking for a nice motorcycle.

@xwesx and you can fit a few bikes in the same footprint as an Elise and get 2 or 3 punches. Shoot, maybe I need a new bike...

graphicguy · December 2015

Michaell said:

nyccarguy said:
@Michaell - Happy Birthday!
Thanks!

Your birthday, Brother? Happy....Happy!

xwesx · December 2015

tifighter said:

xwesx said:
Hmm.... that Elise might fit, or maybe I should start looking for a nice motorcycle.
@xwesx and you can fit a few bikes in the same footprint as an Elise and get 2 or 3 punches. Shoot, maybe I need a new bike...

Yeah, but it's darn cold and slippery to be riding bikes. Not that I would take an Elise out during the winter, but it sure would be a lot more stimulating to look at it all winter long....

Michaell · December 2015

graphicguy said:

@Michaell - Happy Birthday!
Thanks!
Your birthday, Brother? Happy....Happy!

Yeppers. Comes around once a year, whether I want it to or not.

Thanks for the well wishes.

roadburner · December 2015

xwesx said:

Yeah, but it's darn cold and slippery to be riding bikes. Not that I would take an Elise out during the winter, but it sure would be a lot more stimulating to look at it all winter long....

I actually talked to a couple of guys who drive their Elises year-round and they said that with the proper tires they can get around fine- as long as the snow isn't real deep.

28firefighter · December 2015

Happy Birthday, Michaell!

tifighter · December 2015

xwesx said:

tifighter said:

xwesx said:
Hmm.... that Elise might fit, or maybe I should start looking for a nice motorcycle.
@xwesx and you can fit a few bikes in the same footprint as an Elise and get 2 or 3 punches. Shoot, maybe I need a new bike...

Yeah, but it's darn cold and slippery to be riding bikes. Not that I would take an Elise out during the winter, but it sure would be a lot more stimulating to look at it all winter long....

Fair point. I got caught in a snow and ice storm once on my old V-Strom and it was not the most fun thing I've ever done. In your neck of the woods, that would be an average Tuesday.

Michaell · December 2015

28firefighter said:
Happy Birthday, Michaell!

Thanks!

breld · December 2015

Happy (one day belated) birthday Michael!

roadburner · December 2015

breld said:
Happy (one day belated) birthday Michael!

Ditto!

Michaell · December 2015

breld said:
Happy (one day belated) birthday Michael!

Thanks!

Michaell · December 2015

roadburner said:

breld said:
Happy (one day belated) birthday Michael!
Ditto!

Thanks!

xwesx · December 2015

roadburner said:

xwesx said:

Yeah, but it's darn cold and slippery to be riding bikes. Not that I would take an Elise out during the winter, but it sure would be a lot more stimulating to look at it all winter long....
I actually talked to a couple of guys who drive their Elises year-round and they said that with the proper tires they can get around fine- as long as the snow isn't real deep.

Tires make or break traction, that's for sure! Still, though, I would NOT take something like an Elise out in the winter time. It's too easy to have winter fun in other cars to risk such a fine automobile.

ti, I have a few coworkers who ride their bicycles to work year-round up here. They're far heartier souls than I (plus their locations relative to work make that a much more practical, and less dangerous, option).

roadburner · December 2015

I wouldn't take one out in the winter weather either- even though the body is fiberglass and the chassis is aluminum...

Mr_Shiftright · December 2015

Don't see the harm if there isn't snow on the ground though. In Calif., it's a car one could drive everyday.

nelsonf · December 2015

Michaell said:
OK folks, quiz time.

I saw a vanity plate the other day while delivering. I am wondering if one of you can figure out what type of car it was on.

The plate read GOZIRA

GTR was my guess too. That's actually pretty clever, slightly offensive, and really funny all at the same time.

I wish I could could come up with something clever like that for an M4...

kxc2622 · December 2015

Thinking about picking up a new car, but no room on the driveway!
Also happy belated birthday Michael!

carnaught · December 2015

A excuse me, but I don't get it....wah??

fintail · December 2015

I am surprised the PC police keeping us safe from injustice let it through. Maybe I need to get "".

M4...hmmm..."1PT5PSI"?

nelsonf said:

Michaell said:
OK folks, quiz time.

I saw a vanity plate the other day while delivering. I am wondering if one of you can figure out what type of car it was on.

The plate read GOZIRA
GTR was my guess too. That's actually pretty clever, slightly offensive, and really funny all at the same time.

I wish I could could come up with something clever like that for an M4...

corvette · December 2015

carnaught said:
A excuse me, but I don't get it....wah??

I don't get it either.

28firefighter · December 2015

I was thinking of a vanity plate for the GTI. Some ideas:

NOT TDI
NOTATDI
NOCHEAT
TSTPASS

stever · December 2015

I sort of get the Zilla connection but Fin's variation was a bit much for here I think. Even though most would have had to Google it.

corvette · December 2015

I'm shopping my insurance, feel free to post experiences and recommendations here:
http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/comment/5159198/#Comment_5159198

One of the things that stinks about auto insurance is that, with home insurance, if you have a claim, you end up with a house that is worth more than before and possibly more energy efficient (new roof, new siding, new windows, new deck). If you have an auto claim, you end up with a car that is worth far less, often has poor paint quality or panel gaps, and may be less safe in a subsequent crash.

fintail · December 2015

Ah there's a PC warden protecting us

Some have given the GTR the "Godzilla" nickname, as it is hugely capable. A beast.

It can also refer to its size:

Michaell · December 2015

kxc2622 said:

Also happy belated birthday Michael!

Thanks!

I too was surprised the GTR vanity plate was allowed by the motor vehicle department here.

suydam · December 2015

Except that the slang term for Godzilla is Gojira. So that's why I dont get it.

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