espo Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Thanks to far better-quality tires today the likelihood of a flat has been dramatically reduced. At this stage in life, I'll gladly call Triple A for any tire problems on the road. There were times in the past when I had a close intimate relationship with jacks and have changed tires in the dead of night in pouring down rain and even snow. I would never replace a tire unless at least two layers of cord was visible. Thankfully fortunes have improved since then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 3 minutes ago, espo said: Thanks to far better-quality tires today the likelihood of a flat has been dramatically reduced. At this stage in life, I'll gladly call Triple A for any tire problems on the road. There were times in the past when I had a close intimate relationship with jacks and have changed tires in the dead of night in pouring down rain and even snow. I would never replace a tire unless at least two layers of cord was visible. Thankfully fortunes have improved since then. Yeah, I haven't changed a tire myself in 20 years. Modern 20 inch wheels and tires are very heavy. I've had AAA for 20 years, though only used them a few times. I find I get at least 50k miles out of modern radials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 1 minute ago, Rob Hall said: Yeah, I haven't changed a tire myself in 20 years. Modern 20 inch wheels and tires are very heavy. I've had AAA for 20 years, though only used them a few times. I find I get at least 50k miles out of modern radials. I still do my own tire rotations, but not had any tire issues since I can't remember when. I may have just jinxed myself. We had a jeep that saw a lot of off road use and we had special wheels and tires for that. The OEM wheel and tires weighed about 70 lbs. each the 36" diameter x 9.5" wide tires and wheels were 95 lbs. each. They were fun to change with a floor jack and a cross wrench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 17 minutes ago, espo said: I still do my own tire rotations, but not had any tire issues since I can't remember when. I may have just jinxed myself. We had a jeep that saw a lot of off road use and we had special wheels and tires for that. The OEM wheel and tires weighed about 70 lbs. each the 36" diameter x 9.5" wide tires and wheels were 95 lbs. each. They were fun to change with a floor jack and a cross wrench. I just have the dealer rotate the tires when I go in for an oil change... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Just now, Rob Hall said: I just have the dealer rotate the tires when I go in for an oil change... Hope your dealer's shop is better about not rounding off the chrome lug nuts than my local dealer. There are those that should not be allowed to operate an Air Wrench without proper training, just saying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 1 hour ago, espo said: Hope your dealer's shop is better about not rounding off the chrome lug nuts than my local dealer. There are those that should not be allowed to operate an Air Wrench without proper training, just saying. Or over-torquing them (well they are likely over-torqued when there is visible damage. Nobody seems to use any sort of torque controlling devices anymore, and automotive fasteners (especially critical ones, like lug nuts) do have torque specs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 16 minutes ago, peteski said: Or over-torquing them (well they are likely over-torqued when there is visible damage. Nobody seems to use any sort of torque controlling devices anymore, and automotive fasteners (especially critical ones, like lug nuts) do have torque specs. A good point. I use a torque wrench on the wheel lugs for the final tightening. These monkeys just lean on their Air Guns until they stop turning or the stud starts to stretch. One thing to look for anytime someone has had an Air Wrench on the wheel lug nuts. One your first stop going down the road you suddenly feal a pulsation in the brake pedal that you didn't have before your car was serviced. This is a good sign that the brake rotors may have been warped by overtightening the lug nuts. This takes a great deal of force, but there is an adjustment on the handle of most Air Wrenches and these guys often turn it to max. Another reason I mentioned the rounding of the lug nuts, I have seen these so-called Techs use the wrong size socket that is off just enough that there is a little slop between the lug nuts and the socket. They will approach the lug nuts with the gun already spinning and lean against the lug nuts until the socket starts to grab the leading edge of the lug nut. Sometimes it will slip on right away but usually it spins on the edge for a bit and once the edge of the lug nut starts to round off it will just get worse. The other thing that is visual at least is the chrome is chipped off and the outer edges of the lug nuts start to rust. I even had the locking lugs on a truck I had ruined because the tech didn't seat the lug key in place before he started spinning the wrench. this knocked off enough of the design on the key and rounded out the locking lug I had to take it to another shop to have it cut off with an Air Chisel and replace the wheel stud. All I wanted was to have the wheels balanced and he didn't even do that correctly. This was one of the local specialty tire and wheel shops selling the very expensive wheels and billing themselves as being the experts. Sorry for carrying on about this, but the way they claimed the damage was already done before I came in and wouldn't stand behind their work, I wasn't about to let them near my vehicle ever again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 2 hours ago, espo said: Hope your dealer's shop is better about not rounding off the chrome lug nuts than my local dealer. There are those that should not be allowed to operate an Air Wrench without proper training, just saying. Haven't had any issues w/ my dealer of the last 6 years, since I've moved I'll be going to a different dealer for my next service...hopefully they will be good also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan White Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 2 hours ago, Rob Hall said: I just have the dealer rotate the tires when I go in for an oil change... I don't bother, mine rotate every time I drive! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 (edited) 6 hours ago, Rob Hall said: Haven't had any issues w/ my dealer of the last 6 years, since I've moved I'll be going to a different dealer for my next service...hopefully they will be good also. I always wondered if there were actually people in the world who took their cars to dealers for oil changes and tire work... Edited June 30 by Ace-Garageguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 (edited) 12 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: I always wondered if there were actually people in the world who took their cars to dealers for oil changes and tire work... I'm not a mechanic, always gone to my dealer(s) for service on my modern cars...I don't trust Wal-Mart or those Quick Lube-type places....no interest in DIY, as I'd have to find a place to dispose of the oil, which is messy. Simpler and more efficient for me to trust someone else to do the work. Edited June 30 by Rob Hall 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 12 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said: I always wondered if there were actually people in the world who took their cars to dealers for oil changes and tire work... I only take our cars for the oil & filter change. The price is not much more than what it would cost me to buy the parts to do it myself plus they dispose of the old oil. Things like the cabin filter and air filter are easy enough to do and I do save a little on the parts. Because of past issues with anyone touching the wheels I prefer to do that myself as well. There is one local tire shop that I have had balance my wheels and tires plus alignment. They are the only ones in the KC Metro I would allow near one of our cars. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabbysdaddy Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 I do everything to my cars myself. Nobody does it as good as me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 8 hours ago, Rob Hall said: I'm not a mechanic, always gone to my dealer(s) for service on my modern cars...I don't trust Wal-Mart or those Quick Lube-type places... You'll usually get much more competent techs working at a good independent shop...but of course, you'd have to have some technical knowledge of vehicle systems to make the call as to who's competent and who's a lying inept crook. And those are common in the industry...but they're in dealers too. So whatever works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggu Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Not sure if it has been mentioned, but how about a 'horn ring' ? I liked them back in the day rather than pushing hard on the steering wheel pad.... Jeff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plastic trucker Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 How about the station wagon itself? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 Or anything with non-power-assisted steering and brakes? My '74 911 has neither, and doesn't need 'em. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbill Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 The ability to easily swap in larger displacement engines. Remember back in the day you could buy that 6cyl car and in an afternoon throw a v8 in it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 On 7/2/2023 at 5:32 PM, Ace-Garageguy said: Or anything with non-power-assisted steering and brakes? My '74 911 has neither, and doesn't need 'em. Imagine a non-power-anything Chevy "subdivision" (any of those extra-lage SUVs) being driven by a 4"10' 90 lb. li'l women. LOL, that wouldn't fly today. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 (edited) 24 minutes ago, peteski said: Imagine a non-power-anything Chevy "subdivision" (any of those extra-lage SUVs) being driven by a 4"10' 90 lb. li'l women. LOL, that wouldn't fly today. True enough, but a couple of points: when was the last time you saw a 4'10", 90 lb. woman? Most of 'em in my neighborhood are about 5'6" and 170 lbs. They look like truck drivers in drag or shapeless blobs of flesh in sweats. No muscle though, I'll give you that. Funny thing too is that the ones who "go to the gym" and try to stay reasonably fit still get as close as possible to the entrance at the market or the mall, and rolling up a manual window on a door with an actual key is just too exhausting to even contemplate. When I was a kid, almost every full-grown 5'4" 125 pound woman could drive a car with a manual gearbox and un-assisted steering. All my significant-others could too. And now, most of what passes for men, can't. Edited July 4 by Ace-Garageguy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 37 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said: True enough, but a couple of points: when was the last time you saw a 4'10", 90 lb. woman? Most of 'em in my neighborhood are about 5'6" and 170 lbs. They look like truck drivers in drag or shapeless blobs of flesh in sweats. No muscle though, I'll give you that. While I know exactly what you mean, I still see petite women getting out of large pickups or SUVs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1972coronet Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 52 minutes ago, peteski said: While I know exactly what you mean, I still see petite women getting out of large pickups or SUVs. Quite the common sight here -- has been for decades. Can't see over the tiller without pulling the seat almost to the windscreen ! Even more better is when their drunk-before-noon husband/baby daddy/boyfriend is sitting in the front passenger seat, completely incapable of doing anything more than loading up said SUV with cases of cheap beer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLMFAA1 Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 Think of the adjunct manufacturers or companies that supplied add-ons to your vehicle: Ziebart undercoating, AAMCO transmissions, Rayco, Earl Schieb, Whitney's, and I found this: Elevated kiddie car seats that just hung over the back of the seat. greg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 2 hours ago, peteski said: Imagine a non-power-anything Chevy "subdivision" (any of those extra-lage SUVs) being driven by a 4"10' 90 lb. li'l women. LOL, that wouldn't fly today. My mother, who was 4'11", drove a '68 Cougar w/ a 3spd manual, manual drum brakes, and manual steering often well into her 60s. But she also liked creature comforts--she had a series of Cougars and Thunderbirds from the 1970s through the 1990s.. Her last car, though, was a hefty '05 Lincoln Navigator w/ power everything and power steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 1 hour ago, Rob Hall said: My mother, who was 4'11", drove a '68 Cougar w/ a 3spd manual, manual drum brakes, and manual steering often well into her 60s. But she also liked creature comforts--she had a series of Cougars and Thunderbirds from the 1970s through the 1990s.. Good for her! But that was a passenger car. Try that in a large contemporary SUV like I mentioned. It would likely not be much fun for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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