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I'm going to be doing some towing tomorrow, and while I'm pretty handy with a trailer, I've only ever towed poo poo around town, so I have a few questions about highway towing. First off, it's a U-Haul 5x8 box trailer towed by a '01 Chevy Tracker with the 6 cylinder, automatic & 4wd. How vital is it to keep it in 3rd gear, i.e. overdrive turned off? Is the 55mph limit plastered all over the trailer a hard limit or is there a little wiggle room? Basically I want to know if I have any options other than sitting in the right lane at 3500rpm doing 55 in a 70 where everyone's doing 80.
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May 11, 2012 04:56
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Boat posted:I'm going to be doing some towing tomorrow, and while I'm pretty handy with a trailer, I've only ever towed poo poo around town, so I have a few questions about highway towing. I've never seen anyone obey the 55mph stickers. Just check the tires over before setting off to make sure they look ok.
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May 11, 2012 05:02
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"Tongue weight" is the most important thing, really. Uhaul wants you to be going slow because they know people have a hard time doing it right. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/towing-capacity/information/tongue-weight.htm The stopping distances and all that are important too.
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May 11, 2012 07:19
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Question about downshifting in a manual. Right now when I downshift I disengage my current gear, revmatch, engage the next gear, and clutch out. If I try and speed up this whole process I end up engaging the gear before I finish revmatching and I can feel resistance at the gate. This is bad, right? This is putting load on the synchros that I should avoid?
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May 11, 2012 07:33
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NotHet posted:If I try and speed up this whole process I end up engaging the gear before I finish revmatching and I can feel resistance at the gate. Mild resistance is tolerable. Really having to force it or getting clashing from the synchro is gonna wear it out, yeah. And I suppose wear your shifter bushings out slightly faster.
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May 11, 2012 08:15
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NotHet posted:Question about downshifting in a manual. Right now when I downshift I disengage my current gear, revmatch, engage the next gear, and clutch out. What you need is to have your motor built by a professional race team to rev faster. Lightweight racing flywheel, titanium pistons/rods/camshafts, high-rpm-tuned intake, free flowing but not overly large exhaust, all of it will make it so a slight throttle blip with sufficient precision will get you any revs you need. That or just shift slower.
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May 11, 2012 08:30
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Looking at a used Sienna with a jammed power sliding door. The internet seems to say I can just cut the cable and make it a manual door and it will work. Anyone done it? Also general advice: which one 2004 Mazda MPV, 2004 Toyota Sienna, 2005 Nissan Quest?
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May 11, 2012 12:02
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EVERYTHING I SAY ABOUT JAPAN OR LIVING IN JAPAN IS COMPLETELY WRONG, BUT YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'LL 
ABOUT IT.
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Unloaded, the Quest is a pretty fast fucker for some reason.
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May 11, 2012 13:12
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Splizwarf posted:Unloaded, the Quest is a pretty fast fucker for some reason. Nissan has a history of putting the Z motor in random vehicles. I had an old beater station wagon that had a Z engine in it, and like you said about the Quest, it flew.
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May 11, 2012 14:23
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We got one as a yard truck a while ago and it hauled seriously nimble rear end compared to everything else at the time. Hard to drift, though. 
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May 11, 2012 14:34
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All minivans haul a copious amount of rear end when they're unladen, even lovely four cylinders like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78InPT4iqlw
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May 11, 2012 16:10
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I'm having a bit of a clusterfuck today, I'm hoping you guys can help me out. So I drove my lovely 1989 E350 ambulance to work yesterday. When I went to leave this morning, I turned the key and the electrical stuff starts working fine, but the engine won't crank over. I check the batteries, they're good, so I assume it's the ignition switch. I don't have my tools with me and the ones we have at work suck, so I decide to use a remote starter switch to get it going, which worked. When I tried to drive it, the shifter was stuck. gently caress. I twisted the key around thinking maybe that would help, when I jerked the ignition lock and it started freewheeling. Double gently caress. I pull it out and looked at the damage... part of it broke off in the steering column. At this point I say gently caress it and ride home with my wife. OK, I'm not really worried about the ignition lock, because that's a pretty simple fix, but what would cause the ignition switch to fail and the shifter to lock up? I know that there is some sort of connecting rod in the column which activates the ignition switch... if it's broken would it cause the shifter to stick? Also, are there any temporary workarounds to unstick it? I really want to do the actual repairs at home instead of in the parking lot at work.
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May 11, 2012 18:16
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I'm looking to replace my 2003 350Z automatic with something sporty, built after 2000, manual transmission, and under $20k. I'm also looking for something that won't be expensive to maintain, which rules out high mileage M3s. I was just going to get a slightly newer manual Z with plans of forced induction in the future, but I just recently started looking at Corvettes. I found a 102,000 mile 2004 Z06 for $18k, but I heard that all the Z06 parts have something similar to the "M tax" on the M-series BMWs. How much would it suck to keep a high mileage Z06 running? Am I better off looking at regular C5s? The issue I'm running into with the Zs is that they're often owned by under 30 males, who rice them out and do all sorts of stupid poo poo to them, and the unmolested ones are usually autos. I get the impression that there are lot more older Corvette drivers who don't beat on the car, and probably maintain them better, but I could be wrong. Thoughts? Anything else I should be looking at?
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May 11, 2012 18:22
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Stabby_McBitchslap posted:OK, I'm not really worried about the ignition lock, because that's a pretty simple fix, but what would cause the ignition switch to fail and the shifter to lock up? I know that there is some sort of connecting rod in the column which activates the ignition switch... if it's broken would it cause the shifter to stick? Also, are there any temporary workarounds to unstick it? I really want to do the actual repairs at home instead of in the parking lot at work. A piece of debris from the ignition cylinder could have gotten jammed in the shift linkage or somehting. All of the fords from that era that I've seen have a switch on the brake pedal linkage that controls the brake lights and shifter lockout. I'd start there and see if that came loose. If it is, you could depress it manually or put a jumper on it to get into gear but that will keep your brake lights on if you leave it connected. If you leave it disconnected you won't have brake lights at all. It may just be unplugged or loose. DELETED fucked around with this message at 19:18 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 19:13
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MomJeans420 posted:I was just going to get a slightly newer manual Z with plans of forced induction in the future, but I just recently started looking at Corvettes. I found a 102,000 mile 2004 Z06 for $18k, but I heard that all the Z06 parts have something similar to the "M tax" on the M-series BMWs. How much would it suck to keep a high mileage Z06 running? Am I better off looking at regular C5s? 100k seems pretty early on a 2000s car. Just check what's coming up on the maintenance schedule. Definitely have a mechanic who knows Corvettes go over the body and underside. The interior might be really ratty, especially with wear on the driver's seat. There's a couple of C5/Z06 buyer's guides out there that you could look at. I'll look up my notes and find what I wrote down.
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May 11, 2012 19:40
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I have a few basic and then some more complicated questions, here it goes. 1 ) I'm 26 and I've never had any credit or any credit problems. I just started paying on my student loans 3-4 months ago and I've got maybe about 15k of debt. I never graduated college but I'm making about ~40k/y+ I need a new car so I've been applying loans. I have a credit score of 710 but all of the banks tell me I have in-sufficient credit history and I've only been at my new job for 8 months. I'll need a co-signer, I can't get one. Oh well. I've been looking at cars around $15k 2004-2008 which mostly consists of Accords, Altimas, etc. Nothing too fancy. I've applied for financing at a few dealership and one of them gave an interest rate of 4.5% on 2008 Subaru Legacy and then the other a 11.2% on a 2007 Honda Accord with a $5k down payment. Does that sound, right? I have no idea what the average down or what it should be for the car or what the typical interest rate is suppose to be for someone in my shoes. May anyone comment on this? 2 ) I'd love to have a fully-loaded Accord 06-07 Accord Coupe or an Accord/Altima with a manual transmission. I live in Fargo, North Dakota which sucks but thanks to the power the internet I can find car for sale far away. I've been searching the following car sits.
I just spoke with a few dealerships but I haven't heard back yet but I am wondering am I missing any car search engines in particular?
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May 11, 2012 20:05
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kimbo305 posted:100k seems pretty early on a 2000s car. Just check what's coming up on the maintenance schedule. Definitely have a mechanic who knows Corvettes go over the body and underside. The interior might be really ratty, especially with wear on the driver's seat. There's a couple of C5/Z06 buyer's guides out there that you could look at. I'll look up my notes and find what I wrote down. Dude it's 2012. That Vette is 8 years old. That's only 13k miles per year which is hardly outrageous. I would suggest taking a look at Corvetteforum, both at the cars for sale there (they seem pretty good about policing people trying to hide stuff) and to find out what to look for/pricing info.
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May 11, 2012 20:12
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Tab8715 posted:I have a few basic and then some more complicated questions, here it goes. When I moved to the US it took me about 2-3 years to get enough credit history to start qualifying for big loans and mortgages, My credit limits on my cards popped up to really stupid high limits all of a sudden and thens when I went out to get a non-cash purchased car. That being said, I'd check with getting a loan with a credit union rather than arranging financing through a dealership. See if your employer has membership with any area credit unions, that will help. Right now at my CU, I can get pretty much any car I want, new, used or private party for 1.9% interest. It could have to do with paying off one of my last truck loans recently and having no debt at the moment, but I'm seeing similar rates at the big credit unions. For a new credit customer I'd avoid paying more than 5-6% interest. 12%+ interest sounds like one of those small used car lots where "we will finance anyone".
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May 11, 2012 20:16
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MomJeans420 posted:I'm looking to replace my 2003 350Z automatic with something sporty, built after 2000, manual transmission, and under $20k. I'm also looking for something that won't be expensive to maintain, which rules out high mileage M3s.
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May 11, 2012 20:19
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Godholio posted:Dude it's 2012. That Vette is 8 years old. In case it wasn't clear, by early, I meant that it was young in miles.
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May 11, 2012 20:33
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I should really get this dry rotted tire replaced, shouldn't I?
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May 11, 2012 21:17
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MomJeans420 posted:I'm looking to replace my 2003 350Z automatic with something sporty, built after 2000, manual transmission, and under $20k. I'm also looking for something that won't be expensive to maintain, which rules out high mileage M3s. How about an S2000? It'll be down on power, but sporty as gently caress. (I have no idea what S2000s go for outside my own country)
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May 11, 2012 21:22
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fuseshock posted:I should really get this dry rotted tire replaced, shouldn't I? Yes. That tire is done. You do not want to suffer a blowout while on the road, because maybe you'll die or someone else will die.
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May 11, 2012 21:42
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Which Cruze models are turbo? Specifically in rental fleets? I rented a 2012 LT today - I never opened the hood, but I know fleets can be optioned in weird ways (for example, it's painted a color that's not even offered on any trim level for the 2012 model). Not sure if it's 1LT or 2LT (I think 2LT, but the keyfob didn't work). I know for consumers, all models are turbo except for the base LS. It was deceptively quick - once it hit about 2500 RPM. Surprised the poo poo out of me when I mashed the gas, it feels a lot quicker than my Altima despite being heavier and having less power. I suspect the 6 speed auto has a bit to do with that, at WOT it shifts into 2nd at 20, 3rd around 38-40. drat nice car overall, I wouldn't mind owning one with a manual. By far the nicest economy car interior I've ever seen.
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May 11, 2012 22:51
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DELETED posted:A piece of debris from the ignition cylinder could have gotten jammed in the shift linkage or somehting. All of the fords from that era that I've seen have a switch on the brake pedal linkage that controls the brake lights and shifter lockout. I'd start there and see if that came loose. If it is, you could depress it manually or put a jumper on it to get into gear but that will keep your brake lights on if you leave it connected. If you leave it disconnected you won't have brake lights at all. It may just be unplugged or loose. I'll give that a shot. Thanks!
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May 11, 2012 22:58
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KozmoNaut posted:How about an S2000? It'll be down on power, but sporty as gently caress. I thought about that, but I'm 6'3" and fairly broad shouldered. Also, I commute 140 miles in traffic every day, so I think I'd like something with a bit more torque for stop and go traffic. I'd probably get another Z over the S2000, but to compete with power compared to the Z06, I'd have to go forced induction, probably eventually need a built engine, and then get it tuned / working 100%. Or I can just buy a Z06 and watch as bolt on mods actually do something for power. After reading the forums it doesn't sound like there are too many issues for the Z06, but now I'm torn looking at ones with half the miles that are over my budget, but not that much over.
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May 11, 2012 23:51
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kimbo305 posted:In case it wasn't clear, by early, I meant that it was young in miles. I thought you were saying it had high mileage for how young it was...my mistake. 
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May 12, 2012 00:46
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some texas redneck posted:Which Cruze models are turbo? Specifically in rental fleets? According to Chevrolet's website everything above the LS has the 1.4L turbo. At least the ones sold to the general public... I would guess the power delivery happens sooner in the powerband with the turbo than it would on a NA four cylinder. That, and according to the Chevy website the engine makes a decent amount of torque for its displacement. Geoj fucked around with this message at 03:44 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 03:41
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So I'm going to do my first oil change on the Lightning tomorrow before my 10 hour drive on Sunday. It's a 95 and I just hit 104,000 miles. What oil should I use for this high mileage on a super charged engine? I had been having the dealer I bought it do it but I ran out of the cheap change coupons. Edit: I'm also trailering a car back 500 miles with a tow dolly. I've towed before but never this distance. Any advice on this trip? Rhyno fucked around with this message at 06:33 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 03:45
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Tab8715 posted:I've been looking at cars around $15k 2004-2008 which mostly consists of Accords, Altimas, etc. Nothing too fancy. I've applied for financing at a few dealership and one of them gave an interest rate of 4.5% on 2008 Subaru Legacy and then the other a 11.2% on a 2007 Honda Accord with a $5k down payment. Interest rates are super low right now. Even if they weren't, 11.2% is outrageous. 4.5% is a bit high. I wouldn't pay anything over 3%, but then again I'm spoiled with good credit history. Still, paying 4.5% for 3 years on a $13k loan is only $300 more than paying 3%, so not too bad. 11.5% would have you paying $1500 more over three years than 4.5%. Geared Hub is right and you should check out credit unions. Also be sure to look at online loan calculators to see what you'll be paying monthly, what your final, total cost will be, and compare what the affect different rates/durations have on what you're paying. Honestly, though, sounds like you have $5,000 to put on a down payment. I'd say buy a used car off Craigslist that will last you 1-2 years, pay off the student loans, build up your credit history, and then look for the new car.
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May 12, 2012 07:37
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Rhyno posted:So I'm going to do my first oil change on the Lightning tomorrow before my 10 hour drive on Sunday. It's a 95 and I just hit 104,000 miles. What oil should I use for this high mileage on a super charged engine? I had been having the dealer I bought it do it but I ran out of the cheap change coupons. Unless it's burning oil, I'd just put in whatever the manual says.
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May 12, 2012 10:37
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Rhyno posted:So I'm going to do my first oil change on the Lightning tomorrow before my 10 hour drive on Sunday. It's a 95 and I just hit 104,000 miles. What oil should I use for this high mileage on a super charged engine? I had been having the dealer I bought it do it but I ran out of the cheap change coupons. Does your Lightning have an aftermarket supercharger? The first gen ones were naturally aspirated from the factory.
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May 12, 2012 13:25
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I know that "pick me a car" threads are banned, but can we still post help requests in this thread? I need car guys to weigh in. If this is verboten I apologize. I'm trying to decide between two SUVs: 1.) 2005 BMW X3 3.0 with 75K miles. Selling for $16K but I talked the dealer down to $15K. 2.) 2009 Saab 9-7x 4.2L with 55K miles. Selling for $16K and I can't get the dealer to move at all. I'm looking for something that is refined, professional and clean and both cars fit that bill. I need something to drive for between three and five years, at which point I will sell it and get something else that meets those criteria. Resale value is a factor. My second concern is one of economy versus fun. That BMW is a blast to drive, but the Saab is okay too. Finally, though, I'm worried about maintenance and repair costs. The Saab uses GM parts, which are not only ubiquitous here in Michigan but I also have experience fixing GMT360 trucks. The BMW is a BMW. I think I'm leaning to the Saab. Anybody have anything else they'd like to add before I pull the trigger on Monday? Again, if this isn't an okay question for here I'm sorry and I'll delete this.
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May 12, 2012 14:04
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Uthor posted:Interest rates are super low right now. Even if they weren't, 11.2% is outrageous. 4.5% is a bit high. I wouldn't pay anything over 3%, but then again I'm spoiled with good credit history. Still, paying 4.5% for 3 years on a $13k loan is only $300 more than paying 3%, so not too bad. 11.5% would have you paying $1500 more over three years than 4.5%. I got 2.44% with an over-720 score and no job.
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May 12, 2012 15:27
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After 8 years and nearly 120k miles, the OEM battery in my civic is about ready to poo poo the bed. It's been a little sluggish turning the car over recently so I had it load tested... not very good results. What's the general consensus on quality replacement batteries? I've been drat impressed with the OEM one, it's lasted longer than any other car battery I've had. Tempted to get another OEM one but wouldn't mind something else if it's going to perform the same amount of time for less money.
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May 12, 2012 15:49
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needknees posted:After 8 years and nearly 120k miles, the OEM battery in my civic is about ready to poo poo the bed. It's been a little sluggish turning the car over recently so I had it load tested... not very good results. Almost all car batteries are just branded and made by Johnson Controls or Exide. They're not much different, so I'd just go for the cheapest that fits your car.
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May 12, 2012 16:34
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Godholio posted:I got 2.44% with an over-720 score and no job. Yeah, I got 0% a few years ago before the economy poo poo the bed and they were giving money away. My sis got 2.9% in 2010 with okay credit, but had a cosigner. VW has 0% and 1.9% specials right now. I'm just not sure what they would offer someone without a credit history. A couple hundred dollars extra over three years isn't too bad if you have to get the 4.5% loan, but I would avoid it if I could.
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May 12, 2012 17:03
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Feces Starship posted:I know that "pick me a car" threads are banned, but can we still post help requests in this thread? I need car guys to weigh in. If this is verboten I apologize. The Saab is just a Trailblazer. Your better off finding a used one with less miles for the same money. The X5 is pretty fun, handles like a car. The engine is good, the only problems that they really have is transmission issues, but I think that was isolated for a couple of the early years. The Trailblazer platform isn't bad, but its just full of plastic and the rattles will drive you insane.
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May 12, 2012 17:07
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needknees posted:After 8 years and nearly 120k miles, the OEM battery in my civic is about ready to poo poo the bed. It's been a little sluggish turning the car over recently so I had it load tested... not very good results. Get the high-end Duralast 51-R from Auto-Zone. It actually has more RC than the Honda OEM battery, and technically a better warranty, also potentially fresher. I'm not positive on that last point, but I don't think Honda ships them dry, being "maintenance free" and all.
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May 12, 2012 17:43
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I have to disagree with 'Sir Cornelius', pay a little more now when it comes to batteries. 20% more may give you double (or more) of the life. I'm speaking from anecdotes, a "good" (OEM, high end) battery is like gold at a lovely car lot/shop.
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May 12, 2012 18:12
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