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No. 6 posted:I just bought a 2006 A8L (D3) and I'm paying about $100 a month full coverage. Not too bad considering. I'm also over 30 and married so YMMV. I pay $98 for full coverage on a 2006 Saturn  Closer to 40 than 30, but single, and terrible credit (the worst of which will fall off this year), with every option except roadside assistance checked. I could probably get it down to $90 if I got rid of the $50k of medical coverage, or ditch rental coverage, or went with a no-name company, but...
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Mar 26, 2014 05:32
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EKDS5k posted:A little late, but: You know how people prattle on about wanting vehicles that are less complex so that there's less to go wrong, and then proceed to buy a car with aircon, electric windows, central locking et al? Tractors actually are built to the less-is-more principle. No frame means no frame rot, no frame flexing, no extra bullshit. There's nothing more to it than that.
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Mar 26, 2014 07:55
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Brigdh posted:Could you specify how it acts as a de-icer? A quick search on google seems to indicate it is just an abrasive for traction - ie replaces sand. It also absorbs water moisture and darkens the surface allowing more sun to get to it. It's really coarse though so you'll often get 2" halos around individual pieces of cinder where it worked and then it obviously can't help any other snow. Also it's absolute hell to bike on.
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Mar 26, 2014 08:12
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Speaking of studded tires, the rules over here (in Norway) are * You must use winter tires in the winter, though they don't have to be studded. * You can't use studded tires in the summer (and you will probably be pulled over if the traffic cops hear you rattling along in June). * Oslo requires an extra fee to run studded tires in the city, which is understandable - they create a lot more road dust, and in here there's seldom any need for them . This leads to a whole little industry of tire changing in the spring and fall for everyone who can't be bothered to do it themselves.
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Mar 26, 2014 09:27
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two forty posted:If as much as Vermont as I am led to believe is hosed up on heroin, do you think they're gonna notice their car even has tires? Vermont is nothing but moose, heroin and maple syrup.
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Mar 26, 2014 14:18
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daslog posted:Subaru Fuel Filler pipe vs New Hampshire winter. Bitch please.   
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Mar 26, 2014 14:33
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Kill-9 posted:Well, I think I know why I have no oil pressure in the Thunderbird. Goddamn, do that a few more times and you can make a nice railing for the front porch. Hope there aren't any fragments from the break floating around where they shouldn't be, I'd stick a neodymium super magnet out of an old hard drive in the sump away from where the pickup lives. That way eventually any fragments that are still wandering around will get trapped on it.
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Mar 26, 2014 15:16
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Kill-9 posted:Well, I think I know why I have no oil pressure in the Thunderbird. I was looking at that wondering why the thread pitch changed from one end to the other and what possible purpose it could have served to design it that way when it finally dawned on me what I was seeing.
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Mar 26, 2014 15:19
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Kill-9 posted:I had no clue it went until I started hearing noise from the rockers that weren't getting oil. No poo poo. I'm hoping I shut it down in time before any real damage set in. I've got to get it running by next weekend. There's an invite only show in town and the Discovery Channel will be filming there. My Bird is one of the <300 cars invited. Should be a blast. I look forward to your new Discovery Channel show about goon restorations. The nutcup episode cannot be played on TV in any country at any time ever.
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Mar 26, 2014 16:53
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And that's how Easy Outs are made.
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Mar 26, 2014 17:22
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You can always make your own studded tires.
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Mar 26, 2014 17:55
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G-Mach posted:You can always make your own studded tires. That's basically what you do for tubed tires, why should tubeless be any different? 
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Mar 26, 2014 18:04
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Seat Safety Switch posted:That's basically what you do for tubed tires, why should tubeless be any different? Those tires only lose around 1 psi after a whole day out on the ice. 
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Mar 26, 2014 18:32
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Rugoberta Munchu posted:And that's how Easy Outs are made. Exactly what I thought of when I pulled it out except it's threaded the wrong way. It's a rare reverse-thread Easy Out. Something you might need exactly once in your entire life.
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Mar 26, 2014 18:40
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For when you have to remove right side motorcycle mirror stalks. Otherwise, Easy In.
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Mar 26, 2014 20:51
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Kill-9 posted:Doing the oil pump is a whole 'nother world of hurt. There's a crossmember in the way so I have to lift the engine to drop the pan. I haven't quite worked out how I'll pull that off in my small garage. Car up on stands and use the floor jack to raise the engine until it's clear I suppose. The issue is I'll need to be under it when this occurs. The possibility of 2.5 tons of 50 year old American steel dropping on my face is not pleasant the think about. Do you have one of these? If not it should help: http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-engine-support-bar-96524.html#.UzM0dZ3naHs
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Mar 26, 2014 21:12
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Kill-9 posted:Well, I think I know why I have no oil pressure in the Thunderbird. You should hang that on your fridge, it's better than most of the art other parents put on their fridge.
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Mar 26, 2014 21:45
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LloydDobler posted:Do you have one of these? If not it should help: http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-engine-support-bar-96524.html#.UzM0dZ3naHs I used a piece of 1" steel pipe, two 2 x 4s with holes bored to fit the pipe, and ratchet straps to do the same thing when I pulled the trans to do the clutch in my wife's Spectra5. The 2 x 4s sat on where the fenders bolted to the body under the hood, and the holes were bored high enough in the boards for the pipe to clear the tops of the fenders. Worked pretty well, actually. I'd go up a few sizes in board and pipe for an American V8, though. 
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Mar 26, 2014 21:48
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LloydDobler posted:Do you have one of these? If not it should help: http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-engine-support-bar-96524.html#.UzM0dZ3naHs I did not know this existed. It appears I will be visiting the nearest Harbor Freight before the weekend. This will make my life a shitload easier.
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Mar 26, 2014 22:02
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Wasabi the J posted:And yet, there are de-icing agents that are non-toxic and don't destroy chassis. Magnesium Chloride is pretty benign for cars, but is being shown to turn roads into year-round oil slicks as it is absorbed and subsequently re-excreted by the pavement. Calcium Chloride turns anything it touches into concrete, except for actual concrete, which is eats the hell out of. Brigdh posted:Oh, yeah, that sounds like its just a quicker way to melt the dusting of snow as it warms back up the next day. Sand is typically used as a cost saving supplement to salt, but it turns out that the cleanup costs actually make it more expensive than using salt alone, and also it is less effective at preventing accidents, and also it's worse for the environment. None of those things stop the local municipalities from using it. Winter is hell on both roads and cars, and there's not a whole lot that can be done about it other than thorough cleaning. Haha, I remember being completely baffled(along with the mechanics) as to why so many starters would start going bad on our big freightliner plows right around the same time, and it turned out it was just salt from the spreaders corroding the chassis ground that had stupidly been placed right under the furthest forward part of the conveyor. Also, frieghtliner's version of a locking differential is hilariously awful, but to be fair, those trucks were not at all made to do what we were using them for.
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Mar 28, 2014 05:50
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Kill-9 posted:I did not know this existed. It appears I will be visiting the nearest Harbor Freight before the weekend. This will make my life a shitload easier. Harbor freight is great for tools that you will be using one time, and one time only. Even then, they might not survive the whole job, like when a guy I know got a ball joint press from them, and it snapped in the middle of taking off the second one...
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Mar 28, 2014 05:56
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BLARGHLE posted:Harbor freight is great for tools that you will be using one time, and one time only. Even then, they might not survive the whole job, like when a guy I know got a ball joint press from them, and it snapped in the middle of taking off the second one... Tell me about it. I didn't think anyone could gently caress up wrenches, but I bought a set of line wrenches and the MOMENT I tried it on a brake line fitting on my Miata it snapped  .The 1/2" impact sockets I got have been really nice, though, as well as the Pittsburgh ratcheting wrenches.
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Mar 28, 2014 05:58
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McSpatula posted:Pretty tame, but a contribution to the pile. Here's an RPF1 and tire destroyed by the mean streets of Compton. That isn't poo poo  RIP SSR Type-Cs Didn't even hit anything, just track days and autocross. (Ignore the hosed up rotors).
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Mar 28, 2014 06:03
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Beach Bum posted:Tell me about it. I didn't think anyone could gently caress up wrenches, but I bought a set of line wrenches and the MOMENT I tried it on a brake line fitting on my Miata it snapped I'm pretty sure I've snapped every ratchet I was foolish enough to buy there, along with basically everything else. They're good for small disposable stuff, like "dental" picks/cut off wheels/carbide bits/hole saws/forstner bits/etc, and one-use tools. I would never buy anything I needed any real precision out of(micrometer, torque wrench) or wanted to use for a long time(impact, sockets, basically anything else). That said, I have broken a whole bunch of husky sockets from fighting with rusted out bolts on old scags and poo poo, so...yeah
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Mar 28, 2014 06:04
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BLARGHLE posted:Magnesium Chloride is pretty benign for cars <snip> Uhh, what? Colorado DOT did a study and found mag chloride was just as harsh on metal as calcium chloride, the only difference being that mag chloride was more corrosive when just wet, and calcium chloride was more corrosive when the metal was "immersed" in it. Since mag chloride is typically sprayed on the road as a solution, its already in a corrosive state. Mag chloride also tends to suck because it usually requires a pressure washer to get off due to its surprising adhesive properties. Unfortunately, every thing considered (cost, effectiveness at ice removal, effect on the environment) its about the best solution currently.
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Mar 28, 2014 06:14
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nm posted:That isn't poo poo Yikes. Is that cracked all the way though?
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Mar 28, 2014 06:15
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The tool I'm most proud of breaking is a 1/2" drive snap-on breaker bar. To be fair, a section of pipe was involved.
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Mar 28, 2014 06:21
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Brigdh posted:Yikes. Is that cracked all the way though? Oh yes. It failed pretty gracefully though. Based on a noise I heard that I now think was the spoke moving in the crack I did a few autocross runs like that before I noticed it. That photo makes it really obvious, but from most angles it just looked like a scratch or even cone blood. It was just too many heat cycles and lateral forces. I bought the wheels from a guy who did time attack and track days for a few years then put 3-4 more years of track days and auto cross on it. I miss those wheels. I now have RPF-1s like every other sucker. That said, if anyone wants 3 SSR type-Cs in subaru fit in anthracite I'll throw in a free paper weight.
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Mar 28, 2014 06:33
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BLARGHLE posted:Harbor freight is great for tools that you will be using one time, and one time only. Even then, they might not survive the whole job, like when a guy I know got a ball joint press from them, and it snapped in the middle of taking off the second one... That said, I've never had a Harbor Freight socket break on me, even with my abuse. I do tend to buy the impact-grade ones from there if that means anything.
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Mar 28, 2014 06:37
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Brigdh posted:Uhh, what? Colorado DOT did a study and found mag chloride was just as harsh on metal as calcium chloride, the only difference being that mag chloride was more corrosive when just wet, and calcium chloride was more corrosive when the metal was "immersed" in it. Since mag chloride is typically sprayed on the road as a solution, its already in a corrosive state. Mag chloride also tends to suck because it usually requires a pressure washer to get off due to its surprising adhesive properties. PENNDOT did some studies that found it easier on both metal and pavement than calcium chloride, and had a test section of one of the major interstates(I forget which one at the moment) that was seeping a shitload of magnesium chloride and making it a slippery mess. I wasn't saying that either of them was good in any way, just that they were alternatives to sodium chloride. I should say that all of this is coming from paperwork used by a NE Pennsylvanian company to win multi-million dollar snow removal contracts on northern Va interstates, and I could see where it might need to be taken with a grain of salt. I wish I still had some of the hilarious pictures of what calcium chloride used to do to boots and gloves Fire Storm posted:Ratchet wrenches. I have yet to get a 1/4" drive wrench that survives it's first use or a 3/8" that lasts more than 15 minutes, so I end up getting everything from there in 1/2" drive and using my Husky set. When I kill THAT, I think I'm gonna need to get some Snap-On or something. Yeah, I used to try to save money with that stuff, but the internals would always snap as soon as I started to really crank on it. I've been debating the Snap-on stuff for years, but I really haven't been able to justify the cost compared to the husky stuff I got on sale like five years ago and have beat the gently caress out of BLARGHLE fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Mar 28, 2014 |
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Mar 28, 2014 06:46
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BLARGHLE posted:PENNDOT did some studies that found it easier on both metal and pavement than calcium chloride, and had a test section of one of the major interstates(I forget which one at the moment) that was seeping a shitload of magnesium chloride and making it a slippery mess. I wasn't saying that either of them was good in any way, just that they were alternatives to sodium chloride. 
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Mar 28, 2014 07:18
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You guys are the polar opposite of me on HF and husky. I set up a diff using only HF mic and dial indicator. Worked great, accurate. Their torque wrenches are reported to be accurate and I will probably buy one soon, since I dropped my current one and broke the grip. I've never used HF ratchets and probably never will. But I can't use a husky ratchet more than 2-3 times without completely destroying it. I wont use HF cutoff wheels... they use something nasty in them and there are cancer warnings on them. Alumina cutoffs only, especially since I get good ones for 53 cents each and HF ones are 80 cents each. I use the poo poo out of my HF 3/4" breaker bar and doubt I will ever break it. I have broken at least a dozen husky 1/2" breaker bars and gave up on those. The long handle HF 1/2" breaker bar is pretty close to unbreakable too but I was starting to move to 3/4 drive for heavy duty stuff anyways so I decided to get a matching breaker bar and haven't regretted it.
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Mar 28, 2014 07:21
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Beach Bum posted:Tell me about it. I didn't think anyone could gently caress up wrenches, but I bought a set of line wrenches and the MOMENT I tried it on a brake line fitting on my Miata it snapped A couple years ago Harbor Freight was the only place that had the crowfoot sockets I needed. I didn't think anyone could gently caress those up either. Joke was on me; the 3/8" square end wasn't 3/8" and the wrench ends weren't their stated sizes. They eventually did the job. Poorly. Same experience with the impact sockets as you, though. Those things are spot-on and seem to be drat near indestructible. kastein posted:Their torque wrenches are reported to be accurate and I will probably buy one soon, since I dropped my current one and broke the grip. Yeah, their torque wrenches are surprisingly good (and unfortunately just went off super sale). Locking mechanism's kind of crappy, but it's hard to complain about a reasonably accurate $12 torque wrench. Molten Llama fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Mar 28, 2014 |
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Mar 28, 2014 07:40
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BLARGHLE posted:PENNDOT did some studies that found it easier on both metal and pavement than calcium chloride, and had a test section of one of the major interstates(I forget which one at the moment) that was seeping a shitload of magnesium chloride and making it a slippery mess. I wasn't saying that either of them was good in any way, just that they were alternatives to sodium chloride. Calcium magnesium acetate and potassium formate where initially used on the Great Belt bridge here in Denmark, in an attempt to mitigate the corrosive effects of sodium chloride on the bridge's construction. However, this approach was abandoned after testing showed that CMA and CHKO2 in fact corroded the galvanized construction more than plain old NaCl on metal exposed to open air. On enclosed areas that were kept moist during the 30-month test period, corrosion was identical between the three. And considering the fact that the bridge crosses a marine environment, the environmental impact of using NaCl is basically non-existent. I know they've also tested urea as a deicer, but I don't know what the conclusions were, so their recommendation was to use NaCl and avoid moisture-collecting areas in the construction as much as possible. KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 08:14 on Mar 28, 2014 |
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Mar 28, 2014 08:11
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I can't comprehend the abuse some of you dish out. I've had a HF ratchet set since 2006 and all 3 of them are still kicking. They're all 80 tooth too, I can't tell an appreciable difference between them and the Snap-On stuff. My buddy as some of the composite ratchets and loves them. I do live in the South and don't own heavy equipment, all of my experience is on normal cars, the oldest being my '65 Mercury Comet. I've mostly used their impact sockets and wiggle extensions. I have twisted the poo poo out of some of the extensions but haven't had a bad socket yet. The torque wrench is as accurate as my Blue-Point according to my fish scale. The multimeter and angle gauge are the exact same as Craftsman for 1/4 the price. Torx/Allen bits or the like are best bought from Milwaukee, though. And I don't trust HF grindy stuff either. The protective gear works well. Welding wire and thread taps are garbage. 10 ton press needs some reinforcement but turnbuckles do the job, and is cheaper than welding your own. I don't have salt or mag-chloride, but my state was completely shut down for a few days this year.
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Mar 28, 2014 08:16
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KozmoNaut posted:Calcium magnesium acetate and potassium formate where initially used on the Great Belt bridge here in Denmark, in an attempt to mitigate the corrosive effects of sodium chloride on the bridge's construction. I guess the moral of the story is that any chemical that melts ice will also melt everything else! wallaka posted:I can't comprehend the abuse some of you dish out. I've had a HF ratchet set since 2006 and all 3 of them are still kicking. They're all 80 tooth too, I can't tell an appreciable difference between them and the Snap-On stuff. My buddy as some of the composite ratchets and loves them. I do live in the South and don't own heavy equipment, all of my experience is on normal cars, the oldest being my '65 Mercury Comet. I broke all of my HF ratchets doing fleet maintenance on cars/trucks, and I have yet to find a brand of extension/reducer that couldn't be destroyed through regular use. All of the sockets I've broken have been with a breaker bar on equipment. I may be a little hard on that stuff though! I pretty much only use cut-off wheels for cutting the shackles on disk locks anymore, although I used to have to cut off a lot of bolt heads on rusted equipment.
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Mar 28, 2014 09:35
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I have an HF angle grinder and cutoff wheels, it hasn't impaled me yet (I've heard horror stories of HF grinders shooting cooling blades out the vents, and the wheels are said to be similarly explody). As for the cancer warning, I smoke and weld, and wear a gas mask when grinding. It won't be the grinding wheels that give me cancer. I just bought a couple of HF ratchets the other day, to replace my Craftsman 1/4" (lost like MA 370; it's got to be around here somewhere, but damned if I can find it) and broken (and also currently MIA) 1/2". Though the 1/2" was only $12, I'll be pleasantly surprised if it lasts, and no big loss if it doesn't -- I mean, I managed to knock a few teeth off a '90s Craftsman. (I'm one of those guys who uses a 3-pound hammer as a cheater instead of a piece of pipe.)
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Mar 28, 2014 14:38
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Bad Angus! Bad!
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I nuked a $20 Husky ratchet set at the junkyard once, but as in jamal's example, a pipe was involved. Ball bearings everywhere.
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Mar 28, 2014 14:42
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Spotted this at Uni the other day, was mounted on a beat to poo poo newer Lexus, the rest of it looked like someone took it rallying through a war zone.   My guess is they'll drive it like that until it fails spectacularly.
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Mar 28, 2014 14:50
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Delivery McGee posted:(I'm one of those guys who uses a 3-pound hammer as a cheater instead of a piece of pipe.) I love my 3-pounder. I've beaten the everloving poo poo out of my Stanley 1/2" drive and it just takes it every time.
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Mar 28, 2014 15:11
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