Home Repair (alt.home.repair) For all homeowners and DIYers with many experienced tradesmen. Solve your toughest home fix-it problems.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #41   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Paintedcow wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:15:16 -0600:

Harbor Freight is the LAST place I'd buy tools. I have been dissatisfied
with almost everything from them. If I want cheaper tools, I usually buy
the "Toolshop" branded stuff from Menards. Most of their tools have been
fairly decent. Otherwise I'll pay the higher price and get Craftsman or
at least the middle of the road brands like Stanley or Black & Decker.


I know. I know. I know.

When I was looking for balancers and tire changing tools, I found better
ones (Northern?) but they also cost more.

If I were to do the job once a month or so, it would pay to get the better
tools. I agree.

But, how often do you really change all your tires?
I do it once every couple of years at most.

So, in the next 20 years, I'll change tires about 10 times.
For that, the HF tire-changing tool works just fine.

PS: I had to bolt it to a pallet though, as there's no way you can use
it without mounting it to something sturdy.
  #42   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Ralph Mowery wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:21:16 -0500:

I like the deal I got at Tire Discount. They rotate the tires for free and
will patch anyones tire in the famialy for free if they give them your
telephone number. I have not used the repair service, but while waiting on
a rotation I was talking to a man and he told me this was his 4 th repair.
The dealer treated him just as good as if he was buyin 4 new tires and told
him to come back if he has another flat.


This is the same deal (almost) that Costco gives.
Costco, if you bought from them, will repair for free.

Problem with Costco is the huge wait.
Dunno about Tire Discount's wait.
  #43   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Tony Hwang wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 13:36:21 -0700:

You don't balance them when installing yourself?


Of course I do.
I balance them *statically*.
If you want, I'll snap a picture of my mounting and balance tools.

I use the stickon weights from HF.
I bought quarter ounce zinc weights (California has a thing about lead).
But I found 1/2 ounce is fine so next time I'll buy 1/2 ounce instead.

There is no vibration.
At any speed.
Yes I fully know EVERYONE swears you must dynamically balance.
I know that.

But, guess what?
My wheels don't vibrate.
At any speed.

So what does that tell you?
  #44   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:37:51 -0500:

The plug patch is far superior to the string. I'll use a string in
an emergency - reluctantly.


I keep the T-shaped handle thing in my car for emergencies.
What I really need, for emergencies, is air.
I keep buying that liquid-air stuff, and it keeps going bad.

What I really need is simply a tire-valve-hose.

That way, I can suck some air out of the other four tires to
fill the one tire that is temporarily patched from the outside
in a super emergency.

Problem is, there are never any emergencies.
The spare works just fine when I get a flat.

So, why repair on the road from the outside?
  #45   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,228
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch


"Danny D." wrote in message
...
This is the same deal (almost) that Costco gives.
Costco, if you bought from them, will repair for free.

Problem with Costco is the huge wait.
Dunno about Tire Discount's wait.


When I got the tires (they had to order them) I set up a time to be there
and was taken right away. For the rotations so far there may have been one
person ahead of me. Guess that it could be the time of day as to how busy
they are. Being retired I usually go during the week around 10:00.

The do have a big window with some stools where you can look at them doing
the work. They use some impact wrenches on the nuts, but do a final
tightning with a torque wrench.




  #46   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,228
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch


"Danny D." wrote in message
...
There is no vibration.
At any speed.
Yes I fully know EVERYONE swears you must dynamically balance.
I know that.

But, guess what?
My wheels don't vibrate.
At any speed.

So what does that tell you?


When I worked for Sears around 1970 all we had was the bubble balancer. I
was told to slide the weights around the wheel in pairs, put one on the
bottom and then put the other on the top for the final balance. Don't know
if this did anything,but was the standard for them.


  #47   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,228
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch


"Danny D." wrote in message
...

I keep the T-shaped handle thing in my car for emergencies.
What I really need, for emergencies, is air.
I keep buying that liquid-air stuff, and it keeps going bad.

What I really need is simply a tire-valve-hose.

That way, I can suck some air out of the other four tires to
fill the one tire that is temporarily patched from the outside
in a super emergency.

Problem is, there are never any emergencies.
The spare works just fine when I get a flat.


I did see a man put the patch on his tire and use one of the battery powered
pumps to pump up the tire. Not sure if he had a spare or not. It was on
something like a station wagon and to get to the spare he would have had a
long time removing all the stuff he had in the back over the tire.

A girl was over at our house visiting my son. She had a flat and I changed
it for her. Her trunk was filled with stuff. It took her about 20 minuits
to get it all out. Yard looked we were having a yard sell.

So, why repair on the road from the outside?



  #48   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,730
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/7/2015 5:00 PM, Danny D. wrote:
What I really need is simply a tire-valve-hose.

That way, I can suck some air out of the other four tires to
fill the one tire that is temporarily patched from the outside
in a super emergency.


I'll continue to use my 12 volt compressor
from Harbor Freight.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..
  #49   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 21:33:33 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:45:00 -0500:

I've ballanced many a tire dynamically that was in perfect static
ballance but caused severe high speed shimmy. I've even balanced tires
that had been "road force balanced and still shook - and gotten rid of
the shake. I used to balance within 1/8 ounce and could get a V rated
tire dead smooth to over 140MPH.

Try that with a bubble ballancer. Particualarly on something like a
2555/50 rire.


I know. I know. I know. I know.
I know what you're saying even BEFORE you said it.

All I can tell you is that I bought the tools.
I then mounted only 5 tires on BBS rims with the HF mounting tool.
I balanced each one meticulously with a static balancer from HF.
And my car does NOT shake shimmy or vibrate at any speed.

What does *that* tell you?

If my car shook, shimmied, or vibrated, *then* I would start looking
at balance (among a ton of other things like suspension and tire pressure
differences and tread differences and shocks, alignment, etc.).

That's all I can tell you.

Clearly, if my tire vibrated at speed, I would take it to a shop, and
pay them $30 to test ride the car, and then they would *tell* me if
it was alignment or balance or a worn suspension, etc.

What I'm saying is that you do NOT need to ALWAYS dynamically balance.
If you mount your own tires, you get the CHOICE.


Some tires give you a choice. Some don't
I have installed sets of tires that didn't even need ANY balancing to
run at extra-legal speeds with no shake - but they are extremely rare.

I've likely installed as many sets of tires as anyone here on this
list - some years installing over 1800 sets .
Most years of my 25 "active" years well over 400 sets.

I've used bubble balancers, on-car spin ballancers, and computerized
dynamic ballancers from at least 4 manufacturers.

A large percentage of tires have a significant dynamic inballance.
Some cars are not fussy about dynamic balance - others are very fussy.
I do realize that if you have a shop do your tires (which 99.99999% of
you do), then dynamic balance is thrown in with the standard charge, so
there is no sense in NOT getting dynamically balanced.

But, in "my" case, dynamic balancing would be a waste.

Or, are you saying, that I secretly have a vibration that I don't
know about yet?


  #50   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 07 Dec 2015 16:34:49 -0500, Micky
wrote:

On Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:56:18 -0500, Micky
wrote:


On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 16:45:40 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

I'm gonna patch my first automotive tire this week.


I just use "strings", with rubber cement, and it works well.
I follow the instructions.


I should add that with the strings, you stuff the folded string in the
hole, then when the probe is in the tire, you rotate it a couple
turns, and that make a "ball" of string inside the tire, so the string
doesn't come out. That's why the probe shouldn't be a comple 0, but
have an opening in the side, like a C, so that it will come loose and
you can pull it out without any of the string.

I used to use "plugs'.


They worked well too.

My probe/rasp tool finally broke, so I bought a better quality one.
Maybe I bought a better quality of both.


Some webpage pointed to by some post here said holes up to 1/4" but my
impression is that a 3/8 or evne 1/2 screw makes a hole that is bigger
than 1/4" when something is holding the hole open, but closes down to
almost nothing when the screw is removed. ???

The hole in the cords of the tire are the size of what goes through -
and the "plug" needs to fill the hole right to the cords - so no - the
hole sdoes not "close in" requiring or allowing a smaller plug. It
closes down to LOOK like a smaller hole.


  #51   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 21:44:31 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:40:32 -0500:

Actually quite a few would. I know mine did. It's the only way to keep
customers. Treet them like GOLD. The car salesman sells a customer
his first car from the dealership. The service department sells him
the next - and the next - if there is a next.


I have a beemer.
It breaks a lot.

The dealer service department gives me plenty of free soda and coffee.
And then they charge four hundred dollars to replace a battery.

No thanks.

Buying another bimmer???
From that dealer???
Nope - unless you are a masochist and an idiot.

But bimmer dealers prey on people like that.
  #52   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 21:45:55 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Danny D. wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 21:44:31 +0000:

I have a beemer.
It breaks a lot.

The dealer service department gives me plenty of free soda and coffee.
And then they charge four hundred dollars to replace a battery.


The bimmer costs even more because it has twice as many wheels
and a far larger battery.

No thanks on anything at the dealer other than a warranty or recall
repair (which should be free).



Everybody who thinks they are somebody needs to own one bimmer, I
Merc, one Porsche, 1 Audi, and 1 Caddilac for good measure.

"If you have to ask how much, you can't afford it"
  #53   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 21:58:04 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Tony Hwang wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 13:36:21 -0700:

You don't balance them when installing yourself?


Of course I do.
I balance them *statically*.
If you want, I'll snap a picture of my mounting and balance tools.

I use the stickon weights from HF.
I bought quarter ounce zinc weights (California has a thing about lead).
But I found 1/2 ounce is fine so next time I'll buy 1/2 ounce instead.

There is no vibration.
At any speed.
Yes I fully know EVERYONE swears you must dynamically balance.
I know that.

But, guess what?
My wheels don't vibrate.
At any speed.

So what does that tell you?

If your tires don't shake at any speed balancing only to the closest
half ounce you are not very sensitive to shake or you don't drive very
fast is all I can say.
  #54   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 22:00:05 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:37:51 -0500:

The plug patch is far superior to the string. I'll use a string in
an emergency - reluctantly.


I keep the T-shaped handle thing in my car for emergencies.
What I really need, for emergencies, is air.
I keep buying that liquid-air stuff, and it keeps going bad.

What I really need is simply a tire-valve-hose.

That way, I can suck some air out of the other four tires to
fill the one tire that is temporarily patched from the outside
in a super emergency.

Problem is, there are never any emergencies.
The spare works just fine when I get a flat.

So, why repair on the road from the outside?

When the spare is in the bottom of the trunk, and the trunk is full
and it's too nasty to put everything in the trunk on the side of the
road to get the spare out. Or when the spare is flat too.

A 12 volt compressor or a good manual tire pump is a lot better than
canned air

  #55   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,730
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/7/2015 3:49 PM, Oren wrote:
On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 19:51:10 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

(PS: Where the hell is Oren & Chris?)


I'm here. Polishing bullets and deciding on another gun


It took me a while to walk home after the flat.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..


  #56   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,730
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/7/2015 2:51 PM, Danny D. wrote:
I am the same. I "do" buy Craftsman tools, although, lately, Harbor
Frieght tools work fine - but - maybe because I already have all the
basic tools, so, what I need are things like tire changers and
static balancers nowadays (not wrenches and screwdrivers).

CY: I had mixed results with HF. Most of the tools have worked fine.



They charged about $20 more than the chain store for the
alignment, but they did the work and said all the parts were fine.


Remind me to tell you the story of when I want to AAmco (again, as
a stupid kid) when they wanted to charge me $400 for a new transmission
when the real problem turned out to be bad motor mounts (causing a
screeching of the belts).


CY: And the Aamco that finished rebuilding
my TX. Problem was, it would not stay in
park. I'd stop, put the shift in park, take
my foot off the brake, and the vehicle rolls
away. I took it back, and they gave me a
story about how badly stretched was the
linkage. I took it home, and find the two
rods connect with a loop and bolt. Loosen
the bolt, shift the loop about 3/8 inch,
and the problem is solved. The Aamco shop
could not do that? Nonsense.


I found this out ONLY because I didn't have the money to pay $400
to Aamco. They were "professionals" so I believed them, but, when
I went to a mechanic, he said the only problem was the motor mounts,
which, after I replaced them (pretty easy job) *was* the problem!

So, AAmco is either incompetent, or crooks.
And, we all know they're not *that* incompetant.


CY: I wonder.


The end result is that you can only trust yourself, and the guys
here who aren't making any money off of you and me.

Thanks you guys! (PS: Where the hell is Oren & Chris?)


CY: Oh, sorry the hell for not commenting sooner
the hell.


I will never take another car to Sears, K-Mart, or any of the chain
stores for any repairs.


Don't get me started on the actions of Midas Muffler last I went there!


CY: Myself and many others have endured the
Midas three level pricing.
1) phone. Oh, it sounds like $75
2) quote at the counter, double the
phone quote. Gonna be $150.
3) Out the door price. Double the
counter price. We had to replace some
other parts, and the total came to $300.


I once tried to do an alignment myself. Forget it.... I'll never try
that again.


Alignment is one of the last bastions that a shade-tree mechanic
doesn't do.

CY: I can do toe sets, using either a long board and
magic marker. Or if I have second worker, a tape
measure.


I *bought* all the tools (e.g., digital levels) and made a toe measurement
tool. While toe is the easiest of all, it's not easy to measure nor to
even UNDERSTAND alignment. I think I understand it better than most, but,
even so, we need about $500 to $1,000 in tools to do the job easily.

Notice, we do NOT need the $50K to $100K tool that the shops use. They
have VASTLY different requirements than we have. We just need a level
garage floor, decent measurement tools, a decent lift system, and
the knowledge of how to convert inches to degrees and vice versa.





  #57   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,730
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/7/2015 1:13 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

I do know lots of places will rip you off. Local Ford dealer did to a
friend. He took a car with a V8 to get the plugs changed. It came back
with the same miss in the engine it had. They only changed 7 plugs as the
8th was very hard to get to. He went back and complained and was asked how
he knew the plug was not changed. He said because 7 were of one brand and
the hard to get to was another.


CY: I had a five spark plug tuneup, one time. They were
honest enough to tell me about it. "in pretty tight".
Some time later, I went after the spark plug which
wasn't too hard to change, after the wheel was off
and push the mud flap up. A couple weeks ago, I did
an eight plug tune up on my van. That did wonders. Ought
to done that years ago. The guy across the street from
me kept telling me how miserable a job it was, and I'd
best let him do it. He kept being sick or unavailable,
and finally I just started the job my self.


I hate that a local 'shade tree mechanic' got too old and quit. He was an
honest man and good at what he did. I had him to do several jobs for me
like changing a timing belt. He recommended a few othe things such as the
water pump as it was driven by the belt and all it was 4 bolts to do it.
Said it would not be any more labor and just his cost of the part. Bet not
many if any dealers would do that.


CY: I'd have to agree with that. Real shame the honest
ones retire.


  #58   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,730
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/7/2015 1:13 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
I do know lots of places will rip you off. Local Ford dealer did to a
friend. He took a car with a V8 to get the plugs changed. It came back
with the same miss in the engine it had. They only changed 7 plugs as the
8th was very hard to get to. He went back and complained and was asked how
he knew the plug was not changed. He said because 7 were of one brand and
the hard to get to was another.


Makes you wonder if the tune up before that
was also a 7 plug tune up? Could have been
a rather ancient spark plug.


--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..
  #59   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,297
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/7/2015 1:40 PM, Danny D. wrote:
Frank wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 13:13:37 -0500:

Company would not honor warranty since I did not return to where I
bought them but the shop where I bought them reimbursed me.


I make every mistake you can make, and I've made that buying tires
by warranty mistake also. In addition, I bought the useless extended
warranty.

Once I tried to return a tire I thought wore too early and the tire
under warranty would cost MORE than a tire NOT under warranty because
I had to have THEM do it, and I had to pay for the mounting and
balancing and I originally bought it on sale where it was no longer
on sale (although I could get it from Tire Rack cheaper!).

End result, even *with* the pro-rated warranty, the replacement tire
under warranty cost more than that same tire (same exact brand and
model!) not on warranty!

Likewise, I have paid for the extended warranty, which, when you bring
a tire back, they told me that alignment wasn't covered (which may
be true - but then why did I bother). So I never buy extended or
by warranty ever again.

Also, I used to get tires at Costco for the "free" mounting and
balancing and repair, but, unfortunately, the *wait* at Costco is
forever (hours and hours) so it's not worth it unless you drop it
off and come back (which isn't convenient for me).

So, I forgo all warranties and just buy tires from Tire Rack by
performance and price and fit. And I mount them myself now that
Harbor Freight sells that nice red mounting kit. And I balance
them statically, very carefully - and since they have expensive
rims, they're almost perfect and don't vibrate at all. Who knew
that dynamic balancing was a waste? I didn't. Until I tried the
static balancing.

Which so far works perfectly for me.


I bought the extended warranty for the reason I gave that AWD Subaru
requires all 4 tires be equal. The dealer also gave free lifetime rotation.

I'm going to trade it in a a couple of months and break free of the
service/dealer as every time I take it in for an oil change and free
rotation he looks for all kinds of things to do.
  #60   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 17:35:00 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


"Danny D." wrote in message
...
There is no vibration.
At any speed.
Yes I fully know EVERYONE swears you must dynamically balance.
I know that.

But, guess what?
My wheels don't vibrate.
At any speed.

So what does that tell you?


When I worked for Sears around 1970 all we had was the bubble balancer. I
was told to slide the weights around the wheel in pairs, put one on the
bottom and then put the other on the top for the final balance. Don't know
if this did anything,but was the standard for them.

On some tires it helped - on others it made it worse. Dynamic
balancing balances the tire not only around the circumference bur from
bead to bead - across the tread - and it does this inner to outer
ballance at every point around the circumference of the tire. A tire
can be statically ballanced and "wobble" like crazy, even though it
does not "tramp".. It is more important on wheels with a large offset,
either positive or negative, because the moving impalance is farther
from the point where the contact patch and the steering axis meet.


  #61   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Frank wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 19:41:28 -0500:

AWD Subaru requires all 4 tires be equal.


What does 'equal' mean?

All tires should be "equal" with respect to size, brand, & tread pattern.
It's just plain ghetto to have different tires on the same axle even.
You shouldn't even have appreciably different wear on them.

So, I don't know what you've been drinking that makes Subaru
any different than any other vehicle.

Those Subaru Marketing teams have you snowed I think.
  #62   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:24:03 -0500:

A large percentage of tires have a significant dynamic inballance.
Some cars are not fussy about dynamic balance - others are very fussy.


I only have experience with a sum total of five (5) tires.
And, so far, they've balanced just fine with my HF static balancer.
As I said, I have BBS wheels (standard BMW issue) so maybe that plays a role.
Also, the 5 tires were all bought at the same time from Tire Rack.
Dunno if that has an effect at all (probably not).
I removed all the weights first.
I then balanced them (none needed more than a short strip of weights).
Pretty much that was it.

Car never vibrated.
If it did, I'd take it to the shop.
But it didn't.
  #63   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Stormin Mormon wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:40:24 -0500:

It took me a while to walk home after the flat.


Good.
Oren is polishing his bullets; you're preaching on the road!

Kewl.
All is well.
  #64   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Stormin Mormon wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:54:17 -0500:

CY: I can do toe sets, using either a long board and
magic marker. Or if I have second worker, a tape
measure.


I made a toe measurement tool out of pipe.

One long pipe to go parallel to the axle and two side pipes
that are perpendicular and which slide along the pipe and
clamp in place.

Then I just measure the distance from the center of the tread
to the center of the tread.

Some alignment numbers are defined from the center of the
vehicle, which means I have a bit of slop since mine only
measures total toe and not center-out toe.

Toe is as easy as twisting the tie rod ends equally on
both sides in opposite directions.

The hardest part is making a toe plate that spins freely
while the car's weight is sitting on each wheel.

Camber isn't too hard because you can make a faceplate for
the wheels bolted onto the lug bolt holes (Bimmers have lug
bolts, not lug nuts). The faceplate pushes out further than
the tire so that you can measure the camber angle to a tenth
of a degree with a level.

Caster is a bit too difficult, but, in the case of the bimmer,
only front toe and rear toe & camber are adjustable anyway.

One problem is that you have to set a bimmer to something called
"normal ride height" which is anything but normal. It's a height
that happens only when you add over 500 pounds of weight,
evenly distributed throughout the front & back seats and the
trunk (in addition to 18 gallons of gas).

Most bimmer alignments are done wrong, that is, without first setting
ride height, so the camber is off by a few degrees (and it's supposed
to be negative 2 degrees in the rear, which is a hellova lot).

The problem here is similar to the changing tire problem. Most
people don't *know* how to do the job, so, the mechanics almost
always skimp (I mean, how many even *have* 500 pounds of weight
lying around?).

They know better.
They just know their customer doesn't know any better.
So, they cheat.

The customer loses.
  #65   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:29:04 -0500:

But bimmer dealers prey on people like that.


That was the beemer dealer.

But both bimmer and beemer dealers (which are usually under different
ownership) screw you.

They don't call 'em stealers for nothin'.

Only three things you get/do at the stealer:
1. Warranty work
2. Recall work
3. Oddball parts you need this very moment


  #66   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:36:19 -0500:

If your tires don't shake at any speed balancing only to the closest
half ounce you are not very sensitive to shake or you don't drive very
fast is all I can say.


Maybe both are true.

I am not all that sensitive to anything (watch when people try to insult
me, for example). And I don't go yelling out the window at someone who
talks on their cellphone or who cuts me off. I just ignore them.

I also don't drive all that fast. Maybe 80 to 85 on the highway at most,
which, as you know, is nothing on a California highway (I don't call 'em
freeways 'cuz they're not free - CA has the highest gas tax in the nation).

Plus, I balanced them really well.

I have nothing against dynamic balancing except that it's not always
needed. That's all.

If you mount and balance your own tires, the only thing that is hard to
do is the dynamic balancing. Everything else is trivially easy to do
at home. And cheap. All the tools cost less than one visit to the shop.
  #67   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Tony Hwang wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 13:42:18 -0700:

Obviously you only do a static balancing.
Is that good enough for your driving?


I have a bimmer. Older E39 model. Rides fine with the
five tires I mounted and balanced myself with this.

HF Mounter:
https://i.imgur.com/hGeRFBv.jpg

HF Balancer:
https://i.imgur.com/hEQ3XHS.jpg

I go about 80 or 85 on California highways which are some of the
best maintained roads in the country as far as I can tell (having
come from the east coast where the roads are lousy as all hell).

No vibration, but, I did a very good job of balancing them.
I think maybe the BBS aluminum wheels made it easier?

  #68   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:38:42 -0500:

A 12 volt compressor or a good manual tire pump is a
lot better than canned air


Probably true.

1. The advantage of canned air is that sealant is often included,
and it doesn't require electricity and it's small but it
goes bad over time.

2. The advantage of a compressor is that it doesn't go bad over
time but it's much larger and it requires electricity (which
is usually ok except the cigarette lighter is FAR away from
the rear tires if you keep the wheels on the car). On a bimmer,
the battery is far from the front axle. On most cars, it's
the opposite, but you still have that problem.

3. The advantage of a hose that goes from one side of one axle
to the other side of the other axle is that it's small, it
never goes bad, but it does suck some air out of the other
three tires. If you're lucky, you can suck air out of someone
else's tires!

The main disadvantage is that you have to make it out of
a hose and two chucks, one of which has to latch on and
the other has to have some way of shutting off (which most
chucks do). The biggest problem is that the chucks are usually
pretty big, so that necessitates a bigger hose than you want
(or need) to store.

My plan is to build a long thin hose, with two hoses on the end
that are thicker which contain the two chucks. Dunno if it would
work though, as I don't know how much air you have to scavenge
from three other tires to fill up one tire.

Of course, in a parking lot, there are lots of tires ...
  #69   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

Ralph Mowery wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:39:38 -0500:

I did see a man put the patch on his tire and use one of the battery powered
pumps to pump up the tire.


I wonder how long it would take to fill a tire with those
small bicycle pumps?

It takes about a hundred pumps to fill a bicycle tire.

Whaddya think?
About 1,000 pumps?
  #70   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 989
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 15:30:26 -0500:

Take it to a real tire shop and have a "mushroom" patch installed.
It has a plug and a patch combined..
The "tech" product is one of the best.


My plan is to take up Wheel Works on their offer of a free mushroom
patch. I still can't believe that it's free.

I meant to go today, but, when I moved the car onto a flat area, I
left the key in the ignition, so the bimmer never went to sleep.

Dunno why that killed the battery - but it did. So it's on the
trickle charger as we speak, so, tomorrow I'll take Wheel Works
up on their offer of a free mushroom patch.

I still can't believe they're free - so - tomorrow I'll let you know
what happens.


  #71   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,378
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 16:45:40 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

I'm gonna patch my first automotive tire this week.

I need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch
as I got a flat today, switched with the spare, and went
about a half mile to the nearest auto parts store.
https://i.imgur.com/kb3a6rs.jpg

All they had are bike-tire-type patches at the one auto parts
store I stopped at today; they only had crappy passenger tire
patches (little round things, very thin).

I prefer rectangular-cut larger patches (dunno why - I just
feel they might hold better). Those that are something like
three or four inches long or so.

I can easily remove the tire and replace it on the rim
and balance it afterward so this question is only about
the patch. I do not want to patch it from the outside
because I feel that isn't as good as from inside.

Where do you get your inside-tire automotive tire patches?
What type of patch/glue/prep do you recommend?
https://i.imgur.com/InL9A8y.jpg


Wow, 60 posts on "advise to patch a tire". Must be a very
complicated repair.
  #72   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Tue, 8 Dec 2015 01:08:16 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Frank wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 19:41:28 -0500:

AWD Subaru requires all 4 tires be equal.


What does 'equal' mean?

All tires should be "equal" with respect to size, brand, & tread pattern.
It's just plain ghetto to have different tires on the same axle even.
You shouldn't even have appreciably different wear on them.

So, I don't know what you've been drinking that makes Subaru
any different than any other vehicle.

Those Subaru Marketing teams have you snowed I think.

It's a lot more important on cars with all wheel drive and fancy
stability/traction control.

They were NOT snowing him.
  #73   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Tue, 8 Dec 2015 01:11:02 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:24:03 -0500:

A large percentage of tires have a significant dynamic inballance.
Some cars are not fussy about dynamic balance - others are very fussy.


I only have experience with a sum total of five (5) tires.
And, so far, they've balanced just fine with my HF static balancer.
As I said, I have BBS wheels (standard BMW issue) so maybe that plays a role.
Also, the 5 tires were all bought at the same time from Tire Rack.
Dunno if that has an effect at all (probably not).
I removed all the weights first.
I then balanced them (none needed more than a short strip of weights).
Pretty much that was it.

Car never vibrated.
If it did, I'd take it to the shop.
But it didn't.

You were lucky and got a set that didn't really need much balancing.
My guess? Continentals or some other tire that lists at $200 or so
each.. And you got lucky that they needed a multiple of 1/2 ounce to
balance out.

You get a tire that needs 1.75 to 2 ounces to static, and it may need
4 to dynamic balance it. You might have 1.5 on the outside at one
spot, and half way around the tire another 2.5 to 3 on the inside.

Get that on the front of a twitchy little sedam like a BMW320 with
only a static ballance, and your hands will get a good massage from
the steering wheel, even if the bumper doesn't jump.
  #74   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Tue, 8 Dec 2015 01:20:18 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Stormin Mormon wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:54:17 -0500:

CY: I can do toe sets, using either a long board and
magic marker. Or if I have second worker, a tape
measure.


I made a toe measurement tool out of pipe.

One long pipe to go parallel to the axle and two side pipes
that are perpendicular and which slide along the pipe and
clamp in place.

Then I just measure the distance from the center of the tread
to the center of the tread.

Some alignment numbers are defined from the center of the
vehicle, which means I have a bit of slop since mine only
measures total toe and not center-out toe.

Toe is as easy as twisting the tie rod ends equally on
both sides in opposite directions.

The hardest part is making a toe plate that spins freely
while the car's weight is sitting on each wheel.

Camber isn't too hard because you can make a faceplate for
the wheels bolted onto the lug bolt holes (Bimmers have lug
bolts, not lug nuts). The faceplate pushes out further than
the tire so that you can measure the camber angle to a tenth
of a degree with a level.

Caster is a bit too difficult, but, in the case of the bimmer,
only front toe and rear toe & camber are adjustable anyway.

One problem is that you have to set a bimmer to something called
"normal ride height" which is anything but normal. It's a height
that happens only when you add over 500 pounds of weight,
evenly distributed throughout the front & back seats and the
trunk (in addition to 18 gallons of gas).

Most bimmer alignments are done wrong, that is, without first setting
ride height, so the camber is off by a few degrees (and it's supposed
to be negative 2 degrees in the rear, which is a hellova lot).

The problem here is similar to the changing tire problem. Most
people don't *know* how to do the job, so, the mechanics almost
always skimp (I mean, how many even *have* 500 pounds of weight
lying around?).

They know better.
They just know their customer doesn't know any better.
So, they cheat.

The customer loses.

Doesn't need any weight. All he needs is a few ratchet straps - one
on each side at the front and one at the center rear. Draw the
suspension down by pulling the body down to the alignment rack to the
prescribed level, and do the adjustments. No rocket science involved.

There are some intelligent mechanics around, you know.
  #75   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Tue, 8 Dec 2015 01:22:05 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:29:04 -0500:

But bimmer dealers prey on people like that.


That was the beemer dealer.

But both bimmer and beemer dealers (which are usually under different
ownership) screw you.

They don't call 'em stealers for nothin'.

Only three things you get/do at the stealer:
1. Warranty work
2. Recall work
3. Oddball parts you need this very moment

What's the difference between a Bimmer and a Beemer????

Anyone crazy enough to buy a second one deserves what he gets. Crazy
enough or rich enough that the criminally high expenses don't mean
anything to them


  #76   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Tue, 8 Dec 2015 01:33:50 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Tony Hwang wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 13:42:18 -0700:

Obviously you only do a static balancing.
Is that good enough for your driving?


I have a bimmer. Older E39 model. Rides fine with the
five tires I mounted and balanced myself with this.

HF Mounter:
https://i.imgur.com/hGeRFBv.jpg

HF Balancer:
https://i.imgur.com/hEQ3XHS.jpg

I go about 80 or 85 on California highways which are some of the
best maintained roads in the country as far as I can tell (having
come from the east coast where the roads are lousy as all hell).

No vibration, but, I did a very good job of balancing them.
I think maybe the BBS aluminum wheels made it easier?

The BBS rims are no better balance wise than any quality OEM or
aftermarket alloy rim. I have Ford OEM alloys for my snows and Eagle
Alloy rims for my summer rims on the Ranger. The rims themselves all
balance out perfectly on the dynamic balancer with stems installed..

No measurable radial or side to side runout.
  #77   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Tue, 8 Dec 2015 01:39:36 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

clare wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:38:42 -0500:

A 12 volt compressor or a good manual tire pump is a
lot better than canned air


Probably true.

1. The advantage of canned air is that sealant is often included,
and it doesn't require electricity and it's small but it
goes bad over time.

2. The advantage of a compressor is that it doesn't go bad over
time but it's much larger and it requires electricity (which
is usually ok except the cigarette lighter is FAR away from
the rear tires if you keep the wheels on the car). On a bimmer,
the battery is far from the front axle. On most cars, it's
the opposite, but you still have that problem.


Some do go bad just sitting. Hoses rot, and compressor pistons corrode
from misuse.

3. The advantage of a hose that goes from one side of one axle
to the other side of the other axle is that it's small, it
never goes bad, but it does suck some air out of the other
three tires. If you're lucky, you can suck air out of someone
else's tires!


Don't bet on them not going bad. Ozone damage to the hose can leave
you with a popped hose.

The main disadvantage is that you have to make it out of
a hose and two chucks, one of which has to latch on and
the other has to have some way of shutting off (which most
chucks do). The biggest problem is that the chucks are usually
pretty big, so that necessitates a bigger hose than you want
(or need) to store.

You don't need to make them. They came as standard equipment with many
GM vehicles with air ajustable suspension - to use the air ride
compressor to blow up tires (or footballs, or swimming tubes, or
whatever) I have 2 of them - must be if to 20 feet long each.
My plan is to build a long thin hose, with two hoses on the end
that are thicker which contain the two chucks. Dunno if it would
work though, as I don't know how much air you have to scavenge
from three other tires to fill up one tire.


You would need to take almost 1/3 of the air out of each of 3 other
tires to blow up one empty tire.
Of course, in a parking lot, there are lots of tires ...


And a possible vandalism charge - or more.

A good 1.25 to 2" bore tire pump is just as fast as the 12 volt
compressor - needs no electricity, and doesn't need to steel are from
your other tires. Makes you sweat a bit = but many of us need the
exercise anyway.

  #78   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,538
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On Tue, 8 Dec 2015 01:40:43 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
wrote:

Ralph Mowery wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 17:39:38 -0500:

I did see a man put the patch on his tire and use one of the battery powered
pumps to pump up the tire.


I wonder how long it would take to fill a tire with those
small bicycle pumps?

It takes about a hundred pumps to fill a bicycle tire.

Whaddya think?
About 1,000 pumps?

A standard tire pump (not a frame-mounted bike pump - one of those 24
inch-ish units with a footplate and a "T" handle- can pump a 225/70 15
tire faster than the average 12 volt compressor by a factor of about 2
if you are in good shape or have a "second" to spell you off.

Took about 50 strokes to take tire from 15 to 30 psi. - that's just a
couple minute's work.

I used to have to blow up tires on farm wagons with one of those pumps
as a young feller. Thankfully they were tube type tires - seating a
bead on a tubeless tire with a hand pump would be a trick (use ether
and throw a match if you get stuck having to do the deed)

  #79   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,ca.driving,rec.autos.tech
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9,074
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/07/2015 10:39 AM, Danny D. wrote:
They call them "mushroom" patches in that article and they
say that the patch keeps air in and the plug keeps air and
moisture out of the plies.


I carry Dynaplug kits on my bikes with tubeless tires:

http://www.dynaplug.com/pro.html

I've also used the standard string type with good results. The
politically correct thing to do is to immediately repair the tire or
preferably, if your selling bike tires, buy a new one. I patched a
almost brand new rear tire, and ran it close to 8000 miles before the
tread was gone. The string plug did leak slowly towards the end but when
the tire was removed the inside loop was well sealed and wasn't going to
blow out.


  #80   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,ca.driving
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11,640
Default Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

On 12/7/2015 8:27 PM, Danny D. wrote:


- CA has the highest gas tax in the nation).



Not according to this:
http://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-hi...xes-your-state

This weeks tax map takes a look at state gasoline tax rates, using data
from a recent report by the American Petroleum Institute. Pennsylvania
has the highest rate of 51.60 cents per gallon (cpg), and is followed
closely by New York (45.99 cpg), Hawaii (45.10 cpg), and California
(42.35 cpg). On the other end of the spectrum, Alaska has the lowest
rate at 12.25 cpg, but New Jersey (14.50 cpg) and South Carolina (16.75
cpg) arent far behind. These rates do not include the additional 18.40
cent federal excise tax.

Combined rate here
http://www.api.org/~/media/files/sta...ne-tax-map.pdf


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Does air compressor make good tire inflator? bob Home Repair 54 August 16th 11 02:05 AM
Supply 24 Port Patch Panels,24 Patch Panels,24 Port UTP Patch Panels,24 Port Cat5e Patch Panels,RJ45 Patch Panels,Modular Patch Panels [email protected] Home Repair 0 April 1st 06 10:28 AM
Need bandsaw tire advice.... DCH Woodworking 7 January 10th 06 03:51 AM
Good verses bad compact fluorescent lights -- inside? larry moe 'n curly Electronics Repair 1 November 25th 05 05:53 AM
Need some advice on measuring inside diameters Jim Stewart Metalworking 76 February 18th 05 04:26 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:42 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"