On 20/02/2018 18:57, ultred ragnusen wrote:

I've never calibrated my torque wrenches, where I have a few 1/2-inch drive
ones (beam and click), 3/8-inch drive (click) and 1/4-inch drive (click)
where all the click types are from Harbor Freight, so I'm unsure of
accuracy.

I doubt if the manufactures calibrated them. The aim would be to get it
right by manufacture to what ever tolerance level is acceptable and then
perhaps test each one at a single setting (without performing any
adjustments) and perhaps test one in a thousand at different settings to
make sure that the manufacturing process is still correct.

Proper calibration costs money and unlikely to be performed on anything
other than something used for mass production where expensive
calibration costs are amortised over tens or hundred of thousands of
production items or individual use where safety is paramount.

Something you can buy at the local hardware store for less than £100 or
$100 is unlikely to have been individually calibrated or finely
adjusted. It is more likely to have had a go/no test after production.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

alan_m wrote:

Luckily it's easy to dismount, remount, and statically balance (and
dynamically test) a tire yourself,

You are joking! I've seen on many occasions how much effort goes into
removing/replacing a tyre from/on the rim using the specialised tyre
fitting equipment.

I think you need to rethink your underlying belief system, because what you
fear is not at all what you should be fearing (IMHO).
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...+tire+changer+

Hear me out, as I'm not chastising you for having a wholly misguided
incorrect fundamental belief system, but do recognize I'm not at all joking
that it takes about the same amount of time to change a tire at home (e.g.,
to fix a flat or to mount and balance new tires) as it takes for you to
take it to the shop.

But time isn't why you do any work at home anyway, as time (or money) isn't
the reason you do work at home - you do it at home because you enjoy it,
or, because you want it done right.

Speaking only of time though, I admit the first time you mount and balance
a tire at home, it takes forever though, particularly because you have to
learn the hard way how critically important a "drop center" is, to the tire
mounting process.

Once you figure out that the bead doesn't "stretch", you'll remember your
lesson about that critically important "drop center" offset from center in
the wheel rim.

After you figure out the concept of a drop center, you also have to learn
the hard way, on the first and second tires, that the Harbor Freight tools
have some limitations, which you work around.
1. You're crazy if you don't buy the separate bead breaker
2. The mounter's bead-breaker attachment bends on SUV tires
3. You need a wooden board to extend the range of the bead breaker for SUVs
4. A 6-inch vise grip is critical to prevent mounting bar slippage
5. Liquid dish detergent (blue or green) is your friend.
6. Don't believe the claims you need a special valve stem removal tool
7. Did I mention that you're doomed until you recognize the drop center?

There is also the 15/30 minutes for blowing up a
completely flat tyre with one of those little 12V compressors that fit
into the cigarette lighter socket.

The only tools you need to change tires efficiently at home, in about the
same amount of time it takes the shop to do it, are these:
A. A decent compressor & fittings (which you already have most likely)
B. A shrader-valve removal screwdriver
C. A six-inch vise grip, one 2 or 3 foot tire iron, & dish detergent
D. HF bead breaker tool (plus a two-foot board to extend its base)
E. HF tire mounting tool (temporarily or permanently bolted to the ground)
F. HF static balance tool & weights (sitting on a flat spot on the ground)
G. About ten minutes per tire (depending on your experience level)

I can just see all those inexperienced people breaking/chipping their
alloy rims using breaker bars.

You fundamentally don't seem to understand that mounting tires at home is
even more gentle than it is at the tire shop!

In fact, I have stock BBS rims on my bimmer, where the worst that happens
is that a bit of the red paint from the tire iron transfers to the edge of
the rim.

If you actually think that mounting a tire at home is in any way more
damaging to a wheel than what they do at the shop, you really (really
really really) need to rethink the entire underpinning of your fundamental
belief system.

For the money I pay to get a puncture repaired (and dynamically
balanced) by a tyre shop it's not worth the effort to even consider
Do-it-Yourself.

If you talk about money in any other manner other than the amount saved to
offset the cost of the tools, then you're thinking about DIY differently
than I do.

To me, DIY is about the satisfaction of learning & doing the job right.

If all you care about is money, then you'd pay someone else to clean your
toilet, do your dishes, bake your bread, mow your lawn, sharpen your
chainsaw, sweep the driveway, pick up litter on the sidewalk, tend to the
roses, trim the trees, clean the gutters, change your oil, etc.

Saving money isn't why you do DIY, in that almost all DIY jobs are free in
the end in terms of tool cost and material cost, in that it would almost
always cost more to have someone else do (all those things above) than it
would for you do to them.

You decide WHAT you do based on what you LIKE to do, where if you like
baking bread, then you bake bread making it exactly the way you want it
made, using exactly the ingredients you want to use. If you don't like
baking bread, then you buy whatever you can get at the store, even if it's
filled with ingredients you might not want to know you're ingesting.

I happen to like three things about changing & balancing tires:
a. I like LEARNING all about what it takes, and,
b. I like DOING the job any time I want to, and,
c. I like the CONVENIENCE of changing tires in my pajamas.

https://youtu.be/Gg4iPmU9OYs?t=15

Without researching prices, I'll bet here in the UK the
cost of obtaining one or two proper tyre repair patches would actually
be close to the cost of using someone who does it for a living.

You don't DIY to save money - you DIY to have the satisfaction of doing the
job yourself and knowing that the job is done right.

If saving money was actually your goal, you'd DIY everything, since almost
nothing is worth paying someone else to do at the current shop rates where
I live (Silicon Valley, ~$100/hour minimum, ~$200/hour dealer, $150/hour is
a reasonable average).

Saving money isn't why you DIY.

Almost all DIY jobs are free in the end anyway, as you must be aware, where
the tools pay for themselves over time, where changing tires at home is no
different.

The only thing that changes the break-even period is your calculation of
how many tires you change, and the amount of tools you already have (e.g.,
most of us have a compressor already).

Out here, the average for a tire to be mounted and dynamically balanced is
as high as $50 per tire but it's often around $20 per tire, so let's use
that round number (but use whatever number you want because the tools will
always end up being free in the end anyway).

The three HF tools you need cost about $150, so to have even numbers, let's
add another $50 for incidentals like the tire iron & the weights and the
schrader valve screwdriver.

How many tires do you have to change to break even at those numbers?

$200 divided by 20 bucks per tire is 10 tires, right?

You can use any numbers you like, but they all will end up being around a
dozen tires for the tools to break even and be free, and to start paying
for themselves.

Say you're 40 years old, and you have a wife and two teens, all of whom
have a car in the driveway (in the USA anyway). How many tires is that?

4 cars times 4 tires per car (let's ignore the spare) is 16 tires in the
driveway.

If you change them just once, the tools are already well into the zone of
paying for themselves.

Even if you have only two cars (mom & pop), the tool expense will break
even in a couple of years.

There are storage costs. of course, but luckily no maintenance costs to the
tools. As for storage, since I'm in the Silicon Valley where there is no
snow, I just leave the tools outside with all my shovels and rakes and
chocks and jack stands and ramps, etc., but if you store them inside, then
you need to have a shed or an area in the garage to fit tools.

But these tools are no bigger than any of your other tools (e.g., drill
press, table saw, belt sander, etc.) which you store all the time also.

In summary, you DIY because you ENJOY doing the job right, not because you
want to save money, where you'd be hard pressed to find any repair on a
vehicle that you don't save money if you do it yourself.

Can you even name a /single/ common maintenance task on a vehicle that a
DIY doesn't save you money on over the cost for the tools?

On 02/20/2018 01:39 AM, ultred ragnusen wrote:
I don't know when HF came into existence, but thank God they did, as, well,
for about $150 or $200, you get all the tools you need for changing and
statically balancing tires that you don't already have, which means they
pay for themselves in just about 10 tire changes, which, for me, is only a
year or two (what with 4 cars to maintain).

In 1988 I found the OEM jack was barely adequate to change the tire on
the F150 and stopped at Moab, UT to buy a bottle jack. I made a
disparaging comment about the Chinese manufacture and the guy behind the
counter said he had a made in the USA one for twice the price that
wouldn't jack the truck up any higher. I still have the Chinese jack
and it still works.

I use the HF sockets and wrenches in my bike toolkits. If the kit gets
ripped off I can replace it for about $50 and they get the job done.
Other HF purchases haven't worked as well. When it comes to HF, the
fewer moving parts the better.

On 02/20/2018 05:21 AM, alan_m wrote:
On 20/02/2018 04:58, ultred ragnusen wrote:
wrote:

Take a look at that biker's concept of a "pocket knife" at 53 seconds!
https://youtu.be/M5_nK8V-nU0?t=53

Compared to what's in my pocket at the moment...
http://www.coldsteel.com/recon-1-tan...0-50-edge.html

After using it for a few years, I'm not that crazy about the tanto
style, but it is good for prying out nails.

Jesus. That's battle gear for heaven's sake!

This is what I consider to be a typical pocket knife.
https://media.midwayusa.com/producti...365/365933.jpg


Carry the former in the UK and you would probably be arrested if stopped
or if you used it in public.



Thanks the Gods I don't live in the UK. I have many knives and I'm sure
they are all illegal in the UK.

ultred ragnusen wrote:

In summary, you DIY because you ENJOY doing the job right, not because you
want to save money, where you'd be hard pressed to find any repair on a
vehicle that you don't save money if you do it yourself.

Can you even name a /single/ common maintenance task on a vehicle that a
DIY doesn't save you money on over the cost for the tools?

BTW, I've heard every argument from every naysayer already, almost all of
whom have never done the job themselves (except Clare, who seems to hate
the DIY job, so that changes his perspective completely - and that's
understandable because DIY is about ENJOYING what you're doing - it's not
about saving money - because ALL DIY jobs save money).

The one and only thing you can't do at home easily is dynamically balance
the tires ... but ... what you can (easily) do is the dynamic balance test.

The test is simple. You simply drive at speed.

In all my tire changing at home, I have had only one tire that I balanced
that had a dynamic imbalance, and that turned out to be because the weight
I put on fell off.

I'm /sure/ there are dynamic imbalance issues in many cars - and, in fact,
if it's only 1 out of 100, that's enough reason for a shop to dynamically
balance /all/ tires, because they can't afford a customer a day complaining
about the vibration.

Bear in mind that vehicles were statically balanced for decades, and that
when you statically balance at home, you do a fantastically good job, and
especially if you've mounted the carcass by the dots, you've used as small
a weight as is possible already.

There are some who argue that you can have a dynamic imbalance and not know
it, but that's just their utter fear of the unknown kicking in.

If you remove all this fear of the unknown (like the idiotic concept that
mounting your tires at home is somehow less gentle than it is to mount them
at a shop), then what you end up with is a job that is about as complex as
is changing your oil or climbing on a ladder to clean out the gutters.

Like all DIY jobs, you do it because you ENJOY doing it yourself, but, like
all DIY jobs, the tools pay for themselves, and like all DIY jobs, you do
them at your convenience.

For example, I buy tires by the specs from Simple Tires, generally with
free shipping (which is critical because Tire Rack UPS shipping is
something like $15 to $20 per tire alone!) and I have the UPS guy deliver
them right to the side of my house (he's used to it by now).

Then, whenever I feel like it, I spend an hour to mount and balance the
tires, in my pajamas if that's how I feel at that moment.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...ht+mount+tires

It's that easy.

Anyone who says otherwise, either hates the task (like Clare seems to), or
has never done it.

Just look at the youtube videos, for example, where it's pretty darn easy,
but my recommendation is to use the half-dozen tricks I already mentioned,
such as bolting the mounter to the ground (I've done it on a pallet but
it's just not worth the trouble).

James Wilkinson Sword wrote:

Get a life and find something fun to do.

Pot, kettle, black.

James Wilkinson Sword wrote:

Learn basic computer skills.

Pot, kettle, black.

alan_m wrote:

Something you can buy at the local hardware store for less than £100 or
$100 is unlikely to have been individually calibrated or finely
adjusted. It is more likely to have had a go/no test after production.

There's good news and bad news in these numbers.

Bearing in mind that, for home use, a few percent error is ok, all you're
really looking for is a gross error.

How much is an acceptable gross error?
I don't know.

Maybe 10% for a head bolt or valve cover bolt?
Maybe even 20% for a lug nut?

Let's assume it's 5%.
All we need is a calibration standard that is plus or minus 5% then.

That's the trick.
Where do we get a calibration standard that will pay for itself?

A lot of people seem to use this $30 HF #68283 digital torque wrench
adapter:
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-...ter-68283.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcOql9eK_Uk

Here's the owners manual:
http://manuals.harborfreight.com/man...8999/68283.pdf

If I didn't already have plenty of torque wrenches, I'd buy that, but I
don't need more torque wrenches as all tools have storage costs.
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...nch+adapter%3A

rbowman wrote:

I use the HF sockets and wrenches in my bike toolkits. If the kit gets
ripped off I can replace it for about $50 and they get the job done.
Other HF purchases haven't worked as well. When it comes to HF, the
fewer moving parts the better.

I agree with you that the HF quality isn't always the best, but, it's "good
enough" for some jobs, where, I can tell you that the tire-changing tools
are OK for the number of tires we will be doing in our lifetimes.

I would gladly buy a wrench set for the emergency kit of my car from HF,
but I wouldn't use it as my primary set of wrenches (almost all of which
are Craftsman, which is middle-of-the-line stuff, IMHO).

The thing I have to stress about the HF tire mounter is that you can only
use the bead breaker attachment on easy tires such as a Japanese import
economy car, where it works ok on my European sport sedan, but it fails
miserably (it literally bends) on the SUV tires.

The other thing I stress about the HF mounter is that you must bolt it
down. You can get away with not bolting it down, but it's just not worth
the trouble that causes, compared to the slight issue of drilling four bolt
holes and popping in the inserts. I just leave mine in but you can unbolt
it in a couple of minutes if you want to store it collapsed.

As for the bed breaking tool, it too has a slight problem with SUV tires,
but all tires smaller are no contest. The SUV tires are too big for the
base, so they flip up, which in one of the videos you see a guy not
realizing that. The solution is simple, which is to put a board on the
base, which prevents the wheel from popping up on the side opposite where
you're trying to break the bead. With that simple addition, it works fine
for SUV tires.

I have no complaints with the static balance tool. I think it's a bit
pricey for what it is (it's just a cone-shaped bubble balance) but it's all
aluminum and it stores easily and certainly is easy to use so it does the
job.

On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 19:17:21 +0000, alan_m
wrote:

On 20/02/2018 18:57, ultred ragnusen wrote:

I've never calibrated my torque wrenches, where I have a few 1/2-inch drive
ones (beam and click), 3/8-inch drive (click) and 1/4-inch drive (click)
where all the click types are from Harbor Freight, so I'm unsure of
accuracy.

I doubt if the manufactures calibrated them.


A good one comes with a calibration report.

The aim would be to get it
right by manufacture to what ever tolerance level is acceptable and then
perhaps test each one at a single setting (without performing any
adjustments) and perhaps test one in a thousand at different settings to
make sure that the manufacturing process is still correct.

These are "precision instruments" Mabee a Horrible Fright one may
not be calibrated, but a Snap-On or Craftsman or other "brand name" or
"proffessional" one will be.

Proper calibration costs money and unlikely to be performed on anything
other than something used for mass production where expensive
calibration costs are amortised over tens or hundred of thousands of
production items or individual use where safety is paramount.

Something you can buy at the local hardware store for less than £100 or
$100 is unlikely to have been individually calibrated or finely
adjusted. It is more likely to have had a go/no test after production.

On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 17:05:28 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
alan_m wrote:
I predict that staying in the EU or leaving will have exactly the same
result with regards car assembly - it will migrate towards the poorer
Eastern European countries in much the same way as many other industries
have disappeared from the UK during the 40 years of EEC/EU membership.

Ask French and German car workers why their jobs are at risk, and both
these countries are not leaving the EU.

There is more to making cars - especially above budget level - than just
finding the cheapest place to do it.


But apparently nothing the UK has to offer - - -

On 2/20/2018 12:05 PM, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
alan_m wrote:
I predict that staying in the EU or leaving will have exactly the same
result with regards car assembly - it will migrate towards the poorer
Eastern European countries in much the same way as many other industries
have disappeared from the UK during the 40 years of EEC/EU membership.

Ask French and German car workers why their jobs are at risk, and both
these countries are not leaving the EU.

There is more to making cars - especially above budget level - than just
finding the cheapest place to do it.


The robots don't care where they are. OTOH, look where the car makers
have put up plants. No new ones in Detroit, New York, or California.
Mexico has some.

How about a Hungary Mercedes
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...t-germany.html

On 20/02/2018 20:01, rbowman wrote:
On 02/20/2018 05:21 AM, alan_m wrote:
On 20/02/2018 04:58, ultred ragnusen wrote:
Â* wrote:

Take a look at that biker's concept of a "pocket knife" at 53 seconds!
https://youtu.be/M5_nK8V-nU0?t=53

Compared to what's in my pocket at the moment...
http://www.coldsteel.com/recon-1-tan...0-50-edge.html

After using it for a few years, I'm not that crazy about the tanto
style, but it is good for prying out nails.

Jesus. That's battle gear for heaven's sake!

This is what I consider to be a typical pocket knife.
https://media.midwayusa.com/producti...365/365933.jpg


Carry the former in the UK and you would probably be arrested if stopped
or if you used it in public.



Thanks the Gods I don't live in the UK. I have many knives and I'm sure
they are all illegal in the UK.

Thank god we don't have the killings other countries seem to suffer.

On 02/20/2018 06:53 PM, Fredxx wrote:
On 20/02/2018 20:01, rbowman wrote:
On 02/20/2018 05:21 AM, alan_m wrote:
On 20/02/2018 04:58, ultred ragnusen wrote:
wrote:

Take a look at that biker's concept of a "pocket knife" at 53
seconds!
https://youtu.be/M5_nK8V-nU0?t=53

Compared to what's in my pocket at the moment...
http://www.coldsteel.com/recon-1-tan...0-50-edge.html

After using it for a few years, I'm not that crazy about the tanto
style, but it is good for prying out nails.

Jesus. That's battle gear for heaven's sake!

This is what I consider to be a typical pocket knife.
https://media.midwayusa.com/producti...365/365933.jpg



Carry the former in the UK and you would probably be arrested if stopped
or if you used it in public.



Thanks the Gods I don't live in the UK. I have many knives and I'm
sure they are all illegal in the UK.

Thank god we don't have the killings other countries seem to suffer.


You are working on it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39729601

Try a little more diversity and you'll make the grade.

On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 20:45:49 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 2/20/2018 12:05 PM, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
alan_m wrote:
I predict that staying in the EU or leaving will have exactly the same
result with regards car assembly - it will migrate towards the poorer
Eastern European countries in much the same way as many other industries
have disappeared from the UK during the 40 years of EEC/EU membership.

Ask French and German car workers why their jobs are at risk, and both
these countries are not leaving the EU.

There is more to making cars - especially above budget level - than just
finding the cheapest place to do it.


The robots don't care where they are. OTOH, look where the car makers
have put up plants. No new ones in Detroit, New York, or California.
Mexico has some.

How about a Hungary Mercedes
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...t-germany.html

Even the venerable british icon, the little Transit Connect was
shipped to Canada (and the USA) from TURKEY.

On 20/02/2018 10:45 PM, alan_m wrote:
On 20/02/2018 08:33, ultred ragnusen wrote:

Luckily it's easy to dismount, remount, and statically balance (and
dynamically test) a tire yourself,

You are joking! I've seen on many occasions how much effort goes into
removing/replacing a tyre from/on the rim using the specialised tyre
fitting equipment. There is also the 15/30 minutes for blowing up a
completely flat tyre with one of those little 12V compressors that fit
into the cigarette lighter socket.

I can just see all those inexperienced people breaking/chipping their
alloy rims using breaker bars.

For the money I pay to get a puncture repaired (and dynamically
balanced) by a tyre shop it's not worth the effort to even consider
Do-it-Yourself.Â* Without researching prices, I'll bet here in the UK the
cost of obtaining one or two proper tyre repair patches would actually
be close to the cost of using someone who does it for a living.

I'm with you. Repairing punctures was something I had to do as part of
my trade. Even with the gear, it was a pain to do, especially truck and
tractor tyres. At 65, I'm quite happy to pay someone much younger to do
the job for me.


--

Xeno

On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 15:31:39 +1100, Xeno
wrote:

On 20/02/2018 10:45 PM, alan_m wrote:
On 20/02/2018 08:33, ultred ragnusen wrote:

Luckily it's easy to dismount, remount, and statically balance (and
dynamically test) a tire yourself,

You are joking! I've seen on many occasions how much effort goes into
removing/replacing a tyre from/on the rim using the specialised tyre
fitting equipment. There is also the 15/30 minutes for blowing up a
completely flat tyre with one of those little 12V compressors that fit
into the cigarette lighter socket.

I can just see all those inexperienced people breaking/chipping their
alloy rims using breaker bars.

For the money I pay to get a puncture repaired (and dynamically
balanced) by a tyre shop it's not worth the effort to even consider
Do-it-Yourself.* Without researching prices, I'll bet here in the UK the
cost of obtaining one or two proper tyre repair patches would actually
be close to the cost of using someone who does it for a living.

I'm with you. Repairing punctures was something I had to do as part of
my trade. Even with the gear, it was a pain to do, especially truck and
tractor tyres. At 65, I'm quite happy to pay someone much younger to do
the job for me.
Likewise - and my Hakepelita snow tires come with lifetime free
repair. Not sure about my Michelin summer tires - but tire repair by
an expert is a BARGAIN.

One of these days Mr Screwup is going to screw up something serious
and get someone killed.

On Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 10:31:44 PM UTC-6, Xeno wrote:
On 20/02/2018 10:45 PM, alan_m wrote:
On 20/02/2018 08:33, ultred ragnusen wrote:

Luckily it's easy to dismount, remount, and statically balance (and
dynamically test) a tire yourself,

You are joking! I've seen on many occasions how much effort goes into
removing/replacing a tyre from/on the rim using the specialised tyre
fitting equipment. There is also the 15/30 minutes for blowing up a
completely flat tyre with one of those little 12V compressors that fit
into the cigarette lighter socket.

I can just see all those inexperienced people breaking/chipping their
alloy rims using breaker bars.

For the money I pay to get a puncture repaired (and dynamically
balanced) by a tyre shop it's not worth the effort to even consider
Do-it-Yourself.Â* Without researching prices, I'll bet here in the UK the
cost of obtaining one or two proper tyre repair patches would actually
be close to the cost of using someone who does it for a living.

I'm with you. Repairing punctures was something I had to do as part of
my trade. Even with the gear, it was a pain to do, especially truck and
tractor tyres. At 65, I'm quite happy to pay someone much younger to do
the job for me.
--
Xeno


When I was in my mid 50's, I could still pick up a car engine but now I'm in my mid 60's and I get around on wheels, dammit! It's very frustrating. o_O

[8~{} Uncle Wheeled Monster

On 21/02/2018 01:45, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


The robots don't care where they are.Â* OTOH, look where the car makers
have put up plants.Â* No new ones in Detroit, New York, or California.
Mexico has some.

The robots may not care where they live but it still needs a large,
mainly unskilled or semi-skilled workforce to feed them and to perform
all the other tasks that currently cannot be assigned to robots.

The location of new assembly plants probably has more to do with who can
give the biggest grant or subsidy in the guise of regional aid for
deprived areas or just a government willing to forego taxes in order to
create jobs in n area.

I doubt if there are many car factories these days where a whole car is
manufactured on the premises. Often engines and gearboxes are
manufactured in a single plant and then shipped worldwide and the same
item ends up in many competing brands. In the past I have seen user
reviews where they claim that the power-train in brand X is a lot better
than that in brand Y whereas they are exactly the same.

It's much the same in other industries. How many companies actually make
the LCD screens for large screen TVs? How many consumer items are just
badged? Here in the UK well known brand names have been purchased to
allow the brand badge to be used on no-name electronics or other goods.
I'm aware of at least one item of electronics where the identical item
was sold under 4 different brand names, all at different prices, to
cater for those with brand loyalty and to fleece those who believe that
band A is better quality than brand B, even though brand B as an
independent company went bust a decade before.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 21/02/2018 04:07, rbowman wrote:

Try a little more diversity and you'll make the grade.

We are getting there. The new weapon of choice seems to be throwing acid.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/401685...rns-sufferers/

Those carrying out attacks can be charged with Grievous Bodily Harm
(GBH) with intent which carries a maximum life sentence.

The best way to avoid these attacks in the UK is don't get involved with
domestic violence and don't attend any nightclub where there only claim
to fame is that they are frequented by Z list celebrities.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

rbowman wrote:

Can you say 'lawyer'? I've spent some time in southern AZ close to the
border. It's refreshing to deal with Mexican mechanics. They still use a
bit of ingenuity.

Speaking of ingenuity, check out this redneck rear rotor surfacing
technique at home, with a grinder and while the rotors are spinning.
https://youtu.be/q5p-KHkx1YA?t=123

I guess it works for driven wheels only though.
https://youtu.be/SUIJySdkCZk?t=370
https://youtu.be/xokh96wRxb4?t=236
https://youtu.be/YsfadqO9V2A?t=55
https://youtu.be/rum-Wlok7n4?t=2

I guess this is how rednecks do the non-driven wheels.
https://youtu.be/R9qCFfDiw5A?t=350
https://youtu.be/Qgz3BnWpeUg?t=22
https://youtu.be/NxLeKG-oRmc?t=67
https://youtu.be/7dFBaLCjYck?t=71

On 21/02/2018 10:50, ultred ragnusen wrote:

Speaking of ingenuity, check out this redneck rear rotor surfacing
technique at home, with a grinder and while the rotors are spinning.

Judging by those videos you don't need to ban guns in the USA - just ban
power tools!

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 21/02/2018 9:50 PM, ultred ragnusen wrote:
rbowman wrote:

Can you say 'lawyer'? I've spent some time in southern AZ close to the
border. It's refreshing to deal with Mexican mechanics. They still use a
bit of ingenuity.

Speaking of ingenuity, check out this redneck rear rotor surfacing
technique at home, with a grinder and while the rotors are spinning.
https://youtu.be/q5p-KHkx1YA?t=123

I guess it works for driven wheels only though.
https://youtu.be/SUIJySdkCZk?t=370
https://youtu.be/xokh96wRxb4?t=236
https://youtu.be/YsfadqO9V2A?t=55
https://youtu.be/rum-Wlok7n4?t=2

I guess this is how rednecks do the non-driven wheels.
https://youtu.be/R9qCFfDiw5A?t=350
https://youtu.be/Qgz3BnWpeUg?t=22
https://youtu.be/NxLeKG-oRmc?t=67
https://youtu.be/7dFBaLCjYck?t=71

That's the problem with the internet - the blind leading the blind!



--

Xeno

On 21/02/2018 10:39 PM, alan_m wrote:
On 21/02/2018 10:50, ultred ragnusen wrote:

Speaking of ingenuity, check out this redneck rear rotor surfacing
technique at home, with a grinder and while the rotors are spinning.

Judging by those videos you don't need to ban guns in the USA - just ban
power tools!

Power tools are extremely useful, I use them a lot.

Just *ban idiots* from using power tools.



--

Xeno

Xeno wrote:
On 21/02/2018 10:39 PM, alan_m wrote:
On 21/02/2018 10:50, ultred ragnusen wrote:

Speaking of ingenuity, check out this redneck rear rotor surfacing
technique at home, with a grinder and while the rotors are spinning.

Judging by those videos you don't need to ban guns in the USA - just
ban power tools!

Power tools are extremely useful, I use them a lot.

Just *ban idiots* from using power tools.



Or even ban Americans !!!

--
Graham J

On 21-Feb-18 10:19 AM, alan_m wrote:
On 21/02/2018 01:45, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


The robots don't care where they are.Â* OTOH, look where the car makers
have put up plants.Â* No new ones in Detroit, New York, or California.
Mexico has some.

The robots may not care where they live but it still needs a large,
mainly unskilled or semi-skilled workforce to feed them and to perform
all the other tasks that currently cannot be assigned to robots.

You need a smaller but very skilled workforce to maintain and repair the
robots.

On 21/02/2018 11:47, Xeno wrote:
On 21/02/2018 9:50 PM, ultred ragnusen wrote:
rbowman wrote:

Can you say 'lawyer'?Â* I've spent some time in southern AZ close to the
border. It's refreshing to deal with Mexican mechanics. They still use a
bit of ingenuity.

Speaking of ingenuity, check out this redneck rear rotor surfacing
technique at home, with a grinder and while the rotors are spinning.
https://youtu.be/q5p-KHkx1YA?t=123

I guess it works for driven wheels only though.
https://youtu.be/SUIJySdkCZk?t=370
https://youtu.be/xokh96wRxb4?t=236
https://youtu.be/YsfadqO9V2A?t=55
https://youtu.be/rum-Wlok7n4?t=2

I guess this is how rednecks do the non-driven wheels.
https://youtu.be/R9qCFfDiw5A?t=350
https://youtu.be/Qgz3BnWpeUg?t=22
https://youtu.be/NxLeKG-oRmc?t=67
https://youtu.be/7dFBaLCjYck?t=71

That's the problem with the internet - the blind leading the blind!



so you are still on about tyres and nuts, jesus who do you work for ?
kwikfit !!!!

On 18/02/2018 00:48, ultred ragnusen wrote:
Can you teach me more about lug bolts & related tire tools on this vehicle
whose tires I rotated today and which I plan on rotating every 4K miles (6K
km).

First question is what is the practical difference between these three 21mm
(13/16ths) "sockets" for the lug bolts on the car I was working on today?
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/17/socket_ends.jpg
1. The standard lug wrench (green) has 6 points, each at a sharp angle.
2. The impact socket (black) has 6 points, each at a semicircular angle.
3. The standard socket (chrome) has 12 points, each at a sharp angle.

Second question, are these "cut marks" on a lug nut normal?
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/17/dented_nuts.jpg
I always use deep sockets, which fit over the whole nut, so I know I didn't
make these marks - but what did make the marks? Are they factory original?
If so, why?

Third question is related to this combination pictu
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/17/torquewrench.jpg
Where this question is a combination question of:
a. Why is the green 21mm "lug wrench" so very short compared to all others?
b. What's the practical difference, if any, with respect to torquing lug
bolts to 85 foot pounds (115 N-m), between the two types of torque wrenches
shown?
c. Does anyone even use that bottom-most "auger style" ratchet bar for fast
removal anymore? (I don't have power bolt-removal tools so that's why I use
it.)
And, the most important question, for torquing lug nuts, is
d. Does the torque change depending on the length of the socket extension
bar?

Fourth question is more of an observation than a question, where I combed
the tires for rocks and nails, as I always do when I rotate the tires every
4K miles, when I saw this tiny little steel dot embedded in the rubber in
each of the front tires.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/17/splinter1.jpg

That tiny dot turned out to be this funny-shaped steel sliver, pointy side
was pointing into the tire in both front tires.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/17/splinter2.jpg

The question is whether these embedded rocks and splinters, of which I
always find between 50 and 100 in each tire (mostly tiny pebbles and bits
of glass stuck in the tiny sipes of the tire tread) would eventually fall
out as the rubber wears (negating the need to periodically pick them out at
each tire rotation)?
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/17/splinter3.jpg

In summary, I ask these basic questions simply to learn more about how to
better rotate tires every 4K miles (6.5K km).

are you all dickheads ?????

In article ,
James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 18:50:37 -0000, Peter Hill wrote:

On 21-Feb-18 10:19 AM, alan_m wrote:
On 21/02/2018 01:45, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


The robots don't care where they are. OTOH, look where the car makers
have put up plants. No new ones in Detroit, New York, or California.
Mexico has some.

The robots may not care where they live but it still needs a large,
mainly unskilled or semi-skilled workforce to feed them and to perform
all the other tasks that currently cannot be assigned to robots.

You need a smaller but very skilled workforce to maintain and repair the
robots.

That's the UK out then.

Not a problem. Once out of the EU, you just issue work permits to the
Germans needed. When a robot breaks down, shouldn't take more than a
couple of months to get the paperwork needed, and a few days to get
through the border checks.

--
*Frankly, scallop, I don't give a clam

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 22/02/2018 00:29, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Not a problem. Once out of the EU, you just issue work permits to the
Germans needed. When a robot breaks down, shouldn't take more than a
couple of months to get the paperwork needed, and a few days to get
through the border checks.


What makes you think that you require German engineers rather than Korean?

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Uncle Monster wrote:

When I was in my mid 50's, I could still pick up a car engine but
now I'm in my mid 60's and I get around on wheels, dammit!
It's very frustrating.

I find that I need knee pads and something to hold on when I get up and
down from under the car nowadays also...

On Thursday, February 22, 2018 at 12:57:41 AM UTC-6, ultred ragnusen wrote:
Uncle Monster wrote:

When I was in my mid 50's, I could still pick up a car engine but
now I'm in my mid 60's and I get around on wheels, dammit!
It's very frustrating.

I find that I need knee pads and something to hold on when I get up and
down from under the car nowadays also...


I've fallen out of my wheelchair several times recently. I've had some uncontrolled coughing and sneezing fits where I came to on the floor and wondered how the heck I got there. Luckily, I was able to get back in my wheelchair. A few days ago, I took a sip of water and it went down the wrong pipe leading to another coughing fit and me regaining my wits on the floor. I'm now looking into obtaining a seatbelt for my wheelchair which will also keep me in me in place when pass gas. Nuclear Flatulence is a side effect of all the dang medications I'm given. I despise drugs. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Gassy Monster

critcher wrote:

That's the problem with the internet - the blind leading the blind!
so you are still on about tyres and nuts, jesus who do you work for ?
kwikfit !!!!

Last night I did all six brake sets (12 pads/shoes) on a German car:
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/fronts.jpg

The fronts mic'd greater than 0.800 inches so I kept the rotors.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/front_rotors.jpg

But the rears were below 0.7200 inches & they were edge lipped:
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/resurface.jpg

You never know if a rotor will be below thickness specification until you
measure it, so since I didn't have a new set of rotors, I decided to try
the redneck methods of truing them up, just for the learning experience.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/drums.jpg

One nice thing about doing all your own mechanical work on a car is you
find stuff like this busted brake line, which you won't know if a mechanic
will find because they don't spend the time to look around that you might.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/brakeline.jpg

--
PS: I made a mess of the rotor resurfacing project, but I'm gonna replace
the rotors anyway since they were 0.695 inches in diameter, so it was just
for the fun vote for American ingenuity that I even tried it.

On 21-Feb-18 7:30 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 21 Feb 2018 18:50:37 -0000, Peter Hill
wrote:

On 21-Feb-18 10:19 AM, alan_m wrote:
On 21/02/2018 01:45, Ed Pawlowski wrote:


The robots don't care where they are.* OTOH, look where the car makers
have put up plants.* No new ones in Detroit, New York, or California.
Mexico has some.

The robots may not care where they live but it still needs a large,
mainly unskilled or semi-skilled workforce to feed them and to perform
all the other tasks that currently cannot be assigned to robots.

You need a smaller but very skilled workforce to maintain and repair the
robots.

That's the UK out then.


China and India are turning out 1000's of engineers every year. Indian
engineers work for about 1/2 the price of UK engineers and 1/3 the price
of the best sub-con consultancies. Mind you many of the analysis jobs
that get put out there have to be done 3x before they get it right but
overall it's cheaper.

Polish engineers are cheaper than US and UK and high quality.
https://www.edc.pl/
I work with 2 that have moved to the UK.

In UK many with the STEM skills that are required for engineering go
into finance and earn 2.5-5x what engineers earn.

On 22/02/2018 6:19 PM, ultred ragnusen wrote:
critcher wrote:

That's the problem with the internet - the blind leading the blind!
so you are still on about tyres and nuts, jesus who do you work for ?
kwikfit !!!!

Last night I did all six brake sets (12 pads/shoes) on a German car:
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/fronts.jpg

The fronts mic'd greater than 0.800 inches so I kept the rotors.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/front_rotors.jpg

But the rears were below 0.7200 inches & they were edge lipped:
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/resurface.jpg

You never know if a rotor will be below thickness specification until you
measure it, so since I didn't have a new set of rotors, I decided to try
the redneck methods of truing them up, just for the learning experience.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/drums.jpg

One nice thing about doing all your own mechanical work on a car is you
find stuff like this busted brake line, which you won't know if a mechanic
will find because they don't spend the time to look around that you might.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/brakeline.jpg

I'd be putting money on you being the cause of that little faux pas!

--

Xeno

In article ,
alan_m wrote:
On 22/02/2018 00:29, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Not a problem. Once out of the EU, you just issue work permits to the
Germans needed. When a robot breaks down, shouldn't take more than a
couple of months to get the paperwork needed, and a few days to get
through the border checks.


What makes you think that you require German engineers rather than
Korean?

Ah - right. Brexit is only about controlling 'immigration' from the EU,
then? All others will be free to come and go as they please? Figures.

--
*Forget about World Peace...Visualize using your turn signal.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

alan_m wrote:
On 22/02/2018 00:29, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Not a problem. Once out of the EU, you just issue work permits to the
Germans needed. When a robot breaks down, shouldn't take more than a
couple of months to get the paperwork needed, and a few days to get
through the border checks.

What makes you think that you require German engineers rather than Korean?

All the best robots are German. This valuable training video may have
some information on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBc5NpyEoo
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 22/02/2018 14:27, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Ah - right. Brexit is only about controlling 'immigration' from the EU,
then? All others will be free to come and go as they please? Figures.


Nothing to do with immigration. Someone coming in from anywhere in the
world to fix a robot on behalf a company is not expecting residency!

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Xeno wrote:

I'd be putting money on you being the cause of that little faux pas!

Maybe. I've done the brakes on this German care before, but where I hang
the calipers on a special hook designed to take the stress off the brake
lines.

The one great thing about doing all your own work is you know that
mechanics screw up left and right but don't tell you, so, I know that a
mechanic didn't do this because my cars, all around twice the average that
people keep cars, have never been to a mechanic.

It's nice though to try those redneck methods, where it would be safer if I
had a motor with a faceplate that I could bolt the rotor to, so that I
could grind or sand down the surface at home with some semblance of
evenness.

On Thu, 22 Feb 2018 20:17:18 +1100, Xeno
wrote:

On 22/02/2018 6:19 PM, ultred ragnusen wrote:
critcher wrote:

That's the problem with the internet - the blind leading the blind!
so you are still on about tyres and nuts, jesus who do you work for ?
kwikfit !!!!

Last night I did all six brake sets (12 pads/shoes) on a German car:
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/fronts.jpg

The fronts mic'd greater than 0.800 inches so I kept the rotors.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/front_rotors.jpg

But the rears were below 0.7200 inches & they were edge lipped:
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/resurface.jpg

You never know if a rotor will be below thickness specification until you
measure it, so since I didn't have a new set of rotors, I decided to try
the redneck methods of truing them up, just for the learning experience.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/drums.jpg

One nice thing about doing all your own mechanical work on a car is you
find stuff like this busted brake line, which you won't know if a mechanic
will find because they don't spend the time to look around that you might.
http://wetakepic.com/images/2018/02/22/brakeline.jpg

I'd be putting money on you being the cause of that little faux pas!
+1

Plus, ANY mechanic would find that - and a flat rate mechanic would
DEFINITELY find it because he gets paid extra for replacing it. Much
more likely to replace with a lot less issues than that one.

Did you replace both?
If you didn't you area HACK, pure and simple - as that is niot
"damage" but "deterioration" and is totally age related.

You SHOULD be replacing ALL rubber hoses in that brake system.
MOST good mechanics would be STRONGLY reccomending that solution.

If that vehicle is not your own you are exposing yourself to huge
liability.

In most states and ALL provinces it is ILLEGAL.