Sorry about your grandparents, Calax.  When you're a kid, you worry about what if something happens to your parents.  Then, as you get older and your parents age, you realize it's not if but when.  Enjoy the time you've got, brother!

Also, welcome to the homeowners' club.  It's good to hear something good going for you, even if we *are* strangers!

As for myself, I was driving my car and the tire pressure light came on.  It was handling a bit rougher, but clearly wasn't flat, so I finished the last little bit to my destination and went to my appointment.  When I got back out, I grabbed my tire gauge and then went to the tire only to realize that it wasn't *completely* flat, but close enough that I didn't need a gauge.  Changed to the spare and drove it to see if I could get the tire patched.  No dice.  Too big a hole, I suspect.  They had to order my tires.  Only good news is that I was so irritated with the guy not giving a crap about my custom that I called Costco to go there so he took an interest and lowered the price by a hundred bucks.  I know they were busy, but I would have just plopped down the full price if he'd just talked to me in the first place.

If I were to guess I'd say you should probably look into changing the other three tires. That's lookin pretty dang worn there.

2 minutes ago, Calax said:

If I were to guess I'd say you should probably look into changing the other three tires. That's lookin pretty dang worn there.

Yeah, I changed the front tires recently.  The rear two had some life in them, so I waited, but I'm having the rear two replaced together.  I've always thought you had to replace tires in at least pairs if not quads.  It's not too bad.  A little less than 700 dollars for two tires and an alignment, which I needed already but hadn't gotten around to having done.

8 minutes ago, Captain Corcoran said:

Yeah, I changed the front tires recently.  The rear two had some life in them, so I waited, but I'm having the rear two replaced together.  I've always thought you had to replace tires in at least pairs if not quads.  It's not too bad.  A little less than 700 dollars for two tires and an alignment, which I needed already but hadn't gotten around to having done.

Depends on your tires, vehicle and drive. on a 4/awd you probably want to swap them all together so that they don't create more issues where they get out of sync. Most consumer tires shouldn't be that expensive for a pair (at least on sedans) I just did 4 on my dads (now mine) 2000 Tundra and that only cost me 800 overall, and when I was at Hertz ordering tires, most of the tires I bought for everything up to a Tahoe generally punched in around 100 bucks a wheel.

Yeah, the tires on my current car aren't cheap.  I don't know why.  I've priced them out at various places.  I spend a tad more at the dealer, but I don't mind and it's not hugely different. It was a little over 500 for the tires and about 90 for the alignment.  Danned dealers!

4 hours ago, Calax said:

I am. I have a house now.

 

Grandfather died though. Still haven't fully processed his, or my grandmothers death last year (My mom's not doing great right now, she's had to deal with four very close deaths in the past 2 years)

Wow I'm so sorry to hear that

5 hours ago, Calax said:

I am. I have a house now.

 

Grandfather died though. Still haven't fully processed his, or my grandmothers death last year (My mom's not doing great right now, she's had to deal with four very close deaths in the past 2 years)

I'm sorry for your loss, but it's good seeing you again!

 

4 hours ago, Captain Corcoran said:

Yeah, the tires on my current car aren't cheap.  I don't know why.  I've priced them out at various places.  I spend a tad more at the dealer, but I don't mind and it's not hugely different. It was a little over 500 for the tires and about 90 for the alignment.  Danned dealers!

500$ isn't that bad, you'd get pretty decent tyres for it, but I have no idea why they'd align the suspension unless they've also changed springs/shocks..

My car has started sounding really great now, the back muffler has broken off the piping so I removed it. It doesn't sound much different in normal driving (Perks of having a turbo) but on idle it sounds good, and when I engine break people get scared ****less xD

The volvo 240 project has ground to a bit of a halt sadly, the guy that is helping me decided to put his hand through a circle saw, so he's not going to be in the mood for working for a while.. Got the engine in the car, but I need to cut the bellhousing of a volvo 960 auto-gearbox, weld it onto a volvo 940 manual gearbox to mate the engine with the gearbox and make it fit. I've got cables in place for an aftermarket ECU, but I need to register the car with an original ECU - because bureaocrazy.

 

Edited September 11, 20196 yr by Azdeus

8 hours ago, Azdeus said:

but I have no idea why they'd align the suspension unless they've also changed springs/shocks..

That already needed to be done.  I just hadn't gotten around to it.  Recently went on a trip across the southwest, from California to Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada.  It was a lot of fun, about 3000 miles, and a few dirt roads.  I was going to get the alignment done this month anyway.  The nail just gave me a reason to do it now.

Today, I'm going to do something I really need to do, start *seriously* studying for various exams and whatnot.  Geez, this place is like a bowl of chips.  Can't do it a little.

my mechanic (who doesn't do any tire work so i can trust him on this) said that there are 2 cases with tires. 

1. if the car is front wheel drive, the front tires get more wear than the back, so at about half the lifespan of the tires you can just swap the front with the back tires to have the best performance until its time to replace all 4

2. on rear or all wheel drive cars, unless there is a problem (or frequent burnouts or drifting), all 4 tires should have more or less the same wear at all times so when the time comes all should be at replacement condition.

I've also always gotten all 4 tires replaced at the same time and then kept the best old one as a spare. When I can afford it that is.

The last 2 cars I've had didn't even have a space for the spare. I don't know what it is but I feel better throwing on a spare than I do driving with run-flats.

A lot of later cars don't have room for a real tire in the trunk.  I don't have room in mine, and I don't feel like throwing down the money anyway since I've had need for a spare a handful of times over the past 30 years.

Okay, let me detail this since I'm the doofus who started the whole tire thing.  About a year ago, I was in the middle of some personal strife.  There was a death in the family, my wife was injured in an accident, and I ran into a large herd animal with my car all while in the middle of an accelerated program.  After I resolved all those issues, *then* my front driver's side tire developed a flat.  That issue was in the side wall, and there was no sparing it.  So, I replaced the two front tires but opted, out of cheapness, to wait on the rear two tires.  Yeah, probably should have replaced them all, but I got a little over a year's use from the rear two.  Now, my tires are expensive.  I don't know why.  I usually get a discount, but not because I'm pushing for one.  Weird things happen.  For example, the guy isn't paying attention to me and I end up waiting a couple hours.  He realizes I'm going to go somewhere else, starts paying attention to me, being friendly, and knocks down the price.  ...Or, a different place makes a mistake and I end up with an upgrade on the tires for the '91 mustang.  Tires suck.  I hate dealing with this stuff.

...And, as I waste more time with my latest video game (these forums), the dealer called and my car is ready.  The shuttle is on the way and I can pick up my car.  BTW:  did I mention that, after years without accident or mishap, I struck a burro, got the car fixed, and then got into a fender bender that was my fault?  Yeah, I was starting to feel a little like Job.  I still haven't fixed the body work.  I don't want to go through insurance and I don't feel like dropping the 6-8 grand to have it fixed.  ...But, lest people think I'm complaining, life. is. good.  Looking stupid?  Losing money?  Dealing with tires?  I've seen dark times and these certainly aren't it right now.  Calax lost his granddad and his mom's ill.  teknoman's dad died.  Azdeus' buddy got in a fist fight with a circular saw.  They're having a tough time.  My biggest worry is that I'm going to have to curtail my Obsidian obsession before it derails my board exam prep.  Hint:  that's a first world problem, not a real world one.

tires. we got rid o' the x5 'cause we were told if we went with the cheap tire option (needed 2) it would cost us $900. straw-meets-camel's-back. heck, the 97 t&c we use for the dogs could be complete replaced for $1500.

'course complaining 'bout car costs when we got the two buicks which do little save take up garage space and maybe get driven a handful o' times each month is hypocritical or stoopid... not mutual exclusive we s'pose. 

HA! Good Fun!

ps surprising but the 71 lesabre had kinda a joke spare, but as we could easily fit two dead bodies in the trunk, we threw a real tire in there in case we ever get a flat. still have room for at least one corpse; corpse count being the appropriate metric for trunk space after all.  

Edited September 11, 20196 yr by Gromnir

Did the donkey die?

had a pony (named alpo) and our family had horses and a mule. never had a donkey.

HA! Good Fun!

 

6 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Did the donkey die?

I called the police to report the incident and he didn't see any dead donkey's around.  Turns out, they're pretty sturdy and I wasn't going super fast.  I'd like to think the burro lived.  I felt terrible about it, but there's an area where the damned herds are getting thick.  Geez, it's not like I live out in the boondocks.  This is not a rural area, but it's a small canyon corridor between two counties.

8 minutes ago, Captain Corcoran said:

Turns out, they're pretty sturdy and I wasn't going super fast.  I'd like to think the burro lived. 

f=ma is not your friend in this instance.

HA! Good Fun!

18 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

Wow I'm so sorry to hear that

It's been a hell of a year. Right now I'm rebuilding my financial situation while trying to muscle through a month or two of hell at the office so that something better appears (specifically, they're opening a new office that means I'll be about 15-20 minutes from my house rather than a full hour+ that it is now).

 

Plus the whole "learning a new aspect to my industry" situation.

6 hours ago, Gromnir said:

f=ma is not your friend in this instance.

HA! Good Fun!

I've been thinking about how to respond to this all day.  I say this with utmost respect and affection:  Gromnir, you're just plain mean.  :rueful grin:

11 hours ago, Gromnir said:

 

'course complaining 'bout car costs when we got the two buicks which do little save take up garage space and maybe get driven a handful o' times each month is hypocritical or stoopid... not mutual exclusive we s'pose. 

HA! Good Fun!

ps surprising but the 71 lesabre had kinda a joke spare, but as we could easily fit two dead bodies in the trunk, we threw a real tire in there in case we ever get a flat. still have room for at least one corpse; corpse count being the appropriate metric for trunk space after all.  

One 1968 Volvo 121, 1991 Volvo 240, 1998 Volvo 940.

I'm still trying to save up money to buy the '67 Galaxie 500 that my father used to own, it's still in town here. I've saved around 1500$, I still need to double it. And add a zero.  😭

3 hours ago, Calax said:

 

Plus the whole "learning a new aspect to my industry" situation.

 

The more I learn about my industry, the more perplexed I get that the company I work for actually works.

Edited September 12, 20196 yr by Azdeus

our second buick were pure happenstance. have always wanted to work on one o' the gm 455 big blocks. oldsmobile woulda' been our choice for minutiae reasons. just turned out our housekeeper had the le sabre sitting in her garage. she wanted to give it to us if we would get it out off her property as she thought it were junk worthy 'cause o' flat tires and not having been driven for a near a decade. wrote her a check with perhaps an extra zero, just cause. 

looks a bit like grandpa's cruiser, but sounds like rolling thunder. honestly, is the sound o' those 455s more than anything which kinda captivated us, but were utter coincidence we ended up with a second buick.

the 87 grand national... well that is a different kettle o' fish altogether. unusual performance from a v-6 and 'course the unique aesthetic. yeah, it's kinda cartoony. "you can get it in any color you want... as long as it's black," was part o' the original marketing campaign, and it has been labeled the unofficial car o' darth vader for obvious reasons. the over-the-topness is part o' the appeal for us.

have never been a buick guy. if anything, am actual a ford truck guy, though has been 'bout a decade since we owned one.

just... happened.

HA! Good Fun!

since you were speaking of animals

when my father was a kid, his family had a horse, a dog and a cat. the 3 of them were inseparable. if my grandpa took the horse out on a field to graze or work, the dog and the cat would follow and stay with the horse if he left it there overnight. the cat's favorite napping spot was on horseback

Edited September 12, 20196 yr by teknoman2

Keeping an eye on the news the last few days. Got friends living in the affected areas in Queensland (Australia has broken all the old records for start of and severity of bushfires and it's not even summer yet).

 

Not sure if this link works outside Australia, but it looks impressive... from a distance that is.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-09/ember-attack-during-bushfire-on-the-sunshine-coast/11494188

 

A long time ago, my dad fell and cracked his face open.  We thought he was going to die then, which gladly wasn't in the card.  I was already in town and flew my wife in because of the emergency.  That was years and years ago... 15?  12?  a while back.  We drove home together, since I had my car.   Because the world doesn't care about our personal problems, it happened that we drove back during what was one of the worst wild fires in our history.  It was surreal.  Like Dante's Inferno.  Fires raging on both sides of the freeway, which was briefly open as we drove through and then closed again after we passes, as I recall.  *That* looked something akin to your video, Gorth.

2 hours ago, Gromnir said:

our second buick were pure happenstance. have always wanted to work on one o' the gm 455 big blocks. oldsmobile woulda' been our choice for minutiae reasons. just turned out our housekeeper had the le sabre sitting in her garage. she wanted to give it to us if we would get it out off her property as she thought it were junk worthy 'cause o' flat tires and not having been driven for a near a decade. wrote her a check with perhaps an extra zero, just cause. 

looks a bit like grandpa's cruiser, but sounds like rolling thunder. honestly, is the sound o' those 455s more than anything which kinda captivated us, but were utter coincidence we ended up with a second buick.

the 87 grand national... well that is a different kettle o' fish altogether. unusual performance from a v-6 and 'course the unique aesthetic. yeah, it's kinda cartoony. "you can get it in any color you want... as long as it's black," was part o' the original marketing campaign, and it has been labeled the unofficial car o' darth vader for obvious reasons. the over-the-topness is part o' the appeal for us.

have never been a buick guy. if anything, am actual a ford truck guy, though has been 'bout a decade since we owned one.

just... happened.

HA! Good Fun!

Oh, yeah, the sound of V8's are amazing. During my upbringing there was a guy that rented space in our barn for a garage of his, and he's always had a couple of cool cars there; 67' Impala, a raised International "jeep", a 70's Lincoln Continental, Dodge Viper, Sierra Cosworth, a 70's Cutlass and many more that I can't remember, but I never had the guts to ask to come along in one, I've only ever drooled over them from a distance, heh.

You mean that 1987 Grand National, with turbo? I'm so insanely jealous, that model is insanely cool looking. 

1 hour ago, Gorth said:

Keeping an eye on the news the last few days. Got friends living in the affected areas in Queensland (Australia has broken all the old records for start of and severity of bushfires and it's not even summer yet).

 

Not sure if this link works outside Australia, but it looks impressive... from a distance that is.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-09/ember-attack-during-bushfire-on-the-sunshine-coast/11494188

 

It looks insane

O.O

Edited September 12, 20196 yr by Azdeus

4 years ago me and my father were clearing a field and he brought a small bottle of diesel to help start the fire to burn the trash plants we had cut. somehow he forgot the bottle near some of the stuff that were to be burned and the fire got to the bottle creating a big fireball that spread out of control and almost burned the nearby stable that had about 50 sheep in it. we tried to stop the fire with dirt and some metal sheets that were left over from the fencing but the fire was too big and hot to get close. good thing we had a pump at the well so i ran, connected a hose on it and started it up then ran back with the (fortunately long enough) hose and managed to douse it before the stable went up in flames. a firetruck showed up a few minutes later but they let us go with just a warning because we managed to stop the fire but had the stable burned, my father would have to pay a huge fine and probably do some jail time.

good thing it wasn't a windy day or it could have been way worse

Edited September 12, 20196 yr by teknoman2