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From: Built_Well on 14 Oct 2007 01:29 Today, when I drove to Midway, a city 3 miles west of Columbia, I saw a gas station that offers 5 different grades of gas! Not only can you choose between 87 octane, 89, and 91, but they also have the in-between grades of 88 and 90. You can choose from 87, 88, 89, 90, and 91 all from the same pump. Never saw that before. They also offer diesel. This station is next to the Midway truck stop.
From: Ray O on 14 Oct 2007 01:39 "Built_Well" <built_well_toyota(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:47118dcd$0$90431$892e0abb(a)auth.newsreader.octanews.com... > > Ray O wrote: > > > The Sears Auto Center near my house always installs wheels with > > a torque wrench and they make a note on the customer's receipt > > that wheel torque should be re-checked after 100 miles. I did > > re-check the torque once, and it was right on. > ======== > > Ray, I would have guessed you rotate your own tires, since you > change your own cars' oil. > > I do know that both Sears and Walmart offer /free/ /lifetime/ > tire balancing and rotation after you pay for your first, initial > balancing and rotation. The cost at the two stores is between > $30 and $45, but then, forever after, your balancing and rotations > are totally free for that set of tires. The tires don't even have > to come from Sears or Walmart. > > Is that the reason you let Sears rotate your cars' tires? Do you > ever do it yourself? I rotate my own tires. I have 4 jack stands so that I can raise all 4 corners at once. The price of the extra 2 jack stands has long since paid for the price of a tire rotation. I have purchased the last several sets of tires at Sears. With an impact gun and 4 jack stands, I can rotate the tires in about half the time it takes to drive to Sears so it is more convenient to rotate them myself, and I can keep an eye on the brakes myself. IMO, paying extra for lifetime wheel balance is a waste of money because wheels rarely go out of balance once they have been balanced. -- Ray O (correct punctuation to reply)
From: Ray O on 14 Oct 2007 01:33 "Built_Well" <built_well_toyota(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:471181f8$0$68472$892e0abb(a)auth.newsreader.octanews.com... > > There's a 3/8-inch Craftsman wrench at Sears called the Digi-Tork > that on sale for $100 (regular $120). It has a small level-like > window that displays the torque. Despite its name, it's not digital > like the $230 Craftsman that has an accuracy of +/- 2 percent CW and > +/- 3 percent CCW, whatever CW and CCW mean. > A 3/8 inch drive torque wrench will probably be difficult to use for lug nuts. Your lug nuts probably need a 21 mm socket, which generally don't come in 3/8 inch drive. Also, a 3/8 inch torque wrench will have a shorter handle that doesn't give as much of a leverage advantage as a torque wrench with a longer handle. CW refers to clock-wise and CCW is counter-clock-wise. For jacks and jack stands, with all other things being equal, one with a heavier construction will likely be more durable than one that is lightweight. Some lightweight or portable floor jacks do not have casters or only have a roller in front, making them more harder to position properly. A cheap floor jack may also be difficult to lower gently - when you release the valve, the car may have a tendency to drop suddenly instead of gradually coming down. My jack stands have a sawtooth design on the so you can just pull up on the head to raise it, with a release lever to lower the head. Cheap jack stands may have a pin that you insert in holes in the base and head. Not only is this less convenient to raise and lower, if you look at the diameter of the pin that is supporting thousands of pounds while you are underneath, the pin may appear kind of minimal. I prefer something that looks and feels rock solid while I am under the car and I want the adjustment to be very fast because you are still reaching under the car with the car supported solely by the jack while you are positioning the jack stands. -- Ray O (correct punctuation to reply)
From: Ray O on 14 Oct 2007 01:43 "Built_Well" <built_well_toyota(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:47119e9f$0$68449$892e0abb(a)auth.newsreader.octanews.com... > Built_Well wrote: >> >> Ray O wrote: >> >> > The Sears Auto Center near my house always installs wheels with >> > a torque wrench and they make a note on the customer's receipt >> > that wheel torque should be re-checked after 100 miles. I did >> > re-check the torque once, and it was right on. >> ======== >> >> Ray, I would have guessed you rotate your own tires, since you >> change your own cars' oil. >> >> I do know that both Sears and Walmart offer /free/ /lifetime/ >> tire balancing and rotation after you pay for your first, initial >> balancing and rotation. The cost at the two stores is between >> $30 and $45, but then, forever after, your balancing and rotations >> are totally free for that set of tires. The tires don't even have >> to come from Sears or Walmart. >> >> Is that the reason you let Sears rotate your cars' tires? Do you >> ever do it yourself? > ======== > > Just to clarify, I would have guessed you rotate your cars' tires > yourself to be sure the rotations are done properly, accurately, and > with high quality. > I rotate my cars' tires myself because I can do it in about 5 minutes as opposed to the 15 minutes it takes to drive to Sears, 1 hour waiting for the car to be worked on, and 15 minutes driving back. The local Toyota dealer is about 3 minutes away so less time is spent in transit, but I'd still have to wait 30 minutes to a half hour for the work to be done. As for doing the job properly, accurately, and with high quality, tire rotations are not rocket science, and I'd trust both Sears and the local Toyota dealer to do the job properly. -- Ray O (correct punctuation to reply)
From: Built_Well on 14 Oct 2007 02:32
Ray O wrote: > IMO, paying extra for lifetime wheel balance is a waste of money because > wheels rarely go out of balance once they have been balanced. ======== That's what I thought. I've thought for years that the need to balance tires is rare, but then one of the techs at Walmart the other day was telling me that I should have the tires balanced every other rotation, because tires easily become unbalanced, like from dips into potholes and other reasons. I know I had my old Tercel's tires balanced at Ewers once, and they were never the same again. |