Topic: What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?

[Stev-o]

"Brake month" continues here, my wife's Nissan 370Z has had warped rotors for awhile and when I drove it last week, I finally heard metal to metal.  Ordered pads and rotors Friday, delivered free on Saturday, and installed in two hours Sunday! A very good basic system needing no special tools to service.

[ekpent]

Wow 85. That means everyone is doing 90 or more I'm sure. Speed limits are higher in Northern Michigan then down here in the southern part but most people take them as only a suggestion I think.

[Stev-o]

Wow 85. That means everyone is doing 90 or more I'm sure.

Oh yes, absolutely.

[Bankerdanny]

Yesterday we finished up the 72' MGB/GT. It took a couple of tries to get the air out of the clutch hydraulic system. I put the wheels back on with new tires so the boy and I took it out on the 12 mile test loop and everything is good. Last night the wife and I took it out to get dinner.

Beautiful car. i like the spoiler. When they are running right they are a joy to drive. Not fast by modern standards, even when compared to a standard economy car like an Elantra or Corolla, but the sounds and smells connect you to the driving experience in a way that no modern car can. The smell was the first thing that struck me when I bought mine in 2011. I had forgotten the oil and fuel smells from old carburated cars.

[Terry in Australia]

good little truck goes so fast the bike tank n seat blew off?

Er, if you look closely Dave, it’s a different bike… Thanks John, it has been a project to turn the POS I bought into a nice reliable little truck, but it’s done two 400 milers without complaint this year, so I’m finally getting a return from it. Steve, I blatantly disregard speed limits, the little truck’s engine was only turning over at 2000 RPM @ 70 MPH as I passed all of those expensive junkers, and even with all of the bike parts in the back and cab I was amazed that at the 500 Km (312.5 mile) mark, it only used 44 litres, so it averaged 26.5 US MPG. That’s better than my little daily driver Subaru. Can’t complain about that!

[RAFster122s]

I keep my Mini Cooper S in Green mode most of the time and will use cruise control a lot of the time. I will drive 60-62mph on freeway when conditions permit in the far right lane and as a result of the longer distances I drive I am usually getting 38mpg on average and 39 every now and then. I sometimes open it up in regular or sport mode through the curvy section of the road through Saguaro National Park West on Picture Rocks road…some hairpin turns and undulating curvy road for a couple miles. 98% of the time I have to go that way to go into Marana or in to Tucson. So I get a fix for curvy roads…being a G-Force junky.

I’m lucky to be able to live here and get that good mileage…it comes at a cost of being isolated and a bit of loneliness as well as more miles and expense in fuel and maintenance.

Having owned a thirsty V8 that did 15-20mpg I think the tiny twin turbo 2.0L Mini Cooper S is a good trade off, even if it does require premium fuel. Having a car that is fun to drive makes life more tolerable.

Glad you are liking your little truck Terry and I look forward to seeing the adventures you have in it picking up and delivering things…

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks David, when I have time I need to revisit my motorcycle loader, the little truck has plenty of room for full size bikes, but loading the K2 bitsa on my own was a near death experience.

[Stev-o]

Picked up some aluminum "slotted wheels" to replace the rusty steel wheels that came on the Ranch Buggy I bought last year.  Bought some new tires, had them mounted and balanced and slapped 'em on.
This thing is fun driving around the Ranch! However the animals dont like it much.

[Terry in Australia]

That’s a cool looking buggy Steve, one of my school teachers used to have one back in the 70’s and I always thought it’d be a fun thing to drive.

[grcamna2]

Picked up some aluminum "slotted wheels" to replace the rusty steel wheels that came on the Ranch Buggy I bought last year.  Bought some new tires, had them mounted and balanced and slapped 'em on.
This thing is fun driving around the Ranch! However the animals dont like it much.

Which engine is in it Stev-o ?

[spotty]

Picked up some aluminum "slotted wheels" to replace the rusty steel wheels that came on the Ranch Buggy I bought last year.  Bought some new tires, had them mounted and balanced and slapped 'em on.
This thing is fun driving around the Ranch! However the animals dont like it much.

Beach buggys and a hearse are the only two cars that i truly yearn for

[Terry in Australia]

Picked up some aluminum "slotted wheels" to replace the rusty steel wheels that came on the Ranch Buggy I bought last year.  Bought some new tires, had them mounted and balanced and slapped 'em on.
This thing is fun driving around the Ranch! However the animals dont like it much.

Beach buggys and a hearse are the only two cars that i truly yearn for

With all your medical issues you’ll probably see the latter before the former…. (Joke)

[Terry in Australia]

I had a blowout yesterday in my twin turbo Subaru. That pissed me off as I was only taking it around the corner to pick up some groceries, and I had to change the wheel on the side of the road. What made it really worse though, is I discovered that the car has one of those stupid "compact" spare wheels? WTF?

Wheels and parts by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Who's hair brained idea was it to have a wheel which is a couple of inches smaller in diameter than the OEM original alloys? (Subaru put these 17" BBS wheels on all of the B4 GT's) I mean, it's got AWD with front and rear LSD, so surely that would fcuk something up? This car has got very "flat" suspension, so it felt like it was riding on the other 3 wheels and holding that pissy spare up off the ground on my way home as I crept along like I was doing the "Walk of shame" with my little chicken yellow wheel.

Today I took the rim with the blown out tyre to the tyre store. The guy asked me what tyre I wanted, and I explained that I'd like one that was round, and black. Price was no object, so the cheapest one would do. The one that blew out was a Dunlop that hadn't done 20,000 miles, so I got him to put on a Chinese one like the ones I had on my Mitsubishi Outlander that had done 50,000 miles and the tyres were still roadworthy when that peanut hit my car in 2021 while doing a burnout, and wrote it off. It cost 10 bucks more than the Stinko I put on the back of my K0.

Wheels and parts 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[ekpent]

Around my neck of the woods those little spares are called a 'donut' and yes they do not do the drive train any favors if people run them too long or to fast. All in a days fun right Terry ?

[Stev-o]

Picked up some aluminum "slotted wheels" to replace the rusty steel wheels that came on the Ranch Buggy I bought last year.  Bought some new tires, had them mounted and balanced and slapped 'em on.
This thing is fun driving around the Ranch! However the animals dont like it much.

Which engine is in it Stev-o ?

The donor Beetle to build the buggy was a '68 model and it has a 1500cc air cooled motor and four speed trans, runs great.
Coincidentally, I learned to drive a car in my oldest sister's 1969 Beetle, many moons ago!
My neighbor way back then had a buggy and I always wanted one, so I guess this was a bucket list buy.
No hearse for me!

[grcamna2]

Picked up some aluminum "slotted wheels" to replace the rusty steel wheels that came on the Ranch Buggy I bought last year.  Bought some new tires, had them mounted and balanced and slapped 'em on.
This thing is fun driving around the Ranch! However the animals dont like it much.

Which engine is in it Stev-o ?

The donor Beetle to build the buggy was a '68 model and it has a 1500cc air cooled motor and four speed trans, runs great.
Coincidentally, I learned to drive a car in my oldest sister's 1969 Beetle, many moons ago!
My neighbor way back then had a buggy and I always wanted one, so I guess this was a bucket list buy.
No hearse for me!

I imagine that's one lightweight little buggy;if it were mine,I'd be looking for little small rises in the road ahead to hop over and nail it in 3rd 

[Terry in Australia]

Around my neck of the woods those little spares are called a 'donut' and yes they do not do the drive train any favors if people run them too long or to fast. All in a days fun right Terry ?

Yeah Eric, the tyre that blew had a slow leak (found a screw in it when I took it off after the blowout) so I was always pumping it up, so that may have contributed to the blowout. I've seen those ridiculous wheels before, but didn't even know I had one until I needed the spare. I'd love to buy another original BBS wheel to have as a spare, but I tried to fit it in the spare wheel well, and .... no dice.

[ekpent]

One tip especially if you have a full size spare is to check them once in awhile to make sure they are full. The last time I did a mercy mission for my wife with a flat I took a jack etc. and looked like one of those guys working the pit in Nascar and was very proud of myself till I found the spare was almost flat !    Had to take it to a place to get air before mounting it up 

[Stev-o]

One tip especially if you have a full size spare is to check them once in awhile to make sure they are full.

A lot of modern cars dont even come with spare tires, they have "run flat" tires.  A friend had to replace a damaged tire on her beemer recently and it was $550.

With that said, most people nowadays wont even change a flat tire on the side of the road!

[Kelly E]

My son and I watched a guy in a Subaru drive past the bus stop every morning with a doughnut spare on the left front for a little over 3 months. I was amazed that it lasted that long.

[RAFster122s]

I couldn't get a new run flat for my Mini Cooper S and had to put a pair of conventional tires on it. Bridgestone had no stock and no date for new manufacturing run and I waited for 2 months before doing conventional tires.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, I occasionally check the pressure in my spare tyres, I only rarely drive the twin turbo beast because it was a car I took in trade when I sold my “owned since new” Ford to my youngest boy and I don’t really have a use for it. If I had checked it in the last year since I’ve owned it I would have seen that horrible yellow thing. I still might buy a “proper” spare wheel for it and just shove it in the boot. (Trunk) Horrible tiny yellow wheels piss me off….

[Dunk]

Fit up a patch for some rusty metal today, to patch the other side of what I did the other day. Not really sure what I'm doing but I guess it's better than it was. Learning what I can during amateur hour.

[Terry in Australia]

That looks pretty professional to me!

[grcamna2]

Fit up a patch for some rusty metal today, to patch the other side of what I did the other day. Not really sure what I'm doing but I guess it's better than it was. Learning what I can during amateur hour.

Which vehicle is that patch on Dunk:your Ford truck ?