Dan and I decided on a Saturday evening at about 6pm that we would drive 6 hours to visit the Chicago Auto show. We had never been to it and heard that it is one of the largest auto shows in the country. This was intriguing and we had an opportunity to ride in style.
This video encapsulates the experience from waking up in the morning at 8am (After arriving at 1am) to eat breakfast with the most efficient wait staff. It also shows a lot of different cars and the discussion of what we enjoyed the most.
My brother was experiencing un-even wear on his front tires. I took this as an opportunity to show everyone else how to rotate your tires to prevent an uneven wear.
Rotating your tires depends on a couple of different variables:
What type of drivetrain (Front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive)
Do you have the same sized tires front to back?
Are one pair of tires worn significantly more than the others? (Safety concern)
It is recommended to rotate your tires every 6000-8000 miles.
Some sports cars have wider tires in the rear than in the front. This is to produce extra rear grip under heavy acceleration. You can check to see if your tires are equal sizes by reading the code on the side wall.
The first number 185 indicates that it is 185 mm wide. If your front tires and rear tires have this same number you will be able to interchange them front to rear.
If you drive a fancy sports car with wide tires in the rear you will only be able to switch tires from left to right.
Rotation patterns for different drivetrain:
Here are a few rotational patterns depending on your drivetrain setup
If you have directional radials it would be required that the tire is removed from the rim in order to keep the rotational direction the same. Most cars do not have directional tires these days, but if you do it is most likely noted on the sidewall with a rotation arrow.
An example of that arrow is found in the image below.
When rotating a tire from the back to the front it is important to make sure that the difference in tread depth does not exceed 2/32″. If your tires are significantly more worn on the rear it can cause instability and unsafe driving conditions on wet or snowy roads. It is always recommended to keep more worn out tires on the front of the car because it will prevent the car from a spin out.
You’re at the mechanic for a routine check-up or maybe an oil change and the mechanic says it is time for new brakes! This is what happened with Hunter’s girlfriend. She was told her brake pads are worn out and she has warped rotors. They also said that her ball-joint needs replacing and gave her a final quote of $1200.
YIKES!
This is a 2006 Pontiac G6 with only 40,000 miles on it.
So Hunter and I did what we always do, we learn how to do it ourselves.
Here we show you how to replace your rotors and brake pads all the way around the car. We also talk about troubleshooting whether or not you have a bad ball-joint.
Tools:
Jack
Jack stands
Ratchet set
Wrenches
Flat head screw driver
Bolt cutter (Side cutter would work, but this is what we used)
Rubber mallet
Extra set of hands
C-Clamp
Parts:
Rotors for the front
Rotors for the rear
Brake pads for the front
Brake pads for the rear
Control arm (If it actually needs replacing)
One thing that may not have been clear in the video is that you can use a C-clamp to compress the piston to make way for the fresh pad that is thicker than the old worn out ones.
Also we did not talk about the pad retaining clips. They pull out easily, pay attention to orientation before you pull them out. Brake pads usually come with fresh replacements. They should be placed before putting the pad back in.
I received a call from my buddy Hunter again about his ES300. He said his alternator went out which he wasn’t excited about obviously because that means he needs to buy a new one. To me this was exciting because it was another opportunity to learn how to do something. He got it diagnosed at the local auto parts store and they said the solenoid was bad. He ordered one online and it was set to arrive the next day.
Some symptoms he was having include:
Car won’t start (really inconvenient when leaving for work)
Car won’t start again (hmmmm this is when you know something isn’t right)
In the case of the Lexus ES300 the traction control light came on (I am guessing due to lack of voltage from the battery
After having these issues it could either be a tired old battery or an alternator. Getting the the alternator checked at the local store was an easy way to diagnose.
Our video shows the struggles of learning how to take the old alternator out and putting in the new one!
The process goes like so:
Disconnect the negative terminal of your battery
Loosen the tensioner on the alternator (This was the lower bolt on the alternator)
Slip the belt off of the pulley on the alternator
Loosen and remove the remaining support bolts from the alternator
Place the new alternator in position of the old
Place the support bolts into position and tighten just enough to hold the alternator in position (We still want it to be able to pivot with tensioner)
Tighten the tensioner until the slack in the belt is gone (Do not over tighten or it could cause excess belt wear and puts strain on pulleys)
Tighten the support bolts to desired torque rating
That is it! You just saved yourself a bit of money by applying yourself instead of paying some other guy to do easy work for you!
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the video! We never know what we are doing until the job is done.
Today we will discuss how to make a hammock stand a long with a Youtube video that shows the process. We ended up spending about $100 on lumber, hardware, and paint.
We followed the instructions on this website, but decided that we could explain it better.
Everyone should learn how to change oil on their car. It is simple maintenance to keep you on the road. Many oil change companies push the “every 3000 miles” rule like it is a 10 commandment from the bible. Here at Hardway Learning we know that the owner’s manual tells no lies. This is why they have engineers designing the cars inside and out. They would not tell you the improper oil change intervals because that would only mean that their reliability can no longer be trusted. If anything their intervals would be on the safe side to what is actually necessary. Most cars these days only need to be changed every 7500 miles. I personally like to change mine every 5000 miles because this is easiest for me to remember. (120k, 125k, 135k, etc.)
This video will teach you how to change the oil on your car.
Tools:
-Ratchet set
-Strong hands
-Towels to clean up oil
-Cat litter
-Ramps or jacks and jack stands for your car
-Appropriate amount of oil you need for your car (This can be found in your owners manual)
-Oil filter (Use the manual at the store to locate your model and year to locate the appropriate filter)