BigChiefSlapaho Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 Hey. Wanted to make a thread about car care tips. Get keyed? I'll try to find out the best ways to get light scratch marks out of paint. Engine trouble? If its easy, I'll try to show you how to fix it. If not, I'll direct you to reputable places for repairs. Want to learn how to properly detail your car? I'll show you all the tricks of the trade. Post away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 somebody in texas told me, on a half ton truck, its best to park with the wheels lined straight up, for alingment i believe. Old wives tale, or fact? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChiefSlapaho Posted October 11, 2004 Author Share Posted October 11, 2004 Well, I'll have to look into that. From what I gather about alignment issues, they're usually more prone to occur from hard bumps or potholes or bad suspension components. I could understand the weight of your vehicle causing the joints to wear out or the axles to be on uneven load... I'll have to ask around. Since your suspension is stronger than a standard car is, I'm guessing your truck is less likely to lose alignment to the same kinds of stuff that would cause my car to go out of alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 Yeah, cause, i ran over mad potholes in TX, and curbs and shit and its fine, i imagine an accord would be drivin sideways by now. Just wonderin, lemme know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobitussinEF Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 whats the best way to remove scratches or light key marks? I bought mequires wax the other day. What do you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChiefSlapaho Posted October 11, 2004 Author Share Posted October 11, 2004 Ok... first off, if you can see the metal underneath, you're pretty much screwed. The best way to handle a deep scratch is: 1) Buy touch up paint from your dealer. 2) Wash & dry the car. 3) Apply the touch up paint. 4) Leave the car in the shade to dry for several hours 5) Wax over it, let it dry for an hour, wax again, let it dry for an hour, wax again. But, if the scratch is light and/or thin, you can try a non-abrasive compound like GS-27 (sold at Pepboys). Some friends of mine use GS-27 or another major brand non-abrasive liquid compound with a power buffer and make several applications to cover up the mark, then wax several times with breaks in between to keep it sealed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobitussinEF Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 Cool i will go pick up some of that stuff then. Luckily its not a deep scratch. Damn these hurricanes this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChiefSlapaho Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 Ok, here's a rim class for all you wheel upgraders: Things to know before you buy wheels for your car. You need to know your bolt pattern. Are you 4 or 5 lug? Are you 100mm or 114mm? Sites like http://www.tirerack.com have a catalog of cars with their stats for you to look up. You need to pick a size. Wheels have a height x width notation, like 16x7 or 18x9.5. If you go too big or too wide, realize this may cause you to have rubbing issues where the wheel rubs against the inside of the fender or against the suspension pieces when going over bumps or turning. VERY BAD. Heck, the wheel may not even fit at all if you go too crazy. Might have to resort to hammering the fender liner down with a mallet if you're crazy enough to try. Also, realize that chrome is heavy and heavy means slow. Chrome does look great tho. Every pound saved on the wheel & tire translates to around 20 lbs improvement in forward momentum and braking effort. Generally speaking, most alloy rims are around the same weight. You may notice that the flashier wheels with the complicated designs seem to weigh more than the more simpler wheels. For example: is a nice looking wheel but weighs over 23lbs while is slightly less flashy but weighs only 15 lbs in the same size. Also, smaller wheels tend to give better acceleration. You can't buy rims without knowing a little about tires. Here's how you decipher the numbers on the side of your tire. Motor Trend has a great article on understanding tire specs. Why is this important? Lets say your car came with 225/45 VR16's on it. (Don't worry about the speed rating, that's your personal preference according to how you drive.) What you're concerned with is the 225/45 16. This car was calibrated to run on this specific size. The speedometer is set to show readings based on this specific tire size (or more importantly, the diameter of the tire). Altering this diameter, by putting tires that are either too tall or too short in profile, can negatively affect the accuracy of your speedometer, so you could actually be going FASTER or SLOWER than your speedo says. You could also be miscalculating your total miles on the car. Some people care, some people don't. Miata.net has a program designed to show you the effects of adding the wrong tire size to your car, depending on what tire your car came with. So, lets say you had 225/45 16's and you want 17's. An acceptable size that doesn't throw the speedometer way off is 225/40 17 (the profile is a bit smaller). Run it through Miata.net to check. What about something really wide for racing? You could get 245/35 17's (much wider, much thinner). Lets say you want 18's. If you care, you'd probably have to go with 215/35 18's which are not ony thinner, but narrower also. Or fuck it, you could put 22's on that biatch and even with the smallest, thinnest tires you could find, your speedometer would still be off by at least 6.5%. Put a normal 215/40 22 on there.... your speedometer is now 20% wrong. Enjoy! Finally... a smaller wheel generally translates into quicker acceleration. Looks crappy on the street tho, with a big ass wheel well exposed. But, lets say you're building an autocross car, or a track car. Like an Integra Type-R that came with 195/55 15x5 wheels. You could go bigger. But that would mean possibly more wheel weight, possibly more tire weight, slightly slower acceleration, higher cost. Even for a lightweight 16 or 17. But... you could get wider lightweight 15's like which are not only 2 and 1/2 inches wider, accomodating tires up to 235 in width, but also only 11lbs total! These are very expensive though, but there are others out there for around $90 each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 If when I hit like 65 on the highway the car starts vibrating, and sometimes when I make a right turn I hear the back wheels knock, what do I need to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChiefSlapaho Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 Any time the wheels vibrate its one of two things 1) You need balancing, possibly a rotation as well. 2) Your tread is wearing down too low. Some tires are designed to start feeling like shit if they get beyond safe wear zones. The knock in the back is probably due to worn suspension parts. I've seen how you drive that car, I'm sure you take bumps pretty quick, plus you and your bro aren't exactly light weights . Might want to have your shocks checked out and see if anything is busted back there. Front wheel drive cars usually have stronger front suspensions rather than rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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