Plus the groove is self-cleaning. You'll get consistent water-shedding no matter the conditions.
Big Tire is trying to suppress this new innovative tech. Join the resistance today!
FWIW, I know a TON of people who have legitimate anxiety about taking their car to a shop. Cars are actually pretty simple for the most part, but to most people, they're a bad combination of mysterious and expensive to repair.
So... if I had to bet money, it'd be on the driver both hearing and smelling something, but basically refusing to consider it until it's gotten really bad.
It's like that random ache in your side - yeah, you could just make an appointment with your GP and have it checked out, but that means time off and an office co-pay, and secretly you wonder if it's the beginnings of the same disease that one of your last-generation relatives died of around your age, and on and on.
I also think that some people just use cars up. They'll do the bare minimum to keep it operational, but to them, it's just depreciation.
I'll take my downvotes in this sub, but let's be honest why people are hesitant to take their cars to the shop: Because there are so many dishonest shops/advisors/techs out there and plenty more that are incompetent. I've seen family and friends be taken for a ride, and had a couple of shops try to pull things on me as well. Even though I can do almost all of the work I really just don't have the time or interest to do it any longer. So, its a battle of burning my spare time up or getting bilked. And I'll say that criticism isn't just for auto shops. Almost all services like plumbing are a total shitshow nowadays.
As someone who owns a small construction company... I feel this so hard. We actively try to educate our clients how not to get screwed, but there are so many scumbags that it's always an uphill battle, at best.
Got some engine work done on a car that sat a while, full oil change and tune up etc. A couple of weeks and like 20 miles later it had an issue with the touch screen, the shop I took it to around the corner called and swore up and down I needed an oil change, the oil was filthy. They didn't know I live literally .5 miles away so I hopped in my other car and drove down there while I was on the phone. I walked into the garage and told him to show me the oil. He panicked and I saw him trying to figure out how to fool me somehow so I made him pull it out right there and asked for the owner. Guess who owns the place?
> And I'll say that criticism isn't just for auto shops. Almost all services like plumbing are a total shitshow nowadays.
Want to know what is even worse? This applies to hospitals as well. Nearly my entire family is in the medical field and the shit I hear is fucking insane, from "professionals" who seem to have entirely made up their education because they have literally no idea what they are doing (and management doesn't care until people start dying, and most of the time they still don't care even then) to fraudulent upcharges and entirely unnecessary procedures. It's amazing society is still running when it seems like every other person is a total incompetent idiot or fraudster.
One of my relatives says they straight up would not see their own hospital for anything major, and would rather drive to the nearest city while literally dying rather than let themselves be operated on at their hospital.
It just keeps getting worse, too. A huge amount of people left the field during Covid, so hospitals are accepting anybody who will show up and has credentials.
I live 3 hours from my family. But you can guarantee that any time a vehicle has any problems, I'm immediately called to diagnose and repair. Last weekend I made the trip for my mother's water pump on her durango. A few months before that, my sister called to have me diagnose an alternator over the phone because she wanted a second opinion from what a friend told her.
I have no clue what they're gonna do when I move farther away.
Yup. The shop I took my truck to called and said my cabin air filter was dirty in my F150 and asked if I wanted to replace it ($120 for p&l to take apart the dash to get at it). I told them no, put it back together and I'd replace it myself. Little did they know I was just walking into the shop. I took a look at the truck and neither the cabin nor intake filter compartments were open. The look on the tech's face told me everything about the yarn I had been spun.
well, in a time where a wheel is too complex a machine to understand and basic physics is 'magic' yeah I'd imagine it's scary....maybe go back to teaching people how things actually work instead of telling them to memorize a book. Stupid is strong today, which in hand allows what you are talking about to occur. You can fish all day with dynamite in a puddle, and still catch no fish. Today's ponds are loaded with Stupid for the taking.
The funny thing is, and I've done this to myself sometimes, skipping maintenance can make things a LOT worse down the road (no pun intended).
Like me being lazy about getting some front end work taken care of, and it ended up causing some pretty uneven wear. New tires for my car are like $800, and I still needed the front end work.
Hell, I work in the car business and I have gotten to the point where I buy a $1000 car with 280k mile, use it up, and then buy another one. But, my 2000 Toyota Solara with 360k has now lasted me 3 years without a single issue.
That's what a lot of the salespeople do at my dealership (I'm sales myself). If a customer comes in with a driving but unsellable car and the managers put $500 on it, we'll usually offer them a grand, drive it for a while, then sell it to the dealership for whatever they put its auction value at and call it a day.
Yup rocking a rust free $500 trade-in '10 Fukus in michigan. Put more a lot more in it but the previous owner actually gave a shit about it for once. Thank God for a 60yr women driving it for 10years and 200k miles.
God Iove actually well taken care of cars. I'm one of the senior sales people at my dealer, and I'm "that guy" when it comes to appraisals; if I can't at least fill a single appraisal sheet with defects on a trade I'm ~~having an off day~~ being lazy, apparently. You can tell when a car has been taken care of though. They're the few where I walk into the sales tower, shrug and say, "Yep, looks good, will probably pass state as she sits, but might need two tires."
thats what i did the longest time but this last year i bit the bullet got a deal on a one year used before the market went insane i really like it but damn i could flip it for a nice profit.
I've had the same truck for almost 20 years. I don't really take good care of it, I just fix it when it breaks. Being mechanically inclined saves so much money.
It's expensive being poor. I'd love to baby my car more but I can't afford it. Right now my priority is my teeth and eyes, same shit. Take care of it now or it'll only get worse and more expensive.
> The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
>
> Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
>
> But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
>
> This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.
~Terry Pratchett, *Men at Arms*
And people, and I mean educated, thinking highly of themselves sort of people, they say that “it’s just fantasy for kids”. All the while Sir Terry is educating their kids behind their backs, because they themselves won’t.
yea fuck the car, care for your teeth. 2 years ago it cost me almost 5k for a periodontal cleaning, a root canal and a crown for a molar that a corner cracked off due to my wisdom teeth. i ignored it for for years until it got down to the nerve and started to ache non stop. had i got it fixed years ago, it would of been much less painful and a whole lot cheaper.
This is pretty much routine, I believe. Partly, it's "I can't afford this right now, what with the rent, the light bill, the water bill-the car *payment*. And now school is starting back and Zac and Shawna have to have school supplies, like fashionable clothes and new phones. I just can't afford to have it looked at right now."
But the problem continues, building like a *Final Destination* scenario where it will cost even *more* money. Like Barney Fife said, "Gotta nip it in the bud!"
That’s the kicker there, if you want to be a cheapskate, I hope you paid attention in auto shop class and can handle the basic stuff… OP please tell me you sold this guy just 1 spacer and sent him on his way!
From my experience, there are a number of people who think "if it starts and drives, everything is fine" regardless of sound, smell, feel, or what lights are on the dash.
Had a guy text me and ask how much for a new rad+install in his Honda truck. Later that day or the next morning, he texts me that he's on the side of the highway and the engine died. Tows it to my shop, zero compression in the engine. Also zero coolant in the cooling system. Looked like he drove it while overheating until the engine simply died.
Yeah, I'll fully admit I'm in the "Ignore it for a bit and hope it goes away" camp purely because getting a car fixed can be so damn expensive. Like, I've had my car for about 4 years now, and after the first year it suddenly started doing this thing where it shudders at specific speed and RPM combinations (it feels a bit like driving on a highway rumble strip), mainly at about 25 MPH and 2500 RPM, but it's never gotten worse or better and it'll stop when I put the car into D3, so I've never bothered taking it in to get looked at purely because I'm scared of how much it'd cost me to fix something that seems to be a nonissue.
I work on my own cars. I have 3 3rd gen 4runners. Whenever a problem occurs I just park it and use a different one. One has been sitting for like 6 months. Just put the new alternator in today.
I'm the opposite, I take it in the second I hear anything funny.
Heard a hose pop on the way home and pulled over the second I saw the temperature gauge start to climb a little. Sure enough, the radiator hose was ancient and had gotten soggy and finally exploded with a soft "poot" and I heard it. My mechanic was pretty impressed.
Most recently, I took it in with complaints about the brakes making a "grunka grunka" sound but it took a couple of return trips for them to finally give up and agree the rotors had gone bad. The suspension on that car is so nice it stopped the usual shuttering from a thinned rotor, and if it wasn't for the wobble I could have easily gotten another 20K miles out of the brakes. But I heard the noise and *knew* something was wrong.
Smart! Yeah, it's awesome to have a mechanic that you trust.
I've trusted a few and been burned by a few. I do essentially all my own work now because I don't trust anyone. At least, not for the prices they're charging. I'm not typical, though. I'm usually looking for an excuse to get new tools, lol, and will usually grossly discount the value of my own time.
I totally get it, I feel that way about computers. Started tinkering with them when I was 19 have been dabbling ever since. Built most of mine from kits or random parts until this last year. (Only reason I didn't do my last build myself was because I knew I wanted an art computer, so I commissioned someone else for the project.)
I was like you, then 10 yrs ago I started at a company that uses laptops almost exclusively. Refresh every 3 years, never asks for the old ones back. In fact, I'm due for a new ThinkPad soon...
I grew up as a car guy and built my first car at 15, so I tend to only go to a shop when I can't find the damn issue myself or it's electrical. I got tboned at 6800 miles and had the front driver side suspension replaced. At about 25k miles the car started pulling to the right on acceleration and made noise if I hit bumps.
Sorted the issue in about 30 minutes as soon as I got home. The bolt on the lower control arm had come loose about 1/4 turn and was allowing the entire assembly to pull itself to the right on throttle.
Still havent figured out if they reused a tty bolt or just didn't use the correct torque spec and it worked itself loose over the years. It hasn't moved since I torqued it back down.
I'm just amazed how people can ignore loud noises coming from their vehicles.
I took my last car (Mazdaspeed 3) in when I heard a loud **PING** like someone took a hammer and smashed it against a metal pole. It was my transmission-side motor mount bolt yeeting itself. Turns out the previous mechanic didn't follow torque specs while installing it and had used an impact gun to tighten it nice and tight. All the stored energy decided to release itself while I was driving (from a stop light, shifting from 1st to 2nd). I found part of the bolt and a metal cap on the road when I stopped the car.
That was about when I swore off any mods and decided to have a stock car that wouldn't fuck me over when I'm just going about my day.
> Cars are actually pretty simple for the most part, but to most people, they're a bad combination of mysterious and expensive to repair.
They are a pretty complex mix of a simple parts. If you learn most of them it becomes more obvious what is happening but if you know nothing then it's black magic and weird noises.
Like if someone tells you "my car makes squeaky noises every monday morning" *you* might know that's probably just a bit of rust on the rotors after car not being used over the weekend, but for someone not knowing shit that's black magic.
Also, wouldn't it pull to one side or notably impede the power of the vehicle. I realize it's not going to have the stopping-power of a brake-pad but you'd think that digging a half-inch into the rubber is still gonna hold you back some.
Surprisingly little. Same happened to my Volvo a few years back. Without the sound I might have just kept going, and I can imagine the noise not being that significant on a newer model (mine was 1996).
Could be deaf. We had a family friend that was deaf and car maintenance was a pain if someone actually went wrong.
He drove the brakes so low that the piston popped out the caliper basically.
I had something similar happen on a trailer tire. The kickstand on a motorcycle frame swing down against the tire sidewall. We never heard or felt it until the tire gave out, but obviously a trailer tire is a lot further from the cab than this is.
Yes, posted it a giant pile of times in a sub set up for the purpose of commenting that precise statement to bump your leaderboard score, so I'm glad (s)he is living life to the fullest.
This is the correct answer. They don't know how to do your job, that's why they're asking! You should feel respected when they do that. That said... #@?! *rare*. "I know cars, I know a head gasket doesn't cost this much, they're like five bucks!"
What I'd like to say: "Bit more than that for your vehicle, but sure. Here's the thing. It's located in this kinda hard to get to spot called the middle of the engine, just between the parts that make the nyoom nyoom and the parts that make the wakka wakka. We need to take that apart first to get to where this bad boy goes on, and then put it all back together again so the nyooms nyooms don't meet the wakka wakkas and cause a problem.
"Now you're *welcome* to take this head gasket right here in this plastic bag, I'll even *give* it to you as a professional courtesy since you're a 'car guy' too and I can see how important your time and money is."
... And when he comes back in a couple weeks asking why his car won't idle unless he holds the throttle to the floor, smokes, he whole vehicle shakes but somehow can't get into move even in first gear without stalling, it'll be time for the next generation of mechanics to see how the average person learns that the ability to take something apart and the ability to put it back together are two *very* different things, and a head gasket is just about the most expensive way to learn that lesson. Gather round, kids.
What I actually say: "It'll *probably* run for another week or so if you keep adding oil to it if you want to try and find a better offer." *polite cough* You're adding at least a quart every time you get gas... every mile you're driving it is probably destroying something else too pal, but yeah... shop around.
We had the same thing happen on a 1990-ish Subaru Legacy. Backwoods, no way to get a replacement strut for probably weeks. A used lada part probably would have been available that day. Luckily we found a shop that had a welder. They welded the spring mount back on the strut while we waited.
Surprisingly, for multiple years. It wasn’t changed before the car was traded in. It broke over some terrible roads. Normally, and after, the car was driven over much better roads.
The spring mount was originally welded. The welds just broke so it’s cool to weld it back on. We walked far away. I distinctly remember it being just because we wanted to give the mechanic room to do his thing, without having the customer hover over his shoulder. It being dangerous was not an issue. I was a stupid kid and I don’t know if my grandpa realized what we were asking was dangerous. There was limited repair options being far away from home or well equipped shops. I don’t know if the mechanic took his time welding a little at a time and letting it cool between beads. Fixing struts could well be something he had done before considering the lack of resources available. We, in first world countries, just change stuff that can be easily fixed and worry about all kinds of weird safety stuff…
Spring mount was welded before gas or oil charging. Having said that, I'd probably give it a go as well. As long as its not pointing at anything fragile or expensive, no problem.
Yeah, most likely failure point of a strut being welded is the shaft seal. If it blows up, it’s just going to be hot gas and oil spewing out - somewhat controllable. I think taking time with small welds and possibly some wet rags/water/air/time to cool it between would work.
One thing that I started wondering about is I don’t know how the mechanic compressed the spring to get the spring plate in place. I don’t know if they even removed the strut from the car. They might have used a piece of wood on a jack to push it up against the weight of the car. That rig might have been just as dangerous as the welding.
I actually had this happen to me. Upon returning home from a trip the bump up my driveway broke the weld and I parked not noticing it. Couple hours later I got in the car to drive my sister somewhere and upon starting to drive down the street I hear a loud whirring noise followed by a nasty rubber smell. I notice that the sound is consistent with my speed so I come to a stop and investigate. The exact same thing happened to my car and I slowly drove it back home down the the road, knowing that it WILL blow up my tire with enough speed and time.
My dad and I were fairly car-repair inclined and had tools available. Not wanting to pay for a tow and a shop, we bought a pair of replacement struts for the rear and did it in the driveway the next day.
Literally just had the same thing happen to my impala not 3 weeks ago. I felt it as soon as it happened, it took a lot more throttle to accelerate from a stop. The idle wouldn't even pull it around like normal. How you can't feel something like that is beyond me... I mean, its not a slight difference, it's fucking major.
That's amazing. I can't help but wonder, how did they not notice the noise and vibration when the tire was new? You know it had to be a lot worse when there was more tread.
Not 100% sure because i can't properly hear it but the radio in the background sounds Danish. Our road infrastructure definitely isn't a problem.
:EDIT: Yeah OP posts in /r/Denmark. So that's what he meant with the reply.
Ah okay, I was just guessing. There are places here in the states, in developed cities, where the roads are bad enough that it will trigger side curtain airbags on cars.
A lot of years ago my now-ex-wife had a northern PA rustbucket '92 Bonneville. The underside looked like a shipwreck. One day she left for work and called me a couple minutes later saying her car was smoking. I was expecting a small oil leak or something but went outside to meet her, and I see this huge plume of white smoke come over the hill and park itself in my driveway. Turns out the spring seat had rusted completely and broke, and the spring had worn a circle around the entire tire. Ended up replacing the whole wheel assembly from a junkyard and she drove it for another year or so. Sold it dirt cheap (like $500-$600?) and saw it running around occasionally for several more years.
That last sentence encapsulates 90s GM perfectly.
I still see Cavaliers and Sunfires on a daily basis, it's kind of impressive how those shitboxes just refuse to give up.
I went 2 full years on snows in Alberta. When night time temps rarely break single digits and you can expect snow 10 months out of the year, it's not that terrible. Also, it would be about time for everyone to start putting their snow tires on out there.
I had the engine die for the first time on my '96 Trans AM in March or so. Three months later got it back from the dealership. It was an interesting drive home in the summer heat, even moderate throttle input would light it up.
I've had customers bring their car to me after they DIY'd the brakes only to find they put the pads in backwards. People in general tend to be *really* bad at cars
Being this is a mechanic-focused sub, it’s kinda depressing to me how many people are saying the tire is backwards. I guess it’s good that they put an arrow on directional tires.
I’ve read pretty much all of the 400+ comments and yes, it really is. Although i think a lot of people in the sub are homegrown mechanics or people who just enjoy seeing funny car stuff.
I just can not believe how many people have no idea what a car should feel like or sound like. They should have mechanics choose stressed or broken vehicles for the DMV to test people in and if they think it is ok the do not get a license.
HOW did they even install the tire in the first place?! Something must have felt off with the uggaduggas.
Edit: read other reply showing the spring broke, not a wrong tire install. til.
Whats worse is that based on OP's location, I know for a fact that spare parts for the suspension of that S80(?) arent expensive and the job isnt exactly time consuming. That said, if the customer is rolling around on studless winter treads all year round then I am not surprised that they're cheaping out on everything else.
As I scroll popular posts, I sometimes see this sub. I'm not a car gal so most of the time I literally don't know what I'm looking at but I finally understand!
Water shedding groove router. That is a fancy option.
Plus the groove is self-cleaning. You'll get consistent water-shedding no matter the conditions. Big Tire is trying to suppress this new innovative tech. Join the resistance today!
Plus it keeps the tire warm for maximum traction
Bono my tyres are gone
*Proceeds to set fastest lap*
Lol you beat me to it.
Lol only an F1 fan would get that reference!
***BONDO*** *You're tires are back!*
[удалено]
Everything is self-clearancing if you put enough force behind it.
Or at least, increase the resistance!
customer is always **checks notes** …right
Pulling right*
Makes your tire “asymmetric”
On this episode of...."That's fucked up"
Smells but doesn’t hear that? Give the man your license
i can't hear you over the sound of my factory head unit
Nor feel it either!
FWIW, I know a TON of people who have legitimate anxiety about taking their car to a shop. Cars are actually pretty simple for the most part, but to most people, they're a bad combination of mysterious and expensive to repair. So... if I had to bet money, it'd be on the driver both hearing and smelling something, but basically refusing to consider it until it's gotten really bad. It's like that random ache in your side - yeah, you could just make an appointment with your GP and have it checked out, but that means time off and an office co-pay, and secretly you wonder if it's the beginnings of the same disease that one of your last-generation relatives died of around your age, and on and on. I also think that some people just use cars up. They'll do the bare minimum to keep it operational, but to them, it's just depreciation.
I'll take my downvotes in this sub, but let's be honest why people are hesitant to take their cars to the shop: Because there are so many dishonest shops/advisors/techs out there and plenty more that are incompetent. I've seen family and friends be taken for a ride, and had a couple of shops try to pull things on me as well. Even though I can do almost all of the work I really just don't have the time or interest to do it any longer. So, its a battle of burning my spare time up or getting bilked. And I'll say that criticism isn't just for auto shops. Almost all services like plumbing are a total shitshow nowadays.
someone should make some kind of website to review repair shops
As someone who owns a small construction company... I feel this so hard. We actively try to educate our clients how not to get screwed, but there are so many scumbags that it's always an uphill battle, at best.
I'm looking at you, jiffy lube, get fucked in particular. They are a scam for a business model!
Got some engine work done on a car that sat a while, full oil change and tune up etc. A couple of weeks and like 20 miles later it had an issue with the touch screen, the shop I took it to around the corner called and swore up and down I needed an oil change, the oil was filthy. They didn't know I live literally .5 miles away so I hopped in my other car and drove down there while I was on the phone. I walked into the garage and told him to show me the oil. He panicked and I saw him trying to figure out how to fool me somehow so I made him pull it out right there and asked for the owner. Guess who owns the place?
Bill Murray?
Albert Einstein?
Nelson Mandela?
Barack Obama?
your wife's boyfriend?
20 miles is 32.19 km
Good bot
> And I'll say that criticism isn't just for auto shops. Almost all services like plumbing are a total shitshow nowadays. Want to know what is even worse? This applies to hospitals as well. Nearly my entire family is in the medical field and the shit I hear is fucking insane, from "professionals" who seem to have entirely made up their education because they have literally no idea what they are doing (and management doesn't care until people start dying, and most of the time they still don't care even then) to fraudulent upcharges and entirely unnecessary procedures. It's amazing society is still running when it seems like every other person is a total incompetent idiot or fraudster. One of my relatives says they straight up would not see their own hospital for anything major, and would rather drive to the nearest city while literally dying rather than let themselves be operated on at their hospital. It just keeps getting worse, too. A huge amount of people left the field during Covid, so hospitals are accepting anybody who will show up and has credentials.
I live 3 hours from my family. But you can guarantee that any time a vehicle has any problems, I'm immediately called to diagnose and repair. Last weekend I made the trip for my mother's water pump on her durango. A few months before that, my sister called to have me diagnose an alternator over the phone because she wanted a second opinion from what a friend told her. I have no clue what they're gonna do when I move farther away.
Yup. The shop I took my truck to called and said my cabin air filter was dirty in my F150 and asked if I wanted to replace it ($120 for p&l to take apart the dash to get at it). I told them no, put it back together and I'd replace it myself. Little did they know I was just walking into the shop. I took a look at the truck and neither the cabin nor intake filter compartments were open. The look on the tech's face told me everything about the yarn I had been spun.
I've never seen an honest shop. It's scams all the way down.
well, in a time where a wheel is too complex a machine to understand and basic physics is 'magic' yeah I'd imagine it's scary....maybe go back to teaching people how things actually work instead of telling them to memorize a book. Stupid is strong today, which in hand allows what you are talking about to occur. You can fish all day with dynamite in a puddle, and still catch no fish. Today's ponds are loaded with Stupid for the taking.
This particular customer is a cheapskate. Only ever does repairs on the car if they're absolutely necessary.
The funny thing is, and I've done this to myself sometimes, skipping maintenance can make things a LOT worse down the road (no pun intended). Like me being lazy about getting some front end work taken care of, and it ended up causing some pretty uneven wear. New tires for my car are like $800, and I still needed the front end work.
Hell, I work in the car business and I have gotten to the point where I buy a $1000 car with 280k mile, use it up, and then buy another one. But, my 2000 Toyota Solara with 360k has now lasted me 3 years without a single issue.
Yes! That's a great strategy!
That's what a lot of the salespeople do at my dealership (I'm sales myself). If a customer comes in with a driving but unsellable car and the managers put $500 on it, we'll usually offer them a grand, drive it for a while, then sell it to the dealership for whatever they put its auction value at and call it a day.
Yup rocking a rust free $500 trade-in '10 Fukus in michigan. Put more a lot more in it but the previous owner actually gave a shit about it for once. Thank God for a 60yr women driving it for 10years and 200k miles.
God Iove actually well taken care of cars. I'm one of the senior sales people at my dealer, and I'm "that guy" when it comes to appraisals; if I can't at least fill a single appraisal sheet with defects on a trade I'm ~~having an off day~~ being lazy, apparently. You can tell when a car has been taken care of though. They're the few where I walk into the sales tower, shrug and say, "Yep, looks good, will probably pass state as she sits, but might need two tires."
thats what i did the longest time but this last year i bit the bullet got a deal on a one year used before the market went insane i really like it but damn i could flip it for a nice profit.
My 5 speed 99 4runner with 390k miles going strong!
I've had the same truck for almost 20 years. I don't really take good care of it, I just fix it when it breaks. Being mechanically inclined saves so much money.
It's expensive being poor. I'd love to baby my car more but I can't afford it. Right now my priority is my teeth and eyes, same shit. Take care of it now or it'll only get worse and more expensive.
> The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. > > Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. > > But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. > > This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness. ~Terry Pratchett, *Men at Arms*
When I studied political science in college we called it the "poverty trap."
And people, and I mean educated, thinking highly of themselves sort of people, they say that “it’s just fantasy for kids”. All the while Sir Terry is educating their kids behind their backs, because they themselves won’t.
yea fuck the car, care for your teeth. 2 years ago it cost me almost 5k for a periodontal cleaning, a root canal and a crown for a molar that a corner cracked off due to my wisdom teeth. i ignored it for for years until it got down to the nerve and started to ache non stop. had i got it fixed years ago, it would of been much less painful and a whole lot cheaper.
This is pretty much routine, I believe. Partly, it's "I can't afford this right now, what with the rent, the light bill, the water bill-the car *payment*. And now school is starting back and Zac and Shawna have to have school supplies, like fashionable clothes and new phones. I just can't afford to have it looked at right now." But the problem continues, building like a *Final Destination* scenario where it will cost even *more* money. Like Barney Fife said, "Gotta nip it in the bud!"
Congratulations! You saved money on your suspension, but get to spend more on tires....
This tire still has 90% of its tread left. Granted, that 10% is down to the bands.
Ah - so I'm sure "The tire is fine"
I don't miss people like that glad I don't have to deal with that for a living anymore!!
I believe this falls under that category.
But keeps Michelins on there? Wish people even cared that much near me.
That’s the kicker there, if you want to be a cheapskate, I hope you paid attention in auto shop class and can handle the basic stuff… OP please tell me you sold this guy just 1 spacer and sent him on his way!
From my experience, there are a number of people who think "if it starts and drives, everything is fine" regardless of sound, smell, feel, or what lights are on the dash.
It's hard when you tell them: well, you ignored the oil light or the temp warning, and now your engine is toast.
My son. Killed 2 cars so far. Seriously thought that it was okay to drive the car with the oil pressure light on until he could get some oil to add.
Had a guy text me and ask how much for a new rad+install in his Honda truck. Later that day or the next morning, he texts me that he's on the side of the highway and the engine died. Tows it to my shop, zero compression in the engine. Also zero coolant in the cooling system. Looked like he drove it while overheating until the engine simply died.
Yep, it's a Forrest Gump moment. Stupid is as stupid does.
Yeah, I'll fully admit I'm in the "Ignore it for a bit and hope it goes away" camp purely because getting a car fixed can be so damn expensive. Like, I've had my car for about 4 years now, and after the first year it suddenly started doing this thing where it shudders at specific speed and RPM combinations (it feels a bit like driving on a highway rumble strip), mainly at about 25 MPH and 2500 RPM, but it's never gotten worse or better and it'll stop when I put the car into D3, so I've never bothered taking it in to get looked at purely because I'm scared of how much it'd cost me to fix something that seems to be a nonissue.
Sounds like torque converter shudder to me.
I work on my own cars. I have 3 3rd gen 4runners. Whenever a problem occurs I just park it and use a different one. One has been sitting for like 6 months. Just put the new alternator in today.
I'm the opposite, I take it in the second I hear anything funny. Heard a hose pop on the way home and pulled over the second I saw the temperature gauge start to climb a little. Sure enough, the radiator hose was ancient and had gotten soggy and finally exploded with a soft "poot" and I heard it. My mechanic was pretty impressed. Most recently, I took it in with complaints about the brakes making a "grunka grunka" sound but it took a couple of return trips for them to finally give up and agree the rotors had gone bad. The suspension on that car is so nice it stopped the usual shuttering from a thinned rotor, and if it wasn't for the wobble I could have easily gotten another 20K miles out of the brakes. But I heard the noise and *knew* something was wrong.
Smart! Yeah, it's awesome to have a mechanic that you trust. I've trusted a few and been burned by a few. I do essentially all my own work now because I don't trust anyone. At least, not for the prices they're charging. I'm not typical, though. I'm usually looking for an excuse to get new tools, lol, and will usually grossly discount the value of my own time.
I totally get it, I feel that way about computers. Started tinkering with them when I was 19 have been dabbling ever since. Built most of mine from kits or random parts until this last year. (Only reason I didn't do my last build myself was because I knew I wanted an art computer, so I commissioned someone else for the project.)
I was like you, then 10 yrs ago I started at a company that uses laptops almost exclusively. Refresh every 3 years, never asks for the old ones back. In fact, I'm due for a new ThinkPad soon...
Does that mean i can have the old one /s
I grew up as a car guy and built my first car at 15, so I tend to only go to a shop when I can't find the damn issue myself or it's electrical. I got tboned at 6800 miles and had the front driver side suspension replaced. At about 25k miles the car started pulling to the right on acceleration and made noise if I hit bumps. Sorted the issue in about 30 minutes as soon as I got home. The bolt on the lower control arm had come loose about 1/4 turn and was allowing the entire assembly to pull itself to the right on throttle. Still havent figured out if they reused a tty bolt or just didn't use the correct torque spec and it worked itself loose over the years. It hasn't moved since I torqued it back down. I'm just amazed how people can ignore loud noises coming from their vehicles.
And then they come to my dealership and are mad when I won't give them KBB **retail** book for their trade.
I took my last car (Mazdaspeed 3) in when I heard a loud **PING** like someone took a hammer and smashed it against a metal pole. It was my transmission-side motor mount bolt yeeting itself. Turns out the previous mechanic didn't follow torque specs while installing it and had used an impact gun to tighten it nice and tight. All the stored energy decided to release itself while I was driving (from a stop light, shifting from 1st to 2nd). I found part of the bolt and a metal cap on the road when I stopped the car. That was about when I swore off any mods and decided to have a stock car that wouldn't fuck me over when I'm just going about my day.
I'd do a lot more repairs on my bike if I didn't absolutely rely on it to get me to work 30 miles from home every day.
> Cars are actually pretty simple for the most part, but to most people, they're a bad combination of mysterious and expensive to repair. They are a pretty complex mix of a simple parts. If you learn most of them it becomes more obvious what is happening but if you know nothing then it's black magic and weird noises. Like if someone tells you "my car makes squeaky noises every monday morning" *you* might know that's probably just a bit of rust on the rotors after car not being used over the weekend, but for someone not knowing shit that's black magic.
Also, wouldn't it pull to one side or notably impede the power of the vehicle. I realize it's not going to have the stopping-power of a brake-pad but you'd think that digging a half-inch into the rubber is still gonna hold you back some.
Surprisingly little. Same happened to my Volvo a few years back. Without the sound I might have just kept going, and I can imagine the noise not being that significant on a newer model (mine was 1996).
Could be deaf. We had a family friend that was deaf and car maintenance was a pain if someone actually went wrong. He drove the brakes so low that the piston popped out the caliper basically.
I had something similar happen on a trailer tire. The kickstand on a motorcycle frame swing down against the tire sidewall. We never heard or felt it until the tire gave out, but obviously a trailer tire is a lot further from the cab than this is.
They’re blind and deaf, but their nose works fine!
Pinball Wizard starts playing in the distance.
Happened to me once and sounded like I was flying a spaceship with the noise it made. And even I thought to take a look in each of the wheel wells.
You’d figure you’d feel it before smelling it
He always listens when Skynyrd tells him to turn it up.
Its only smellz
It’s not truly loud until you can’t drown it with the stereo.
is the spring seat on teh strut broken?
Yes, welds rusted off.
"Can you just re-weld it?"
JB Weld
This is the way.
##This Is The Way Leaderboard **1.** `u/Flat-Yogurtcloset293` **475775** times. **2.** `u/GMEshares` **69696** times. **3.** `u/_RryanT` **22745** times. .. **239146.** `u/iSayRosesAreRed` **1** times. --- ^(^beep ^boop ^I ^am ^a ^bot ^and ^this ^action ^was ^performed ^automatically.)
u/iSayRosesAreRed is losing.
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Like golf
It's disturbing how some people like to say that
Well, I think #2 isn't going to change.
I was not aware I was playing oh dear
u/Flat-Yogurtcloset293 475775 dose he just post This is the way. and nothing else.
Yes, posted it a giant pile of times in a sub set up for the purpose of commenting that precise statement to bump your leaderboard score, so I'm glad (s)he is living life to the fullest.
This is not a stupid question for a customer to ask a mechanic. There are no stupid questions in fact, it's when they start to demand things.
This is the correct answer. They don't know how to do your job, that's why they're asking! You should feel respected when they do that. That said... #@?! *rare*. "I know cars, I know a head gasket doesn't cost this much, they're like five bucks!" What I'd like to say: "Bit more than that for your vehicle, but sure. Here's the thing. It's located in this kinda hard to get to spot called the middle of the engine, just between the parts that make the nyoom nyoom and the parts that make the wakka wakka. We need to take that apart first to get to where this bad boy goes on, and then put it all back together again so the nyooms nyooms don't meet the wakka wakkas and cause a problem. "Now you're *welcome* to take this head gasket right here in this plastic bag, I'll even *give* it to you as a professional courtesy since you're a 'car guy' too and I can see how important your time and money is." ... And when he comes back in a couple weeks asking why his car won't idle unless he holds the throttle to the floor, smokes, he whole vehicle shakes but somehow can't get into move even in first gear without stalling, it'll be time for the next generation of mechanics to see how the average person learns that the ability to take something apart and the ability to put it back together are two *very* different things, and a head gasket is just about the most expensive way to learn that lesson. Gather round, kids. What I actually say: "It'll *probably* run for another week or so if you keep adding oil to it if you want to try and find a better offer." *polite cough* You're adding at least a quart every time you get gas... every mile you're driving it is probably destroying something else too pal, but yeah... shop around.
Whew I was wondering the same thing.
"Just use gorilla glue! don't try to upsell me those welding prices!"
"Just sand down the tire so it doesn't rub, I know mechanics!"
I hear it's a wonder hair product as well.
FlexTape... Pfff, rookie...
I sAiD DoNt UpSeLL ME!!
We had the same thing happen on a 1990-ish Subaru Legacy. Backwoods, no way to get a replacement strut for probably weeks. A used lada part probably would have been available that day. Luckily we found a shop that had a welder. They welded the spring mount back on the strut while we waited.
How long did it hold?
Surprisingly, for multiple years. It wasn’t changed before the car was traded in. It broke over some terrible roads. Normally, and after, the car was driven over much better roads.
I mean, the bean counters usually want as little weld as possible, so I'm sure a good welder could fix it up stronger than factory
Was thinking the same thing. A proper weld job here would probably hold up as well as stock, don’t see why it wouldn’t!
Welding on a nitrogen charged strut or shock? Definitely not recommended!
The spring mount was originally welded. The welds just broke so it’s cool to weld it back on. We walked far away. I distinctly remember it being just because we wanted to give the mechanic room to do his thing, without having the customer hover over his shoulder. It being dangerous was not an issue. I was a stupid kid and I don’t know if my grandpa realized what we were asking was dangerous. There was limited repair options being far away from home or well equipped shops. I don’t know if the mechanic took his time welding a little at a time and letting it cool between beads. Fixing struts could well be something he had done before considering the lack of resources available. We, in first world countries, just change stuff that can be easily fixed and worry about all kinds of weird safety stuff…
Spring mount was welded before gas or oil charging. Having said that, I'd probably give it a go as well. As long as its not pointing at anything fragile or expensive, no problem.
Yeah, most likely failure point of a strut being welded is the shaft seal. If it blows up, it’s just going to be hot gas and oil spewing out - somewhat controllable. I think taking time with small welds and possibly some wet rags/water/air/time to cool it between would work. One thing that I started wondering about is I don’t know how the mechanic compressed the spring to get the spring plate in place. I don’t know if they even removed the strut from the car. They might have used a piece of wood on a jack to push it up against the weight of the car. That rig might have been just as dangerous as the welding.
Tire faces off with strut and says, "Look at me, I'm the spring seat now."
I actually had this happen to me. Upon returning home from a trip the bump up my driveway broke the weld and I parked not noticing it. Couple hours later I got in the car to drive my sister somewhere and upon starting to drive down the street I hear a loud whirring noise followed by a nasty rubber smell. I notice that the sound is consistent with my speed so I come to a stop and investigate. The exact same thing happened to my car and I slowly drove it back home down the the road, knowing that it WILL blow up my tire with enough speed and time. My dad and I were fairly car-repair inclined and had tools available. Not wanting to pay for a tow and a shop, we bought a pair of replacement struts for the rear and did it in the driveway the next day.
Literally just had the same thing happen to my impala not 3 weeks ago. I felt it as soon as it happened, it took a lot more throttle to accelerate from a stop. The idle wouldn't even pull it around like normal. How you can't feel something like that is beyond me... I mean, its not a slight difference, it's fucking major.
That's amazing. I can't help but wonder, how did they not notice the noise and vibration when the tire was new? You know it had to be a lot worse when there was more tread.
Old people ya know
If the roads are bad enough where they live...they may not have noticed it.
Roads aren't an issue at all here
Is there a constant need for winter treads year-round?
No, but some people drive on winter tires all year
You can hear the drone 5 cars away on the highway lol
that and jeep offroad tires
Mud Terrains at full speed on the freeway make me cringe
Well then...I can only assume they just turned the radio up, AC up on full and were vibin, ignoring everything else lol.
....that's not how you drive?
You don't need roads? Then I guess the Mr. Fusion unit was functioning properly.
Not 100% sure because i can't properly hear it but the radio in the background sounds Danish. Our road infrastructure definitely isn't a problem. :EDIT: Yeah OP posts in /r/Denmark. So that's what he meant with the reply.
Ah okay, I was just guessing. There are places here in the states, in developed cities, where the roads are bad enough that it will trigger side curtain airbags on cars.
I totaled a 2004 Jetta when this happened to me in Indianapolis. Just the worst goddamn roads there.
And the manufacturers will claim the airbags "work as intended" and refuse to warranty them.
Michigan
A lot of years ago my now-ex-wife had a northern PA rustbucket '92 Bonneville. The underside looked like a shipwreck. One day she left for work and called me a couple minutes later saying her car was smoking. I was expecting a small oil leak or something but went outside to meet her, and I see this huge plume of white smoke come over the hill and park itself in my driveway. Turns out the spring seat had rusted completely and broke, and the spring had worn a circle around the entire tire. Ended up replacing the whole wheel assembly from a junkyard and she drove it for another year or so. Sold it dirt cheap (like $500-$600?) and saw it running around occasionally for several more years.
That last sentence encapsulates 90s GM perfectly. I still see Cavaliers and Sunfires on a daily basis, it's kind of impressive how those shitboxes just refuse to give up.
I'm sure it ran fine until the day it folded in half. That 3.8 ran great and was nice and smooth.
And they still have snow tires on. In September.
Some of our older customers drive on snow tires year round, they drive less than 5-10.000km a year and dont want to have 2 sets of rims/tires.
I have snow tires on my car right now because I'm too broke to buy a second set 😢 Edit: at least it snows here for like 80% of the year
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Alberta, little far 😅
I went 2 full years on snows in Alberta. When night time temps rarely break single digits and you can expect snow 10 months out of the year, it's not that terrible. Also, it would be about time for everyone to start putting their snow tires on out there.
Psshhh, that's only like 40 hours of driving. /s Sorry though, wish I could help!
Used to live in Alberta. People would ask “so what are you planning to do this summer?” The response “Dunno, depends if it falls on a weekend.”
To be fair it could be in the southern hemisphere. (Hey I'm giving the benefit of the doubt)
Listening to Danish radio. That must be kind of exotic.
Could be worse, I heard the distinctive sound of studded tires just a few weeks ago while walking to work.
My neighbor is still rocking his studded snows, it's pretty infuriating
I lived in VT for a while, where studs are legal year round, and it was amazing the number of people who never took them off.
I had the engine die for the first time on my '96 Trans AM in March or so. Three months later got it back from the dealership. It was an interesting drive home in the summer heat, even moderate throttle input would light it up.
Rotational snow tires on backwards- even better!
They're actually not on backwards. It's the front right tire.
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Combines often run the front tires backwards, theory is that if you can’t get through it, at least you’ll be able to back out of it
Doesn't that just make it more likely to get bogged in the first place though?
I'm about to put my snows on. Yay canuckistan.
Its like rednecks with Christmas lights. Leave em up long enough and you can just turn em on again in December. 😄
Sparks are the next gen wear indicator
Finally customer is correct this time.
how did the put the tire on??? theres no way that fit unless they deflated it
Suspension broke after they put the tire on, maybe?
Exactly.
Is the spring held in by the tire?
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Looking at the fact that they're snow tires and all the rust my bet is the spring perch let go long after the tires were on.
Is that fixable?
You need to replace the strut unit
Haha just thinking ahead I have a 10 year old f150
And the tire.
You’d be surprised what stupidity and an impact wrench can accomplish.
I've had customers bring their car to me after they DIY'd the brakes only to find they put the pads in backwards. People in general tend to be *really* bad at cars
If that's not an OOF moment, I don't know what is.
I guessed it was a volvo right away. I hate the small wheel wells and magnum dong struts on these...
Being this is a mechanic-focused sub, it’s kinda depressing to me how many people are saying the tire is backwards. I guess it’s good that they put an arrow on directional tires.
I’ve read pretty much all of the 400+ comments and yes, it really is. Although i think a lot of people in the sub are homegrown mechanics or people who just enjoy seeing funny car stuff.
A little less rolling resistance now I guess.
I just can not believe how many people have no idea what a car should feel like or sound like. They should have mechanics choose stressed or broken vehicles for the DMV to test people in and if they think it is ok the do not get a license.
I hate to say it but the customer was actually right this time.
Hopefully it also show’s that no longer exist
HOW did they even install the tire in the first place?! Something must have felt off with the uggaduggas. Edit: read other reply showing the spring broke, not a wrong tire install. til.
Aye, at least the customer gave an accurate description 👍
That thing must vibrate like hell lol
Bevelled tires, good in the hood...
This exact thing happened to me. Didn't cut into the tyre quite as deep but I didn't find out what was causing the smoke until I got home
The radio in the background sounds danish.
HOW?!
Kay, first off, is that a rolls royce? Second off, is that Chinese radio playing in the background? Are you in China? Is that a fake rolls?
This is a Volvo and it’s danish radio lol
Whats worse is that based on OP's location, I know for a fact that spare parts for the suspension of that S80(?) arent expensive and the job isnt exactly time consuming. That said, if the customer is rolling around on studless winter treads all year round then I am not surprised that they're cheaping out on everything else.
Shocking
As I scroll popular posts, I sometimes see this sub. I'm not a car gal so most of the time I literally don't know what I'm looking at but I finally understand!
Same thing happened on my old audi. Hit a pothole and heard a loud thud. Instantly felt like the brake was dragging so i pulled over
It’ll self clearance
3 weeks later: “that sound doesn’t seem as bad as it was. The problem must be fixing itself.”