tire question

[Petrol & Powder]

Yup except for massive rust magnet...they were excellent cars in that era. Honda's were better. I got a Honda Civic LX in 1999. It has been my only car for over 20 years. 300k mi I have done all my own work on it. People still marvel. Once you are inside it still seems like a brand new car.

Yeah, unfortunately rust is the great equalizer.

[Petrol & Powder]

It's a Jeep Thing, you wouldn't understand... LOL!

It's not just a Jeep thing but that's still funny !

[Tripplebeards]

Remember a guy in the highway with the death wobble on his motorcycle. His front tire wobbled uncontrollably back-and-forth and he finally went down, rolled and bounced for good 100 yards. He laid there for a few seconds, sat up, and limped off the road. He had a buddy riding next to him that pulled over to help him off the road with a few cars following that stopped . I figured that guy was dead. Over inflated tires are causing death wobble as well. I’ve seen it many times. Try over inflating a front tire on a three wheeler and giving it the berries. You’ll end up on your back real quick.

[Traffer]

I had an old Buick back in the 70's that I drove from Wisconsin to Reno NV. It had a bad tie rod end which got a lot worse on the way. I would get the death wobble when trying to drive a steady rate of speed but if I accelerated it would go away. So I drove the last 1000 miles slowly speeding up to about 95 then hitting the brakes back down to about 40 and slowly increasing again. I made it to Reno and got my tie rod ends changed. (The things we do when we are young...)

[rickys2]

They must of used a Road Force balancer and pick up tread separation. It adds weight to the tire as it spins.

[Battis]

They can keep my Buick for as long as they want - they gave me a 2020 Buick Enclave as a loaner. Sticker price is about $60,000. The doctor said I was impotent - now I look impotent, and I drive an impotent looking automobile.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup you reminded me that dad had the head gaskets blow on that first one too. He told me at 87 he wont be buying another car but if he did he sure learned his lesson with suburus

Yep, I agree! I have one in the garage right now: 1991 4runner SR5, 341,000 miles. Head gaskets replaced at 71,000 miles under the Toyota warranty recall, original water pump failed at 260,000 miles, gets a new timing belt every 50,000 miles, STILL has the original fuel pump, STILL has the original alternator, and will get its 3rd clutch next month. My wife and I have nice nearly new cars but this one holds special status in our garage.

[Lloyd Smale]

blown head gasket and 6 timing belts. Clutch change today will set you back almost what rebuilding an auto transmission will if you bring it to a shop. Wonder what swapping a new timing belt would cost at the local auto repair shop. I sure wouldn't brag on a chev that I had to change timing chains on even once in a 100k. I can show you my old 2006 Silverado. My buddy bought it from me at 99k. It now has 270k on it. For half the time hes had it its had a plow on and if you've ever been up here you know that a plow is used about daily and he has a 1/4 mile road to keep open. Only thing I did other then normal wear items like brakes wipers ect was two front wheel bearings. At 220k after plowing for two year he rebuilt the front end. Still the same starter alternator, transmission, injectors, fuel pump water pump. matter of fact the motors never been opened up in any way. The drive train with the exception of u joints is just what left the dealers lot. Wana compare maintenance costs?? Its getting wore now because he told me it uses a quart of oil between oil changes at 4k!! Have to say though it is getting ugly and rusty but he will tell you hed hop in it tommarow and head cross country.

Yep, I agree! I have one in the garage right now: 1991 4runner SR5, 341,000 miles. Head gaskets replaced at 71,000 miles under the Toyota warranty recall, original water pump failed at 260,000 miles, gets a new timing belt every 50,000 miles, STILL has the original fuel pump, STILL has the original alternator, and will get its 3rd clutch next month. My wife and I have nice nearly new cars but this one holds special status in our garage.

[Lloyd Smale]

maybe because I was born in America and served America and will always try to buy American so that other Americans have a chance at having a life as good as I did. Don't much care about some jap or korean ceos life that's profits go into the jap or Korean economy. I know in todays world its pretty tough to buy ALL American but I do think its our duty to try even if it cost 3 cents more.

LLoyd, we can always count on you to deliver the buy American mantra.

[lefty o]

maybe because I was born in America and served America and will always try to buy American so that other Americans have a chance at having a life as good as I did. Don't much care about some jap or korean ceos life that's profits go into the jap or Korean economy. I know in todays world its pretty tough to buy ALL American but I do think its our duty to try even if it cost 3 cents more.

me too, but most american cars while they may be assembled here, 95% of it is made over sea's. go to a dealership and buy parts for a newer chevy, and see how many different soviet bloc countries those parts come from. its eye opening.

[Todd N.]

blown head gasket and 6 timing belts. Clutch change today will set you back almost what rebuilding an auto transmission will if you bring it to a shop. Wonder what swapping a new timing belt would cost at the local auto repair shop.

Since this thread has gone TOTALLY off the rails...

Yes Lloyd, you are totally correct as always. Capital Toyota of Salem, Oregon did my last clutch in 2009 to the tune of $685, but that also included a new slave cylinder. At work, we have a budget line item of just over $6100/ vehicle to overhaul or replace the transmissions in our F350 and F450 fleet vehicles. My rock crawler got an upgrade from a Turbo 400 to a 6L80. The factory-spec rebuild cost $2900 at an independent transmission shop.
And the timing belt is a standard maintenance item, not a broken item repair. But again, you're right- it's so expensive that I am FORCED to do it in my garage. $53 in parts and 3 hours in my driveway. This is no different than changing your serpentine belt. These are service items, just like spark plugs, air filters, oil filters, etc...
But before you mock Toyota owners too much for our timing belts, you might be surprised to know that Chevrolet uses them also, and has for decades. Currently, a timing belt can be found on several Chevrolet models. But then again, you're right to laugh at the Toyota timing belt that can be checked and easily replaced- the good old-fashioned timing chain of past generations is so superior. We ALL love a system that is designed as "Use to Failure" because preventative maintenance is so lame!

But I get over 20 mpg, do not lose any oil between changes (past the gaskets or the rings), and I don't have rust issues even in the Pacific Northwest. For the record, we salt our roads, too.

And I Buy American too. My wife's Toyota Camry was manufactured in Georgetown, Kentucky. Buying that car fed American babies.

[Traffer]

Yup this thread has definitely gone off the rails all right. It seems that lot's of folks want to talk about the problems/successes they have had with cars. Maybe someone will start a different thread for all the ranting and bragging. I for one would love that. I love to brag about my Honda Civic that I bought in 1999. I have driven no other car (except for maybe 50 mi or so) since then. I have done almost all of the maintenance myself. Including timing belt complete front end (strut's, ball joints, swing arms, tie rod ends etc.,) So I have invested into it perhaps another $2,000 over the purchase price. That means I have spent about $16,000 total on automobiles in the last 20.5 years. I have driven it about 300,000 miles and it runs and drives about like the day I bought it. Anyone care to compare?

[Lloyd Smale]

wave your American flag proudly (or is it a rising sun) One thing ill give you is the high price of repairing jap cars and the parts do make mechanics and parts suppliers smile.

[Idaho45guy]

wave your American flag proudly (or is it a rising sun) One thing ill give you is the high price of repairing jap cars and the parts do make mechanics and parts suppliers smile.

That hasn't been true since the 90's.

In fact, I did a quick Amazon search for parts for a 2006 Toyota Camry and a 2006 Ford Fusion. Every part I looked up for them, the Camry parts were cheaper.

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[lefty o]

That hasn't been true since the 90's.

In fact, I did a quick Amazon search for parts for a 2006 Toyota Camry and a 2006 Ford Fusion. Every part I looked up for them, the Camry parts were cheaper.

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absolutely correct.

[Idaho45guy]

I remember in 1990, I drove from NAS Lemoore in California to NAS Whidbey Island in Washington in my 1966 F100 with the 352 V8. The fuel pump went out in Eugene, OR. I limped to an auto parts store and spent $15 for the new pump and it took me 20 minutes to change it out, and I was back on the road.

Can't do that today with ANY vehicle. But that F100 was pretty wore out at 90k miles, got 12mpg, and it was a workout to drive it.

I was shopping for new trucks last summer and I could choose between a Ram built in Mexico, Chevy built in Mexico, or Toyota built in Texas.

Ford trucks are built in Michigan, but they have several models built in Mexico and the US.

Of course I went with the 4Runner, which was built in Japan. Show me any American made mid-size body on frame SUV with the reliability of the 4Runner for under $40k and I would have bought it. The closest in terms of capability was the Jeep Wranlger Unlimited, but the reliability of those is horrendous and they use a minivan-based motor.

[Lloyd Smale]

Buy what you want. This guy will buy American if it cost twice as much! Until the whole country doesn't start thinking as a country and starts buying American we will never be what we used to be. They get richer and our country gets poorer! We take there cars with tiny tarrifs and they charge huge tarrifs on our stuff. Then I find it funny that during the presidency of our fake republican texas president G bush jr Toyota started building trucks in texas! How many Ford factories has Japan let us build on there soil? Fords aren't even sold in Japan! Like I said buy what you want but don't try to convince anyone that knows better your supporting our country doing it.

[Battis]

How the **!% did this thread reach this point based on my tire question? Do I get a prize for the most hijacked thread?

[lefty o]

How the **!% did this thread reach this point based on my tire question? Do I get a prize for the most hijacked thread?

PFM, Pure F*&^&^* Magic. LOL

[Battis]

Good answer. Truthfully, I enjoyed the thread. Have at it, boys.