(Ft. Worth, TX, USA)

aubreyturner.org

Monday, June 29, 2009

Going Round-and-Round With My Tires

Last week I finally bit the bullet and bought a new set of tires for the Avalanche.  While the OEM Goodyears still had decent tread depth (they only had about 35K miles on them), they sucked in the rain.  Further, the right rear tire had a plug in it from a previous encounter with a screw, and the left rear had a slow leak.  They were due for rotation soon and I didn’t want to rotate the plugged tire to the front, but at the same time the fronts had developed an uneven wear pattern, so just swapping them from side to side wouldn’t probably be enough.

Anyway, all things considered, I thought it was time to replace them.  So I started looking online at the various brands and models of tires and all of the reviews on them.  The wealth of information that was available (some tires had over 1000 reviews on Tire Rack’s website) was what really led me down a rat hole.  After about a month of dithering, I finally narrowed it down to specific models from Hankook, Continental, and Michelin.  All were fairly expensive, with the Hankook’s being the least expensive at just over $850 installed, up to the Michelin, which were quoted on Discount Tire’s website at $1049 installed. 

After a final round of dithering due to the cost, I called Discount Tire on Wednesday and they suggested I come into the store to see the tires in person.  They didn’t have the Hankook in stock, but did have the Continental ContiCrossContact LX and Michelin LTX M/S in stock.

Wednesday was also the dogs’ yearly vet visit day, so after picking them up at about 5:30 (and dropping $560 into Parkside’s coffers), I rushed over to Discount Tire.  I got there about 5:45 and after looking at the tires and discussing it with Aaron (the sales rep), I decided on the Michelin tires (which came out to $997 in the store; I wasn’t completely sure what was different from the online quote, but I wasn’t adverse to keeping the extra $50).  By then it was just about 6:00pm and they were supposed to be closing.  Because of the delay with the vet, and the fact that I had the dogs in the truck, I wasn’t really expecting to have the tires changed right then, but the manager suggested that they could install them right then and that it wouldn’t be a problem.

I have to say that they were very quick and efficient about it all.  They even let me bring the dogs inside while we waited.  They had the tires installed and I was out the door by 6:15pm.  If you should be in the market for new tires, go see Aaron at Discount Tire in Keller.  Other than the hit to the pocketbook (and just when did tires get so damn expensive?), the process was pretty painless.

Now to wait for the first good rainstorm to see how these tires handle.  In my short time with them so far they seem to ride smoother and quieter than the old ones.  Although I should note for the record that my garage now smells like a tire store. 

Grimly Amused

When I got my medical first responder certificate I built myself a first aid kit using the recommendations from the textbook.  I used several online suppliers to get some of the things you can’t find in stores so now I get emails from a couple of them with their specials.

I was slightly amused to open my email a few minutes ago to see that one of them was running a July 4th special on products for treating “burns, blisters, infections and 4th of July injuries,”  including the WaterJel 5’x6’ Fire Blanket. 

Let’s hope that none of us has the kind of 4th that requires a fire blanket.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Blood and Sweat…

... but no tears, unless you count the sweat getting in my eyes. 

I bought a dual-band radio (Yaesu FT-7800) for the truck about a month ago, but had been procrastinating the installation.  First, because of the heat.  Second, because I hate dealing with automotive installs.  This install did nothing to relieve me of my dislike.  It was almost as if GM intentionally designed the vehicle to be difficult to install after-market equipment into (and I’ve got the scrapes and bruises to prove it).  I think that I’ll take my next (non-GM) vehicle to a custom stereo shop or something and let the pros handle it.

Anyhow, I eventually managed to get everything wired and installed.  But I nearly gave myself heat exhaustion in the process.

The first problem to solve was how to mount the antenna.  The best location for an antenna is generally in the center of the roof to give maximum height to the antenna and to maximize the ground plane.  However, in this case my Avalanche has a sunroof and I also wanted to be able to park it in the garage.  Because of its size and ground clearance (it’s the Z71 model), there is only about 3 or 4 inches clearance between the roof and the garage door, leaving no room for an antenna.  After a lot of searching I came across the Pro.Fit antenna mount model AVANTPF, which mounts to an existing bolt under the hood (see here for a better picture). 

While it claims to be a fit for the 2004-2006 Avalanches, I found that it didn’t quite fit into the slot in the left fender, so I had to take my Dremel and cut a small notch in the upper left part of the bracket to get everything to line up.  Unfortunately, while the antenna shown easily clears the garage door, it has a bad SWR reading (1.9:1).  I have another antenna that gets a 1.2:1 reading, but it is about 2 inches too long to clear the door.  For now I will just install the big antenna when I leave if I plan to use the radio.  In the meantime, I will be continuing the search for a decent antenna that’s short enough to clear the door. 

The next problem was where to put the radio itself.  There was no option to mount the entire radio in the console without cutting up the center console, so I ended up using the remote-head option.  The main body of the radio is in the center console under the cup holders (which are contained in a fairly easy to remove insert, so it will be easy to get to the radio in the future).  I put the remote head on the dash bezel, just above the top of the center console.  The speaker is mounted on the right lower dash (just above the driver’s knee).  The last thing I installed was the mic bracket.  Unfortunately, I think the heat was getting to me by then, because it turns out that you can’t shift into Drive if the mic is on the bracket.  That will teach me to always check clearances before installing something (I did it for everything else besides the bracket; I guess I just got in a hurry).  My next task will be to find a new place for the mic.  I’ll probably just get another bracket, since I’m reluctant to remove the one that’s already there because it will expose the holes I drilled for the screws. 

Damn, that flash really shows how dirty my center console storage bin is.  Looks like it’s time for a thorough detail job.

Oh, yeah, it was like this all day long in the garage:

If I’m going to do much more work like this I’m going to have to break down and buy a shop fan.  The stand-fan I have is just too puny to move enough air to matter when it’s this hot.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Voting With Our Feet And Our Wallets

Instapundit points us to this poll about current attitudes towards GM after the government bailout.

Only 42% of those who currently own a General Motors car are even somewhat likely to buy a GM product for their next car. That figure includes just 30% who are Very Likely to do so.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 43% of current GM owners are not likely to buy another GM car, while 16% are not sure.

...

Fifty-one percent (51%) of Americans nationwide say they are now more likely to buy a Ford since that company did not take any bailout funding. Only 12% are less likely to buy from Ford.

There is an interesting political twist to the attitudes about buying GM. Currently, among those who hold populist or Mainstream political views, 46% own a GM car. But just 15% of those in the Mainstream are Very Likely to buy their next car from GM.

This corresponds with the informal discussions that I’ve had with several people, both current and past GM vehicle owners.  It also corresponds to my own attitudes.  I currently own an Avalanche.  My next vehicle will NOT be a GM as long as it’s owned by the government and the unions.  And this is coming from someone who was strongly considering a Traverse before the bailout.  But now I will look at Ford or one of the foreign brands that builds their vehicles in America instead of GM.