I suspect the Kirkland oil is OEMed by Warren. Warren does a lot of the house-brand oils and they will blend anything to meet whatever specs the reseller wants. If you want crap, they'll make it for you... if you want a high end oil with ZDDP added, they'll make that for you too... whatever you want they'll make. So it's more a matter of what grade and formulation Costco wants and will pay for than the manufacturer.
--scott
Thinko. Mostly camber tools, as caster can be imputed from +/- 20 degree camber.
What I'd like are toe plates and a toe distance measuring tool. Then a camber tool (and probably a camber jig for fitting most wheels).
After that, I'd need some kind of turning plate. I think that's it.
Do you think the caster, camber & toe tools can be had for about the price of one or two alignments? That way I can justify the cost of the tools.
At one time I thought about buying one of the old independent gas stations that had went out of business. A couple of bays, a real lift or maybe a pit, an office and storage area that could be made into living quarters...
The problem is the old underground tanks that had been leaking for a couple of decades and a EPA mandate cleanup.
Wolf's Head was a decent brand of oil. Then there was Fox Head, which you bought when you were getting 100 miles per quart. I think it was recycled. I haven't seen dubious crap like that in a long time.
No, and they are close mouthed about their house brands. There's nothing new about that. I've loaded commodities like canned beans where almost every pallet was a different brand.
No brand loyalty. CostCo, Conoco, Exxon, whatever. Sometimes I stop at the Sinclair station out of nostalgia for the dinosaurs.
On May 01, 2023, rbowman wrote (in article<news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>):
I think all motor oil is regulated, isn't it? So it can't be garbage. Can it?
I don't buy almost anything by marketing name because I try to understand what it is that I'm buying, where most automotive things we buy are highly regulated and hence they have specifications marked on the item we buy.
Take motor oil, for example, where the main specifications, of course, are API and SAE designations, the API being the more pertinent to the quality.
Yeah, yeah, I know, Dexos, but I don't bother looking at that, but you may.
You have to know to be using automotive motor oil, and not diesel or two-stroke or machine oil, but other than those basics, that's all you need to make an informed decision, in my humblest of opinions.
Certainly you never equate price to quality since there's usually more of a relationship of price to marketing budget than there is to the oil quality.
Oil starts in the ground, not working for anyone. Then it gets pumped into a ship, still not working for anyone. Then someone buys it and pipes it to a refinery and only then does the oil start working for someone. But that someone refines it and then sells it to everyone, so it's back to not working for anyone other than the company that puts it into the packaging.
For Kirkland, that packaing, I think someone said, is Warren which helped me find that he was indeed correct.
The only relationship to quality is whatever is important about the gas.
And that's ok. They don't have to understand anything that they're buying.
But then they shouldn't be telling others, who do understand what it is that they're buying, that they're cheap bastards for finding the best quality at the best price, which is what will happen for most of us who do our own oil changes at home.
Ron, the humblest guy in town.
I ran bias ply tires on the pickup until I couldn't get them anymore. Back in the day radials had tender sidewalls if you live in a rocky area.
In Montana :) You've really got to go out of your way to find an interesting road. It was a mix of driving, probably the major portion on interstates, some gravel roads,
They were Bridgestone Potenza RE92s
Toyota put them on a lot of vehicles. They're billed as a somewhat sporty tire which I thought was odd.
On May 02, 2023, Scott Dorsey wrote (in article<news:u2po7j$i5h$ snipped-for-privacy@panix2.panix.com>):
You were right.
As always, price is never a metric of quality (or, in the case of the anti knock index, price isn't a metric of suitability).
I think the ZDDP is "good stuff" for engines but it will kill the cat. Right?
Ron, the humblest guy in town.
Yes, and it's gravel...
I knew a guy was very good at changing big truck tires and that was his tool of choice. Of course if you're a klutz you might destroy the rim. A splitting wedge and a single jack works too.
The one I have is similar. You can save a little space by putting the cartridge in but not tightening it down enough to puncture the seal. As you say, you're not dealing with a frost covered cartridge frozen to your fingers.
This reminds of me of when an astronaut had finished a space flight, and a reporter asked him what it was like. He said, "It was similar to the simulator."
You may try N2O in your Sodastream, and get a good laugh while drinking your soda. If you drink your N2O soda, smoke some legal marijuana and watch The Three Stooges all at the same time you will surely be giggling and laughing your head off for a few hours.
Most emergency electric tire pumps can go over 120 psi. You are supposed to be able to tell when to stop and check by looking at how fat the tire has become.
The store brand at my grocery. In addition to being the least expensive, it tastes the best. Other brands (including the store brands at other grocery stores) sometimes have off flavor.
No. I said price and quality don't always go together. Sometimes the most expensive thing is optimal. Sometimes the least expensive thing is optimal. In my experience, it's usually the one in the middle.
You jumped to the conclusion that I always buy the most expensive thing. Hope you had a nice trip.
No, I think you're arrogant because you're arrogant. You have an inflated opinion of your intelligence.
Ah, people like me. I'm glad you know me so well. Drop by sometime, and we'll have a cup of tea together.
Please quote me where I told anyone how to buy motor oils.
No, I didn't. Read very, very carefully. Sound out the words if you need to.
While I don't disagree with the premise that 'gas is gas regardless of retailer', that article is completely useless, when it starts quoting 'many users of Reddit' as a source.
n.b. I buy my gas from costco.
My dad used to say "beer" is "beer", and while that is generally accurate for the major pilsner and lager brewers, it's not completely accurate when factoring in ales and Guinness.
On May 02, 2023, Scott Lurndal wrote (in article<news:pr84M.1696366$ snipped-for-privacy@fx12.iad):
Understood. Fully agree. Gas is regulated. It's also tested. And approved if it passes.
So what I care about, mostly, is Top Tier (& anti-knock index, of course).
Top Tier, as far as I know, only applies to the detergent packages though.
But how many people have told you that they put in premium, once a month, to be "nice" to the engine? How exactly does that work anyway?
For some strange reason people equate price to quality.
What they should be doing, if not already, is top tier once a month.
Now, there is this little problem of ethanol. They put that on the pump too. But I don't know if there's an easy way to avoid ethanol, is there?
Also, there's this little problem of understanding something not always being as simple as (a) aki, and (b) top tier, and (c) ethanol content (for me, the less, the better).
I profess that I do not know how to understand gas better than that abc.
There must be some way to measure gasoline quality other than that? Is there?
Ron, the humblest guy in town.
On May 02, 2023, Cindy Hamilton wrote (in article<news:n%44M.1693595$ snipped-for-privacy@fx12.iad):
There's "quality" and there is "taste", which also don't always match. You can have a high quality wine, for example, that you don't like.
Much like people's choices of handbags and shoes, there's quality and taste too, but that's yet a different kind of taste which doesn't apply here.
With automotive fluids, taste isn't really the issue here, is it?
Then we violently agree since price has nothing directly to do with quality when it comes to the automotive parts and fluids we're speaking of.
Price is more of a function of the advertising budget of the brand, where the discussion about Costco automotive fluids came into play recently.
You just stepped into the same puddle you stepped into before, when I opined that the people who know the least about a product equate the price to the quality.
Why do you think marketing creates a "good" & a "better" and a "best" tier? Think about it.
They made it for people like you who don't understand anything of what they buy. They made it so that you'd make EXACTLY the decision you just made.
Since you don't understand what it is that you're buying, you buy by price. But what you want is a "good deal", but you don't know what a good deal is.
So you don't buy the low ("must be crap!") or the high ("too expensive!"). You buy the safe middle ground.
That's why they put it there for you.
You fell into every marketing trap they laid out for you. The reason is you're not buying anything by the quality but by the price.
If you know already, ahead of time, how to buy a car battery or a coolant, or a windshield wiper fluid for that matter, then you look on the bottle to see if it meets your specifications.
Once it meets your spec, then and only then do you bother looking at the price, as if it doesn't meet your specs, it's worthless for your purpose.
I said in another post moments ago the only things I know about buying gasoline by quality is (a) aki, and (b) top tier, and (c) ethanol, and then, in the next sentence I said I knew nothing else about how to choose gasoline by quality and I asked for help in choosing gas by quality.
Same thing with motor oils where someone asked if the Kirkland oil was made by Warren and I looked it up because I didn't know who made it and indeed it was made by Warren but I also said that I choose the motor oil by (a) API, and (b) SAE, and maybe sometimes (c) Dexos.
It's the same way I choose my car batteries and car tires, by the way, which is by the specifications that are printed directly on the package.
For understanding the product, you call me arrogant?
What I know about you is you haven't mentioned a single quality metric. Not even once.
Ron, the humblest guy in town.
On May 01, 2023, rbowman wrote (in article<news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net>):
You're making this hard on me! :->
What's wrong with temporarily bolting it to the garage floor? Doesn't anyone have a cement-floored garage anymore?
Ron, the humblest guy in town.
I don't yet understand how the hammer is supposed to work since you can't hammer on the sidewall, can you? And there's no way to hit the bead, is there? It would be nice to see a description of how hammers work on beads.
I first have to say that I've never used any other bead-breaking mechanisms other than the lousy lever on the HF tool & then the HF bead breaking tool.
Both are a lever with a curved business end that fits somewhat along a rim. The main problem with both is they don't fit the rim all that well.
The tire mounting tool bead breaker has a very short curve, and the bead breaker tool has a much longer curve but the angle is wider than the rims.
As a result, if the bead is resistant, it slips down a millimeter and when you rotate the wheel, it slips back up a half a millimeter. So you're really pushing the bead down by half millimeter distances, for the recalcitrant ones anyway, until finally they give it up and drop clear.
Anything that can "push" the bead a millimeter or two would be helpful at that stage, where I am not sure what the pointy end of the hammer is for, but I guess you apply well aimed hits at the center of the bead.
Is that how you use that bead breaking hammer pointy part? Or do you use it as a pry bar?
I'm not sure if you can pry at this point because there is nothing to get under, but maybe that's exactly why they put a pointy end on a hammer?
Anyone know how to use a bead-breaking hammer properly?
I realized that a couple of steps needed clarification so I updated it. The hardest beads are the first and the last. The rest are much easier. This is for an automotive rim with the commonly located drop center.
Drive to make sure there isn't vibration & park on level sturdy pavement Crack the lug nuts and chock & lift the vehicle & place safety stands Remove the lug nuts and then remove the wheel & tire assembly from the car Remove the schrader core & heavily lubricate the beads with soapy water Place the wheel & tire assembly inside up on the dedicated bead breaker Break the 1st bead (the inside bead is usually the hardest to break) Flip the wheel & break the 2nd bead and step on it to keep it broken Place the wheel outside up on the tire mounting stand & secure tightly With the tire iron that came with the tool, pry off the 3rd (top) bead Lift the bottom bead into the drop center & pry off the 4th (bottom) bead Lift the tire off the stand and inspect the rim for rust and/or damage Look for match-mounting marks on the rim but they're usually long gone If desired, replace the tire valve and remove (& save) the schrader core If they exist, line up the new tire red/yellow dots to the valve location Lubricate the new tire rim lightly with soapy water (goldilocks amount) Set the 5th (bottom) bead by running the tire iron in a 360 degree circle Set the 6th (top) bead the same way - but you might need extra tire irons Screw onto the valve threads a rubberbanded modified-wide-open airgun Lift the lower bead into the drop center & lift the top bead to the rim Fill with air until it pops - if necessary, grab the bazooka (1 out of 10) If you don't have a bazooka - you'll want a second person to help you out The trick is to seal the two beads long enough for the air to set the bead Once it pops loudly, quickly unscrew the airgun & replace the valve core Fill to 60 psi and spray soapy water checking the uniformity of the set Drop it back to 30 psi (or whatever you want) and remove wheel from stand Some people bounce the tire a bit, supposedly to even a slightly off set Place the static tire balancer bubble dot tool in a flat spot on concrete Check that the static tire balancer bubble dot is in the center circle Put the tire & wheel assembly face up gently on the static tire balancer Place weights along the rim as needed & when satisfied, glue or crimp on Flip the wheel and check the other side but usually it's already balanced Place the wheel & tire on the vehicle & torque to the manufacturer specs Raise the vehicle slightly to remove the jack stands & lower the vehicle Remove the chocks & take it for a test drive, preferably on a highway You're not going to get vibration but if you do, head on over to Costco I'm told Costco will remove ($5) and balance ($5) any wheel you own I've never had to test Costco out as I've never had palpable vibration
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