Follow up question. I know snow tires are warranted in deep snow, but do they wear out quickly on pavement? For example, on my morning commutes in the winter, snow tires would be a lifesaver getting out of parking spots, however, most of the time, the major roads are already cleared before I get on them. Over the course of a winter, I'd say there'd be a lot more days of dry pavement driving than thick snow on the ground. I don't want to invest in snow tires just to have to replace them every winter.
Depends on the tire. Snows are typically louder than regular all-season tires or performance tires but all of mine have lasted 50k or so miles and I spend plenty of time driving on cleared highways in the winter. Cheap tires, winter, summer, all-season, studded snows will wear out faster than good ones. If you're just trying to get out of parking spaces you'd probably be fine with some all-season tires. The main thing is to take the tires off the car when winter is over. I like to laugh at people driving around on snow tires in July.
I live in Rhode Island, and our area generally gets worse snow than anywhere in CT. I also live out in the sticks, and the plowing around here is atrocious. I have never bought snow tires, nor do I plan on it. All seasons are good enough.
While on the subject of tires, here's something I've always wondered. Every now and then I'll hear someone driving around in dry conditions with what sounds like really sticky tires. My first thought was it was performance slicks but I notice them on old beater cars too. Can someone explain?
Severe alignment issues can cause a scrub condition which is often very noisy. Too much "toe-in" or "toe-out" and the tires are not rolling correctly and are trying to meet in the middle of the car, or rip themselves off the car. Snow tires are also louder on dry pavement due to a softer rubber compound and more sipes (little cuts in the tread) gripping the road.
My driver's side door panel (2000 Chevy S10 pickup) is coming off. At first, just the armrest mounting hole cracked, which I hear is normal, but now there's a huge crack running down the length of the door and it's starting to get REALLY aggravating. I want to replace them, but I'd like to avoid getting used panels with the same problem I'm trying to get rid of. I've done a few searches, but I haven't found any new parts, just used ones on eBay. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
gmpartsdirect.com Sometimes their pricing is decent but usually its fairly high. I'd go to a junkyard and pull a panel, preferably one that wasn't covered in blood from an accident victim bleeding out in the truck.
I should have mentioned that GM discontinued the part. With the number of S10's on the road, I'm half tempted to get a mold and start making and selling Chinese knockoffs. I'm hesitant to get it from the junkyard, as this is a common fault, and I don't want to have it start cracking in the same place in a year or so. Plus, the only junkyard around here that has an S10 is an hour away, and they won't even tell me what color the interior is. And eBay is around $250 (for two) for any without cracks. FML. Thanks for the suggestions. Guess I'll have to use duct tape and bazooka gum to get it to stay together for awhile.
So the entire weight and stress of the armrest (and your arm if you're leaning on it is supported by only the plastic panel? That seems wrong. Usually the bolts will go thru into at least a sheet metal bracket. I'd put some epoxy or at least gorilla tape around the back side of the mounting hole this time. At the minimum it'll keep the panel from cracking better as quickly.
You could also add some fiberglass reinforcement on the back of the panel. Get some fiberglass cloth and resin from the parts store and slather it on the back of the panel around the hole. It should stick to the panel pretty well and add some strength.
From what I know (which is not that much, admittedly) it isn't necessarily the lack of snow that will deteriorate snow tires quicker, but the temperature. Snow tires are softer, so that when it gets cold out, they can still grip. As it gets colder out, tires start to get harder, and this is why summer tires, and to a certain extent All Seasons, fail in the snow. All seasons and summer tires are harder rubber, because they don't need to stay soft in colder conditions. As long as you take the tires off before it starts warming up too much (generally around March or so, depending on where you live), you'll get plenty of life out of a set of snow tires. If I'm just talking out of my ass, feel free to call me out on it, as I would appreciate the advice myself, but that's what I've been told by multiple mechanics and car guys.
I own a '96 FI50 shortbox, standard straight-6. I just drove about 2400km pulling a fairly heavy trailer, and now my gas mileage is shot all to hell. Prior to this trip I was getting over 450 (sometimes all the way to 500) kilometers per tank. Now it takes a great deal of finess to reach 380, and it's been as low as 320. I realize that I've gone from highway driving (where I lived before) to city driving (where I am now), but I don't think that accounts for such a sudden, astronomical drop. Any suggestions? Engine isn't coding or running any differently that I can tell.
It probably is just the difference in highway vs. city driving. Your truck is big and heavy, and stopping and starting it with that little straight 6 is going to cause considerably lower fuel mileage.
Or really, really cheap tires. The design of the tread can make a huge difference in road noise. One of my friends replaced one tire on his car that blew out with a really cheap chinese piece of shit tire, and it's so damn loud compared to the other three that whoever sits in the seat nearest that corner can barely hear any of the conversation in the car.
This is beyond that. I've owned the truck for 13 years and in my experience the fuel mileage has never been this low. Typically, if I'm city driving and it's not winter (i.e. it's at or above 0 Celcius, like now) I can expect 420km/tank. I had some sort of regulator valve go on me last summer and even with the mixture running so rich that it tripped the O2 sensors I was getting more mileage than I am now. 320km/tank is unreal. And sudden, too. The days prior to the trip I could easily have hit 480/tank. In fact, the mileage is as bad as it was when we were hauling the trailer, so it's something else.
Is it still shifting normally? Does your foot seem to be further into the floor than it normally is when starting off and when cruising? With the information given, I'm inclined to agree with slippingaway: your vehicle is rated at 15 mpg city which is approximately 15.6 l/100km. If we take your hwy rating of 11.8 l/100km and figure your fuel tank size to be approx. 60L based on your best mileage of 500km per tank, we can then apply the same formula to your worst case scenario of 320 per tank. This means that in the city at 15.6 l/100km you should get 200 km for half a tank (30.6L) and around 400km for a full tank. Now if we factor in the fact that these ratings are an absolute best case scenario and you do live in one of the most frustrating cities to drive, I believe you are right around where you should be. 11.8 l/100km multiplied by 5 = 59 l/500km best case scenario hwy 15.6 l/100km multiplied by 4 = 62.4 l/400km best case scenario city 320 km per 60 L = 18.75 l/100km your worst case scenario city 380 km per 60 L = 15.79 l/100km your best case scenario city Edit: I would like to add that the only way to know where you stand for fuel economy is to actually figure it out. Fill your tank full, drive 100 km and then fill it again. Only then will you truly be able to say you are getting shitty mileage or not. Unless Dcc001, you literally drive from a full tank to empty every time.
I just leased a new rabbit/gulf. I put I believe 5k down and my lease payments a month are about 120 a month. I'm putting away roughly 100-200 a month so at the end of the lease *I'm ignoring my mileage* I'll by the car out and resell it.
Tires in general I've had a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Limited with Michelin XTerrains to replace the goodyears that were OEM, and I'd buy another set in a heartbeat. Quiet, very good handling, great wear. I currently have a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer with Michelins, same exact great performance as the XTerrains, will re-shoe the vehicle with Michelins in about 10K more miles. In short, I've had great experience with Michelins and they have outperformed the Bridgestones, BFGoodriches, Continentals, and Goodyears that I have also owned. They are noticably quieter and stickier than the aforementioned brands. This and $2 will get you a cup of coffee, I know, I just wanted to give my opinion on this. Yesterday my Dad picked up his new 2009 Saturn Outlook, they came with what else - Michelins.
Winter tyres (tires) wear out faster on warm tarmac than on snow/ice. It's a combination of two things - compound and tread cut. The things which give snow tyres their grip on poor surfaces are their stickier rubber, and all the little wiggly cuts in the tread. Sticky rubber is less wear resistant (unless you have Conti Nanotech Black chilli compound [only available on pushbikes at the moment]) than hard rubber, and having lots of leading/trailing edges on the tyre gives more wear initiation points. Some snow tyres use hydrophillic and/or porous rubber which will also accelerate the rate of wear.