What is wrong with Auto Service these days.

[BigJohn]

We put calcium in tires for better traction!!!

[batchman]

I was thinking I should try helium to reduce unsprung weight LOL!
- Jeff

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by batchman

The real concern in racing is partly the gas itself and partly the lack of water vapor.

In my autocross events I will heat the tires enough to add 1-3 lbs of air pressure in each of my runs. Using nitrogen would reduce this and add consistency, but to do it right you have to pull some vacuum first. I would look at it but other budget items appear to have more bang for the buck, and I would be checking my pressures each run anyway...

For street cars I'll let you draw your own conclusion. If the wheels were steel it would inhibit rust.



I was going to say exactly this, in fact I tried to pay someone to come up with a bearing I *could* re-pack... But then it turned out both not practical and not really within my class rules...

Best,
- Jeff

Well, unless the person placing nitrogen in the tire has purged the existing air first, then somebody is kidding somebody when it comes down to it. Did that pimply-faced kid at the tire store purge the air before adding nitrogen? I wonder? If not, then the mix might be, lets say 90% Nitrogen instead of the normal 78% (Actually, I suspect it would be closer to 85%, sans doing the math.)

Anyway, it is a rip-off, IMO; just a gimic to extract more $$ from the unsuspecting w/o first purging...and even then??

YMMV,

P.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by batchman

I was thinking I should try helium to reduce unsprung weight LOL!
- Jeff

That has been done on bicycle tires to save weight!!!

[LancePearson]

Lol...nitrogen full fill in low aspect tires might be an obsession about out there at the sixth sigma level.....99.999966%. Said another way...is it really effective? Any evidence?

I am thinking I would rather spend it taking Kate Upton out to dinner and drinks!

[Schrade]

Ok; let's end the Nitrogen issue Post Haste...

1) Fill with regular atmospheric gas. (78% N)
2) Let some air out (the 02's get out first, since the purveyors of the BS say that the little molecules get out easier).
3) Refill to spec.
4) Repeat #2.
5) Do log calculations, to determine how many #2 reps it will take to get N2 fill.
6) Hammer down.

[BigJohn]

Nitrogen, Helium and Calcium are all put in tires.
I'll stay with Compressed Air in car tires.
Now what?

[tomtom72]

Those are almost worse than New York City/Metro suburbs prices. Most local dealers get $125.00 per Hr. Those guys seem to be way past the $125/hr labor rate. The local repair shop guys are about $25.00/hr less on labor as a rule in the NYC/Metro suburbs.

The mounting & balancing cost is cheaper than up in my area, that would cost me about $200.00 for 4 tires mount & non-road force balance thru a T/Rack installer and no N fill. R/Force balance is $35 per wheel extra up here generally. Oh and that includes the disposal fee on the old rubber. That's why I only get the rear tires from T/R as it isn't worth it after all the extras are added in. The rears are just too hard to get thru a brick & mortar store up here.

As a comparo I just bought new shoes for my Cobalt this past Saturday, and as they showed me how worn my brakes were I had them do the job. The bill was $1382.12. Fr & Rr wagoner power stop pads + 4 wagoner rotors; 4 Conti DWS Extreme Contact 205/50/17 + wheel alignment. I could have done the brakes myself, but for the $400.00 extra to do the brakes to get the car back in an hour it wasn't worth doing brakes in my parking space in the winter!


Tom

[secondchance]

Hi, Tom,

Labor rate was $121/hr.
All I can say is that tires are mounted and balanced perfect with no damage to the rims nor the car.
However, when I came home I had to remove front driver side wheel to un-kink the brake line and since I had the jack out cleaned both front inner barrels and sparyed with brake dust inhibitor. Lug nuts were way undertorqed for my liking so I re-torqued all 4 wheels. Doing so I noticed 2 of the wheel locks (Gorilla brand) were buggered somewhat. They must have ran an impact while removing when the key was partially engaged.
Like I said, no major damage and that's all I care about. Nonetheless, it is sad that supossedly a top-notch shop performed the way they did.

[tomtom72]

Oh man Yun! Your guys and my guys must have went to the same school! Yes on the wheel T/Q and my tire psi's were all over the map!...and none were at the 35 psi dictated by GM! LOL Sad isn't it? Everytime I go thru this I think to myself I'm going to retire and open a shop, then I wake up! LOL I hate to say this but I get better results when I take my Cobalt to the dealer for customer paid repair work! It's the warranty stuff that they stink at!


Tom