Posts by SSREAPER

  • What the heck?

    Quote from dangerdarrell

    I don’t get very great mileage I’m sure. I blame it on the supercharger! Before I put it on I was not hitting the throttle so hard and so often. So actually I should blame @Slingrazor. If he hadn’t told me to drive his and see what I thought of the supercharger I could have kept fairly good mileage. ;(

    Hey Darrell ,..If you would rather have great fuel economy again....Im sure you could remove your super charger and unload it to somebody else who doesnt care about fuel milage....Oh @MiM I think Darrell here want to sell his SC...CHEAP TOO! :whistling::saint::evil:


    Just sayin :D


    SSREAPER

  • What the heck?

    MPG has so many variables from one person to another you cannot compare. I could be getting 39 MPG but all I drive is highway and flat roads. You could be getting 19 but you are in constant stop and go traffic and driving through winding hills. Your gas could be more "watered down" in your neck of the woods than the Ethanol free fuel I am running. Temperature plays a huge role as well.


    Unless you have 2 slingshots...with the exact same configuration driving the exact same roads at the same time using the exact same fuel...you should not try to compare. Instead continue driving the same way you always do and try changing only one variable at a time with 2-3 tanks of fuel between each change...ex...you goto mobil for gas and track your milage for 2-3 tanks of fuel...then you try sunoco and track your milage for 2-3 tanks then you try racetrack gas for 2-3 tanks. Use whatever the best one is.


    Try different driving styles....youd be amazed how this one changes the MPG ALOT!!! Heavy off the line and hard braking to stop KILLS gas milage. Found that out early on in my SRT8 Charger :rolleyes:


    What will work for one person in their driving conditions may not work with somebody else.


    JMHO
    SSREAPER

  • Tire time

    Quote from Bigdog

    Since you brought it up, I asked my alignment guy about running one split tread tire on the rear and he didn’t recommended it....they are directional.


    I’d never do it...

    I am NOT REPEAT NOT about to get into a huge tire debate....but YES YOU CAN RUN WHAT YOU CALL A SPLIT TREAD TIRE IN THE BACK!!


    Its proper name is Asymmetrical ....it is non directional. They can be run anywhere in any position on any vehicle as long as they are mounted on the wheel properly!!


    there are only 4 types tires...truck tires excluding


    Symmetrical (mount doesnt matter)
    Asymetrical (inside and outside)
    Directional (read the name figure it out)
    RUN FLAT (can be run on flat at low MPH for 50 miles)


    5 if you include drag radial. (ask @rabtech)


    Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Tires | TireBuyer | TireBuyer.com


    SSREAPER


    PS
    Been in the TIRE BUSINESS FOR 25 YEARS!!

  • Adjustable upper control arms

    Quote from Ross

    changing the arms makes sense if you have lowered your ride height otherwise not sure it isn't just spending mod money on something you like

    @Ross I couldn't agree with you more!!!


    The OP had a long thread going about steering and alignment and he basically went this route because he wanted to change how the steering wheel would not return to center on its own...He purchased the item...got it installed and "ALIGNED" and reported back with no mention to original reason he was installing them...Self Centering Steering wheel.


    If the OP is happy with the result then I'm happy for him. I want to know why he had to spend 450.00 dollars to accomplish what 100.00 on an alignment could have done if the steering wheel centering wasn't affected.


    SSREAPER

  • Adjustable upper control arms

    Quote from Bigdog

    I had them installed today and the caster, camber and toe in set.
    The alignment guy was real impressed with the adjustable arms. Said it was real easy to get at and adjust. The SS drove great steering seemed tight, left the hands off the wheel, it tracked straight without any shimmy or wander.

    That all sounds great but......


    What about the steering returning back to center on its own?


    That was the whole reason for changing the arms if i remember correctly. The tire wear you were showing was from the horrible toe you had and that was fixable with the original arms. So the only gain by changing the arms was to supposedly be able to change the caster angle to get the steering wheel to self center.


    SSREAPER

  • Tire time

    Quote from Bigdog

    Not to beat a dead horse but I just got back from the tire store....


    I saw split tread tires clearly marked on the sidewalls....outside ...and inside....so the manufactures do want the split tread tires mounted a certain way...obviously it’s for maximum tire performance.


    So running them on one back wheel...what’s inside and what’s outside?

    OUTSIDE IS THE FACE OF THE WHEEL(PRETTY PART) THE INSIDE IS THE OTHER ONE!


    SSREAPER

  • Steering wheel off-center -- UPDATE

    Quote from BKL

    If you're referring to the Explorer roll-over fiasco, I still feel that apart of the problem was with Ford's design of a relatively tall Explorer compared to its width and managed to shift most of the blame onto Firestone. Just my opinion and that's worth exactly what I just got paid to post it! :D

    As a person who dealt with the Firestone/Ford explorer disaster for almost a full year during the recall I can tell you whole heatedly the blame rests solely on FORD. Firestone won the contract to put tires on all of fords explorers and f150s at that time. Well the tire ford chose had a very "hard" ride to it but the price point was where ford wanted it so to soften the ride...ford lowered the tire pressure in the tires and put that on the door placard of each vehicle. By lowering the tire pressure it gave the feel of a softer smother ride. Problem was that the lower tire pressure caused the sidewall of the tire to flex a lot more thus causing it to heat up. All of the failures that ever happened was highway use after long periods of time. The sidewalls heated up until they failed . Yes the design of the ford explorer being taller and narrower contributed to it rolling over but as for the tire failures themselves anybody who ran the tire pressure up the the 32-35 lbs never had a problem and nobody that only did short travel driving ever had a problem. Ford convinced Firestone to be the whipping boy and take most of the blame, by promising them a 10 year contract. The 10 year contract is what kept Firestone in business during and after the recall until customers forgot about the incident. They are still recovering from it.


    From that whole fiasco the entire tire industry had to change. After the investigation went into the rollovers they found that 90+percent of all of the rollovers happened when the blowout happened on the rear of the vehicle. When a tire blows out on the front you just steer normally and you can maintain control of the vehicle. When a blowout happens in the rear of a vehicle a lot of times you must use counter steer to maintain control and most people cannot do that instinctively and put in the wrong steering response to the blowout and thus causing a greater possibility of loss of control. As such the DOT (Dept of transportation), NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Association) and MAP ( Motorist Assurance Program) all changed their guidelines for installing new tires. Whenever only 2 new tires are being installed, they are to be installed on the rear of the vehicle. (YES EVEN ON FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CARS). If a vehicle comes in for a tire rotation and the front tires are significantly more worn than the rear tires(more than 4/32 difference between them) ..we CANNOT rotate them.


    I know that last part will have alot of people ready to go up in arms because it is totally different then what they were taught but that is the way it is now and as we as a people become more educated about things...our view on things has to change.


    Food for thought


    SSREAPER


    PS
    Dont shoot the messenger!

  • Steering wheel off-center -- UPDATE

    Quote from Bigdog

    Consider this recommendation


    8/32” take away 4/32” equals ....not much tire for your money.

    You do not replace tires at 4/32...Discount tire says that just so they can sell more tires....You replace the tire at 2/32 when you get to the wear bar. Thats why they have wear bars. At 2/32...the tires ability to remove water is diminished and thus the need for replacement. If you notice...dry weather tires (slicks) have no grooves because they don't need to remove water so there is no 32nds to go by...when its worn out there is a indicator that appears under the rubber to let you know time to replace. If you only drive in fry weather you could theoretically take a regular tire all the way down to 0/32 with no problems of tire failure. Get it wet and whoa boy.


    SSREAPER


    PS
    still want to know what tire you have on your van with 16/32 of tread!