Life on mismatched tires, or "how not to get to Las Vegas"
06-14-2017, 01:06 AM
#19
Race Director
Thread Starter
It just pisses me off to lose the awesome side marker the car came with. The guy who sold it to me knew it was worth preserving....
06-14-2017, 02:45 PM
#23
Instructor
Join Date: Mar 2012
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Building on the "it could be worse" theme...
I've been riding motorcycles in the Los Angeles area since 1988. Getting anywhere seems to involve time on a freeway, and the best days to go riding are over the weekend, which are also the best days to move.
I can not count the times when I've come up on a car with the mattress and box spring tied to the roof of a car or SUV, usually with the mattress on the top of the stack. When the car gets on the freeway, the air passing over the car lifts the front of the mattress, and it starts straining the (usually two) cords that lash it to the car. This is usually not apparent to the passenger and driver, as the box spring looks just fine.
I've seen them go ~15 feet in the air when the retaining cords break and they come tumbling down onto the freeway. I haven't hit one, and I hope never to do so, but it's an unfortunately common occurrence.
In a similar vein are semis with split rims, where a metal band forms the bead surface on the outside rim of the tire. They're steel, about 24" in diameter and an inch and a half thick. You remove them to change a tire, and replace them before inflating the tire. You them place the deflated tire in a steel cage before setting a regulator to 95 PSI and inflating the tire.
Occasionally, the split rim section becomes detached from the tire and launches outward with enough force to certainly maim, if not kill you. For this reason, I don't drive or ride along the rear axles of semis.
I've been riding motorcycles in the Los Angeles area since 1988. Getting anywhere seems to involve time on a freeway, and the best days to go riding are over the weekend, which are also the best days to move.
I can not count the times when I've come up on a car with the mattress and box spring tied to the roof of a car or SUV, usually with the mattress on the top of the stack. When the car gets on the freeway, the air passing over the car lifts the front of the mattress, and it starts straining the (usually two) cords that lash it to the car. This is usually not apparent to the passenger and driver, as the box spring looks just fine.
I've seen them go ~15 feet in the air when the retaining cords break and they come tumbling down onto the freeway. I haven't hit one, and I hope never to do so, but it's an unfortunately common occurrence.
In a similar vein are semis with split rims, where a metal band forms the bead surface on the outside rim of the tire. They're steel, about 24" in diameter and an inch and a half thick. You remove them to change a tire, and replace them before inflating the tire. You them place the deflated tire in a steel cage before setting a regulator to 95 PSI and inflating the tire.
Occasionally, the split rim section becomes detached from the tire and launches outward with enough force to certainly maim, if not kill you. For this reason, I don't drive or ride along the rear axles of semis.
06-14-2017, 02:48 PM
#24
Race Director
Thread Starter
I love the "one driver and one passenger gripping the mattress" maneuver. Poor bastards don't know what a few PSI wind loading on a 3360 sq-in mattress (though only a fraction would be wind-loaded before it sets sail straight up into the air and then back down into the same lane.
Last edited by 5CHN3LL; 06-14-2017 at 03:06 PM.
06-14-2017, 02:51 PM
#25
Race Director
Thread Starter
As far as indicators/turn signals: I believe my turn signal relay is shot; I was going to swap it out with the hazard relay, but I also (accidentally) completely broke the hazard switch in the dash, and after eyeballing the guts, I broke off the one-way tabs and jammed it partially back into the remaining half of the switch still in the dash. It takes about 5 seconds to get the position perfect, but once the right connections are made, the indicator lights (front and rear) work just as expected. I think they're routing through the hazard relay, as they now work when the key is not in the ignition.
When I flip the switch guts 180 degrees and reassemble the switch, the hazards work but the turn signals don't. However it happened, I think this means I will only need one relay (and the hazard switch replacement that arrives tomorrow, so it can go back to being a normal car instead of a Frunkenstein's bodgester.
Oh, and the damn light socket and LED bulb dropped down into the fender/front bumper area, so I'll be employing my $15 Amazon borescope to go spelunking down the pumpkin hole. That sounds disgusting.
When I flip the switch guts 180 degrees and reassemble the switch, the hazards work but the turn signals don't. However it happened, I think this means I will only need one relay (and the hazard switch replacement that arrives tomorrow, so it can go back to being a normal car instead of a Frunkenstein's bodgester.
Oh, and the damn light socket and LED bulb dropped down into the fender/front bumper area, so I'll be employing my $15 Amazon borescope to go spelunking down the pumpkin hole. That sounds disgusting.
06-14-2017, 06:13 PM
#26
Spare tires are for sissies! The only people that get flats are those that are prepared for one. Everybody knows that. Plus, I already have a spare tire around my waist. I refuse to carry two!
06-14-2017, 06:17 PM
#27
Mine somehow jumped ship with the bulb socket.
The Porsche gods frown on aftermarket side markers.
06-14-2017, 10:01 PM
#28
Rennlist Member
I used to love riding motorcycles. When I was on active duty in San Diego, I was riding my bike north on 805, in the center lane of the northbound lanes. Guy in a contractor's van ahead of me has an extension ladder come unstrapped from his roof. Not much I could do to avoid it with cars on either side of me. At the last instant, the ladder changed from rolling sideways to rolling lengthwise and I skirted past it. I kept my bike for another 4 years or so, but only put about 100 miles on it total after that incident. That's the problem with motorcycles - you can be doing everything right but there's just not enough safety margin for the many little things that can kill you.
06-14-2017, 10:47 PM
#29
I used to love riding motorcycles. When I was on active duty in San Diego, I was riding my bike north on 805, in the center lane of the northbound lanes. Guy in a contractor's van ahead of me has an extension ladder come unstrapped from his roof. Not much I could do to avoid it with cars on either side of me. At the last instant, the ladder changed from rolling sideways to rolling lengthwise and I skirted past it. I kept my bike for another 4 years or so, but only put about 100 miles on it total after that incident. That's the problem with motorcycles - you can be doing everything right but there's just not enough safety margin for the many little things that can kill you.
