New England B.S. Thread

If I won $20000 I would use it to pay off some bills and put some away in the bank. My truck runs fine like it is....

 

Yeah, but you don't have a wagon

 

Maybe that particular car is an electrical nightmare but the point is small displacement diesels could better fill the gap the Prius is attempting to cover without batteries and running on a less refined fuel.

What's sort of sad is my old man's diesel gets better mileage than my Tacoma. I agree with you though, I think the diesels are a better option than hybrids.

 

Yeah, my cousin's Dodge in an identical setup to the one that I looked at averages 22 empty and 18 loaded (28 foot livestock trailer on a gooseneck). He's also got over 300K on his and has only done tires, brakes, and oil. I was VERY tempted.
Then I remembered that between the workshop, the motorcycles, and various clutter I could never hope to fit a truck that long into my garage. And I'd have to make a 10-point turn to turn it around in my driveway. And the amount of time that I spend towing or hauling heavy things isn't enough to justify a 3/4 ton truck, when I can just borrow one from one of several relatives when I need it.

 

I could not agree more.

I had my old VW for over 10years the only electrical problem I ever encountered was when my horn started blowing by itself, the clock spring needed to get replaced. It was a 15 minute fix with a friend of mine. That car was great.

 

Just call Jerry up. He's a great guy. He'll send you the hardware again. I lke how you got 4 legs to the frame.

 

So I see people blaming bad MPGs this time of year on "Winter Gas". Is there really such a thing? Maybe it's just the cold weather?

- Cold air is more dense, so I guess that's denser air to push through.

- Because the air is more dense, I would think the engine would use more gas to maintain the A/F ratio.

- Most of us probably warm up our vehicles at least 5 minutes before we go somewhere. So that's gas burned while idle.

 

Shrug. Maybe yours was built on a Wednesday.
Next time you see a VW, look and see how many of the lights are working. When I was working as a service writer we were constantly resoldering or running new wire for the rear light clusters. We were always running ground wires from the batteries to the alternators because the alternator grounds on the block but weren't getting enough contact, so they'd throw on the battery light and drain that batteries rather than charging them. And this was on everything from 20 year old cars to 5 year old cars.

 

Here's a decent article on it:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/car...-blend-gasoline-whats-the-difference-13747431

I figured it was a combination of things causing worse fuel economy in the winter such as warm up time, cold temps causing the oils to become more viscous and harder to move, additional time in 4wd and plowing through snow and slush, etc.

 

For your reading pleasure:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/summer-blend-vs-winter-blend-gasoline-whats-the-difference-13747431

 

Damn, beat me to it with the exact same article.
Great minds run in the same gutter

As to the mileage drop, don't forget heavier feet on the throttle to make the tail end hang out!

 

Makes sense.

 

I saw the episode of Trucks mentioned in this article- http://www.fulldisclosurefinance.com/2007/11/23/biodiesel-the-french-fry-fuel/

On the show it was mentioned that the fuel filters had to be replaced a couple times as the veggie fuel broke down all of the nasty deposits in the trucks fuel system built up from dino diesel, but after that it was smooth sailing. Veggie also develops moar power!

The kit- http://www.udobiodiesel.com/Biodiesel/FuelMeister.html

 

Anyone here have any experience with the Cooper S/T Maxx?

 

No but they look great! Everybody that I've seen write up on them has said they liked them.

 

Seen good stuff. Read once where the buyer had them balanced and was pleased with the construction of the tire; taking very little weight to get them balanced out.

 

Seems like a good mix of a AT/ MT/ M&S tire.

 

No but much like Rob, everything I have read is positive. I am hoping they come out with a 255/85-16