More Repair Shop Blues

Ron Devies

Ron Devies

PCS Ohio Chapter President PCS Past Vice President
Well yesterday the Suburban was supposed to go to the body shop for a little touch up incurred in transport. But first it had to stop by the repair shop for what I though was a bad wheel bearing. The good news was it wasn't. The bad news was the tires were worse than what had been on the high top prior to the blow out. So four new tires then off to the body shop. Again looking to the bright side: 3 of my five cars now have new shoes.
 
glad thats all it was. those front tires came off that 92 6 door. the 2 inch white walls look good in it. you might think about repacking the front wheel bearings as I did not. the bad part about having a few of these is you end up with all the cars needing something.
 
Put new tires on the other 2 vehicles, and you will end your tire problems. Safety starts where the rubber meets the road.
 
There is a date code on all tires manufactured for quite some time now. I think it would be a fact finding mission to find out when these failing tires were made. I have had quite a few cracked = failed tires recently. My six door blew a Hancook tire 150 miles from its starting point on its trip to home inspecting the other three it was a miracle there were no more failures CRACK CITY was found. It now sports a new set of Vogues. A few years ago I found out the hard way Michelin only warrenties their tires for five years then you are SOL. Check your tires lets see how old they are. Below is how to check them. Every tire has a "born-on date" molded into the sidewall and coded according to federal requirements. Near the edge of the rim, look for a long serial number starting with the letters "DOT." The code will end in either three numerals (pre-2000) or four (post 2000) and correspond to the two-digit week followed by the one- or two-digit year. For instance, the tire seen above has a code of DOT DA08 JM1R 3011, which would indicate a tire manufactured in the 30th week of 2011. DOT R5HG FHR 404 would indicate a tire manufactured in the 40th week of 1994 (or 1984, or '74).
 
J am a firm believer in new tires. About two months ago, I put a set of American Classic Radials, made in Pennsylvania on the Superior. They look great and it drives great! It is money well spent.
 
Ron Devies said:
Well yesterday the Suburban was supposed to go to the body shop for a little touch up incurred in transport. But first it had to stop by the repair shop for what I though was a bad wheel bearing. The good news was it wasn't. The bad news was the tires were worse than what had been on the high top prior to the blow out. So four new tires then off to the body shop. Again looking to the bright side: 3 of my five cars now have new shoes.
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Ron, does your Suburban still have the original 16.5" wheels or is it now sporting later model 16"s? -hard to tell from your previous photos. What tires did you go with? I'm on the hunt now for either of those sizes of steel wheel to get mine back to a more stock rolling configuration.
 
I'll answer for Ron as I use to own it. this one was a 1/2 ton unit. the original tire size was H78 x 15. it still had one for the spare when it left here. so the 235s are comparable. if you can't find the wheels you want out there up here in farm counter i should be able to. they run around 25 each. cost a man at least that to ship them
 
Make Room for Another

With the burb still gone somewhere between the tire shop and body shop, I took the Superior 54" to a show last night. Got home took the beacon off the roof and when I went to back in the garage the whole car is dead. I am thinking alternator.
 
And I bet you said son of a....anyway bad luck,your car looked good in the other post and glad you were able to make it,all summer decent weather and then cold and drizzly season kicks off just when you don't want it to..
 
quick check is put the charger on it and bring the battery up. then turn the key to on if the charge light is out you have worn out the brushes. start the car and take off the positive cable if it dies the alternator is not working. but I will tell you a corroded cable end will stop the battery from charging. no since in spending money were it's not needed.

the other thing is batteries are like tires. once you are forced to change one you end up changing them all.
 
Ron

Just be glad you were home and didn't need a tow.

Always a brighter side to everything.

I do feel your disappointment in any car problem as I have been through them all myself.

Just be thrilled you have a fine collection.

Look at it this way... your kids needed food, clothes, etc.

Cars need... gas, parts, etc.

Same thing, only difference is that your cars don't talk back !

Darren
 
John ED Renstrom said:
quick check is put the charger on it and bring the battery up. then turn the key to on if the charge light is out you have worn out the brushes. start the car and take off the positive cable if it dies the alternator is not working. but I will tell you a corroded cable end will stop the battery from charging. no since in spending money were it's not needed.

the other thing is batteries are like tires. once you are forced to change one you end up changing them all.
Click to expand...

if you remove either battery cable, you will blow out the diodes in the alternator. No question about this, because this is what happens when you turn off the battery disconnect switch off. There is a warning on the Cole Hersee battery disconnect switch not to turn off the switch until after the engine is stopped.
The really bad news is that the diodes inside of the 130 amp alternators are very difficult to find, since they have been obsolete for more years than you can believe. it took me almost a month to find them for my car, when the car hauler turned off the batteries and left the engine running on my 1969, when it was shipped back from South Dakota.
 
Maybe I need more kids. My two kids never need anything but the cars always need something. As I have said many time, you don"t buy an old car-- you adopt it.
 
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