re: "Google Wallet may be making a return" (and "Why is it so complex

most != all.

a few do, and only on rare occasion, however, *most* do not.

that's nice for you, it is still not the usual. And a whole lot of people will simply NOT drive on gravel or dirt roads at all.

Again, just because one person does something, it does not make it usual.

unless it's sms, in which case, it applies to everyone.

I'm not sure why this is even being argued, where I personally haven't run the statistics, but from my experience, I would agree logically with those who say the only place "most" 4WD SUVs go "off road" are in the TV commercials.

However... I'm talking Silicon Valley (which is flat and has no dirt roads to speak of... although I use to "baja" where Cisco is now - as it was an old people's home as I recall, and so was where Sun was..) but that was with rental cars back in the day...

I'm sure that in Texas or Kansas or some other farm/ranch country, the statistics would skew differently for the 4WD light trucks than in the Silicon Valley.

It would be nice to find a survey... *What percentage of new off-road, 4x4, vehicles are actually driven off-road?*

"Damn few"

We need a better survey... by the way... where as I said, I used to "baja" in the area off of Montegue near 101 before it had _any_ apartments or Cisco, with 2WD rental cars (probably FWD at that time) so it's "possible" but not probable.

I even went "baja" in the hills of NY state in a 2WD Chevy pickup with no first gear, so it can be done even as Continental says it can't over here *Can I take my SUV off-road?*

"The only SUVs that can go off-road are SUVs that are equipped with 4x4 functionality"

WTF? It just goes to show what bullshit advertising spews.

Anyway, still looking for a survey ... *Carmakers target adventure-seeking Americans with off-roading SUVs*

"Roughly 18% of Expedition customers and 12% of Explorer customers take their vehicle off-road, according to Ford. Japanese automaker Toyota has six models that can withstand grueling off-roading conditions, including the Land Cruiser, 4Runner and Tacoma. Toyota claims nearly 20% of all off-roading takes place in one of its vehicles."

BTW, just as Russia downplays that the Moskva was promoted to submarine on a special mission in the Black Sea, and the Ukrainians play up how many T-72B3 they de-turreted, the car manufacturers want to glorify the few who do habitually go off road.

I, for one, beep congratulatory appreciation when I see a well-muddied off-road vehicle on the otherwise car-clean highways of the Silicon Valley (Californians do very much love to wash and wax their cars indeed).

I think people have an agenda, just as I do with the iKooks.

The best statistics I can find are between 12% and 18% according to car manufacturers for _specific_ vehicles (see that reference in this thread).

Just as I'd halve the number of T-72B3's the Ukrainians jack-in-the-boxed, I'll halve those numbers to state, unless someone comes up with better stats, that somewhere about 10% (at best, IMHO) vehicles go off road.

And that's just at least once off road, I presume (although that's how marketing skews statistics 'cuz they don't even say how many times).

My truck has the dents to prove it has been off-road.

Why is you just assume that any number you don't agree with must be some form of propaganda?

Because he lies constantly and makes up numbers constantly, so he assumes that everyone is just as shitty and dishonest and amoral as s/he/it is.

Please, every time you're going to reply to him imagine that little chubby he gets and think again. Do you really want to be responsible for the only sexual stimulation that obese naked troglodyte gets in his life? Please, think of that image first.

It's telling that my goal on the Apple newsgroups is to tell the facts, which, not surprisingly, the trolls like Alan & Lewis call "lies".

Why? I know why.

Fun fact. Why is it that all the iKooks _hate_ any facts about Apple?

Fun fact:

I used to go "baja" with a 2WD chevy pickup so I don't disagree; but, most people who spend upwards of $80K for their brand new SUV perhaps don't.

To be clear, I'll accept any facts but the only one who provided facts was me on the percentage of people who go off road with their expensive SUVs.

The rest guessed, and since they only guessed, they deprecated the facts. I'll change my mind on a dime if new facts arise, but they don't have them.

So we're stuck with the facts I unearthed, at around %10 to %20 at best.

Anyone who is serious about off-roading should buy a motorcycle. Period. We drove a rented Yaris around the floor of Monument Valley, but it wasn't pleasant -- much better ~50 years earlier on dirtbikes!

Carry on.

<snip>

What "Andy Burnelli" doesn't understand is the difference between an off-road capable SUV, and what are commonly referred to as MTVs (Mall Terrain Vehicles).

MTVs are built on a car chassis, not a truck chassis. They don't have high clearance. Often they are AWD not 4WD and that's a difference that many drivers don't understand until they're stuck in the snow! An MTV is unlikely to have an LSD (Limited Slip Differential) or the option for a locking differential so the wheels with no traction will spin while the wheels that have traction get no power at all.

If you want to talk percentages, you have to only include the drivers that have actually spent the money for an off-road capable vehicle. A good starting point is to look at the vehicles listed here:

. A Honda Pilot or a Subaru Outback or a Toyota Highlander, is not an off-road vehicle whether or not it is AWD.

That, or in a few years when the original roofing shingles need to be replaced, part could be extended higher for a lift (depending on the cost of lumber).

Many thanks!

Typically; or a failing master cylinder, or a bad wheel cylinder, etc.

I'll keep an eye out for that next time ordering on Rock Auto.

Interesting to know. That's hard to avoid when driving an automatic, but I instinctively pop a manual into neutral and let off the brake unless I'm sitting on a hill.

Ball joints just came in. The project will commence when the weather is better.

Isn't there a special tool for inner tie rod ends? The last time that I had to have those done, I took it to a shop (that does work cheap for me). Of course, not as cheap as one could do at home.

I've done outer tie rod ends at home a few times, counted the turns, and counted when turning new ones on. Typically, I head to a shop afterward that does an alignment for $50. I'll have to look into that for my garage.

I don't do motorcycles (no interest in riding them), but I need most of the tools that you have listed above. Is your kit for sale? ;)

I take it that you have to get a feel for looking at the specs before digging into it. Thanks for the list.

Yes, that's usually an important factor for me. I've hauled over a ton of scrap in the bed of my truck before. It's not something I do often anymore, but when I have a truck, I really use a truck; so that has to be an option.

That's a consideration in a car, but for me, less of a concern in a truck. I expect a truck to ride more rough. It's a backup vehicle for me, or to haul stuff.

Since I have the truck, rather than letting it rot, I think it's a project for this summer. I don't have much to loose; the old beater is for scrap if I don't fix it. I have a Felpro head gasket and new head bolts that I bought a year ago. A straight 6 is a pretty simple engine. I just need to rope my friend into doing it (and debate if I want to tow it several blocks up hill to the new garage first).

I don't see how anyone could entirely avoid gravel roads. A friend might have a gravel drive way to pull into; if nothing else. I drive urban and rural, and many side streets that sometimes have to be used if a road is blocked, are at least partially gravel roads.

You must live in a distinctly rural area. Where I live (country city) I need never see a gravel road I am forced to negotiate.

Good luck. As I recall, removal is the hard part. That's why the pickle fork is used. You put it horizontally to the connection and bang away until it just pops free. In _my_ experience, it pops after just a few bangs.

Much like a U-Joint pops out of a driveshaft after only a few hits.

As I recall the _only_ difference in the tool is the pickle fork is smaller. But I haven't done it in years. Luckily, as with ball joints, the removal is the hard part where you're at least not worried about damaging them.

When putting them back together, you just screw them in but there the issue is to match the steering wheel. You spend more time on the steering wheel than anything else when dealing with tie rod ends.

You want to notice the center position of the steering wheel first. Then you want to lock it into place (they sell a tool for that).

When you put things back, you want the steering wheel to be in the same position when driving straight. Otherwise you'll be driven nuts.

The only thing tie rods affect, as I recall, is toe, which is easy to do at home. It's camber and caster that are harder to do at home without special tools. But toe can be done easily at home to the desired specifications.

At your age, and with the number of cars you buy, you would benefit greatly from doing your own caster, camber and toe. If a car has been in an accident, then you need the four wheel alignment but if all you're doing is setting it up, then you do it in this order. Caster -> Camber -> Toe.

Caster is a function of camber though, so all you need to measure is camber. Toe is simply a linear measurement so it's the easiest to measure.

I've never sold anything in my life, least of all my tools. They're for my kids (or grandkids) to use if they ever need them. They'll probably be sold then though. :)

Basically a tire is a commodity, despite marketing wanting you to think it's not. Also you can't get a bad (aka unsafe) tire in the USA. Now I know there are plenty of people who can bring up "Firestone" stuff, but I'm talking in general.

What you do is start with the OEM spec and then you buy a tire that meets or exceeds those OEM specs. The ones that matter, of course, are fitment, and then load range and then speed rating. The rest are less important.

My main point is price is meaningless. If anyone ever tells you "you get what you pay for", then just walk away and don't tell that person that they're an idiot because they're already too stupid to get it.

Most people do NOT know how to buy stuff. Yet everyone wants a "good/better/best" number line.

Fun fact: Marketing people have figured that out already.

So they always give you a good/better/best L/XL/GXL number line of bullshit. Usually the L has basic markings, the XL slightly better, but the GXL... oh that GXL... it has GOLD plated markings. Surely it's better.

The bullshit good/better/best number line for batteries and tires most often handed to people is the treadwear warranty - which is purely meaningless bullshit for a huge number of reasons I won't delve into.

Anyone who buys anything by warranty is a fool. Let's leave it at that.

The point is you buy by the specs. The _last_ spec you look at, is the price.

Well, the nice thing about a well-built tire is that it wears more safely over time, in that the sidewalls are really sturdy and can handle abuse.

As I said, you never buy a tire with a lower load index than the OEM tire.

I understand. A lot of people think you can just change the aspect ratio, and you can, but it affects other things as it's always a tradeoff.

Even just changing the width of the tread affects other handling factors.

Good luck. A major engine overhaul is the only one of the half dozen major tasks every man should do on a car before he dies that I listed above.

I hope you get a chance to do them all where the fact you're young means you can leverage all that learning to the future more so than I will be able to do as I'm in my waning years and you're just starting out.

I don't work in a rural area, but the commute is rural. Even living in Pittsburgh, PA, I recall a few roads that weren't fully paved. Of course, I have no experience with areas like LA.

The bad news is that they won't say and the bad news also is that if you call them up they won't even know what you're talking about - but - the good news is it's printed on every pad ever sold in the United States.

So when I call for pads, if they're in stock, I ask the guy to go out there and read me the numbers. It's a long list of numbers but the letters A thru about H will show up twice (usually the same but not always) for the cold and hot friction ratings.

I find it amusing when I ask people how they choose brake pads and they tell me all sorts of bullshit but they don't know this basic spec.

And yet it's the most important spec for a brake pad, it's friction rating.

Fun facts:

1. Marketing has figured out that people are stupid
2. Marketing has figured out that people want a number line
3. So Marketing gives people a (bullshit) number line

What marketing gives them is bullshit good/better/best number lines like price & wear warranties which have nothing whatsoever to do with the specs of the pad itself.

Or worse, meaningless good/better/best terms like a. Non Asbestos pads b. Metallic pads c. Ceramic pads

As I said, they can put a spec of anything in there and call it that. If you don't believe me, call the marketing guys and ask them like I did.

Actually whether or not it's an automatic or manual doesn't make much (if any) of a difference in my experience, although I know exactly what you mean in that an automatic will creep forward after a stop.

But what you do is compensate for that creep by slowing the car down and stopping well before you would otherwise do.

Instead of exiting the highway and then jamming on the brakes and HOLDING them there in that spot (while they're red hot) waiting at the light, you apply the brakes earlier and slow down more gradually and then you stop the vehicle well before the light. Then you can slowly creep forward where the main goal is to NOT keep the pad pressed close to the hot rotor at the exact last point but to move it along. You can shift the automatic into neutral if you want (I do that often) but it's not even required if there is enough of a flat or upward slope to prevent the automatic from creeping.

You can also apply the parking brake, but that has its issues also.

But the main point is to be COGNIZANT that it's your own foot that is causing what most people think is brake rotor WARP.

Fun fact: What percentage of people actually _measured_ the rotor warp after vehemently claiming that their rotors warped?

Hint: Zero.