Humor Random Comments Thread

[MaverickSawyer]

So my truck's brakes decided that rolling down the freeway at 70 mph was a good time to suddenly lose brake pressure. There's nothing like the thrill of putting your foot on the pedal and it sinks to the floor while you're in more than a ton of rolling steel and suddenly feel like you're just along for the ride! Fortunately, even with an automatic transmission downshifting is still a thing and I was able to nurse it off the road to a stop so I could get it towed to a shop without any damage. Brakes are like air: they're no big deal until you don't have them.

Been there... Had my left rear brake puke up a seal while I was driving in San Francisco once. Not the most enjoyable experience.

 

[Andy44]

Interesting, usual Hydraulic with servo assist?

N.

General Motors standard stuff. Not sure what the deal was. Brake reservoir wasn't low, and the problem came on quick, not gradually over days like I've seen before. One minute everything was fine, next minute "Oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die?"

 

[Notebook]

Well, what happened later? Did the brakes come good or you had to go into a garage?

I knew someone who always asked three questions in a row, always answered the last one
first...

N.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Drum or disc brakes in the back? Because if it's drum, I think the piston puked up a seal. Not a hard fix... Just messy.

 

[Andy44]

Drum in the back. I dropped it off at the shop but since it's a weekend it may be a while before I hear the diagnosis. I could've taken it someplace faster and cheaper, but I decided scrimping on brakes is a dumb idea. And I can't do the work myself because I don't have a garage or a driveway where I can work on cars.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Ah. Was there any signs of brake fluid leaking from the rear brakes?

 

[Andy44]

Ah. Was there any signs of brake fluid leaking from the rear brakes?

Not that I could find. Will find out soon enough.

Interesting thing is I am driving a rental, a Nissan, with all the modern trimmings.

My truck may be old, but my lord do I ever miss it. I feel this way whenever I travel somewhere and have to rent a modern car. Just give me my old truck and leave me alone!

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Not that I could find. Will find out soon enough.

Interesting thing is I am driving a rental, a Nissan, with all the modern trimmings.

My truck may be old, but my lord do I ever miss it. I feel this way whenever I travel somewhere and have to rent a modern car. Just give me my old truck and leave me alone!

I know, right? I don't need to be coddled and insulated by tech. Gimme a stick shift and steering with good feedback from the road through the steering wheel, and I'm a happy driver. There's a reason I love the battered 1990 Honda Civic that's my normal daily driver...

 

[Andy44]

I know, right? I don't need to be coddled and insulated by tech. Gimme a stick shift and steering with good feedback from the road through the steering wheel, and I'm a happy driver. There's a reason I love the battered 1990 Honda Civic that's my normal daily driver...

Long time ago I used to drive a 1979 VW Scirocco. It was a stick shift, electric nothing, with Bosch mechanical fuel injection. No AC, no cruise control, none of that stuff. Loved that car. Lost it when it got rear-ended while I was making a left in the driving rain one day.

My truck has power windows and cruise and AC and all that, but at least it's not connected to the frakking internet. When I bought it I specifically told the dealer I didn't want OnStar. It has just the right bells and whistles. Only thing I wish it had was Bluetooth radio. I've driven it across the country a few times and probably will again.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Eh. I'll trust the car with enough mileage on it to have driven to the Moon any day. Especially after I finish swapping the transmission on it. (Thank GOD for dryer weather here in the Pacific North West... FINALLY can get that dropped and swapped.)

 

[Andy44]

Eh. I'll trust the car with enough mileage on it to have driven to the Moon any day. Especially after I finish swapping the transmission on it. (Thank GOD for dryer weather here in the Pacific North West... FINALLY can get that dropped and swapped.)

I mentioned this a year and a half or so ago: I was driving through Maine and stopped at a small tourist railroad in a rural area. It was a weekday and there was one guy working there. He gave a me a tour and showed me a Ford Model T truck that had been converted to run on narrow gauge rails. They had just finished repairing and restoring the T.

I asked him where you get parts for a hundred year-old truck and he told me they just wrote to Ford; Ford Motor Company still supports Model T owners!

Makes me want to buy a Model T.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

I mentioned this a year and a half or so ago: I was driving through Maine and stopped at a small tourist railroad in a rural area. It was a weekday and there was one guy working there. He gave a me a tour and showed me a Ford Model T truck that had been converted to run on narrow gauge rails. They had just finished repairing and restoring the T.

I asked him where you get parts for a hundred year-old truck and he told me they just wrote to Ford; Ford Motor Company still supports Model T owners!

Makes me want to buy a Model T.

There's money to be made on supplying parts for restoration jobs. And it's hard to be OEM parts.

 

[Linguofreak]

Long time ago I used to drive a 1979 VW Scirocco. It was a stick shift, electric nothing, with Bosch mechanical fuel injection. No AC, no cruise control, none of that stuff. Loved that car. Lost it when it got rear-ended while I was making a left in the driving rain one day.

My truck has power windows and cruise and AC and all that, but at least it's not connected to the frakking internet. When I bought it I specifically told the dealer I didn't want OnStar. It has just the right bells and whistles. Only thing I wish it had was Bluetooth radio. I've driven it across the country a few times and probably will again.

In Dallas, it is just plain out of the question to love any vehicle that lacks AC. Otherwise the Scirocco looks like a solid car. I think I prefer the look of the 80's model Sciroccos, but the 70's models look better than any of the eyesores built in the last two decades or so.

Oh for the days when cars were real cars, trucks were real trucks, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.

I don't really tend to mind amenities like cruise control or power windows, and I like that cars now have built-in USB for charging mobile devices, but rather than an onboard entertainment/navigation system I'd rather just have a dock for a tablet/phone in the same space. That way it's upgradable and gives you the choice of vendors for the device you put in that space.

And I won't touch OnStar, or, when it reaches consumer vehicles, any type of autonomous self driving capability, or anything else that involves systems like the engine, steering, or door locks being in contact with the outside world, without source code for all factory-installed software, a detailed bill of materials for all the electronics in communication with the outside world or with any system directly or indirectly in communication with the outside world, and an audit of said source code and BOM from an organization such as the EFF stating that they have found no evidence of back doors.

 

[Andy44]

And I won't touch OnStar, or, when it reaches consumer vehicles, any type of autonomous self driving capability, or anything else that involves systems like the engine, steering, or door locks being in contact with the outside world, without source code for all factory-installed software, a detailed bill of materials for all the electronics in communication with the outside world or with any system directly or indirectly in communication with the outside world, and an audit of said source code and BOM from an organization such as the EFF stating that they have found no evidence of back doors.

Sadly for you and I this is not likely to be an optional thing for much longer unless we limit ourselves to used cars.

We are hopelessly old-fashioned and the world is indifferent to our concerns.

 

[Notebook]

About 50 years ago! I was an apprentice in the road haulage industry, just when the heavier vehicle legislation was coming in. Also, the vehicle testing regime was starting.

Good thing, it took a lot of dangerous junk off the roads.

It did mean up to 16 tons on two axles on UK roads, and all the manufacturers were exploring different braking systems.
Vacuum over hydraulic was reaching its limit(about 15 psi!), and a few companies went for air over hydraulic. Moderate success, but just putting extra pressure in the brake lines and gave the problems you would expect.

All went away when they went to triple line full air brakes. Excellent system if maintained. Some had "spring-lock", where air pressure held off springs that put the brake shoes on slowly.

My info is 40 years old, so they may have moved onto disc brakes for lorries now!

N.

 

[Linguofreak]

Sadly for you and I this is not likely to be an optional thing for much longer unless we limit ourselves to used cars.

We are hopelessly old-fashioned and the world is indifferent to our concerns.

The good news is that reality is indifferent to foolishness, and eventually the world will be forced to notice our concerns. The bad news is that by the time they notice, it will be too late, for them and for us.

 

[Linguofreak]

Hellcat:

Dunkelcat:

That's a really horrible pun, so if I go missing in the next few days, Urwumpe or jedidia probably decided that it merited summary execution and dragged me into a dark alley somewhere.

:leaving:

 

[MaverickSawyer]

I don't get it. :huh:

 

[jedidia]

if I go missing in the next few days, Urwumpe or jedidia probably decided that it merited summary execution and dragged me into a dark alley somewhere.

:ninja:

I don't get it.

Hell in german means bright.
From that you can probably already deduct that Dunkel means dark.
Oh, and the plane in the picture is a hellcat, but that probably doesn't need mentioning.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Ah. Thanks for the clarification.