so waht ya doin today?

[462]

Jon,
I live about 45 miles from the self proclaimed Garlic Capital of the World. Driving through it, on the state highway, at certain times of the year will let you know how well your olfactory system is working.

Also live about 15 miles from the self proclaimed Artichoke Capital of the World. Before she became famous, Marilyn Monroe was the queen of its first artichoke festival.

 

[Pistolero]

What the heck is all that miles of plumbing associated with the 4Runner shocks? Were they ride height adjustable
systems?

 

[Reloader762]

Sizing a bunch of 45 ACP bullets I cast up yesterday as well as putting some gas check on some 30 XCB bullets for the 30-06. I powder coated a bunch of the 30 XCB bullets with the gas check pre installed and the PC stuck right to them with no issues, so I will run the through the sizer again just for good measure.

 

[wquiles]

What the heck is all that miles of plumbing associated with the 4Runner shocks? Were they ride height adjustable
systems?

LOL. The "Cross Linked Relative Absorber System". also known as "Sport Enhanced Suspension". Which is famous for leaking and costing $2500-$3000 to fix. Most of us who buy used 4Runners simply "remove" and install conventional, premium shocks like the Bilsteins 5100's front/back.

Here is a portion of the manual:

 

[CZ93X62]

In theory, I guess that diagonally-responsive "X-REAS" system might offer a few incremental improvements to ride stability. But it seems that the conventional shock absorbers you installed are a far simpler and more reliable answer to this perceived problem. And I will admit to not being much fun to be around at times--there IS always the option of slowing down a bit on curves or on uneven ground. Yeah, kinda pedestrian--I'll own that.

 

[Ian]

Yeah, not much into drifting my Toyota SUVs myself. Bilstein coilovers are exlnt.

 

[smokeywolf]

I actually started slightly reducing my driving speeds and increasing my following distances when I noticed my eyeglasses prescription increasing in strength. Assuming age related, a definite sign that body systems are degrading. Degradation of vision, distance judgement, reaction time all have to be compensated for. I'm extra careful backing up; extra careful changing lanes. I do not however, drive 10 or 20 miles per hour under the speed limit. And, if I'm in a vehicle such as the U-HAUL truck that typically relegates you to 5 to 10 under the speed limit, if on a two lane road, I always do what I can to pull off where the shoulder is wide enough and solid enough so that folks can pass.

 

[Pistolero]

Thank you for pulling off, smokeywolf. You may be the only one in the world who does that
good deed. OK, let me partially take that back. In Colorado, a fair number of slower drivers
DO pull over on their wider paved shoulders to let us pass, a very nice thing.

As to the X-REAS.....good grief, what an obvious waste of money and addition of complexity for
probably difficult to detect benefits. Some marketing guy got sold a bill of goods by some
fast drummer in the engineering dept. Yep, Bilsteins are good stuff, have been for a very
long time. I remember seeing them on racing cars in the 60s, they were the best available
technology. My old 911 still has the original Bilsteins, and shockingly, they do not leak and
do not need replacing. 1980 model. THAT, is quality.

 

[fiver]

I wonder how that system would work going up skinner canyon.
the 'road' is the drainage for part of the upper canyon each spring at least until it dumps into the creek about half way down.
then it switches to being the drainage for the other side when the road changes from north south to east west near the bottom.
needless to say it's either mud or rocks and you definitely don't want any open containers in the truck.

 

[Ian]

I used to get the red-azz a lot at people who drove 10 under the limit and refused to use the abundant paved shoulders (full lane width) to allow others to pass. Went so far one time as to follow one such driver to a gas station and politely ask if he knew that he could use that lane temporarily in safe areas to allow passing, the man apologized and said no, he had no idea and it was strictly verboten to do that where he came from (Indiana as I recall). That explains a lot, and we both learned something valuable that day.

Bless all of you who are considerate drivers out there, all 26 of you!

 

[Pistolero]

Aww, Ian, don't under estimate. My bet is that there are easily a couple of hundred in the country. Heck maybe
even a bit more than that.
Pretty thin on the ground, anyway.

 

[462]

27, Ian. When driving the motorhome/towing the boat, I pull over to allow following drivers to pass. Modern society's self-absorbed, it's-all-about-me drivers never had parents who taught them common courtesy, respect, nor responsibility.

 

[Rick]

Morons on bicycles on two lane roads are far and away worse than people in motor vehicles. Put 10 or 15 of them together and they seem to truly believe it is their right and duty to hold back a long line of vehicles at 10 mph. What's amazing is that there aren't a lot more stains on the pavement.

 

[Ian]

One or two of them get punted into the rusty barbed wire every year here in the Hill Country where there are many twisty two lane rural roads and the cyclists think they own them. Even where there are paved shoulders, the cyclists ride near the white line on the traffic side. Just dumb.

 

[Pistolero]

As one of those bicyclists.....I have carefully checked with my police officer friend. And that bicycle has
exactly the same right to the road as the car, at least in KS. I have learned, by being knocked into the ditch
twice, that if I crowd the right edge of the road to try to be polite and to make it easy for folks to pass they
will push pass without bothering to move over ANY, and will miss me by a foot or occasionally hit me.
But, if I pedal about three feet from the right edge, they are forced to actually do an actual passing maneuver
and I don't get hit or nearly hit every time.

I have had to point out to two drivers who pulled over and got out with a tire iron that I wondered if
they really wanted to be arrested for assault. Each wisely got back into their car. And I WAS armed, and
did NOT threaten them or make any mention of that fact, hoping to defuse it as easily as possible.

It isn't always the bikers who are the morons and trouble makers. I did that for 20 years and made
every effort to be safe and courteous to drivers. I just would wave a nice full hand, side to side wave
when they would yell or blow the horn. Jerks are extremely common, it would seem.

 

[Rick]

Can't say in CA that I ever found a cyclist that had a lick of curtesy on the canyon roads. The more of them there is together the more obnoxious they get. They ride in packs of 15-20 and take up the entire lane. Uphill at 10 mph ignoring a long line of vehicles behind them with horns blowing.

Yep, your right, they have as much "right" to use the road as anybody. However . . . It is illegal to impede traffic, that is not their right.

 

[Ian]

Bicycles have equal right here too, except for that little detail about impeding traffic (ticketable offense for 10 mph or more under the limit without moving over). If you're consistently doing something that makes people want to stop and bash your head in, maybe you should ask yourself how smart that is. Btw, I spent a lot of time on a ten-speed before I was old enough to drive and managed to never make myself a nuisance to drivers on the road....it really isn't that hard. In town I was able to keep up with traffic, use the turn lanes, etc. On the highway I just kept out of the way.

 

[Ian]

Doubled with Rick.

 

[Rick]

Bicycles have equal right here too, except for that little detail about impeding traffic (ticketable offense for 10 mph or more under the limit without moving over). If you're consistently doing something that makes people want to stop and bash your head in, maybe you should ask yourself how smart that is. Btw, I spent a lot of time on a ten-speed before I was old enough to drive and managed to never make myself a nuisance to drivers on the road....it really isn't that hard. In town I was able to keep up with traffic, use the turn lanes, etc. On the highway I just kept out of the way.

That there is mighty tough to argue against . . . Given it only a bit of thought, if that's a common occurrence maybe it's not those that are mad at you.

 

[462]

Forum rules prevent me from expressing my opinion of arrogant and elitist bicyclists.