Amateur Modifications

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GAHorn
Posts: 20967
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:45 pm

Amateur Modifications

Post by GAHorn »

it’s always been troubling to me that Bubba can modify his pickup truck …(and I suppose this might offend some guys…. Sorry) …but tall wheels, jacked-up suspensions, hub-spacers and ghetto-wheels that stick out so far from the fenders that the fenders no longer serve their purpose of preventing rain-soaked spray from destroying the view of cars nearby…. That brake systems no longer are adequate for the larger tires installed by amateurs who think it “looks cool”…. without regard to how those mods affect handling and safe-guards which were built into the OEM vehicle.

I’ve always thought it’d be proper for licensing authorities to deny registration/inspection stickers/plates to vehicles modified without proper engineering safe-guards.

This video is demonstrative of the problem, IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKm9nyDXyS0&t=1s
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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falco
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Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 5:44 pm

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by falco »

I worry less about vehicles poorly modified by amateurs than stock vehicles poorly driven by the inattentive and the incompetent. There are so many more of the latter.
voorheesh
Posts: 586
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 5:22 am

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by voorheesh »

Looks like he forgot to tighten his lug nuts or maybe over stressing them (hope the other driver was ok). The ones that get me are the mods where the truck slams flat on the road and starts hopping. Hydraulics. Ever seen those? Some guys are really serious about that stuff. In California, you can get pulled over for unsafe setups :wink:
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TFA170
Posts: 132
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 3:18 am

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by TFA170 »

I'm with Falco on this. Phones are a much bigger concern to me than random wheels coming off.

However, viewing the video, it is not clear that the truck in question was subjected to any radical amateur modifications. First of all, I'd suggest that given the culture today, most people haven't a clue how to even change a tire, much less modify a vehicle. Of the minority who do modify vehicles at home, I'd suggest the majority of them use kits produced for their vehicles because they lack the ability to fabricate, much less engineer anything. Further, there are numerous shops out there who will install these kits and modify vehicles. Perhaps we need to define amateur.

Risk is divided into two parts; the hazard and the exposure. A wheel coming off a vehicle ahead and beside me in such a manner as to cause my car to flip is a definite hazard, but the likelihood is extraordinarily low, so the overall risk is low. An average person checking their phone and side-swiping me or crossing the line opposite direction is a definite hazard and one in which the likelihood is high - I have avoided both with evasive action within the last two weeks and it occurs probably monthly...and I'm rural. I can't imagine what it's like in the bigger cities.

Back to lifted trucks and big tires - the 4-wheel drive hobby/sport has been alive and well for more than 50 years. Products and kits have gotten better and better. Those that actually use their trucks for the hobby/sport and not just to look cool on the asphalt put the kits through real-world rigorous testing where only the strong survive. I'd hardly describe them as amateur. I don't worry about them falling apart or wheels falling off anymore than I do the Prius driving next to me (loose or over-tightened lug nuts are a real thing done by reputable tire shops daily). A bigger hazard with a radically lifted truck (>4" over stock) and radically larger tires (>33") is poor handling of the truck and proper alignment. They are (obviously) top heavy and usually, their anti-sway systems have not been updated to accommodate the higher center of gravity because that hurts 'articulation' to use their term. Consequently, they handle poorly compared to a stock truck. Again, the guys that use theirs, I don't worry about. It's the posers that are the hazard. Unfortunately, they don't wear signs or have special license plates. Just gotta look for the signs...

Hub spacers are illegal in many states - and should be. But so is murder, heroin, and political corruption - being illegal doesn't stop anything. Many states don't have vehicle inspections anymore. I see both sides of the argument for/against and since I generally come down on the side of less gov't, I'll go with I prefer not to have them unless convinced otherwise. I will say that asking the gov't to solve this (via enforcement through registration restrictions) is a bad idea.
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johneeb
Posts: 1520
Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2003 2:44 am

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by johneeb »

Amen to the distracted driver, if I could, I would create a cell phone ap that interrupts whatever they are doing on their phone and flashes a message with a siren that says the light is green.
John E. Barrett
aka. Johneb

Sent from my "Cray Super Computer"
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ghostflyer
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:06 am

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by ghostflyer »

using a phone when driving is “dead” dangerous. i can’t understand the urgency to answer a phone at all when driving. what’s wrong using “voice mail”. Research has shown that the average travel carried out in a vehicle is less than 40 mins. So is the world going to come to an end if you do not answer your phone in the next 40 mins. it only takes a split second to kill someone. and the next 40 years regretting it. So I am hopping off the soap box now to make a phone call.
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mit
Posts: 1049
Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 1:54 am

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by mit »

I was driving a rental car east on I-10 east of Tuson. In left hand lane, passing an 18-wheeler. When the two cars in front of me applied brakes hard and a Truck tire carcass come out from under the car in front of me. I was trapped nowhere to go braked and hit the tire dead center. Pulled over at the next ramp as did the car that hit it in front of me. Fluid was leaking out of the front; I figured the radiator had got pierced. After I got some on my hand and smelled it realized it was windshield washer fluid, the reservoir was busted. The plastic front end was loose and the air dam that covers the whole bottom of the engine was flipped back and dragging on the ground. Used my leatherman to take the air dam off threw it in the trunk and drove the car to where we were going and back to Tuson. Never got a bill from the rental car outfit.
Tim
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GAHorn
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Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:45 pm

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by GAHorn »

mit wrote:I was driving a rental car east on I-10 east of Tuson. In left hand lane, passing an 18-wheeler. When the two cars in front of me applied brakes hard and a Truck tire carcass come out from under the car in front of me. I was trapped nowhere to go braked and hit the tire dead center. Pulled over at the next ramp as did the car that hit it in front of me. Fluid was leaking out of the front; I figured the radiator had got pierced. After I got some on my hand and smelled it realized it was windshield washer fluid, the reservoir was busted. The plastic front end was loose and the air dam that covers the whole bottom of the engine was flipped back and dragging on the ground. Used my leatherman to take the air dam off threw it in the trunk and drove the car to where we were going and back to Tuson. Never got a bill from the rental car outfit.
You were lucky not to have rec’d a “bill” from the rental-car folks. I was surprised and angered by Hertz when renting one of their cars…. I suffered a flat-tire driving thru East Texas (the state, not the VOR) and when I rec’d the receipt for the rental….it included $240 added to replace the tire. 8O

Not-only was I inconvenienced by the TPMS-warning on the highway in the middle-of-nowhere… and had to jack-up and change the tire to a “space saver spare” good for only 50 miles further travel….(but I drove it the rest of the way home)….. but I felt insult-added-to-injury when it cost ME $240 for a defective tire on THEIR vehicle. (The tire went low at high-speed and was damaged from low-pressure before I could find a place to pull-over. I never saw any object which could cause pressure loss and could only take Their-Word for it.)

Yep, they were absolutely adamant and without recourse… under the fine print it was “damage” which the renter was obligated to pay. (The tire was ruined because the puncture occurred at the edge of the tread and could not be repaired. No proof that the puncture occurred during my rental-period…but I got hit with the bill.).
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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ghostflyer
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:06 am

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by ghostflyer »

i sympathise with you regarding Hertz hire cars. during the Cody convention i hired a Jeep from hertz. picked it up at Seatac and drove it to Cody. Oil consumption was 1 pint every 100 miles. The crank case was pressurising and spilling oil every where. Contacted Hertz at Seatac and was told to see the local hertz agent in Cody. We only hire cars locally and they simply did not want to deal with the issue at Cody. They suggested I put on a truck and transported back to Seatac at MY expense. [1200dollars]. Contacted Jeep in Cody. It was a CCRV valve had been put in backwards? Cost was $300 for rectification and cleaning. With receipts in hand fronted Hertz for a refund . It was engine damage and I must have been tampering with the vehicle. I am a platinum card holder and have spent $4200 so far this year with Hertz hire cars. No response or refund from Hertz.
but saying that the other hire car used for the Vermont convention didn’t charge me at all. They didn’t have any record of me hiring one of their cars .
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GAHorn
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Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:45 pm

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by GAHorn »

ghostflyer wrote:i sympathise with you regarding Hertz hire cars. during the Cody convention i hired a Jeep from hertz. picked it up at Seatac and drove it to Cody. Oil consumption was 1 pint every 100 miles. The crank case was pressurising and spilling oil every where. Contacted Hertz at Seatac and was told to see the local hertz agent in Cody. We only hire cars locally and they simply did not want to deal with the issue at Cody. They suggested I put on a truck and transported back to Seatac at MY expense. [1200dollars]. Contacted Jeep in Cody. It was a CCRV valve had been put in backwards? Cost was $300 for rectification and cleaning. With receipts in hand fronted Hertz for a refund . It was engine damage and I must have been tampering with the vehicle. I am a platinum card holder and have spent $4200 so far this year with Hertz hire cars. No response or refund from Hertz.
but saying that the other hire car used for the Vermont convention didn’t charge me at all. They didn’t have any record of me hiring one of their cars .
I ..have record of it…so send me money! :twisted:
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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mit
Posts: 1049
Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 1:54 am

Re: Amateur Modifications

Post by mit »

GAHorn wrote:
mit wrote:I was driving a rental car east on I-10 east of Tuson. In left hand lane, passing an 18-wheeler. When the two cars in front of me applied brakes hard and a Truck tire carcass come out from under the car in front of me. I was trapped nowhere to go braked and hit the tire dead center. Pulled over at the next ramp as did the car that hit it in front of me. Fluid was leaking out of the front; I figured the radiator had got pierced. After I got some on my hand and smelled it realized it was windshield washer fluid, the reservoir was busted. The plastic front end was loose and the air dam that covers the whole bottom of the engine was flipped back and dragging on the ground. Used my leatherman to take the air dam off threw it in the trunk and drove the car to where we were going and back to Tuson. Never got a bill from the rental car outfit.
You were lucky not to have rec’d a “bill” from the rental-car folks. I was surprised and angered by Hertz when renting one of their cars…. I suffered a flat-tire driving thru East Texas (the state, not the VOR) and when I rec’d the receipt for the rental….it included $240 added to replace the tire. 8O

Not-only was I inconvenienced by the TPMS-warning on the highway in the middle-of-nowhere… and had to jack-up and change the tire to a “space saver spare” good for only 50 miles further travel….(but I drove it the rest of the way home)….. but I felt insult-added-to-injury when it cost ME $240 for a defective tire on THEIR vehicle. (The tire went low at high-speed and was damaged from low-pressure before I could find a place to pull-over. I never saw any object which could cause pressure loss and could only take Their-Word for it.)


Yep, they were absolutely adamant and without recourse… under the fine print it was “damage” which the renter was obligated to pay. (The tire was ruined because the puncture occurred at the edge of the tread and could not be repaired. No proof that the puncture occurred during my rental-period…but I got hit with the bill.).
We were very surprised that we were not billed. I can't remember who we rented from.
Tim
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