Back in the Saddle

Due to an excessive amount of time spent on the development of D2L (school stuff) I have completed my 3 month blog sabbatical and will do my best, to do my duty, to devote one quarter of my full effort to the proper upkeep and maintenance of this blog.
The only other thing to mention today is good luck to the AT students!

High Bread

What's up with all the hype about high breads (hybrids)? Do they really get 40 plus miles per gallon? Do they produce that much less emissions?
I once had a customer who purchased a Ford Focus specifically to drive back and forth from Knoxville to Atlanta several times per week. His concern was fuel economy. He was only getting 20 miles per gallon when the sticker said 25 miles per gallon average. The scan tool I was using would calculate real time fuel economy. It was obvious the two conditions when the car burns the most gas was on acceleration from a stop (peak load) and cruise speeds above 65 mph. The typical hybrid is designed to eliminate the gas guzzling peak load on acceleration. If during peak load, the gas engine is off, and the electric motor is the sole source of power, peak load fuel consumption is eliminated. This saves a considerable amount of gas, especially if the driver does a lot of stop and go driving.

ABS Libertariansm

Which would you choose, brakes or steering? If you had to make the choice, would you rather control the direction of the car or the braking of the car? This is the idea behind Antilock Brakes (ABS). During a panic stop on a vehicle without ABS, the wheels lockup completely (100% slippage). At this point you (the driver) have completely lost control of steering the vehicle. Steering a wheel that is not spinning does no good. In ABS systems when you panic and apply full pressure to the pedal, the ABS module cuts you off. Did you hear that?? THE ABS MODULE CUTS YOU OFF! It takes control of the braking to keep the wheels turning, so you can maintain steering. You have given away your God given freedom and right to choose (and prove) your braking application and ability, all in the name of steering. Where is the LIBERTY in that!?! The GOVENMENT has made ABS mandatory on all  vehicles sold in the U.S. since the late 90's.

Call Glenn Beck, this is a conspiracy.

Ozone

What is a CFC, and how does it destroy the ozone layer?

The acronym "CFC" is short for a word that will bore you to tears if I spell it out, but it is part chlorine (like pool water) part flourine (like toothpaste) and part carbon (like charcoal). When these three things bond together, they make the mean ugly monster that has been found to gobble up the ozone layer. The real culprit is the chlorine. Everyone knows the oxygen we breathe is O2. Ozone happens to be O3. Now check out this diagram. UV light hacks a chlorine atom off of the CFC. That one itsy bitsy chlorine atom attacks the poor innocent ozone molecule, and decapitates one of the oxygen molecules. The barbaric chlorine molecule then ditches the oxygen where it pairs up with another poor decapitated oxygen to make the breathing kind (O2). The rogue chlorine now moves on to the next poor ozone to be plundered. This one chlorine molecule can stay in the upper atmosphere for up to 100 years destroying up to 10,000 ozone molecules.

Thank you R-12 and Aqua Net.

Tool Box Friday

Tool Box Fridays will be a review of tools that I have, or have used. We'll start off with a tool everyone needs to have. A Door Upholstery Remover.

Some folks call this a "fork" or "pin fork." I mainly use it for plastic fasteners like this.

This tool is also handy for removing vacuum lines, small coolant hoses, electrical connectors, many types of clips and trim pieces. It's a definate must have for every tool box.
Average Cost : $6-$10   http://www.tooltopia.com/lisle-35400.aspx

Grinding Tread

Toe-in: A condition that is present when the distance between the front edges of the front or rear wheels is less than the distance between the rear edges of the wheels.

Ford motor company performed a study which calculated that a 1/8 inch toe-in error is equivalent to dragging the tires crosswise 11 feet for each mile driven. As the tire rolls down the road, tread is grinding off. No other alignment angle is as important as toe, and no other angle is measured and adjusted to the 100th of a degree. The driver will force the vehicle to move straight down the road, and it is crucial the wheels roll in the same direction or they will grind crosswise across the pavement.

This reminds me of what happened the last time I was out of alignment.

Air Bags

It has been said that the human brain can not process events from the eyeball that happen faster than one tenth of a second, so anything that happens in less than one tenth of a second cannot be seen. The outcome is seen, but the actual event cannot be seen. Lets do some math. 
1/10 second = 10/100 second
1/10 second = 100/1000 second, or 100 miliseconds
Ok, so anything that happens in less than 100 miliseconds happens too fast to be seen.
The time it takes for an air bag to completely inflate...                      40 miliseconds
The time at which the airbag begins to deflate...                               100 miliseconds from ignition
Airbags have saved an estimated 20,000 lives in the U.S*
Deaths in head on collisions where occupants were not wearing seatbelt has been reduced by 26%*


The point?????    I am thankful for things unseen.


*http://www.ohioinsurance.org/factbook/2003-04/chapter1/chapter1_r.shtml