On Tue, 19 Apr 2016 21:09:34 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote:

John B. considered Tue, 19 Apr 2016 07:11:40
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Mon, 18 Apr 2016 21:39:16 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote:

John B. considered Mon, 18 Apr 2016 06:42:14
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Sun, 17 Apr 2016 19:49:11 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote:

" considered Sat,
16 Apr 2016 15:11:23 -0700 (PDT) the perfect time to write:

On Saturday, April 16, 2016 at 1:43:57 PM UTC-5, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
i often wonder just how many V-brake equipped bicycles out there are being ridden with a V-brake disconnected because of a brake pad rubbing.



I suspect all types of brakes are poorly adjusted on bikes ridden by non mechanical cyclists. If cars required constant adjusting and tuning like bikes seem to require, I would guess we would have a flourishing public transportation system all over the country. Once you get beyond changing filters and fluids, how many people work on their cars? Taking the front wheel of a bicycle off is analogous to removing the front wheel of a car and disconnecting and rehooking the brakes. How many people can do that? Rotating tires is a foreign concept to many. Changing oil and filter is also unknown to many.

Rotating the tyres is a stupid thing to do on almost all vehicles -
it's a make-work job created by people who like to boast of how much
work they do on their cars, and serves no useful purpose whatsoever.
If your tyres don't wear evenly on all wheels, you should fix the
reason why they don't (tyre pressure or tracking, generally), not swap
them around to disguise the problem. Many modern tyres are both
front/rear specific and directional, so cannot be safely swapped
around at all.

Actually it is/was a requirement that is/was set forth in many car
manufacturer's user manuals :-) I believe that my wife's Honda Jazz
manual calls for tires to be "rotated".

I'm pretty sure what they mean is not to leave it parked for long
periods without moving it a little, so that the tyres don't develop a
flat "set" to them on the bottom.

Gee, you must be an old fellow. Tires flatting from being parked a
long time dates back to Nylon (was it) fabric used in the tires.
Which, anyway, "went away" after you drove the car the first 5 miles
or so :-)

Oil and filters are generally changed more easily and at least as
inexpensively by taking the car to one of the many quick service shops
set up for the purpose - by buying in bulk, they can offer prices
including labour which are similar to what you'd pay just for the oil
and filter if you did it yourself. About the only things left that
you can do yourself are tyre pressures, wiper blades and air filter,
and sometimes (if it still has them) replacing failed light bulbs.
Cars are just not designed to be home-maintainable any more.
You need the dealer diagnostic computer to reset the in-car computer
just to tell it the work has been done, or it will complain that it
hasn't and go into "limp-home" mode when it reaches the time or
distance that it has been told that service item is supposed to have
been done.
You'll be hard put to find any service or repair job that I haven't
done on a car or motorcycle, in the days it was possible to do so
without investing in a full dealer service computer.
Come to that, I've done many of those repairs on heavy trucks, too,
and where allowed, on aircraft.
I would not expect the average user to be able to panel-beat an
respray their car, nor to be able to change many drivetrain or
suspension components.
I remember once helping out a mate who'd assembled a car from parts
and found he had five reverse and one forward gear - want to guess
what the problem was?

Easy. A bloke who didn't know exactly what he was doing :-)

Well, yes.

I'll make it easier. It was nothing to do with either the engine or
gearbox.

You are saying that he put the differential in upside down? I thought
that they welded the spring seats onto the axle housings so you
couldn't do that :-)

It depends on the type of suspension. Obviously if the spring seats
are on the axle itself, you can't turn it over, but if they aren't
some designs allow upside-down fitment, although the result is usually
apparent in the ride height as well as the drive direction.
It also leaves you with no way to check the oil level

So yes, he'd managed to fit the rear axle upside down (i.e. rotated
180 deg about the prop-shaft). And he'd had to make remarkably few
bodges to do it.

Well if he'd rotated it around the axles he'd have had a "tail shaft"
:-)
--

Cheers,

John B.