Brakes are Good

September 24th, 2009

Home From the Garage

Man, am I having chest pains. I just paid the folks at Firestone. I opted for the lifetime alignment. I can’t see how it can fail to be a good thing. I have a bad habit of skipping wheel alignment, and this, more than anything, is what ruins expensive tires. They will also give me a free rotation every time.

I also had two brake pads done. What an idiot. For what they charged, I could have done all four. They claimed the brake fluid looked bad, so I let them flush the system.

I think I did good, except for the brake pads. And the brakes feel much better now. The last thing I want is to plow into someone with three tons of steel, right after being warned that the pads needed to be replaced.

I took my old man to get his Explorer, which was getting new ball joints. He loves that car. He probably could have bought one the same age for what he just put into it.

The mechanic said the ball joints gave out because it was a Ford. Apparently Fords do this. That’s horrendous. The car’s suspension has been making noises for forty thousand miles. That means they went bad in the first half of the car’s projected life. Can Ford really be this lax about this important issue?

All the way home, I felt like I had won the lottery. I am enjoying this truck way too much to be healthy. I started fantasizing about a new stereo and better speakers. But I did not pull into Best Buy.

A man needs a truck or a sports car or convertible, the same way he needs one good revolver and a barbecue grill and smoker. A wife can probably spend the rest of his money entirely on herself if she gives way on these key issues.

Well. I guess I forgot about guys who play golf. I cannot relate to their illness.

I am sorely tempted to get a vanity tag. I was considering something like “Jzbel,” but then it occurred to me that “Prov 3110” would be even better. A sports car is like a hot stewardess you stay married to for three years. A pickup is the girl you should have married the first time around.

15 Responses to “Brakes are Good”

  1. n5 Says:

    Amen brother. I have both a pickup and an (old) 911 Cabrio. I’ll never sell the truck.

  2. Jeffro Says:

    You know you’ll have to rent a backhoe or skid steer just so you can tow it home now. Can’t let all that low end torque go to waste on a trip through Mickey D’s drive through.

  3. Chris Says:

    “A man needs a truck or a sports car or convertible, the same way he needs one good revolver and a barbecue grill and smoker. A wife can probably spend the rest of his money entirely on herself if she gives way on these key issues.”
    .
    That’s probably the greatest argument to remain single that I’ve ever seen.

  4. km Says:

    I tend to keep the sportscars for no less than a decade. Not quite a wife tenure, but not far off if you adjust for relative projected lifespans.

  5. jdunmyer Says:

    Actually, you should change the brake fluid every 2 or 3 years, to protect the brake parts against corrosion. Especially the anti-lock pump thingy. Good move!

  6. brian Says:

    Good for you, Steve. And when you get a new truck, you might as well have it the way you want it.
    I think you’re right on the golf thing. My dad was a golf pro. The whole thing got on my nerves.

  7. Elisson Says:

    Make sure the little woman leaves you enough money to buy a few slabs of prime ribeye steaks at Costco.

  8. Chris Byrne Says:

    Every man should have a pickup truck and either a sports car, convertible, or high end luxury performance sedan.

    Well, I’ve got the truck and the luxury performance sedan so check.

    Oh and I use Rotela Synthetic in my truck, and recommend that, redline, or royal purple. Also I recommend redline or royal purple for gear lube (something you have to think about more often with a 4X4).

    E load rating is what you want, and yes you do pay a premium for it.

    I have a two foot long 8″ dropped polished forged aluminum reciever mount for my hitch. It puts the hitch ball right at bumper/radiator height for most passenger cars. NO-ONE tailgates this truck.

    Get used to using the little towing mirrors in the corners of your mirrors. They really eliminate blind spots. You may also want a backup camera.

    It’s a very liberating feeling knowing that you can haul anything haulable without special permits, and get anywhere you need to get to, with your own truck. It’s just like having all the tools you need to do something right. Afterwards, you just look at everyone else and wonder how they can stand to be so helpless.

    She is worth far more than rubies my friend.

  9. Ritchie Says:

    I have deduced that original car parts are designed to mostly last long enough to make it to the first trade-in. Much more than that would be over-engineering and excess cost. That’s my theory and I’m stuck with it.

  10. Harry Says:

    Hmmmphhhh! Can’t speak for Explorers, but the lower ball joints on my 2001 F-150 4wd lasted to over 100,000 miles. Uppers seem to still be in good shape. Replaced them myself, BTW. It’s not that tough- $69.95 in parts. While I had the thing on jackstands, I replaced all 4 sets of brake pads. cost another $50.00 or so.

    I’d look into getting a factory shop manual for the truck. You could probably handle about 90% of the problems with that and a decent set of tools. Anyway- doing your own work allows you to buy even more tools. Win/win situation.

    My $0.02, YMMV

  11. Clancy Says:

    “A man needs a truck AND a sports car or convertible, the same way he needs one good revolver (or 1911) and a barbecue grill and smoker. A wife can probably spend the rest of his money entirely on herself if she gives way on these key issues.”

    Now it’s perfect.

  12. Sigivald Says:

    He probably could have bought one the same age for what he just put into it.

    Yeah, and that one would also need new ball joints, most likely, being the same thing and the same age…

  13. Steve H. Says:

    You haven’t seen the rest of it.
    .
    Have you considered the fact that not all 1995 Explorers have the same mileage?

  14. dustbury.com » Budgeting for toys Says:

    […] It’s not so hard to do, says Steve: A man needs a truck or a sports car or convertible, the same way he needs one good revolver and a barbecue grill and smoker. A wife can probably spend the rest of his money entirely on herself if she gives way on these key issues. […]

  15. ErikZ Says:

    I’d love a truck, but it would cost me 6$ just to drive to work and back. Corolla does it for less than half that.