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somethingcool

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  1. You are thinking in terms of regular old oil, when a multi grade oil is used the oil itself is almost never what is breaking down. Instead it is the polymers that allow it to behave as a multi grade oil that break down. 10w40 oil takes the most polymers to cover the viscosity range. Once the polymers are gone you are left with dirty oil with a viscosity of 10 at cold and who knows what when hot. Same with 5w30 but not quite as bad. 10w30 is the only way to go if you don't get below -18f temp.

     

    From: http://www.vtr.org/maintain/oil-overview.html

     

     

    Multi viscosity oils work like this: Polymers are added to a light base (5W, 10W, 20W), which prevent the oil from thinning as much as it warms up. At cold temperatures the polymers are coiled up and allow the oil to flow as their low numbers indicate. As the oil warms up the polymers begin to unwind into long chains that prevent the oil from thinning as much as it normally would. The result is that at 100 degrees C the oil has thinned only as much as the higher viscosity number indicates. Another way of looking at multi-vis oils is to think of a 20W-50 as a 20 weight oil that will not thin more than a 50 weight would when hot.

     

    Multi viscosity oils are one of the great improvements in oils, but they should be chosen wisely. Always use a multi grade with the narrowest span of viscosity that is appropriate for the temperatures you are going to encounter. In the winter base your decision on the lowest temperature you will encounter, in the summer, the highest temperature you expect. The polymers can shear and burn forming deposits that can cause ring sticking and other problems. 10W-40 and 5W-30 require a lot of polymers (synthetics excluded) to achieve that range. This has caused problems in diesel engines, but fewer polymers are better for all engines. The wide viscosity range oils, in general, are more prone to viscosity and thermal breakdown due to the high polymer content. It is the oil that lubricates, not the additives. Oils that can do their job with the fewest additives are the best.

     

    Very few manufactures recommend 10W-40 any more, and some threaten to void warranties if it is used. It was not included in this article for that reason. 20W-50 is the same 30 point spread, but because it starts with a heavier base it requires less viscosity index improvers (polymers) to do the job. AMSOIL can formulate their 10W-30 and 15W-40 with no viscosity index improvers but uses some in the 10W-40 and 5W-30. Mobil 1 uses no viscosity improvers in their 5W-30, and I assume the new 10W-30. Follow your manufacturer's recommendations as to which weights are appropriate for your vehicle.

  2. I dunno about those oil additives you add to the oil then run for 3000 miles. It seems to me if it cleans your engine it must have some property that will remove gunk from metal. It seems to me this would also make it harder for engine oil to stick to metal parts...

     

    I just tried some stuff in a chevy 350 that you add right before an oil change, idle the engine for 5 minutes, then drain and fill with fresh oil. Did a good job, my idle is much better now and it seems to rev better. I like this approach better than having some detergents bouncing around in my engine for 3000 miles...

  3. Start with the shocks, I had some kyb gr-2 shocks for a while, nice ride from some cheap shocks.

     

    If it still feels loose replace your bushings, the control arm bushings front and rear, maybe your sway bar bushings, tension rod bushings. That should tighen up the ride a lot.

  4. Allright, first off make sure they are using the right specs:

    Here are the specs for 4WD:

     

    Camber 0.563-2.063 degrees positive. Preferred: 1.313 degrees positive.

    Caster 0.0625 degrees negative to 1.4375 degrees positive. Preferred: 0.6875 degrees positive.

    Toe is for total toe in at 0.08-0.24.

     

     

    I went in for my alignment last time ans les schawb's computer had the wrong specs.

     

    Secondly you need to find out what spec they couldn't get right, my guess would be the camber. If it is the camber you need to have them play with the height of the t-bars to get it in spec...

  5. Yeah, I think it was kinda random which ones got the lsd, mine in a 91 XE with fog lights and a tire carrier, but it had little tires and no step bars or cruise control.

  6. I need this done this week. I don't think I can get one from L&P that fast.

    Uhhh, why? Buy the $99 lifetime alignment, tell their lame firestone asses to get under there and align it as best they can, then when the l&p centerlink comes in, install it and take it back to be re-aligned...

  7. But riddle me this, Batman: why is the frame ONLY rusted there and so thoroughly rusted at that? (powdery, crumbly, etc). There is some rust on the spare tire-carrier, hitch bar, etc. I thought at first that the prior owner used it to put his boat into the ocean and regularly backed the truck into the water and never washed it off.

     

    I guess my dilemma is that the frame is so incredibly rusted there and the body looks perfect as well as most of the rest of the car...

    Look where it is at, right where the rear wheels would be throwing up salt and road grime. My guess is the p.o. never bothered to clean the frame out and so that is where it rusted. Makes me sad that people will care enough about their car to wash and wax the exterior but have no idea what the underside looks like, where as I'm the exact opposite :D

  8. LOL. If ya can't find 'em, grind 'em. I've driven sticks for years and have never killed one till now I think (135K miles). Just don't touch it unless you have too. Its amazing how many people will sit at a red light in gear, clutch in, waiting to go.

    Off topic but we're famous for that here!

     

    Is it only bad to hold the clutch in while it's in gear? If is is in neutral with the clutch in I wouldn't think it would wear anything, but what do I know...

     

    Also when you do hold the clutch in with it in gear what exactly is wearing, is it the clutch itself or is it just extra wear on the throw out bearing and cylinders?

  9. Yeah, it depends how much you want it rebuilt. If you want new syncros it might be a little more (but darn new syncros would be nice, at least for me).

     

    Here is an example as to what the rebuild kits cost:

    http://www.drivetrain.com/nissanFS5R30A5sp.html

     

    And I hear the rebuild is pretty easy to do yourself if you have a good press, otherwise you are looking at maybe $200 of labour or so, so it may be more like $500 for a complete rebuild. I dunno for sure, ask around at some tranny shops, I just know you will save a lot of money if you bring them a bare tranny rather than letting them pull it and re install it at $60 an hour...

     

    My current plan if to wait for either the clutch or tranny to go and get both redone at the same time, but so far so good (knock on wood).

  10. Jim Wolf Technology or JWT is the ONLY company that reprograms Nissan ECU's. If you see a chip upgrade that is not made by JWT it will do jack nothing to your performance. And yes you do have to pull your ecu and send it to them or pay a deposit.

  11. Not trying to step on any toes, but I'm thinking you're using the wrong thought process here. If you have, say, 2 31" tires at the same pressure, 1 at 10.5 inches wide and 1 at 13 inches, the wider one would have the bigger footprint since its length is the same and width is wider, and this would carry over if pressure is lowered or raised. Anyways, how did we all get here? The topic was preferred pressure, and I do believe I'm supposed to be the one that gets off topic easily. :P

    Heh, no bruised toes here.

     

    But I am using the right thought process. In your example the 13 inch tire would have a wider footprint but the length would be shorter.

     

    Trust me on this one, it is a law of physics.

  12. It is usually so spendy because they have to drop the t-bars, t-bar cross member and tranny to get to the clutch, you're looking at 6 hours of labor just to get to the clutch!

     

    If you have the cash to spare I would reccomend having your tranny rebuilt while it's out, should only cost another $200-300 on top of a clutch job because they have already pulled the tranny.

     

    Alternatley you could save some $$$$ by pulling that stuff yourself but then you would need a tow into the shop...

  13. So you're saying that a 10 inch wide tire will have the same amount of contact surface area on the ground as a 13.5 inch wide tire at the same PSI exactly? Doesn't sound right to me, but I'm not here to debate the properties of tire contact patches and pressurization theory. Oh well.

    Yup, the wider tire does have a wider patch (-------) like that so you have better lateral stability, the skinnier tire will have a more square shaped patch like in this here picture.

    sfjun961.gif

     

    But they will have the same sized contact patch at the same pressure, just differently shaped.

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