Saturday Car Thread 6/28/14 - [Niedermeyer's Dead Horse]

Folks, I experienced today the closest thing to a religious conversion as this Protestant is ever likely to experience.

I bought new tires.

When I bought my Grand Cherokee in November 2008 I was really impressed with how car-like it handled and it hugged the road really well. So, when I hit 30k miles and already needed new tires, I chose to put the same model of tires on it again. Now, just another 30k miles down the road, my 65k warrantied tires were beginning to go bald so, while at Goodyear for an oil change last week, I inquired about replacements. The original model is still available so I thought I would go ahead with those because, HEY!, they were good enough for Jeep, amirite? But, then the guy informed me that I would probably get a good rebate for the tires that wore out much too early, and I followed up by asking what other tire he would recommend. He pointed.

The tires were $60 more each but they matched the two sets I had already run on for both noise and ride and exceeded the wet and dry handling, taking me from an 8-rating to a 10-rating. When they informed me a couple of days ago that I had a $214 rebate coming due to the early tire wear, I took the opportunity to use that extra cash to upgrade the tires.

I left the station and had only made it a few hundred yards down the road when, whilst pulling to a stop in the right lane, I decided to turn left and thus turned the wheel to pull around the car ahead of me.

Holy cow!

I was only going about 5 mph but the Jeep maneuvered like it was a sports car. I actually took my hands off the wheel for a second and asked aloud "What was that?"

The tires!

I am like a kid with a new toy. This afternoon I have played with my truck, making u-turns and switching lanes and basically just not believing that a set of tires can make such a monumental difference in the way a vehicle handles. If my old tires rated an 8, then these are off the scale. I never knew that a set of tires could improve the turning radius of a vehicle, but they have.

As I was cruising along the service manager called me and asked me to drop back by and I started raving like a lunatic. He just calmly said "I know."

Me: But, but, but....

Him: Yeah I know. You aren't the first customer to experience this. By the way, I want you to call me back the first time you drive in the rain.

The truck handles better now than it did when I first drove it off the lot.

Lesson learned: Don't be a cheapskate with your tire purchase. The extra dough is a small price to pay for safety and for feeling as excited about driving your old car as you did when you first bought it.

A blast from the past. Moron Zombie John Gotti forwarded this piece about ZZ Top's 'Eliminator', made famous in their videos from the 80's.

Nice tow vehicle ya got there Moron Scott, the Retired Fire Captain, sends along this shot.

Another submission from the horde: Moron Roger Smith tweeted this beauty.

Thanks to all for the content. Keep 'em coming.

Ha! Like I'd ever I forget the elbows:

Here's a bonus:

Have a safe weekend and keep the tires on the road.

Please feel free to send any complaints or commendations to me at Twitter: Nied's Dead Horse

posted by Open Blogger at 04:41 PM

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