The two most important parts of a car are generally the most neglected. First and foremost are the tires. Seriously, most people could give a shit what kind of rubber they put on their rides even though they fail to realize that tires are what keeps them on the straight and narrow. The second thing is their oil. Now granted the old adage of changing your oil every 3,000 miles doesn’t really apply on today’s cars as they’re usually good for around 5k per change. However I know some people who haven’t changed their oil in 15,000-20,000 miles!! People that’s like the equivalent of eating a stick of butter and a pound bacon everyday and thinking that your heart is not going to eventually explode. Oil is the lifeblood of any car and to ensure your rides longevity it must be tended too regularly. I know the most I’ve gone is about 8,000 miles, but what about you guys… what are your thoughts. Are you still in the 3,000 mile club or do you simply not give a shit and change it once every 2 years…

Hat tip: VWVortex.com

I swear, the military gets all the coolest toys. Earlier today we showed you a pretty trick floating bus that was designed to take tourists all over the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands via their surrounding waterway. Now however, it’s time for something with a bit more grunt, a lot more speed and gun mounts. This is an Alvis Stalwart, an amphibious military truck that served with the British Army. It has the capacity to carry a payload of 9-tons, is capable of traversing almost any terrain thanks to its 6-wheel drive system and once it hits the water, it can cruise up to 6-knots thanks to its vectored thrust water-jet propulsion units. The Alvis Stalwarts are no longer in military service, however that has no bearing on the fact that we’d love to have one here in the Ridelust garage.

Source: Youtube.com

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll say this up front: I hate Continuously Variable Transmissions, and can easily equate them to the decline of Western civilization. They require no skill to operate, produce more noise than forward motion, have a higher failure rate than automatics or manuals and actually promote distracted driving. Ever try to text and drive a six-speed manual? It’s damn hard to do, but texting while driving a CVT is a piece of cake, and the same goes for any other distracted-driving chore.

On paper, the principles are sound. CVTs should accelerate both faster and smoother than manual or automatic transmission cars, but I’ve never driven a CVT that feels fast. I’ve never even driven a CVT that feels as fast as its manual equivalent, and I’m at a loss to explain why. I’m not a huge fan of automatic transmissions, either, but I’d gladly take a modern 8-speed automatic over a CVT any day of the week.

If you’re curious as to how a CVT operates, the video below, courtesy of Suzuki, gives a great explanation in under a minute and thirty seconds. The science is sound, but I still can’t accept that CVTs are the transmissions of the future. They’re not going away any time soon, so we may as well get used to driving cars equipped with them. That doesn’t mean we have to like it.

Bart Hickey has been wrenching on cars for most of his life. Like most mechanics, Bart is mechanically adept at all things, whether it’s tuning a four-barrel carb, changing a doorknob or wiring a new sump pump. Unlike most mechanics, however, Bart is legally blind.

That’s less of a stretch to me than it is for most folks, because I grew up wrenching on cars in the days before computers told you what was wrong with a car. You learned quickly to diagnose problems by sound, and to differentiate between things like a failing wheel bearing and a sticking brake pad. I could see how Bart could be a first-class mechanic, since he has the need to “see” with his other senses. As the video points out, even Bart has his limitations with modern cars, and using a diagnostic code reader poses a particular challenge for the visually impaired. Even though this video is from Mercedes-Benz, there’s a jaw-dropping selection of American iron featured, so enjoy. If I owned a car built in the 60s or 70s, I’d have no problem using Bart as my mechanic (if I lived in Alsip, Illinois, that is); how about you?

When I was newly licensed, I asked my dad to teach me a few things every good gearhead should know.  I learned the ins and outs of oil changes (complete with hot liquid down my arm), the proper way to jump a battery, how to change a tire using those frustratingly inadequate little scissor jacks, and how to swap out spark plugs among other things.  I will be the first to tell you I still have a lot to learn but I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes from a good bit of grease and brake dust under your nails.

As I’ve gotten older and busier, I haven’t had the time or resources to do my own wrenching.  I started going to one of those chain stores mostly because it was quick and I no longer had a driveway; working on vehicles in our parking area is forbidden.  It wasn’t my favorite choice, and fell even further from favor after one particularly bad experience:  After I left the garage, I heard a loud clunk-clunk-clunk. I pulled over in a shopping center and after a quick inspection, pulled the center cap covering the lug nuts off the wheel.  They hadn’t even bothered tightening the lugs, and the cap was the only thing holding them on.  Thankful that I had a four-way lug wrench in the trunk, I spent the next ten minutes swearing like Yosemite Sam as I went around the car tightening them properly.  I shudder to think what might have happened if my passengers and I had been on the highway instead.

More recently, my Mazda gave me the Check Engine Light of Annoyance (automotive equivalent of the Windows Blue Screen of Death) as I experienced my own unintentional acceleration drama.  Thoroughly freaked out, I asked a friend to help me diagnose it and he suggested cleaning the throttle body.  One afternoon (and one screwdriver dropped into the opening, only able to be retrieved with a flexible magnetic rod) later, it stopped bucking at stoplights but the light remained on.  I figured if ever there was a time to take it to the pros, this would be it.

I’d never been to a dealership but had heard and read all kinds of horror stories.  Cautiously, I scheduled an appointment, researched all the TSBs that might be related to the issue, checked for recalls, and crossed my fingers.  It seems I found one of the few honest service departments left in our great country (at least, in my neck of the woods).  My Service Manager was beyond courteous, completely honest, and went out of his way to make sure it was fixed in time.  It turns out I had a giant hole in one of the vacuum hoses that I couldn’t see.  Finally, the CEL was gone from my dash.  I don’t know how much longer I’ll have the car but it needs some love if I want it to keep running well.  Although the prices are more expensive, the dealership lets me use coupons and I trust they’ll get the work done correctly.  I know that this is the exception, not the rule, though which is unfortunate.

It was easy to understand my little four-bangers of ’90′s vintage but I can only wonder about the future. It’s getting to where you need a degree from MIT, six years at NASA, and a bit of luck to comprehend the workings of modern vehicles.  Cars are rolling Smartphones and have more nannies than a celebrity mom these days.  Will we be able to continue the ritual of Saturday shade-tree mechanics?  And if not, what happens when your local dealership is more of a stealership that cares more about profits than proper service?  It will be interesting to see how this evolves.

Getting new pads in China? You may want to see the box they shipped in.

Want to look like a millionaire on a minimum wage budget? Spend an afternoon shopping in New York City, where you can find any Chinese-made, counterfeit luxury goods you’d ever want. Just like the real stuff, the quality depends on your budget. Spend $20, and your newly acquired Faulex watch may keep time for a day or so. Spend a few hundred in the right shops, and you probably find a Faulex that’s nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. No matter how aggressively manufacturers try to shut down Chinese counterfeit manufacturers, nothing seems to stem the tide of counterfeit goods coming into the country. As long as consumers worship a logo and check their morality at the door, counterfeit goods will continue to be a problem.

Counterfeit Chinese goods aren’t limited to wallets, watches and handbags. As Autoblog reports, counterfeit auto repair parts have made their way into the Chinese auto industry. Some, like gaskets, may not pose much of a threat. Other components, such as brake pads, spark plugs, oil seals and airbags can cause substantial damage or personal injury if they fail. The attraction to auto repair facilities is low cost, since the knock-off parts usually sell for a fraction of the genuine article. Lower cost obviously means higher profit, and component failure guarantees repeat business. For the unscrupulous, it’s a win-win situation.

Counterfeit auto parts are nothing new, and I remember trade magazines warning of the danger of “knockoff” PCV valves and breather filters in my own wrenching days. What’s disturbing is the type of part that’s now being copied; bogus breather filters are one thing, but brake pads manufactured with inferior materials and no quality control are something else entirely.

Source: Autoblog

There’s three sides to every story: yours, mine and what really happened. Back in the days when I spun wrenches, most of our customers were reasonable and understanding, and most had been customers for a lot of years. Some, however, were exactly like the customer in this video. Demanding, cheap as the day was long and never satisfied with how much of a deal you cut them, they were guaranteed to turn a good day into a bad one. I never came uncorked like the simulated mechanic in the video, but there were many times I came close. “Ever since you plugged my tire, my radio stopped working”, or “I want a refund; you just charged me $19.95 for an oil change, and the guy down the street only wants $17.95” was typically how these conversations started, and it didn’t matter that you’d bumped a line of scheduled jobs to sneak in their “quick favor”. The road to hell really is paved with good intentions.

Hit the “More” tag to watch the video, which is NSFW due to language, implied sex with a jar of lug nuts and a really bad Canadian accent.

We here at RideLust have given you lots of useful information on surviving the zombie apocalypse, but I have to give props to this video tutorial created by the guys at Mighty Car Mods. Not only does it show you how to build the ultimate zombie mobile (from materials at hand), but it also gives you useful information on weaponry and, um, sourcing food (not for the faint of stomach). Overall, the advice is solid, but I’d disagree on a few key points (like cutting a hole in the roof). A stand-up gunport is of limited use (ever try to make a head shot from a moving vehicle?), and it just gives zombies one more point of entry. Personally, I’d advise against it, and I’d advise against taking out the windows before you screen them. Tempered glass (behind metal screening) still offers reasonable protection from bodily fluids and zombie intrusion. I say leave it in.

As for weapons, understand that this was filmed in Australia, which has different gun laws than the United States. I completely agree with the shotgun recommendation, since you don’t need a lot of skill to be proficient with one, but would strongly recommend a pump or semi-auto shotgun over a double barrel version. If you’re fighting off a horde of zombies, would you rather have five shots or two shots before reloading? I’d also opt for a stout rifle with a heavy wooden stock, like the Springfield Armory M1A. The .308 round is particularly effective against zombies, and unlike a plastic-stocked AR-15, the M1A makes a serviceable club if you find yourself short on ammo but long on zombies. Let’s not forget a sidearm for the close-in stuff, either: personally, I’d recommend the Glock 21, which holds 13 rounds of .45 ACP per magazine and will eat any ammo you feed it. Unlike more temperamental handguns, the Glock also goes “bang” each and every time you pull the trigger; do you want to clear a stovepiped round when you’re up close and personal with the undead?

As for the hammer and Samurai sword, I’ll pass. If you’re close enough to use them, you’re close enough to get infected from zombie bodily fluids. Are you REALLY going to remember to don that full face mask and gloves before you start going all “ninja warrior” on the undead? Leave that stuff to Hollywood, and avoid putting yourself in a situation where they’re your only option.

Source: Autoblog

Stolen catalytic converters. Photo: KSL

If you drive a lowered MX-5, chances are good you don’t have to worry about getting your catalytic converter stolen. Drive an SUV, on the other hand, and it’s something you may want to think about. All it takes is a tweaker with a battery-powered Sawz-all, and your platinum-rich catalyst can be gone in a few minutes, even if your car is safely parked in your driveway. He gets up to $300 from a metal recycler or scrap yard, and you get a bill from your dealership that ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

A Phoenix company called Monat Technologies has the solution: for prices ranging from $99 to $119 , they’ll sell you the Catlock or Catlock 2, a locking collar for your catalytic converter. Bolt it on and secure the included high strength cable around your vehicles frame, and you’re done. To steal your catalyst, a thief either has to remove the steel plate from the catalyst, cut the steel cable or saw through your frame. In other words, he’ll go find another SUV to pillage.

Whether or not it’s worth the price is up to your individual situation. If you frequently park your SUV in front of a crack house, I’d give it some serious consideration (or hang out with a new group of friends). On the other hand, the Catlock does nothing to prevent wheel theft, smash and grab robberies or car theft, so parking in a poorly lit area on the wrong side of the tracks is eventually going to lead to grief anyway. I’ll pass, but if you’re the paranoid type you may want to consider a Catlock.

Source: DUB Daily

Wouldn’t it be great if this is what happened when you brought your car in for service. What you are witnessing here are seven members of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Squad of the Canadian Forces taking an old style Jeep completely apart in about 4 minutes. Keep in mind that from the video there looks as though there has been quite a bit of dis-assembly completed prior to this demonstration. For instance it looks as though there are only 3 lugs on each wheel, there seems to be no antifreeze in the radiator, the body is not bolted to the frame, nor are there any type of engine mounts and or wiring. Either way though watching these guys pull this thing completely apart in no time flat is actually quite impressive. Like I said, wouldn’t it be great if your local dealer worked this way.

Source: Youtube.com