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If you do decide to buy a new automobile, I hope it's a decision that you have thought about for a while. Just as you may want to think about how short amount of time a few months would be to custom order it direct from the factory. For one thing, you'll save around $1,000.oo alone for not paying the advertising fees, a car on the car lot will have attached to it.
      Those advertising dollars are why to don't see me or my truck on TV.

And Oprah never gave way 250 cars; General Motors did.

My Synchro-link truck
is a whole fleet of trucks in one
Check it out at
MiniRollOffTruck.com

 

Featured Car Guys pages
@ Synchro-link.com

Those Pesky Germans
July 14, 2008

My Advice to the Big Three Auto manufactures.
December 4th, 2008:

South to Detroit: Drop Dead.
 
December 12th, 2008:

Auto makers skip out on
Detroit Auto Show.
 
November 25th, 2008:

Oct. 21,'08: I found this thread over at CR4, a place where engineers hang out. I have to say I agree with these guys for the most part. The interesting thing about it is that it clears up a lot of mis-conceptions about the Hydrogen Car. They know of the problems associated with it. Like one thing I didn't realize is the thay tend to leak out the hysrogen. So the storage tank may not stay as full as you left it for one thing. And another thing is that the energy needed to make the hydrogen, can end up polluting more than a car driven on Natural Gas.
    There is a post mentioning the percentage factors of the different pollutants that are emitted from Gas, Diesel, -verses- Natural gas.
Check it out
Where Are All the HydroGen Cars
@ CR4
Globalspec

By the way, I read today Oct. 21 in the WSJ that people in Thailand are scarffing up car that run on natural gas. (Brazil and Pakistan are right behind.) Funny thing about all this is even though Honda offers a natural gas Civic in the US, they only manage  to sell a few thousand of then each year.
     Get this natural gas prices on the stock market are 47% below their July  peak.
 And what is it with this: Barrels of oil where up to about $140 per barrel at one point and I saw the price of diesel at $5.30 per gallon. But now that a barrel of oil is running about $70.00 I only see Diesel at $4.69 per gallon. Gee I would think it would drop to around the $2.50-$3.00  rang wouldn't you.

        But no way; OPEC is just going to cut production to make it go back up.
     See more about this:
@ BBC Oil at 16 month low.

And for those who think we should become independent upon oil from other counties. You don't know what you are talking about, because I did the math. If the US used only US oil, the US would run out of oil in less than three years. So I say buy it up from other countries, as much as we can get at no matter what the price, because in a long run, who ever has oil in the end wins.       We shouldn't even be burning petroleum in are vehicles and we should be saving the oil for plastics and rubber.
      What gets me is: Australia doesn't have any oil, however they have natural gas, yet they pay a premium for gas and diesel. But the real troubling thing about it is that they are building ships with big tanks to ship natural gas to other countries. I gotta tell you that there is something wrong with that. 
   Another thing that is happening, is that Officials from Russia, Iran and Quatar are meeting to discuss establishing an OPEC-style cartel for natural gas. The US as well as energy importing nations in Europe are a little nervous about that idea because the three counties own about 60% of the natural gas reserves. The EU depends heavily on Russian natural gas. Critics on the proposal say "energy supplies have to be sold in a free market."
  Smells like trouble to me.

MiniRollOffTruck.com

Sept. '08?: Ford and Roush are being sued over rarity of Mustangs. Basicly the two companies came up with the idea of selling a customized version of the Mustang. They told the buyers that they were only going to build 100 of the Roush Stage 3 BlackJack editions when they put them on sale in 2007 for $58,846.25; but then they turned around and built another 100 to sell in 2008. A buyers such as Drew Connor of Bardonia NY  who bought the one with the #2 identity plate, have filed a class action suit against the two companies claiming the second hundred that Roush modified and Ford sold at their dealerships, drasticly reduced the value of the first 100 sold.
     I say stick it to them guys.

I found this bit in the WSJ on 8/6-08

Hybrid tax credit shock
@ Money.CNN.com

Have you bought a
Lemon? 

The truth be told, they can sell you a lemon and treat it as if they leased it to you for $.25 per mile and they will drag the whole process out until the last few days before it goes to a court, (at which they would have to label it as a lemon unless they take it to a state where there is no lemon law.)

And when they finally buy it back (before the court hearing,) they won't even have to label it as a lemon when they put it back on the same car lot you bought it from.

I guess I should post another segment from my book about how that game plays out.

It's as if the auto makers had their hands in on the legislation written into the lemon laws.

Still, the $15.00 it cost to register the van for the lemon law was the best $15.00 I ever spent.

  The top ten Hybrid cars
 @ Yahoo.Auto.news.com

Get this: I put in a Friends request on Jay Leno's MySpace site so he could at least have a picture of my truck. Zip, nothing.
I also visited his NBC and GM sponsored web-site call jaylenosgarage.com.
I tried to post it in the Your Garage part. Zip -- Nothing.

At least he's not driving my truck.

Update: I changed the name of my profile at MySpace,
to Bad Ass Bassplayer, swaped out to a blury picture of me and got on board. Hah.....

January 4, 2008: I rans across some stuff on Yahoo/Forbes: which I think is a bunch of hog wash. It's about the five most over priced cars. All it talks about is inscentives, and to me, it feels like a ploy just to get a person to go out there thinking they have some advantge car shopping from reading it.
      If you want to waste you time reading something drop by the
Yahoo/Forbes.com site.
(I just had to laugh.) 

You may be wondering what I think of all this. Well I never thought Daimler should have been buying Chrysler in the first place. Chrysler was a company which had more employees that Daimler and Chrysler was making more profit per employee. Therefore Chrysler was the bigger of the two and some how the CEO sold out the company (with $700 million in severance pay.) And any changein the industry can only be considered good, because what it has been, is bad. The thing is, I should have been involved in the industry a long time ago and not being able to do my own thing only proves how corrupt the industry is.

 

Funny how a company that builds Tonka Toys can pull ahead of GM. Even when Bush helps GM by creating a demand for Hum V's by blowing them up.

 

This link to a video will be eventually moved to a new page under Mad Sience or something to do with engineers, but take a look at some of their high quality craftsmanship. It's sick, I only wish I had one of these bolted in my little red wagon.

Mini V8 Engines

Video Quality gets better with the second engine

 

Check this video out. It's a mini Ferrari.
The guy had to be
Nuts,
but he did a nice job.

 

Its only Junk

 

What's Tiger Woods up to?

 

The stuff they put on

TV

 

The Media

 

Diesel or Gas?

 

 

RollOffCamper.com





HookLiftTruck.com








 


Moo Lah
(Column on Money)




My bit on Belinda Stronach and the Magna International Inc.
he
her father Frank Stronach
(from Austria) founded in Canada.
(April 11th, 2007)




RollOffCamper.com






 

Its only Junk

 

MiniRollOffTruck.com





RollOffCamper.com





HookLiftTruck.com




Those Pesky Car Guys

@ Synchro-link.com





 

Book Excerpts


Those Pesky Car Guys

Gottcha buying more cars than before.
The supply had made its way up to about 12 million vehicle per year before the recession kicked in. When the volume dropped to 9 million, they had over build and said that they needed a bail out.

That's when about 30% of the industry such as GM and Chrysler should have vanished. The would have been many more start up companies to fill in the demand as it was needed. But now it's just the same old monopoly as it was before. And the prices they get for new trucks is ridiculous.

But they know that people don't read the find print on those 100,000 mile warranties. I bet there is a lack of loaner car present, they will likely get tired of it sitting in the shop so much that they will just try their luck at a different brand. They'll just bounce around a lot trying to get there moneys worth I guess.

Obama knew that the trick was to get it back up there to 12-14 million. Well they actually set goals to sell 15 million per year by 2012.  Gas prices helped them and I'm pretty sure the contracts to buy the cars at zero interst are being sold to structured settlement buyers, so you can bet they would have a cushion by marking up up the price a bit. There is some kind of grand plan in there somewhere, I know, I can just smell it. April 22, 2010


UPS Brown trucks Going Green.
I first read about it in the Jan. 19th Business Week mag. Apparently UPS has been working with the EPA on creating an hydraulic hybrid delivery truck.

UPS is working on building two proto types. The articles I found vary, but Brian Burns of BW mag, says the big brains behind the hydraulic hybrid is Charles Gray, a top scientist at a laboratory the EPA operates in Ann Arbor, Mich. Apparently, Gray's team has racked up 60 patents on the technology.
     
(0f which I have some mixed feelings about, and question something that wasn't made clear in the article by Brian Burns. Is the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency the EPA he is talking about? And how available it the technology if it is?)

After  studying the agency's work, UPS concluded that the hybrid truck would cost about $7,000.oo more than the standard delivery truck, which runs about $40- $50,000.oo. However, the EPA predicts the savings on fuel and maintenance over the life of the truck could be as much a $50,000.oo.
      They're hoping to achieve 60%-70% better fuel efficiency in urban driving, with about a 30% to 40% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Feburary 8th, 2009

Update: www.GreenCarCongress.com  - Says they already built the proto-type and UPS has ordered 7 truck in October of 2008
However, the stats were different : 45-50% better fuel economy and a 30% reduction in emmissions
 

Robert Hall, a UPS vice-president said, "I think we're going to be able to help the environment, but certainly it's going to be a good business decision too."
      I happen to think that the truck would even be a better decision using my S-link technology on top of it.
      As for the technology in the Hydraulic Hybrid, the most interesting to me would probably be the regenerative braking, (the part I would guess has most patents issued upon it,) which will pump hydraulic fluid into a high pressure accumulator tank. I can think several ways to do it myself and I realize that the system they use may only use a fraction of the 60 patented methods the EPA claims they patented.

Basically the system will be run by a diesel engine to pump the hydraulic fluid to a hydraulic motor connected to the rear axial, (My guess it will be a pump/motor.) And my guess is that when power is not needed the engine and pump will top off the pressure in the high pressure accumulator tank. When the truck accelerates, it won't need as big of an engine as a conventional truck would need because it will incorporate additional torque from the energy stored in the accumulator tank.

Don't expect to see the technology use in smaller vehicles, because there is the need for the room for not only the accumulator tank, but also a large reservoir storage tank as well. And above that, the operators are going to have to put up with a lot of hissing noises. It will be one funny sounding truck, but myself, I'd dig having one. Apparently the US Army is looking into putting some to work to help reduce the high cost of transporting supplies.
    Also the EPA may also develop shuttle buses to be used in southern California.

You can bet the hydraulic manufacturing industry is giving away components, just to get a chance to expand production of such parts of the truck.

I only wonder what keeps them from giving me the parts and components I need for my next truck.
    I can't tell you enough how much I hate driving the piece of junk Chrysler produce I'm stuck driving every day.

I found a few links to more information on the Hydraulic Hybrid Truck that is in development.

www.HydraulicsPneumatics.com

www.Kettering.edu

www.GreenCarCongress.com  - Says they already built the proto-type and UPS has ordered 7 truck in October 2008.       However, the stats were different : 45-50% better fuel economy and a 30% reduction in emmissions

             

November 1st, 2008:
Kinna funny how Cerberus Capital Management ended up being the owner of 51% of GMAC: to GM's  49%.
    Real funny how an investment firm decides to get out of the auto manufacturing business so soon. Kinna makes you wonder if eliminating the competition was part of the plan all along.
   Anyway, If the deal goes through, we can expect to watch the Chrysler brand shake off 19 of the 27 models.

October  21th, 2008:
The latest third generation Caddie Trunk sure have been handy for me latley.

 

August  29th, 2008:You may like to have a look at the progress on Caddie Trunk #3,... This is the first one having all new lumber. The hardware is what just naturally transformed into being a part of it over the years.
        The legs are made from an old weight lifting bench I found in a scrap pile. The Rustolum gloss blue sure produced a shinny finish on the legs and side rail hardware. I'm going to put a coat of stain to the old side boards I made out of some scrape several years ago. We'll call it fowe finish, but hey they do the job.

I think it's pretty neat. like a portable pick up I can roll about in my one car garage.

RollOffCamper.com

June 3, 2008:GM announced the closing of four truck plants and the interest of spinning off the Hummer brand; and to build more small cars. The folks in Canada are not going to let it happen as fast as GM wants to (by 2010) because they just negotiated last month on a three year deal.
   The interesting thing about this news is that more than four plants are going to be shut down. Namely: Oshawa, Ontario, Moraine, Ohio, Janeiville, Wisconsin, Tolucia, Mexico.
     Did I ever mention how much fuel I save when I drop my box off my truck? Well I'm doing my part to conserve fuel, but many of you don't have the option. Hah.....

However, the smartest thing GM has come up with is the plan of building a plug-in electric car through the Chevrolet brand called the Volt.  It has a small engine and a generator on board for travels that will go over 40 miles. I happen to wonder what kind of batteries they plan to use. I happen to thing staying with gel-cell is the better option than lith-ion. We'll see.
  For more on this story go to
Bloomberg.com

May 17, 2008: Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. have come to a tenitive agreement by an 84% vote, that would end a strike that began Feb. 26th and I guess GM won.
(The only reason I cover this s___ is because the Canadians are affected by it, and I noticed quite a few visits to this page because of it.)
I guess GM claims they lost $800 Million because of the cut back in production because of the strike.
More on this at:
Bloomberg.com
Associated Press.com

March  2008:  
Get this: Ford's own internal research shows its approval rating at just 44%, GM's Chevrolet brand at 49% and Toyota is at 74%
      Funny how these auto manufactures claim that they are loosing money. While Ford's stock price is running at about half as it was a year ago, they just awarded CEO Mulally and other executives a total of 2 million stock units valued at nearly $15 million along with 6 million in stock options.
       And what do you think we get from all this?
A new add campain. "Drive one." Yeah drive one into a hole in the ground. Or drive one crazy hearing it all the time.

March 8, 2008: Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Negotiators for the UAW and American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. expect to continue talks today, as the two sides try to reach a contract that would end a strike, now nearly two weeks old, at the Detroit-based auto supplier.

The strike at American Axle, which counts General Motors Corp. as its largest customer, has forced the automaker to shut down seven assembly plants. By Monday, the strike is expected to impact, through production cuts or shut downs, as many as 29 GM factories, including engine plants in Romulus and Flint.

The UAW brought 3,650 of its members at American Axle on strike early Feb. 26, after negotiations collapsed and the contract between the UAW and the supplier expired. At the time, the two sides were far apart on issues including wages, buyouts and pensions. The company had proposed cutting the wage of production workers by about half to $14.50 an hour, saying that it needs the savings to compete with companies that already have cut their labor costs. The union has said that American Axle hasn't proven that it needs cuts as steep as it had proposed. 

For the latist information on this story as of
April 19'08 check out this link @
Forbes.com

More on this @ Freep.com

Febuary 4, 2008: DETROIT (AP) -- For all the good in GM's 2007 results -- the near-record worldwide sales, the reduction in labor costs and in retiree health obligations -- there is no getting around the $38.7 billion in red ink.
      The largest annual loss in the history of the auto industry signals that even with a garage full of hot vehicles and a historic new labor contract, GM has little hope of making a profit again before 2010 as the weak U.S. economy and competition eat away at its gains.
       GM reported the record-setting loss on Tuesday and promptly offered a new round of buyouts to 74,000 U.S. hourly workers in hopes of replacing some of them with lower-paid berry pickers.

Boy, nothing has made me feel better in a long time.

 

Oct. 29,'07: Funny how Ford can claim that they are losing $5.000.00 per vehicle and others say they are losing $1,000.00 - $1,500.00 per vehicle in the US.
I guess they are doing something wrong. All they'd have to do is loose the middle guys and they could sell the cars to the consumers for less. But hay, who really cares if the nickel and dime the things to death. They're not going to be built here anyway.

June 28, 2007: General Motors announced that it has agreed to sell Allison Transmission to two private equity firms. The Carlyle Group and Onex Corp. will purchase both the commercial and military ends of Allison, all for the bargain price of $5.6 billion.
The plan is to sell off the firm's seven manufacturing centers throughout Indianapolis, along with the company's sale offices and a worldwide distribution complex.

In the end though, GM plans to retain its Baltimore plant to produce both regular and hybrid two-mode transmissions for it's trucks and SUVs.

I happen to think the whole buy them up and spit them out bit was probably all about patent licensing agreements.

Also there has been a few things mentioned about CAT providing planetary geared transmissions for bus type motor-homes that used to be used in heavy equipment.
(I'd say:
how bout making up some six speed manually shifted automatics.)

 

My old 75 Ford F-250 had a 360 V-8 which was a good boat anchor because the 390's at least had a four barrel that actually got better mileage and had a lot more torque. The 4 speed got old real quick. The twin I-beam front suspension was great if you were a farmer and you need to off road the thing, but the tracked like hell down the paved road.
       However, 75 was that last year they built heavy duty trucks. In 76 they went with plastic inner fender wells instead of just galvanized steel. And they thinned the glass to save weight; then you say hello rock chips.

Another thing I should mention: My buddy who installs windshields for a living told me, that for the first two years of a model, they have to buy the windshields from the dealers who mark them up an arm and a leg. I'm sure the insurance companies know that and it's probably another good reason to buy used. Plus a new auto depreciates 24% the first week you own it. Kinna screws you right there.

April 11th, '07: Ford put together a commercial promoting their F-450. Stating that they made the springs 8 inches longer so that it could handle more weight. Then the lower something that looks heavy into the tin can on back. They make a clicking noise to make it sound like something giggled the truck. The funny thing is the truck doesn't sit any lower afterward. Like who's fooling who? Hell they even build the F-550 with coil spring front suspensions now days. Give them three years and the bushings inside the links will loosen up and there goes the handling. The steering geometry will change when you put the brakes on.  You should see how the front axial twists under my truck when hold the brakes and go from forward to reverse. It's junk folks.

Feb.'07: It's on my yahoo e-mail and the cake is on TV, but the funny part about it is that it looks like pie in the face.(Update: Funny how they pulled that one real fast.)

Jan 5th: At Backs beach I saw a guy sitting outside his polished-up new Lexus crossover vehical.
         It sure looked gay.  

I think the whole design thing is about making a car uggly as possible, so that people will notice it when everyone hasn't gotten one yet. Between the ones on the street and the hundreds of times we are forced to look at them on our TV set.  The public grows tired of them fast and just wants to look at something new. It doesn't matter if it's ugly or not, just as long as it's something they haven't seen a zillion times.

Can you image that you are about to witness $100,000,000.00 launch of the new Toyota Tundra. We're going to have their dam commercials coming out of our ears.
         I'd say throw it back in the lake, but even the Locness has more class than a Toyota.
I can't believe those trucks will even sell, they look like they have a big crome frown on the front of them. They're butt ugly.
         And gee, did you see the three piece frame they came up with for it? It's like stamped out wish bone meets cast-iron; just hope things keep tight.

I get a kick out of that commercial of the two idiots driving one of the ugly Avalanches down a dirt road. They think that switching the piece of rattle box junk to an open truck is a good idea. But they don’t show all the dust that swirls around the back and into the cab as they drive off at the end of the commercial.
      
I bet the insurance companies hate those Tinker Toy Avalanches. I wouldn’t doubt a guy could lie down in the back of the bed and kick-in the dam rear fold away wall and help themselves to the TV set.

I had to laugh when Ford came out with SUV commercial where the little girl asks her mother if the piece of junk goes potty. Boy, how stupid do they think we are?

Comments @ Blog.MyStupidRules 

Its only Junk

 

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