ouh yeah, the worth roads are in Russia. There are many good highways, but there are really terible roads... So terrible that it is difficult to describe. Russia is very big with very long distances. Goverment tries to save money and as result road building is underfinansed.


Rest area hairdresser's advice. If you wanna shingle semi driver's hair, remind him about highway around Novgorod, his hair will stands on end, and it will be easier to shingle hair....

Bad kidding..... I understand

 

Got a pair of Kumho something or others today to replace the fronts; the one that didn't blow up was due for replacement as well. It was the only set available locally at a reasonable price. Still cost over $200 out the door, but I was pressed for time. Next time, I will get those 15" Ranger wheels and bigger tires. Hopefully they will have higher load carrying capacity, and last longer.

I had to drive about 35 miles on the space saver spare to get home, and then about 5 miles to the tire shop today. I hope that didn't damage the front diff too much. I had disconnected the E4wd module already, so it can't fight the driveline.

 

I drow on spare 2 days.

 

I was considering using tires similar to those, but decided that that is more of a size change than I wanted. And the tires I selected have a longer tread life. I have an AWD and was also concerned about size change from that perspective too. I put as many miles on mine in one year as most people do in three. Last year I did about 38,000 miles. Size change was a concern for towing too. It has the same effect as using a higher gear ratio, which would force me to downshift more often and make me less tow capable. The tires I choose have almost no effect on the speedometer at all. A 27 x 8.5 R14 is equivalent to a 215.9/68.5 R14 This is a very modest change from stock, which would be 215/70/14 The tread width is slightly narrower, but the diameter is about the same, slightly larger. It goes from a 4 ply to a 6 ply. And this is an awesome snow tire too. Cooper sipes the heck out of their tires. Modest change means that no speedometer recalibration is required, a nice plus.

 

Good looking out there, I was not aware of the Manufacturing date code. Definitly look at that when I get new tires in the future. Now besides looking at manufacture date codes on batteries, I now have to watch tires.

 

well, I gonna use cargo rated tires now. there are big european cargo vans on small 14 and 15" tires to increase internal room. I got cargo tires rated for 900 kg load (they are designed for 50% stress) so I suggest they will be more reliable

But somtimes mistery accidents happen. Today I saw terrible accident near my home, bus hit pole and street light. 4 passangers and driver are injured, 2 of them are ok....
http://www.ua-reporter.com/novosti/48281

 

ugly bus accident
always made the kids and grandkids buck their seat belts or ride in kid car seats in the Aero. tall tippy things roll over easy
surprisingly the Aerostar is not a roll over machine, must be the rear suspension design.
can't say the same about Explorers and Expeditions.

lots of bus accidents here. driver falling asleep. tour bus driver heart attack.
always wondered how those GM plastic body vans did in a roll over?
Corvette bodies blow up and shatter on impact.
i'll take a steel roof between me and the pavement any day.

 

Any car can be made to roll over if it was subject to the right forces. It is a function of the suspension, roll stiffness, and where the center of mass is. It's not the steel roof, but the steel roof pillars that are supposed to keep the roof from collapsing from a roll-over. I've seen plenty of steel vans with collapsed roofs; 4 or 5 thousand pounds of weight can do that, especially if it landed on it hard enough.

Plastic bodied cars do not rely on the body panels for structural strength. Cars like the Pontiac Transport or Saturns have space frames that provide the structural strength. The Corvette has a more tubular space frame that is yet stronger. Have you ever wondered why a compact car that uses so much lighter weight body panels doesn't weigh any less than an all-steel car of similar size? It's all that steel under the body panels.

 

Thia bus hit light pole and street light and then rolled over....

 

That is because the Aero has a lower center of gravity, more mass that is as low as the frame.

Put a Explorers and Expeditions next to a Aero and you'll see a significant height difference. Higher center of gravity and more mass that sits higher than the frame rails.

 

aero wheel base is wider, then ranger has.

 

Cargo rated tires....