Not the best of mornings
Arriving at work today, I encountered the following troubling occurances, in this order:
1.) At my parking garage, I inspected my tires and discovered that at least one is almost completely bald. I know I needed to get them rotated, but I just bought new tires in February or March, so this is just completely ridiculous. Tires aren't cheap, so I'm upset. I can't wait for the light rail to come out to Aurora so I can quit driving and paying for gas, tires, brakes, etc. So I'm looking at getting my breaks replaced and probably at least 2 tires replaced, which will probably cost a lot of money.
2.) I'm the first one to work again, and my key broke off in the lock. The good news is I had the lock turned enough that some simple shaking got the door open, and I was able to pry the broken key out of the key hole, so all is not lost. I just need a new key.
3.) It's 89 degrees in here. Our air conditioning has never been stellar, but it's supposed to have been fixed, and it's only 9:15 am. In the midst of a week of record breaking heat, today is supposed to be a little cooler at 95 degrees, and this office will definitely be roasting by if the AC doesn't kick in.
Hopefully this will help us all realize we don't need iPods and have no inherent entitlement to a "normal" life.
argh.
posted by RJ @ 9:18 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
You should try to replace your breaks yourself (Ray helped me and it took about 15 minutes to replace the front brake pads). Car shops charge a ridiculous amount for it, and its cheap to do yourself. Breaks Plus wanted to charge me something like $300 to replace just the front brakes, pads and rotors. I got the parts myself for ~$100 and I ended up not needing the rotors, so it was actually only about $40. And it only took about 15 or 20 minutes. So it was definetly worth doing myself.
That's a really good idea. Where do I get the parts, and how can I figure out whether I need rotors or drums or whatever?
My Ipod has air conditioning, and I bought the IV package to keep myself hydrated when it's hot.
You can get the parts at just about any parts store. You can look online at Checker's website to figure out what you need (I think that's where I ended up going). You can compare at AutoZone and stuff, too. You should be able to look at your owners manual to figure out if you have drums or rotors. Then to figure out if you need new ones you'll have to take them off and look, which is kind of a pain. If its rotors I'd buy then new ones, then take them back if you don't need them so you don't have to take everything apart twice. Rotors get scored and you're supposed to get them "turned" to fix that. Basically they shave off a layer. After a certain point you can't shave off any more, so you have to get new ones. Some people (like Kevn Sunberg) never turn their rotors -- I guess its not a big deal, they just score your brake pads faster if you don't. If you do get them turned you'll have to find a place to do that, cause I don't think you can do that on your own
Sorry to hear about your morning, man. Sounds like a case of the Mondays... or something.
Now, for the unsolicited advice:
As for the brakes, go to AutoZone or NAPA or whatever, they will let you know the specs for your car and what sort of brakes you will need for the front and/or rear. Depending on the mileage (say over 75,000 miles), you may want to preemptively replace the rotors in addition to pads even if they aren’t bad yet (new pads on old rotors can cause warping with hard braking). If you have drums (only applicable in some cars and then only ever in the rear), it is a little more difficult to replace yourself. That said, it still isn't too bad and much cheaper.
As for tires, check www.tirerack.com. Even with shipping, it is often cheaper than what you will find at a tire store. It is at least worth comparing to the best deal you can find locally. They ship them to you and then you take it to your local tire store and have them installed and balance for probably $12-15/tire.
Also, if you car is eating tires at the rate of two every five or six months, you front end may be out of alignment.
Why don't you just put treads on your vehicle?
Brilliant!
I got the breaks done....both back rotors needed replaced, and the front needed "turned". Oy....
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