Another Tire-Related Development

If somebody tells me they need something in an hour, I (silly me) use one hour equals sixty minutes. Perhaps that is because I come from a world of chemical reactions, where everything is calibrated and timing is precise.

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Is there a single source that defines the alphabet soup being shared in this conversation?

CC I think is Courtesy Check

LAF, LOF I don’t know those

Sometimes the ā€œTest Driveā€ is so much more… and not in a good way…

I brought my 2001 Dodge Ram in for its 30,000 mile service… at the dealership (I bought it in Arizona and I was now in Virginia…). It was a scheduled appointment and I was the first one there and at 7:00 AM when they opened and I said I would wait…

After a several hours I asked how much longer might it be and the service writer said he would check… He never came back, but I had gotten engrossed in the book I brought with me and they did have free gourmet coffee…

Finally, just after noontime they said it was ready. I always check under hood before driving off to ensure the oil filler is tight, the dipstick is in place, etc…

First thing I noticed was the wheel wells and mud flaps had fresh mud in them and the tires had dirt stains on them. I always wash my vehicles before bringing them in for service on the premise that ā€œIf I care for my vehicles, they will care for my vehiclesā€¦ā€

I get in, the A/C is on full blast, the radio is on a station that I do not listen to, and I notice the passenger seat is back is not at the same angle as the driver’s side. To get in the back of this Ram with its suicide doors, you have to swing the seat back forward.

It was then that I notice the odometer. I click the trip meter on and it shows over 60-miles on it. I had filled the truck the night before and it should have less than 10-miles on it; distance from the gas station to my house and the distance from my house to the dealership…

I glanced down at the worksheet I was provided and the Mileage in and out are screwy and reversed, saying the mileage in was greater than going out…

I immediately brought my truck back in and demand answers why my truck needed a 50-mile test drive, why someone went 4-wheeling, why the radio and A/C was blasting, and why someone was rummaging around in the back seat…

I was not privy to the conversations in the general manager’s office with the service manager, the service writer, and the technician, but there were raised voices…

When the general manager and service manager came out, they apologized profusely, this service (over $300…) would be refunded, and I would receive a free coupon for my next oil change… and they would wash my truck…

I went back the next day and spoke to the service manager and he told me the technician took my truck out for a quick joy ride, but stopped by his neighborhood, picked up a couple of friends, and went on another joy ride… He said they also fired him and he gave me another coupon for a free oil change…

Years later when Dodge was restructuring, Dodge terminated the franchise agreement with this dealership.

When Lee Iacocca took over Chrysler he made the observation that people liked our cars but not our dealerships. Yep, they burned that bridge with me.

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Isn’t your Icon a late '40s or early '50s Studebaker? I know Chrysler and Studebaker have an interwoven history.

Chrysler, during its 2009 bankruptcy, slashed hundreds of Dodge and Chrysler franchises to consolidate its dealer network, to eliminate low-volume and less profitable showrooms. The company aimed for a smaller, more sales efficiency and supporting higher dealer profitability.

That dealership that I wrote about earlier is now selling Audi, Genesis, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz vehicles and they have expanded their showrooms with big beautiful buildings… Losing the Dodge dealership did not hurt them, probably helped them…

Isn’t your Icon a late '40s or early '50s Studebaker? I know Chrysler and Studebaker have an interwoven history.

Chrysler, during its 2009 bankruptcy, slashed hundreds of Dodge and Chrysler franchises to consolidate its dealer network, to eliminate low-volume and less profitable showrooms. The company aimed for a smaller, more sales efficiency and supporting higher dealer profitability.

That dealership that I wrote about earlier is now selling Audi, Genesis, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz vehicles and they have expanded their showrooms with big beautiful buildings… Losing the Dodge dealership did not hurt them, probably helped them…

That’s a 49 Champion. There was a couple of Chrysler Dealers that also were Studebaker dealers and one Studebaker only dealership in Mpls. Until Studebaker went out of business.

I bought a new Dodge in 84, post sale service and warranty work was atrocious. That Dodge was traded in on a 84 T-Bird, still driving Fords. As far as the Dodge dealer, in the early 90s the company I worked for asked me to take our company car (K car) into that Dodge dealership, same poor service.

If I remember rightly, they had a vent in the fender that worked like a vent window but under the dash and they had a screen to keep the bugs out… I looks like a shadow in your Icon… (itty-bitty picture…).

Yep, I think every Studebaker car (except Avanti and Lark) had that until they shut down. We had a Commander:

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Did you have valvecaps screwed on in storage.

Also those seal the valve a little for airloss.

You wrote all cores had to be screwed the same, not that one at 32 psi more.

Then it also could be as simple as that one valvecap loose, and the other 3 tightened , and leackage trough the cores all 4 the same.

Still ussefull to check and tighten the cores as you did. What does not go trough the cores, also not need to be stopped by the valvecap.

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jadatis thank you!

Maybe the driver side rear stem core was a tad looser than the other three were loose, I didn’t really notice, but now that they’re all tightened, that is one leak potential eliminated.

As for valve caps? You’re truly!

I think in some cases I actually split the cap top over-tightening, lately I’ve been more careful.

If the Valve Cap is of the Metal type (on the left side…) with the rubber seal built into the end then they might help to prevent air leakage past the Valve Stem Core, but if the Valve Cap is of the plastic type on the Fight Side then it will not stop any leakage…

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That is correct. The newly-designed '47 Studebaker (ā€œFirst by far with a post-war carā€) had those side fender-mounted intakes for the heater. Because all of the subsequent sedans, coupes, and convertibles (with the exception of the Lark and Avanti) were essentially just repackaged versions of the 1947 design, they retained the side heater intakes, rather than a cowl intake. You can see one on this '62 GT Hawk.

This is a '56 Commander sedan. Again, no cowl intake for the heater. Just those fender-mounted intakes.

I have 6 books on Studebaker’s history, and none of them make any mention of a connection between Studebaker and Chrysler.

But then the metalkind can play a part.

If valve aloy and cap metal, it can oxidise and cap hard to screw off.

I once read that caps are only meanth to keep dust outside, and not particularly meanth to prevent pressure loss.

But only mentioned it in my former post to give a possible other cource for the difference then the core.

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Metal TPMS sensors and metal caps do not always play nice together… Corrosion builds up and the caps can/will become seized and cause the tip of the sensor to break off…

We refused to install/reinstall metal stem caps… Even down here in the mostly rust free south…

Seen/had wayyyy to many tips break even just trying to air the tire up due to the corrosion compromising the tip of the stem…

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No argument there, the only point I wanted to make was the plastic caps do not seal and they are only good for keeping (most of…) the dirt and water out of the valve stem… The metal caps with the rubber seal will form a very good seal…

When I was stationed in Italy, the only thing separating our villa from the sea was the beach… We spent a lot of time in the water… I bought several Tractor Inner tubes to use for float tubes… They came with no valve stem, only a 1/2ā€ long threaded stem to screw on the extended valve stem with core… We filled the tubes and screwed on these metal caps and there was no air leakage… The inner tube, being free inflated would reach over 5-feet in diameter…

Granted the pressure in the tubes was not that great, probably less than 5 PSI as we only needed them to be inflated…

But you make a good point, especially since replacing a TPMS unit can cost $$$ plus labor…

RE Side Vents. Ford added them to the 56/57 T-Birds, found the interior of the 55s were too warm.

Never thought about the lack of side vents on our Larks. On my parent’s 52&54 they would not open them, might leak in the rain. Same with our 46(?) Chevy pickup, the front windshield could be cranked open, lever on the dash, my dad would never open it wither, ā€œonce you break the seal, it will always leakā€.

Actually, these Xtra Seal valve caps, sold primarily at O’Reilly Auto Parts in my area:

Do have a gasket inside that contacts the top of the valve when the cap is tightened.

It might help - marginally - with air seepage, but I think the primary function of the seal is to keep dirt, debris, and moisture out. And do so to a greater degree than just the valve cap thread itself.

We feel the same way about our 2020 Honda Sunroof… It was an option we did not want and we do not use… but we read that if the drains plug up, it will start ā€œrainingā€ into the car… The only time we used it was to ensure it worked when we bought it new… Now, we open it once a year and ensure the drains do not fill up with dust and debris…

Engineers Fred Zeder, Owen Skelton, and Carl Breer—known as the ā€œThree Musketeersā€ā€”were originally a powerhouse engineering team at Studebaker. They later followed Walter P. Chrysler to form the engineering backbone of the Chrysler Corporation, designing the first Chrysler car in 1924.

These ex-Studebaker engineers designed the original 1924 Chrysler Six, a revolutionary car featuring the first standard four-wheel hydraulic brakes and a high-compression engine. This success allowed Walter Chrysler to form the Chrysler Corporation in 1925.

And Studebaker and Chevrolet have some interwoven history…

In December 1963, when Studebaker shuttered its main South Bend plant and moved all production to Hamilton, Ontario, it could no longer afford to manufacture its own engines.

So for the 1965 and 1966 model years, Studebaker purchased engines from McKinnon Industries, a Canadian subsidiary of General Motors. The final Studebakers ever built were actually powered by Chevrolet 283 V8s and inline-sixes.

I believe ā€œSix Degrees of Separationā€ is the theory that any person on Earth is connected to any other person through a chain of no more than five acquaintances, totaling six ā€œdegreesā€ or steps…

And I believe this ā€œSix Degrees of Separationā€ also applies to industry…