Back in June '97, Charlie asked how he could avoid getting shocked by static electricity when getting out of his car. Ray advised him to get a grounding strip from his local auto parts store. I’ve tried and no one seems to know what I’m talking about. I’ve also tried NAPA, JC Whitney, and Pep Boys web sites too. Does anyone know where I can get these things?
Here’s one at Amazon.com. I’m sure there are others. I think you’re going to the wrong parts stores. Probably the desk clerks are 18 year old kids and if they can’t look it up in the computer they don’t believe it exists. You need a parts clerk who’s over 50, wears a beard, and chews (but never smokes) a cigar…
http://www.blockemf.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=768&products_id=5065
or
http://www.autobarn.net/keygroundstraps.html
Before you go spending any money on these, how about you just take any lightweight scrap of metal and screw that on to the car - find out if it even has the desired effect. You just need anything conductive that you can screw to the chassis on one end and have dragging the ground on the other. In fact, anything that is reasonably durable and conductive should do what these do.
If you really want to test the idea cheaply before buying the straps, I’d suggest a length of chain from the hardware store instead of a piece of sheet metal. If the metal bends away from the road even a little, it will lose contact and the test won’t work.
(I think the rubber strap is a better long term solution than chain, unless you want your car to sound like Marley’s ghost. But the stuff about static buildup causing sleepiness and motion sickness is pure bolognium.)
So you are having static problems with your Matrix? You might be able to reduce that problem. Spray antistatic may work on the seats, you also. It seems most manufacturers have chosen design and materials to avoid this problem. I would have expected the Toyota to be one of the better ones.
I am assuming you do have a problem and not just assuming you should have one.
Old stories and customs die hard or never die at all. When I lived in Switzerland I had a friend who was an undertaker. Well a man who’s home country was Bosnia died in Switzerland and his realitives wanted his body brought back to Bosina, by herse,this is one of the services offered by my friends company. Right before we were ready to leave the man’s realitives wanted to see the car we were using. Well they wanted more than to just see the herse as what they did was tie a rope to the frame and let the other end touch the ground. They asked us to make sure the rope was always touching the ground as this aidded the dead mans return to the Earth.
This was the last trip to Bosina that we made (first and last for me) as things were just too scary at this time.
Touch the car with the back of the knuckles where the nerves aren’t as sensitive.