hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) (02/22/86)
In article <620@hounx.UUCP> wa2sff@hounx.UUCP writes: >The 1982 Plymouth Reliant drove me crazy when I first got it. >It would always pull to the right and the drift during acceleration was bad. >The shift pattern was let up on gas, change steering direction, shift to next >gear, [let up on clutch, step on gas, change steering direction ] (all >simultaneously). >Multiple wheel alignments and wheel rotations did not fix the problem. >At 28,000 miles the Goodyear 185-70x 14 Ariva tires wore out. >I replaced them with Michelen (sp) 185-70x14 tires and replaced the >front shocks with monroe gas shocks. >Car now keeps wheel alignment and doesn't drift to right. >Only time I have touched wheel alignment since is when a wheel bearing was >replaced and the dealer didn't align the car. >The car now has 56,000 miles on it. >For an american car it isn't bad. >I blame the problem on a combination of lousy shocks (they were weak from >the start, even with the HD suspension option) and lousy tires. >I thought I ordered performance tires by ordering 185-70x14 tires. >What I got was cheap (but high $) all weather tires. >Joe Wilkes All this, and he thinks it isn't a bad car? C'mon, Joe, you should try one of the `best-built cars in America' instead. Thanks to Xerox's wonderful graciousness, I've had the pleasure(?) of extensively pottering around in both an '81 Aries wagon and an '83, and believe me, neither of them gets my vote for `not bad'. Not entirely bad, maybe, but I dunno about not bad. At home, by the way, two cars are shod with Arrivas, and two with Michelins (XVS and XA4's), and quite frankly, the Michelins are no match for the Arrivas when it comes to rain, snow, or ice. You think you got bad tires, be glad they didn't stick you with the standard Goodyear Viva II's. If they've cured your K-car's right-steering problem, it must be a miracle. In all the K-cars I've driven (what, 4 or 5?) they ALL pull right under hard acceleration. And as for the stickshift, well, it has to be the worst I've ever tried. If you're looking for a well-behaved car, you're looking in the wrong place. The one remarkable thing about the K-cars, though, is the fact that the engines are nearly bulletproof (although I think Chrysler was anticipating the fact that some owners would LOVE to put a bullet through it). Despite having been broadsided and extensively mangled, our '83 made it all the way through the repair shop and back into service, despite having been broken out of two engine mounts, fracturing a third, and pulling the driveshaft completely out of one side. Sure, it's asthmatic, but it runs. But still, `not bad for an American car'? Hah! -dave (PS, you can cure that door squeak with liberal and frequent shots of Teflon) -- David Hsu Communication & Signal Processing Lab, EE Department <disclaimer> University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 hsu@eneevax.umd.edu {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu "Godzilla has been spotted in Sector 5!"
mat@mtx5a.UUCP (m.terribile) (02/26/86)
> In article <620@hounx.UUCP> wa2sff@hounx.UUCP writes: > >The 1982 Plymouth Reliant drove me crazy when I first got it. > >It would always pull to the right and the drift during acceleration was bad. > >The shift pattern was let up on gas, change steering direction, shift to next > >gear, [let up on clutch, step on gas, change steering direction ] (all > >simultaneously). Have a look at the front suspension. There isn't enough metal there to support a tricycle! Of course, mine has been over 117,000 miles of potholes, recently took a jackhammer hit (blew the seals out of the struts!) and is still slightly misaligned from a 12-mph hit on the corner. I've got the plainest one made, and it's no sport sedan, but with XZXs on it, it's a reasonable car to drive from here to there. And yes, by now I had most of the replacable things replaced on the front suspension. But it amazes me that the thing holds together at all. As far as the rightward drift ... mine didn't have any 'till after the first accident. They straightened the rail, but not perfectly. > At home, by the way, two cars are shod with Arrivas, and two with Michelins > (XVS and XA4's), and quite frankly, the Michelins are no match for the > Arrivas when it comes to rain, snow, or ice. You think you got bad tires, > be glad they didn't stick you with the standard Goodyear Viva II's. I know about them. First time I got the XZXs on, I oversteered for a week! But with the XZXs, I can corner hard enough on dry pavement to put the oil pressure light on, and if there is any tread at all, it is almost impossible to make the tires hydroplane. Tha's my worst fear in rain ... not general traction loss, but a deep puddle around a corner on NJ roads like 22 or 35. They're crummy on ice, though. > (PS, you can cure that door squeak with liberal and frequent shots of Teflon) The cure is grease from a mechanic's grease gun shot through the holes in the hinges with the doors at the point of maximum friction. Lasts about 35,000 on the drivers door, less on the others, unless you use them often. -- from Mole End Mark Terribile (scrape .. dig ) mtx5b!mat (Please mail to mtx5b!mat, NOT mtx5a! mat, or to mtx5a!mtx5b!mat) ,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*.