bossert@dataio.UUCP (Steve Weil) (10/30/84)
I have an 83 Mazda Diesel and have been saving up questions, maybe some of you know some answers. Thanks for any help. The tires are Bridgestone RD-212 P205/75R14. Since the truck was new they have been wearing on the outer edges much faster than anywhere else. I have noticed this on at least one other pickup. Is this normal for this type of suspension (narrow vehicle, coil springs) or have the wheels never been properly aligned? I drive moderately but corner hard sometimes. In any event I would like to get the most milage out of these tires. I have been rotating front to back, but what I really need to do is get the tires flipped (reversed) on the rims so I can switch the tires side to side. (Yes I know radials are supposed to always rotate in the same direction.) Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it safe or will the tires get confused by the new stresses. Will the old wear cause problems? Diesels do not generate much intake vacuum so they have a seperate vacuum pump for the power assist brakes. I am not completely satisfied with the assist. I have heard several people mention vacuum resevoirs for brakes. Would that be appropriate here? Do they have a valve to hold the vacuum when the pump is running slowly or do they just smooth out the changes in pressure? The truck has a 5-speed but a very high reduction (more torque-less speed) differential (compared to the gas version). The problem is that I shift into 5th at about 40 under gentle conditions and am ready to shift again at 60. I read a long time ago about an overdrive unit that could be installed in the middle of the driveshaft. Does anyone still make someting like that and would you trust something like that? What should it cost to be of reasonable quality but not a rip-off? Also a question about my girlfriend's Honda: The stereo (Clarion on FM) emits a high pitched whine under the following circumstances: Headlights OR parking lights on and engine either on OR off. My first guess was voltage regulator but that shouldn't be active with the engine off should it? I thought maybe the halogen headlights had a step-up oscillator (do they?) but we have the problem even with just parking lights. Other current draining circuits (like rear defogger) do not cause the problem. Any guesses? Plese reply to this address as I did not submit this from my account. Sorry if this was posted more than once, I was having trouble with inews. Thank you all, Steve Weil Data I/O ucbvax!lbl-unix!uw-beaver!teltone!dataio!weil unisoft!teltone!dataio!weil entropy!dataio!weil -- John Bossert Data I/O Corporation Redmond, WA uw-beaver!teltone!dataio!bossert