Friday, January 14, 2011

Tyre-some.

I was checking the tyre pressures on front tyres of Becky II when I discovered that the front tyres were seriously worn. Because I don't have any money buying new tyres wasn't an option but I had other options. Because I have 3 Acclaims and a spare set of wheels in the garage, I can just swap wheels over which have better tyres. The only problem is that all 3 cars have different size tryes. Becky has 155s, Blue has 165s, Becky II has 175s (with a 155 on the spare) and the spare set has 155s. What I ended up doing was picking the best 3 out of the spare set along with Becky II's spare wheel. I preapred the wheels by inflated them to 30psi, blackening the sidewalls with my tyre dressing spray (97p from the local Wilkinsons) and fitting the best 2 to the car with the other going into the boot in the spare wheel well. After that I got my torque wrench out and after looking up the figure I toruqed the wheel nuts up to 59 lb/ft (80 nm) as per the workshop manual. I now heve 155s on the front and 175s on the rear. This is not illegal and it certainly won't fail the MoT (which is due in 5 weeks!) I've since put quite a few miles on which included a stretch of dual carriageway where I got up to 70mph and all is well.

That's what I call a result!

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Insurance renewal...

I got a letter from Footman James today. My insurance renewal is due on the 3rd of February. If things stay as they are then I won't be able to renew my insurance and this will finally force me off the road and put an end to all this. It is something I've dreaded for the last 12 months. It's as bad as losing my licence. I feel like a part of me has died. Things can only get better as the song goes.