The Season of Discontent is upon us...

Desertnate said:
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I will say, I appreciate the fact Costco uses Nitrogen when they mount tires. The properties of the gas are such it doesn't fluctuate with temps like traditional, compressed, ambient air. I never have to adjust the pressure in the tires on my wife's car.
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That's interesting. In my experience, the cars that come in to our shop with the green valve stem caps are quite frequently (uniformly) 10+ psi low. I've always attributed it to nitrogen being sold as the "ultimate never need to check your tires" solution, so people never keep up with them.

Do you know if they use pure (bottled) nitrogen to set beads/fill tires when they mount them? My understanding is that if you want the benefits of nitrogen you really need to do it that way (plus pull a vacuum and refill once seated) vs the standard "scrubbed" nitrogen that a lot of shops use. I can't remember the specs of the machine we had at the dealership when I worked there, but the actual final percentage of nitrogen wasn't much higher than ambient air...

The full on Nitrogen fill is more of a racing thing; the machines I've seen in normal shops hook up to the normal compressed air and somehow scrub additional nitrogen. The tires are then deflated and reinflated (usually with full car weight on them) 3 times to boost the nitrogen content.

Full disclosure: outside of my observations when checking tire pressure on cars when I do oil changes, my knowledge base for nitrogen machines used at shops is limited to my exposure back in the day. A quick google shows Costco's nitrogen "shoots for" 93% vs the regular 78 percent ambient. Who knows what the actual normal result is.


Other completed random thing that occurred to me - If I round down and guesstimate that I've averaged 5 oil changes a week, for as long as I've been in the industry I've done over 5200 oil changes in my career. And this is never having worked as a "lube tech". :eek:
 
oneheadlite said:
That's interesting. In my experience, the cars that come in to our shop with the green valve stem caps are quite frequently (uniformly) 10+ psi low. I've always attributed it to nitrogen being sold as the "ultimate never need to check your tires" solution, so people never keep up with them.

Do you know if they use pure (bottled) nitrogen to set beads/fill tires when they mount them? My understanding is that if you want the benefits of nitrogen you really need to do it that way (plus pull a vacuum and refill once seated) vs the standard "scrubbed" nitrogen that a lot of shops use. I can't remember the specs of the machine we had at the dealership when I worked there, but the actual final percentage of nitrogen wasn't much higher than ambient air...

The full on Nitrogen fill is more of a racing thing; the machines I've seen in normal shops hook up to the normal compressed air and somehow scrub additional nitrogen. The tires are then deflated and reinflated (usually with full car weight on them) 3 times to boost the nitrogen content.

Full disclosure: outside of my observations when checking tire pressure on cars when I do oil changes, my knowledge base for nitrogen machines used at shops is limited to my exposure back in the day. A quick google shows Costco's nitrogen "shoots for" 93% vs the regular 78 percent ambient. Who knows what the actual normal result is.
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I don't purposely choose a tire shop because they Nitrogen, but it's a nice bonus when we get it. I used to discount it all as snake oil until I did a little research and observed what was going on with my own vehicles. One thing I found was the aircraft industry has used nitrogen for landing gear tires for a very long time because it doesn't expand/contract like ambient air when the temperatures change.

Several years ago when we first bought a set of tires at Costco on the wife's car I first noticed what was going on when we had a sudden cold snap (like a 30+ degree drop in a matter of hours) that set off TPMS warnings on both my car and my daughter's. I aired up all of our tires and when I checked my wife's car, the pressure was spot-on. As time passed, I found I never had to add/blead off air no matter what time of year or the temps. It was spot on all the time. Later I experienced the same thing in my car when I got a nitro fill on a set of tires purchased at Costco. The only car I had to ever adjust was the daughter's car with ambient air in the tires. It all ended in my car when I started autocrossing on those tires which required frequent inflation/deflation and the ratio of the gasses equalized to typical ambient air.

Again, I'm not one of those people who will fanatically only get a nitro fill in my tires, nor will I pay extra for it. However, I won't turn it down if it comes a part of the package of getting tires mounted.

I have no idea what Costco does when they set the beads. I'd love to watch, but they don't let you in the bays and most of the time I have a shopping list to occupy my time while the work is being done. Does make you wonder how they handle that part of the process.
 
Calling for a really dismal weekend. Cool and rain. Fine, i will stay in and drink BEER!
 
You're going to get what we've got now in the Midwest. Next week is looking to get even cooler with our first frost and several days with highs in the 40's. I guess fall finally decided to show up!

People have been talking about bringing in their detailing supplies, but I'm faced with another dilema. Swapping out my Summer/Winter wheels. I have a road trip coming up soon and was hoping to do it on my Summers. Not looking like that is going to happen....
 
Desertnate said:
You're going to get what we've got now in the Midwest. Next week is looking to get even cooler with our first frost and several days with highs in the 40's. I guess fall finally decided to show up!

People have been talking about bringing in their detailing supplies, but I'm faced with another dilema. Swapping out my Summer/Winter wheels. I have a road trip coming up soon and was hoping to do it on my Summers. Not looking like that is going to happen....
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Absolutely play it safe whenever possible!

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Living in central TX, this is when detailing season starts for me.

The summer months are hot and miserable. I’m usually doing rindless washes in the garage at 6am to avoid the worst of the heat. Many summer mornings are 80+ degrees with humidity to match.

When late October hits, the mornings are cooler, the sun is lower in the sky and the mosquitoes are less savage.

Sorry for my northern detailing brothers and sisters but this is the good time for me.
 
It's detailing season in Florida too. I plan to use my garage queens more now.
 
boosteddub69 said:
Living in central TX, this is when detailing season starts for me.

The summer months are hot and miserable. I’m usually doing rindless washes in the garage at 6am to avoid the worst of the heat. Many summer mornings are 80+ degrees with humidity to match.

When late October hits, the mornings are cooler, the sun is lower in the sky and the mosquitoes are less savage.

Sorry for my northern detailing brothers and sisters but this is the good time for me.
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Just do us a favor, enjoy it that much more because we can't We look forward to those sunny 35-40 degree days...BIG TIME! I can only speak for myself but go down in the laundry room and fill up my 5 gallon buckets with pretty hot water and which ever RW I'm feeling at the moment and get out there and get after it. Because I've got my trusty Worx hydroshot I can rinse out the wheelwells and perform a good tire/wheel cleaning too. Once done I feel better and it makes me very happy, that goes a LOOOONG way because of the 3-4 of cold/gray/white/slush and sh!t

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Klasse Act said:
Just do us a favor, enjoy it that much more because we can't We look forward to those sunny 35-40 degree days...BIG TIME! I can only speak for myself but go down in the laundry room and fill up my 5 gallon buckets with pretty hot water and which ever RW I'm feeling at the moment and get out there and get after it. Because I've got my trusty Worx hydroshot I can rinse out the wheelwells and perform a good tire/wheel cleaning too. Once done I feel better and it makes me very happy, that goes a LOOOONG way because of the 3-4 of cold/gray/white/slush and sh!t

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Clean cars look even cleaner during winter. Until you drive it. Lol
 
boosteddub69 said:
Living in central TX, this is when detailing season starts for me.

The summer months are hot and miserable. I’m usually doing rindless washes in the garage at 6am to avoid the worst of the heat. Many summer mornings are 80+ degrees with humidity to match.

When late October hits, the mornings are cooler, the sun is lower in the sky and the mosquitoes are less savage.

Sorry for my northern detailing brothers and sisters but this is the good time for me.
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I'm in North Texas, so I'm right here with you. Be lucky to rinse a car off after 9am in the spring time and get it dry without water spots. The mornings right now are awesome.
 
Think it's about over here. Cut grass for last time Saturday. After i was going to do a wash. Of course a light rain started. Like a idiot, i am sitting in the garage, thinking it would stop. Called it and just went inside. About a hour later it stopped. Went back out and got it done. LOL. More rain today and calling for a much colder week. You can't fight the weather and expect to win...
 
This is where Colorado is hanging out for the next few days and not uncommon. Only odd thing this year is no snow yet. This is the time of year Colorado can sell itself!

My PBMG/Sonax stuff finally showed today too (two week ordeal as my first box of supplies to get returned before delivery due to damage)...

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Good Morning from deep in the heart of well not Texas. Would you believe the Rocky Mountains?

I live halfway between Silverthorne and Steamboat. (Silverthorne is the first exit as you come done from the Tunnels on I-70). Yes, it is pretty awesome living here. From where I am sitting, if it were light out that is, to the east, I can see the Gore Range. To the west I can see, well, my neighbors house. But, when I look out my back door, I can see the Never Summer wilderness area and parts of Rocky Mountain National Park. From my Driveway, I look to the south and I can see the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area and to the North, the Kremmling Bluffs. The other night, on our way home from a trip somewhere, there was a 12 point buck just munching some grass in front of the State Patrol station.

OK, enough bragging.

I have been reading this thread full of woe and sorrow and can't help but laugh.

I too love to take care of my vehicles. But just because the weather has changed doesn't stop me. You see, I have a heated garage. And a floor squeegee.

Also, there is a self-service carwash less than a half mile from my house. And I have insulated waterproof work gloves.

@Pro 4x was lamenting watching it rain from his garage because he wanted to wash his car. Did you know that rain water is some of the softest water around? Well, maybe not in Pennsylvania with all the smoke stacks. But still, you can do a quick 2 bucket wash, even with a foam cannon and then bring it INTO the garage to dry it.

And, if you are lucky like me, I have the houses Tankless water heater in my garage. I can turn down the temp to 100* to wash my car INSIDE the garage if it is really cold outside. And, then I can squeegee the water out or suck it up and put it down a drain.

But even more so, and I am somewhat even less serious here, what are first world problem that we are lucky enough to be complaining about.

Have a good wash day if you can everyone!!
 
I live in Michigan and have no garage.....I wash my car with old Budweiser......carry on....
 
Bosko said:
I live in Michigan and have no garage.....I wash my car with old Budweiser......carry on....
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Ummm Bosko?

Just a point of clarification.

When you say old Budweiser. are you referring to post consumer use or cans that have been stored for a long time?

Curious minds want to know.
 
ktown said:
Ummm Bosko?

Just a point of clarification.

When you say old Budweiser. are you referring to post consumer use or cans that have been stored for a long time?

Curious minds want to know.
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Depends on the winter coating......used Budweiser better be a 7 year ceramic....lol
 
Too cold and impractical?? What kind of New Englander says that? I live in Southeastern Mass and my cars get the full treatment all year round. Get yourself some ice fishing gloves for the outdoor washes in the winter. I actually used them yesterday when I did a full two bucket wash. I also use the Worx Hydroshot with buckets filled with warm water during the winter months when the garden hose is frozen.
Keeping that glistening shine on your vehicles all year round is possible. You just have to improvise and adapt.
 
UncleDavy said:
Too cold and impractical?? What kind of New Englander says that? I live in Southeastern Mass and my cars get the full treatment all year round. Get yourself some ice fishing gloves for the outdoor washes in the winter. I actually used them yesterday when I did a full two bucket wash.
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I picked up 2 pair - M and L so I can compare sizing. The Mediums were a little short in the fingers.
 
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