Car Blog

 

 

Yes that is a house Air Conditioning unit in the window with a gasoline powered generator powering it !!!

So when the guy goes to the gas station, he has to fill the gas tank on the car, and the generator.  I think if you take a step back and look at this scenario, you could sell the generator and A/C unit and have more than enough to fix your A/C. 

Thanks to my friend Randy for posting this picture on Facebook.  It was taken in Reading PA, at a Walmart of all places… go figure !

Funny video of a news reporter trying to break a window on a junk yard car.

Question: Hi there, I have a different sort of question for you, if you don’t mind. Our family just went from one child to five/six.

We are looking to buy a used van, but don't have much money, so most in our price range have higher miles. So my question is, how many miles can you expect to get out of the average full size van before seeing problems like the tranny dying or motor giving up etc?

There is a ford e-150 regency conversion van that is beautiful, huge, and in our price range, but it has 112,500 miles. If we spend all our savings on an old van, and it tears up, then I'm really in trouble. I need something to last a few years w/ no major issues, and we drive a lot. 

Thanks for your time,

Daniel

Answer: Daniel,

Excellent question !  When looking at high mileage vehicles there are
a couple of questions I always ask...

1.  How was in maintained?  Regular oil changes?  How did the owner
drive the vehicle, short trips (worse) or highway miles (better)?
2.  Has the recommend maintenance been performed, or coming due soon?
Depending on the engine, you may be looking at a timing chain or belt
replacement, water pump and spark plugs around 120K miles,
3.  What does Consumer Reports think about the vehicle.  Grab a used
car guide from Consumer Reports to find out any nagging reliability
issue for the vehicle in question.

The good news is that most full sized vans are based on their pickup
truck brothers, so they are built rugged and reliable.  If you are
looking at a Ford, I would stay away from the 5.4 and V10 engines from
1997 - 2003 due to issues with spark plug blowout.

See here for more details...
http://www.cyberfoundry.com/ae/wp/engine/spark-plug-blowout-on-ford-modular-triton-engines/

If you can find a 4.9L Inline 6 engine, they run forever and have
enough torque to haul a van full of kids.  It's one of Ford's best
engines and will last way over 200K miles if properly cared for.
I don't have much experience with the GM or Dodge offerings in full
sized vans, expect to say that Dodge has a good engine in their base
V-8.  It's a proven design and will provide years of service.
Transmissions may be another story though.  Again, it comes down to
maintenance and how the van was driven.

Sears was kind enough to contact yours truly and requested that I review their Craftsman Stainless Steel 41” Toolbox Combo.  A few weeks later, the tool box combo arrived on my door step packed nicely on a pallet which I tore into and assembled in less than an hour. 

Here is a shot of the Craftsman box assembled and sitting next to my 20 year old Craftsman Box which has served me well over the years.  I just recently added a middle section (in black) that increased my capacity, but I was still running out of room.

 

Initial Impressions: This box is BIG, way more room than my old setup, it barely fits into my garage.  I love the look of the stainless steel, and the hardware seems to be top quality.

Construction:  The box is made from Stainless Steel and it is heavy.  The base unit is 260 lbs. and the top is somewhere around 125 lbs. making assembly a 2 man job unless you are Hulk Hogan.  The drawers are supported by ball bearing slides and support 70 lbs. of tools per drawer. 

The stainless steel has an attractive brush finish and has a protective coating which appears to be a clear powder coat.  It has a slight “orange peel” texture which is common to powder-coated finishes, but it does not distract from the beauty of the tool box. (see image to left)

 

The handles and casters are beefy, to support the weight.  Two of the casters swivel to help moving the box around the garage.  Always remember to put the swiveling castors on the end with the handle. 

My only complaint about the construction is the “Grip Latch” system which prevents the drawers from opening while moving the tool box around.  It just feels “cheap”  There is a small latch on each end of the drawer pull and it’s spring loaded using a thin section of spring steel.  The tactile feel does not agree with my engineering background.  Only time will tell if the latch system will hold up.  I personally park my tool box in the garage and rarely move it, so the latch serves no useful purpose to me.  I could imagine a mechanic who works outside on uneven ground would appreciate the drawers not popping open unexpectedly.  I had a few friends over to my house since I got the box, and had them all look at it and it’s 50/50 on their opinions of the Grip Latch system. 

 

 Final Impressions:  After getting all my tools into the box and maneuvering it into it’s new home at the back of my garage, it was time to start using it. 

My 1954 Ford Panel Truck is getting a new chassis under it, from a 1997 Ford Explorer, so the first task was to strip the Explorer of it’s body.  That task has taken a few weekends and I have had a chance to use the tool box. 

I appreciate the ball bearing slides on the drawers, there is little effort required to open and close even the drawers with the heaviest tools in it.  I still don’t care for the grip latch, and when opening the upper drawers, I have to remember to make a conscious effort to lift up, to get the drawer open.  My 20 year old box had no latching mechanism, and no ball bearing slides.  I would take this ball bearing combo and grip latch over my old box with no ball bearings.

I went to my local Sears store to buy some accessories, drawer organizers, socket holders and some liners.  Well something I did not realize, since the top drawers are full width, there are not a lot of options to fit perfectly into the 40” wide drawers.  They make precut drawer liners which fit into the base unit drawers, but I was out of luck for the top unit drawers.

The box is easy to clean, grease and dust just wipe off.  It looks great sitting in the garage, almost too good for the surroundings :-)  

 

So the big question, if I was in the market for a tool box, would I buy this one? 

No, I would personally go for the model without the Grip Latch and without the Stainless Steel finish.  It’s about $200 - $300 cheaper than the model I tested and has normal width top drawers which make buying accessories easier.  Click the image to the right to see what box may soon be in my garage.

 

Since this box was sent to me gratis, from Sears, they asked that when I was done with it, I either send it back to them, or give it away to one of my visitors!  Well, it’s time to figure out how to give this bad boy away.  In a few days, I will update this post with the details of how to enter the free giveaway.

Funny words from the master himself, Jeremy Clarkson!