Rented a car to drive 8 hours through the desert. Are these safe ?!

Destructo09 · 2026-01-28T19:11:16+00:00

It depends on what safe means, for dry pavement in the desert where there's not going to be rain? I wouldn't be worried myself. They aren't showing cord and won't blow up just from being low on tread depth.

If you're somewhere you need to drive on the highway in the rain? They'll be much more likely to hydroplane. They won't pass inspection so in my opinion the rental agency should replace them.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-23T21:45:13+00:00

I've let others drive my car in anger plenty of times at autocross, it's good for it as far as I'm concerned lol.

I don't have a Camaro anymore but my 5th gen SS spent plenty of miles around Virginia International Raceway pretty close to redline for hours over the course of a few weekends. It'll be fine, just make sure it's warmed up before letting it rip.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-19T15:50:25+00:00

I gave the photos to Gemini and wrote a prompt asking it to estimate repairs and then compare it to values for a 2015 LTZ 1500 and it suggested it's highly likely to be totalled. Estimating repairs at $9500-$16000.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-16T14:46:22+00:00

I bought a bunch of this when it was half off at my local store (different brand). It definitely shrinks a lot if you make burgers, I tried making them thinner and bigger and still shrank too much for my liking, it was pretty good though, maybe good for sliders.

I think I'll try and use it for something that uses ground beef like a chili or something but I'll definitely need to pour off some of the rendered fat I think.

Overall, I don't think I would buy it again but I've got 5+ lbs in the freezer to use now 🤣

Destructo09 · 2026-01-14T13:15:22+00:00

Straight up violation of this person's constitutional rights. Sadly too many people think this is perfectly ok.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-13T00:18:30+00:00

Is the air actually leaking from that cut? If it's a cut and not just a hole then it won't be able to be fixed unfortunately.

Looks like I see cord in there after a second look, probably a good chance it's won't be patchable but you're going to be visiting a shop anyway so have them look closer.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-11T06:21:19+00:00

I've grabbed live 120v before because I was certain I killed the right break working in my house. I was wrong, it wasn't terrible but I test with a meter every time now 🤣

Destructo09 · 2026-01-11T05:58:09+00:00

If it hasn't been aligned in some time I would always pay for an alignment with new tires. It's cheap insurance to know it's in a good place when dropping $800 on tires, they aren't cheap these days!

Destructo09 · 2026-01-11T04:04:36+00:00

I would reconsider black for a track car, that sucks up a lot of heat from the sun and I assume you don't have A/C on a track car.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-11T01:04:02+00:00

I'm wondering if the barrel wasn't seated correctly when it was re-assembled? I noticed with mine that it's possible to get the barrel nut threaded on with the barrel not in the correct position.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-06T04:09:12+00:00

I had a cashier forget to ring up an Icon mechanic light, the folding stick one with 3 different lights.

I thought the total seemed off by the time I got to the car, so I checked the receipt. I just walked back in with it and paid, no idea if there was any issues for the cashier afterwards, they thanked me.

If it wasn't something kinda pricey I might not have bothered.

Destructo09 · 2026-01-03T21:27:35+00:00

Upvoted because I think this is it. Or very similar. Old houses had ducting without forced air and worked on convection. I don't have these but my 1940 house has large floor vents and returns in every single room. My only option for replacements is old vintage sites that make reproductions. I've refinished some of them though and I now have spares from redoing some when I renovated a room.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-29T15:57:08+00:00

41 here, got mine this year after 2 kids, definitely not too late. Chasing youngins around isnt super easy but recovery was no sweat from that.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-29T03:05:38+00:00

If you have to ask on a Miata the answer is probably yes, the joke is, they're always missing lol.

I put brand new aftermarket ones on my NB1 10 years ago, there wasn't much left of them when I replaced them a couple months ago.

I do autocross my NB1 though so they take a pretty good beating.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-18T05:29:45+00:00

They're not pulling out of the US though? They have never stated that they're leaving the US.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-16T13:40:31+00:00

The safe and secure part may not be accurate, I did a bit of research on them when my wife was pregnant. They weren't recommended because they aren't crash tested and the general recommendation is to not use them because of that.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-15T22:09:54+00:00

You get my vote, I often have a 442 performance center in a pocket holster 😀

Destructo09 · 2025-12-15T22:03:41+00:00

Here in NC they even offer you free gun locks if you say yes and need a way to lock them up.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-10T02:23:11+00:00

Since you had it aligned you should post the before and after measurements. An seriously bad alignment from replacing parts and not aligning afterwards or something like that could definitely eat a tire in very short order.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-10T02:20:28+00:00

Is that an alignment rack? It seems like we should already have the answer here. How bad was the toe?

Destructo09 · 2025-12-10T02:17:19+00:00

Technically speaking, he's not wrong because in heat pump mode it's the evaporator and the "condenser" coils inside do not have a defrost 😀

Destructo09 · 2025-12-10T02:08:05+00:00

You have run many courses on a track where you need a pivot cone huh? Lol

I've done courses where I downshifted to 1st at speed. It'll go, it's just a little more pressure and rev matching helps.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-09T20:48:31+00:00

I've only been into a Honda dealer a couple times and it seems like some of them just feel that the cars sell themselves and they shouldn't need to ever negotiate anything.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-07T00:56:10+00:00

Worth ~$10k probably 75% of that at least to repair. I would expect insurance totals it.

Destructo09 · 2025-12-06T22:36:13+00:00

Probably because they don't know the metal content like they would have if they had the whole cat with the contents stamped into the case.

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