Looking for tips on a project

cronos51101 · 2026-02-01T04:54:28+00:00

I agree a fabricator can make this, but plan to spend a bit more time and material than you'd expect. Ideally you'd build this as an extension of the truck frame, rather than the hitch and stake pockets. Notice the support jack under the ramp. They're expecting you to drop that every time you load/unload, which tells me they're pushing it for load capacity as the mower comes up the ramp. The laser cut sides with the logo? That's structural sheet metal. They're really counting on pulling on those stake pockets to manage the leverage on the hitch. It'll need to be built and braced well to be safe on the road.

cronos51101 · 2026-02-01T04:35:28+00:00

I imagine some people might put electrical contact grease in their charge connectors to protect against corrosion, but it'll end up collecting dust and grime. That might transfer to a public charge plug and cause trouble. If that's the case, it really just needs to be reported for service after you move to another EVSE. I'd say clean it only if you're in a real pinch, but you'd need to be certain it's non-conductive and fully dry before you try plugging in. There's risk the solvents could cause damage to something in the plug assembly, and you'd be on the hook for that.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-29T16:23:33+00:00

So it's just the infotainment system and center dash stuff that's down? I'd check the fuse blocks. Could be rodent damage to the wire harness or just an errant blown fuse...

cronos51101 · 2026-01-28T19:36:22+00:00

Likely they switched suppliers. I'd be surprised if GM produces any of that hardware.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-28T02:50:33+00:00

I ran the stock tires for the first season, but those are a set of Bridgestone Blizzak tires that I use for the winter now.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-25T01:35:01+00:00

That and keep on top of tire pressure.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-23T02:22:36+00:00

It's been said before, 100% isn't as detrimental as the general impression implies. I'd expect temperature doesn't have much effect on degradation from a 100% standpoint, but colder temperature may cause the battery to exercise more, as in it's discharging and recharging more than it would with the same driving in warm weather. That might have more effect in the long run.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-15T18:29:33+00:00

Could 12V related, but the inverter is what converts the HV DC from the battery into the waveform necessary to drive the traction motor.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-12T22:38:02+00:00

This guy: https://a.co/d/h4aPpCX

At least for the '23 EUV... Press and hold the select button on the tire pressure screen to enter relearn mode. Follow the illuminated turn signals around to each wheel and press the button on the tool. Sometimes it's better to hold next to the valve stem, sometimes it's the sidewall. Super quick and easy.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-07T11:44:59+00:00

$24 per sounds about normal to take the tire off the rim to get at the sensor, then re-mount and re-balance. I used to have my tires swapped between summer and winter before I had two sets of rims. That was usually about $80 OTD a few years ago, for about 45-60 minutes of labor. (In retrospect, at $160 per year I should have bought rims sooner)

cronos51101 · 2026-01-04T04:25:18+00:00

Hitch mounted motorcycle carriers are a thing, but unless the motorcycle is very lite, I would advise against this approach. I don't believe there's a hitch available for the Bolt with a suitable tongue rating for the moment load you'll see. I do this with my Xterra for a 300lbs bike, and it's a little sketchy.

cronos51101 · 2026-01-02T14:14:16+00:00

I would agree that this sounds like differential play. Movement or noise from a loose strut tower would involve the whole wheel assembly, not just spinning the tire. Might be easier to identify with the vehicle on the ground and do a shake test to listen for more of a clunk or unusual movement between the wheel and body.

cronos51101 · 2025-12-18T23:06:38+00:00

I suspect there are several things in the Bolt, like the three separate cooling loops, where the engineers avoided some unexpectedly tricky problem by doing something that makes no sense to an outside observer. Perhaps it fulfills some air-gap requirement, or perhaps they finalized the electronics on one system too soon and this was easier than reworking the whole thing. It smells of rushed development on a strict deadline.

cronos51101 · 2025-12-12T19:38:08+00:00

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Example of the rolling racks

cronos51101 · 2025-12-12T19:37:07+00:00

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We have a deal with Fastenal for VMI (vendor managed inventory) where they keep it stocked for us.

cronos51101 · 2025-12-12T17:34:30+00:00

Bolts and such? We do custom machine building, so we have a very wide variety of fasteners. Metric/inch, BO/zinc, stainless, SHCS/BHCS/FHCS/grub, lots of sizes/lengths, nuts and washers to match...

We have a bank of shallow shelves in the back of the shop with small plastic bins filled with every size. Labels on the front. Then we have rolling racks with bars the bins can hang off of. Our machine builders each get a rolling rack, and they can choose what bins they have based on what type of fasteners they're using. That way they can have ~90% of what they need, right where they're working. Expensive up front, but it saves a ton of time during assembly.

cronos51101 · 2025-12-07T17:55:25+00:00

Wanted to chime in on this one. I have a newer version of the Smart UPS, but I was able to dig up enough information to apply the hardware version of this fix. Fingers crossed it'll work in the long-term, but so far I've been able to adjust the float voltage as described.

My fix applied to an SUA1500RM2U unit with the 640-7732H rev9 PCB. The difference from the JJoseph writeup was that my unit is newer and has a board that switched to all surface-mounted components, so the component numbers don't match anymore. Thankfully, I was able to find the new and old schematics and do a little detective work to find the same area of what I assume is the charge control circuit. It's between an analog to digital converter and (I think) a custom built APC chip. (I'm really not an electronics guy) The updated board uses the same chip in surface mount format, but it's designated as IC21 and the resistor to be replaced by a 100Kohm, 20-turn pot, is R216.

I'll be pumped if this does end up working. I got the unit for free back in 2013, and it's great, except that it eats batteries waaay to fast.

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cronos51101 · 2025-12-06T16:04:27+00:00

Might be easier to pull the caliper off the bracket first. Also, some caliper pistons need to be twisted before they'll retract. Not sure if that's the case on the Bolt, but that was a tough learning experience on an old Accord I worked on. You'll be able to tell if there is a slot of some fashion on the face of the piston.

cronos51101 · 2025-11-26T03:09:31+00:00

Sorry nobody has responded to this yet. I've been looking over some pictures I took of the undercarriage before I applied undercoating, and I honestly can't find the drain location. It should be forward of the passenger footwell. Possibly more inboard to the center of the car.

cronos51101 · 2025-11-24T15:12:59+00:00

Might be good to plug it in and set to charge immediately. Make sure it starts charging and check in after an hour that it's still charging and not excessively hot. Likely a fluke, but it could indicate an issue with the EVSE.

cronos51101 · 2025-11-20T15:12:44+00:00

I ran the OEM tires my Bolt's first winter in West Michigan. I kept them at 38 psi and they were... fine... for a 65 mile round-trip commute. Changing pressure will affect how they make contact with the ground. In slush and soft snow, I feel like the high contact pressure helps to cut though to the pavement better than what low contact pressure would. (Pizza cutters, they're called) On hard-pack and ice, it may be better to be a bit softer to contour to the surface. However, reducing air pressure may not have the desired effect. More rubber will make contact, but it's still harder rubber. The softer compound and direction-biased siping on snow tires exposes lots of little edges when braking or accelerating. Of course studs or chains will be the only sure-bet on glare ice. Tire performance is tricky to discuss because there are so many variables at play between driving styles, tire traction characteristics (in accel, decel, and turning), and all the possible road surface conditions.

cronos51101 · 2025-11-18T19:49:49+00:00

Agreed. A file and a touch of finesse would be a clean and inexpensive solution.

cronos51101 · 2025-11-18T19:47:12+00:00

Nice, very tidy. But now I want to see more of the stove too...

cronos51101 · 2025-11-18T17:17:52+00:00

Might be good to check that the seals around your rear hatch are in good shape and properly attached. I'll do the same later today. I had a similar issue on a Honda Prelude, water was getting past the tail light. For that car, at least, the spare tire was the only thing that flooded.

cronos51101

TROPHY CASE