The Tread Thread

[Outdated]

Simple but important question.
What satellites with the rover be pinging off of on Mars for it's GPS navigation?

Actually a good question, more than likely the six geostationary satellites set up for the guidance systems on Cassini.

 

[grommet]

I was actually looking for a picture of the treads on the current mars rover, seeing that lifted my brow a bit.

If it is Curiosity, it does not have treads. It has titanium wheels with a spoke design from a bicycle designer. The wheels have a ridge that repeats for traction but they wore down more quickly than the engineers expected. The shape of the very wide wheels and the wide open spoke design make it so that the wheels can not pack up with sand or mud and be bogged down and stuck. No matter how deep they go whatever fills in the wheel spills out. Wonderful.

The engineers all called her she and said they though of her as a person. Jaime Waydo the lead design engineer for her landing design (hard for me to explain more accurately) cried when they first dropped her prototype to test her. Then she toughened up and said, that's what we designed her for.

 

[grommet]

I was actually looking for a picture of the treads on the current mars rover, seeing that lifted my brow a bit.

What does it mean, "... lifted my brow for a bit." ?

 

[Outdated]

What does it mean, "... lifted my brow for a bit." ?

When people are surprised they (usually) raise their eyebrows. The picture surprised me.

 

[Nitro]

The Tweel is a neat concept for a tire that doesn't involve pneumatics to perform.
The downside of it to a balloon tire is it's inability to to dissipate heat generated from road friction, so thus far are unsuitable for road use at higher speeds.

Michelin X Tweel Airless Radial Tires | Shop and Buy Online

Discover the advantages of Michelin Tweel airless radial tires, available for zero turn radius mowers, ATVs, UTVs, skid steer loaders and golf carts.

tweel.michelinman.com

 

[grommet]

When people are surprised they (usually) raise their eyebrows. The picture surprised me.

Oh. Interesting.

 

[Rodafina]

The Tweel is a neat concept for a tire that doesn't involve pneumatics to perform.
The downside of it to a balloon tire is it's inability to to dissipate heat generated from road friction, so thus far are unsuitable for road use at higher speeds.

Michelin X Tweel Airless Radial Tires | Shop and Buy Online

Discover the advantages of Michelin Tweel airless radial tires, available for zero turn radius mowers, ATVs, UTVs, skid steer loaders and golf carts.

tweel.michelinman.com

I have no reference point except for car tires – are these prices especially expensive?

 

[Nitro]

I have no reference point except for car tires – are these prices especially expensive?

For example, the

X® TWEEL® TURF 18", 4x4" retails for over $400​

A similar balloon tire could be about a fourth of the cost of one.

 

[GypsyMoth]

We forgot a tread type. Needle and Tread?

Oh, wait. There might be a letter missing....

 

[Rodafina]

We forgot a tread type. Needle and Tread?

Oh, wait. There might be a letter missing....

Needle Point Screw​

 

[Nitro]

View attachment 90709

Needle Point Screw​

When I was a pup, I moonlighted at a Boron filling station where we had a full service garage.
Back then I was involved in the tech sector by day and did it mostly to gain access to their equipment and garage space to play with my streetmachines.

We fixed a lot of flats there in the evenings too because the place was open 24 hours in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA.
One of the things we often did was to remove a sharp object from a tire, proclaim that it was a part of a numbered set of them that we hadn't seen in a while then pretend to toss it back out on the roadway

 

[Nitro]

Back then, self service was prohibited by the city fire department, so pump jockeys were all the norm.

Another game we played was to short stick a car to show that it was a quart low on oil to the customer then ask if they wanted it topped off.
Oil didn't come in plastic bottles back then it was either in an all metal can or a fiber sided one with a metal ends.

If you got a yes, you reached over to the oil rack beside the pump, grabbed a steel quart can and jammed the spout into it.

After it "drained", you full sticked the engine and showed the customer the results.
After paying for the fuel and oil, you put the fuel money in one pocket, and the oil in another.
Why?
Because we also kept empty oil cans on the rack we had opened on the bottom.
Back then a quart of oil cash was worth about three gallons of gas, so it could be quite lucrative in the end

 

[GypsyMoth]

After paying for the fuel and oil, you put the fuel money in one pocket, and the oil in another.
...
Back then a quart of oil cash was worth about three gallons of gas, so it could be quite lucrative in the end

Man, I bet! My mamma warned me about guys like you! That's why I know how to do my own oil changes, learned what every shake, rattle and roll is to my engine, in the distant past would jimmy-rig holes with a tin can until I had the money to replace the exhaust pipe, and have helped change serpentine belts, water pumps, temperature valves, an entire radiator... And I am great at using a Chilton's!

The only thing I don't do is, after changing the windshield wiper arm motor, when I put the windshield wiper assembly back together, I put the wipers back on slightly askew. They stayed like that till the car was totaled. Apparently, I have a "if it works for the most part, don't re-fix it" attitude about these things!

 

[Nitro]

Man, I bet! My mamma warned me about guys like you! That's why I know how to do my own oil changes, learned what every shake, rattle and roll is to my engine, in the distant past would jimmy-rig holes with a tin can until I had the money to replace the exhaust pipe, and have helped change serpentine belts, water pumps, temperature valves, an entire radiator... And I am great at using a Chilton's!

The only thing I don't do is, after changing the windshield wiper arm motor, when I put the windshield wiper assembly back together, I put the wipers back on slightly askew. They stayed like that till the car was totaled. Apparently, I have a "if it works for the most part, don't re-fix it" attitude about these things!

I think it would blow your mind how much stuff we have to disassemble and reassemble during a restoration.
Being eidetic, I memorized an entire hard bound Motors Manual in sixth grade.
A Motors manual covered all domestic cars that were in production that spanned about a decade, so the one I got inside of my head covered from about 1960 to 1970.

In my collection, I have the 1967 Motors manual that covers my '66 Chevy Caprice and the 1967 flat rate manual that covers the repair times.

Oh yeah, and the Caprice was cosmetically restored once, built into a streetmachine next and is now about 85% completed as a 900 horsepower 10 second NHRA dragster.
Lots of bolts, nuts and modifications combined with cubic dollars

 

[Nitro]

I had quite an illustrious career as a street racer before finally graduating to the dragstrips.

The strips are actually fairly slippery when compared to the street.
On the street, lane choice is the luck of the draw with the traction being from optimum to approaching that of the track.

I burned up a lot of cheater slicks on the roads and untold amounts of high octane gasoline in order to attempt to remain on top.
Oh, and the many fines for running tubular exhaust headers which were illegal at the time

I do recall one point in time when I got nabbed for exhibition of speed (scorching the tires off my ride doing a "mad" flaming burnout) which in turn "forced" me to go out street racing to cover the fine

 

[GypsyMoth]

@Nitro, beautiful car! Nice engine, too.

I had this crazy idea of restoring a Karmann Ghia. When I found out that 14 yr old boys could manage retrofitting them with an engine swap out of a Mazda 3, I thought, I could learn how to do that.

But I have neither the time, money, or inclination at the moment to do so. Plus, it is nice having a skilled mechanic who can look over your shoulder--my dad taught me most everything about what I know about cars. It's fun, but at the same time, I'm not a mechanic. If my dad could help me, I'd still think about doing it, but if I lived close enough I think he'd be teaching me his woodworking skills instead. (He's getting up there in years and doesn't work at it so much anymore. It's sad to watch him not be able to do what he loves.)

 

[Nitro]

My first performance build at age 14:

This was a VW Beetle chassis up front in combination with a Chevy Corvair rear drive assembly.
The Engine was a factory hipo 4 carbed Corsa engine with a 4 speed transmission hung on the rear suspension out of the 'vair.
Weighing in at around 1000 lbs., it was stupid quick and very fast.
Probably more than a 14 year old needed in most eyes, but a boy has to start somewhere, right?

 

[GypsyMoth]

I had quite an illustrious career as a street racer before finally graduating to the dragstrips.
...
I do recall one point in time when I got nabbed for exhibition of speed (scorching the tires off my ride doing a "mad" flaming burnout) which in turn "forced" me to go out street racing to cover the fine

My dad used to race. I have this memory of my mom being upset that he'd never let her drive his car and when I heard about his racing, I thought, ohhhh.... (The things you find out when your parents are on oxygen and housebound.)

Anyway, I will not get into a vehicle with him anymore. He still drives like he's in a race car. I about had a heart attack. (2nd childhood??? NOT with me in the car!!!)

 

[GypsyMoth]

My first performance build at age 14:
...
This was a VW Beetle chassis up front in combination with a Chevy Corvair rear drive assembly.
The Engine was a factory hipo 4 carbed Corsa engine with a 4 speed transmission hung on the rear suspension out of the 'vair.
Weighing in at around 1000 lbs., it was stupid quick and very fast.
Probably more than a 14 year old needed in most eyes, but a boy has to start somewhere, right?

This almost looks like a prototype for a modern dune buggy. There's quite a demand for mechanics on custom-designed off-road vehicles out west. I know at least one who's made some money at it.

 

[Nitro]

I went with my Dad in '69 to the now fabled Yenko Chevrolet to accept delivery of this SS 396 4 speed El Camino:

I drove it for two years during highschool until my mom started ranking off about trashing their insurance and I got my own ride and insurance.
My brother drove it next then restored it about 30 years ago.
This was him driving my father to his 80th surprise birthday party in it out at his airplane hanger.