hahaha. What the hell pepboys? (inspection BS)

[CherryK5]

I don't understand all the back and forth regarding inspection on this site.
All of my vehicles have been wayyyyy too modified to pass inspection, what with engine swaps, no emissions equip., unoriginal parts, etc etc.

I pay the inspection dude in little Mexico $60 in cash and he hands me a sticker. Easy as that.

that's my problem too. The only thing original is probably the tub and frame.

 

[TexasSilhouette]

its $30 bucks a YEAR to make sure all the cars on the road have lights, brakes, tires, and **** that are not putting the rest of us at risk. thats a bargan and a half. I have friends from florida, and they always joke about how many broken down cars there are on the side of the road because there are no inspections. and there are so many shady cars that people drive around that are minutes away from killing someone. Ill take my VA inspections and bothersome $30 a year to make sure some idiot isnt gonna kill me because he loses control of his vehicle.

I spent a week in Tampa on business a couple months ago. I was totally blown away by the number of junk cars on the road. Leaky exhaust, mufflers along the road side, eye watering emissions at traffic lights. I had a close call with a car making a turn that had no working lights of any kind. I made a comment to a co-worker and he pointed out they had no inspection. I started paying attention to the condition of vehicles, what a bunch of dangerous cars there are on the road there. Bald tires, burnt out lights, leaky exhaust, you name it. I got stuck next to an 80's ford pickup and was sick from the exhaust fumes in time it took for the light to change.
I don't agree with everything that goes on with a state inspection or how they are randomly enforced at times, I know there is room for improvement. Having worked in the auto service industry and seeing what happens without them I for one am glad we have them in Texas.

 

[CherryK5]

I spent a week in Tampa on business a couple months ago. I was totally blown away by the number of junk cars on the road. Leaky exhaust, mufflers along the road side, eye watering emissions at traffic lights. I had a close call with a car making a turn that had no working lights of any kind. I made a comment to a co-worker and he pointed out they had no inspection. I started paying attention to the condition of vehicles, what a bunch of dangerous cars there are on the road there. Bald tires, burnt out lights, leaky exhaust, you name it. I got stuck next to an 80's ford pickup and was sick from the exhaust fumes in time it took for the light to change.
I don't agree with everything that goes on with a state inspection or how they are randomly enforced at times, I know there is room for improvement. Having worked in the auto service industry and seeing what happens without them I for one am glad we have them in Texas.

My truck isn't un safe, but so far from being stock that it's for them to tell whether or not it's road worthy, especially when they do all the new cars all day. Next tom y girlfriends hyundai my truck looks like a total mess, but familiarity helps a lot in vehicle safety and us guys driving older vehicles pay attention and drive much safer (most of the time) due to the fact that our trucks are so un-forgiving. I couldn't imagine letting anyone drive my truck. Most people can't even park their little cars, much less a big, wide truck like mine. Imagine how well they could keep it in their lane running down the highway. I'm getting a little off topic but you guys know what I mean.

 

[K85 Octane]

as a downtown los angeles/ CA driver, ^^^ I got ya loud and clear. Inspections are cool enough with me, hell even talepipe emissions tests are cool with me, but smog equipment visual test is very un-cool.

 

[Fordum]

I spent a week in Tampa on business a couple months ago. I was totally blown away by the number of junk cars on the road. Leaky exhaust, mufflers along the road side, eye watering emissions at traffic lights. I had a close call with a car making a turn that had no working lights of any kind. I made a comment to a co-worker and he pointed out they had no inspection. I started paying attention to the condition of vehicles, what a bunch of dangerous cars there are on the road there. Bald tires, burnt out lights, leaky exhaust, you name it. I got stuck next to an 80's ford pickup and was sick from the exhaust fumes in time it took for the light to change.
I don't agree with everything that goes on with a state inspection or how they are randomly enforced at times, I know there is room for improvement. Having worked in the auto service industry and seeing what happens without them I for one am glad we have them in Texas.

I have been working on this, and I am afraid that the only way I can reply to this, and I really want to, is by being insulting to someone or at the least Politically Incorrect.
Hopefully no one here will have a problem. And I am especially not picking on the poster I am replying to.

If this sounds insulting, please understand I don't mean for it to be. If you feel I have insulted you or your culture...........Well, get a life.
I didn't mean it, and I'm not going to apologize.

BTW, I DON'T do PC.

Anyway, while Tampa is not Miami, you are getting into a whole nother culture down there. After the Cuban boatlift pretty much Cubanized Miami, it has spread over a lot of the state.

My aunt, whose father homesteaded Hialeah, and whose house is an historic place, moved out several years ago because she could not live with what was going on in Miami.
There were lots of jokes about would the last American take down the flag as they left.

Up here in NW Fl. we're know as the Redneck Rivera. You will see more 4wd trucks, junkers, whathaveyou per mile than you can shake a stick at.

But don't try, some of these folks get mad if you stand around shaking sticks at them......
Lots of homemade trailers, many out of pickup rears.

But you see very few broken down, and its very unusual to have an equipment malfunction wreck.
The reason is, most of these are DDs. These folks depend on these vehicles to get them to and from work, hunting, fishing, whatever.
As a result, most of them have the same mindset a lot of you have. Make it run right, make it safe, and then, when you get the chance, make it pretty.

Down in south fl. they have the mindset of, drive it until it quits, call a relative and bum rides with them until you can patch it up, or it gets towed.

They do have a car culture, and spend lots of money and time on cars to show off in, but often the DDs get neglected.
Around here, its got to go. We don't have time for breakdowns.

Except for boat trailer wheel bearings.

I sometimes think that its an informal boat show going on up and down the highway along about springtime.
I have passed as many as 8 boats on the side of the road on one trip with one side jacked up and no wheel hub on that side.

They spend hours and hours getting the boat just perfect for the first day of fishing, but somehow never check the wheel bearings.

So far, I have never had a boat trailer wheel bearing failure on my equipment.
But I have been on at least 5 trips with friends who did.
If its a nice day, I usually volunteer to sit in the boat while they try to scrounge up bearings.
If its hot or looks like rain, the boat either takes its chances or they sit in it while I get the bearings.

Friendship has its limits.

 

[gotblazers]

yup, part of emissions testing is the visual inspection. hence the trend of hollowed out cats. i normally dont condone it, but in cases where the truck is old enough that it dosnt have to pass an emissions test, and the cats are old and clogged up, just use a breaker bar and smash out the media inside the converter. it basically becomes a resonating chamber in the exhaust system. still a strait through pipe, but looks like a cat, you tend not to get hassled.

it all depends on the inspector, but i will flat out disagree with the idea that the inspections dont do anything. for state and emissions its $30 bucks a YEAR to make sure all the cars on the road have lights, brakes, tires, and **** that are not putting the rest of us at risk. thats a bargan and a half. I have friends from florida, and they always joke about how many broken down cars there are on the side of the road because there are no inspections. and there are so many shady cars that people drive around that are minutes away from killing someone. Ill take my VA inspections and bothersome $30 a year to make sure some idiot isnt gonna kill me because he loses control of his vehicle.

Not tryin to dog anyone out, but workin in the automotive industry, ive seen some scary ass **** that people argued should have passed safety inspection. And as a tree hugger, im a fan of required emissions testing as well. guess im one of them darned left wing liberals afterall

You'd be amazed at how many vehicles come into my work (tire shop) with the steel belts showing or the tire pressure half of factory recommendations.

 

[Fordum]

You really need to carry around a camera..

Well, I do now. But most of the really good stuff happened back when I was young and crazy.
Still crazy, but I can't act on the ideas like I used to.

In the 70s, you just did not take pictures like you do now. Cameras were expensive, the developing cost money, and would usually take a week.
The Polaroids were nice, but pricey. And did not have the best optics.

Plus, you could only take one picture. After that, you had to follow the numbers. After you pressed button 1 to take the shot, you pressed 2 to release the film, 3 lifted the cutter lever so you could pull out the old negative which started the picture developing.
Then, after 30 seconds? don't remember how long, you pressed slide 4 to open the back door and peel out the finished B/W picture.

If you liked it, you had to coat it with the clear shellac to stop it from fading.

At that point, you were ready to take the next shot.
Not great for action pictures.

Also, since most of what I tell here happens to me, I am not always in the best position to take pictures.

Like last night, I was trying to shoot a coyote that was running down the road in front of the car.
I was holding my .22 rifle out the driver's side window "walking" the bullets up the road to him while driving about 40 with my right hand.

Had a camera in the car, but didn't have a spare hand to work it.

Would have had a nice picture of a dead coyote to show, but I had gotten lazy.
This Ruger 10/22 stays in the car or truck 24/7.
If you do that, you must pop out the rotary magazine about once a week or so and unload it and reload it.
If you don't, the wax on the bullets will melt in the heat of the car during the day and cause it to not feed when the wax cools off and sticks together.

My first shot was wide left and low. Next shot was almost alongside of him. But that spooked him and he sped up somehow.
So, my next shot kicked up dirt right behind his back feet.
Next shot would have been about between his shoulder blades, but the gun clicked. It had failed to load the next round.

Before I could do anything about it, we had reached the end of the two fences he was caught between, and he turned out into the woods.

OH, and if this sounds incredibly unsafe, don't worry, you just don't have all the details.

 

[K5dreamer]

You'd be amazed at how many vehicles come into my work (tire shop) with the steel belts showing or the tire pressure half of factory recommendations.

my personal favorite nearly crapped my pants moment... was a guy who came in saying there was something wrong with his tire pressure monitoring system. he said he kept checking the pressure and the light never went off on the dash. turns out "checking" meant "adding air", and he didnt know he had to set the tire pressure and then reset the system through the computer in the dash.

when i put the tire guage on the tires, they all pegged it to over 110psi... i have no idea how high they actually were, but i felt like i was diffusing four bombs when i was resetting the pressure for the guy. tire pressure for that car is 32 psi, 40psi max listed on the sidewalls.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Nice.

 

[K5dreamer]

I have been working on this, and I am afraid that the only way I can reply to this, and I really want to, is by being insulting to someone or at the least Politically Incorrect.
Hopefully no one here will have a problem. And I am especially not picking on the poster I am replying to.

If this sounds insulting, please understand I don't mean for it to be. If you feel I have insulted you or your culture...........Well, get a life.
I didn't mean it, and I'm not going to apologize.

BTW, I DON'T do PC.

you know its gonna be good with that long and well thought out of a disclaimer.

 

[wasted wages]

Anyway, while Tampa is not Miami, you are getting into a whole nother culture down there. After the Cuban boatlift pretty much Cubanized Miami, it has spread over a lot of the state.

My aunt, whose father homesteaded Hialeah, and whose house is an historic place, moved out several years ago because she could not live with what was going on in Miami.
There were lots of jokes about would the last American take down the flag as they left.

the Cuban boatlift pretty much Cubanized Miami,

I lived thru all of this when I was growing up in Miami,
the boatlift,,,the cubans in tent cities under the freeway overpasses....was some crazy times...I can't dissmiss the cubans as being all bad,,,I worked with a lot of them, they are a very industrious and proud people...but like any other illegal or refuge they take away from Americans...the good come with the bad....it's the nature of the beast...

I miss the place, but it is no longer like I remember it.... the horse track in Hialeah...Calder up to the north....the dog track...miami Jai alai....the pink flamingo's all over the place....the Orange bowl...Haulover beach and the pier..( jumped off the bridge there way too many times.)...the Hollywood sportatorium....the Miami base ball stadium....saw tons of concerts there.... Miami was a cool place at one time...

I grew up in Carol City....graduated from high school there in 1975...moved away in the 80's....I go back to the key's occasionally, ( Sis owns a Condo there ) maybe when I retire,,,I'll get an old ass trailer in one of those trailer parks in the keys...and grow old watching sunrises and sunsets...fishing the days away....

There were lots of jokes about would the last American take down the flag as they left.

I used to have a bumper sticker on my truck that said that......"will the last American leaving Miami, please bring the flag"