JDM YO

"CPT Speedbump" (cpt-speedbump)
11/10/2014 at 17:50 • Filed to: None

Just got the Yota insured and through emissions, the started is sometimes slow to turn and the tires have some dry cracks, so those are next on the trucks agenda..but for now, she's road legal and ready for the snow!..which is good because we got our first snow here in Loveland Colorado today, lol. Last minute winter car buying FTW!

DISCUSSION (34)

T5Killer > CPT Speedbump
11/10/2014 at 17:51

Awesome! BTW My parents lived in loveland in the mid '70s.

CPT Speedbump > T5Killer
11/10/2014 at 17:52

Nice! I'm sure is completely different now, lol.

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/10/2014 at 17:57

Awesome! Now go find some snow, I demand you!

mattc993 > CPT Speedbump
11/10/2014 at 18:15

I can't really read that plate...what kind of Yota is this? FJ? LC? One of the pickups?

I'm in Boulder if you ever need a hand wrenching on it - I'm fairly knowledgable in the 4x4 department.

Enjoying the snow today. Hopefully much more to come.

CPT Speedbump > mattc993
11/10/2014 at 18:37

It's a 88' Pickup . And alright, I'm thinking that it'll only get parts it needs for now, till the Z is more track ready and the Beetle has more parts it needs..then I'll be making the pick up a bit more trail worthy

mattc993 > CPT Speedbump
11/10/2014 at 18:39

Nice truck.

BoulderZ > CPT Speedbump
11/10/2014 at 23:42

Nice! Just down the road from you in Boulder. Oddly, also with a Z that gets tracked and an 80s Yota p-up. The snow was really strange today, but very welcome. At 11 AM I was outside in a t-shirt finishing up winterizing the mower. Parka, gloves, and hat to go pick up my kid at daycare at 4 PM, after snow-brushing and ice-scraping the car. Have fun!

CPT Speedbump > BoulderZ
11/11/2014 at 09:22

Yeah, gotta love Colorado's mood swing weather, lol. I'm not welcoming of the snow at all, but that's only because I work outdoors -.-

BoulderZ > CPT Speedbump
11/11/2014 at 12:25

It is a tough day for outdoors work, and tomorrow looks worse (high of 10 in our local forecast). Hope you can stay warm and dry!

CPT Speedbump > BoulderZ
11/12/2014 at 00:28

Indeed, atleast I'm in a truck half the time...with a heater that somewhat works, and awful door seals -.- Should hopefully be able to stay dry, did today, just....warm is another thing -.- was fine for the most part today at least. How were the roads in Boulder today? Because they were shittyyyy here. There was 3 accidents in one intersection by my work before I even got there (I get there around 810) and I saw 2 people spin out myself. Also saw a FedEx guy get rear ended...not gonna lie, a UPS truck almost joined.. I saved it though, but when a UPS truck is sliding, you know it's icy as shit out, lol

BoulderZ > CPT Speedbump
11/12/2014 at 10:58

Boulder roads on Tuesday were pretty good, all in all. The residential side streets were slick, which is sort of expected as they don't get enough traffic to warm and melt it in these temperatures. Pulling out of my neighborhood on to Moorehead, which is a residential collector, 2-lane, 25 mph with bike lanes and parking, I watched a Prius overcook their turn on to a side street, understeer, and stop in the oncoming lane of the street they were trying to get on to. They had to the Backup Of Shame to get pointed the right direction again. More significant streets, like 30th, were maybe a little slick, but very easily drivable in pretty much any vehicle. The major arterials, like 28th, Canyon, Arapahoe, etc. were mostly just wet, with a few patches here and there. CDOT and the city did a great job. The forecast today has changed, though, with the high supposedly already reached at 3 degrees. That's cold enough that the roads should be somewhat sticky, with even only okay tires. The only issue is if there are any underlying ice spots due to it having been so warm only 48 hours ago.

Too true! When the UPS and FedEx guys are sliding, it's getting bad. I wonder what tires they use, and if there are any tech aids on them like LSD, traction control, ABS, etc.? They always seem to do well even when it's bad out. Good luck today, stay warm, safe, and dry as much as you can!

CPT Speedbump > BoulderZ
11/13/2014 at 00:41

I'm not sure about it being cold enough to be sticky, was way worse today in Loveland atleast, luckily putting the Yota in 4high apparently turns it into a tank in the snow, lol. I'm not sure if they have a LSD, don't really have enough power to slide and test if they do, lol, as far as I can tell/here, they don't seeemmm to have t/c or ABS...maybe the newer ones, the one I'm in is a old manual diesel with a 2 point seat belt.. ( new ones are auto petrol, newer ones are auto propane). It felt warmer to me today, so either I'm getting used to it, or wearing another 3 layers then I did yesterday worked, haha

BoulderZ > CPT Speedbump
11/13/2014 at 01:12

Yeah, it got steadily worse here today, too. The city, county, and CDOT did their best, but it was an uphill battle. It's been snowing since about noon Monday. I had a 3 hour second job interview and presentation at 2 pm, and took my truck. It was only 2 miles of in-town traffic, but it was a drive where you did need to pay attention. I would have taken my bike, but it was a low-formal/high-casual situation requiring a tie. I wasn't willing to risk it with a bike trip at 3 degrees or a clothes change on site. I've got an aftermarket LSD and brand new TA/KOs and it worked nicely. There's just been no break for the crews to get ahead or even catch up.

Interesting on the truck tech. I've always thought UPS trucks looked like they had especially narrow front tires. I wonder if there's a method to the madness in exploiting the cut-through advantage of narrow tires in snow, and knowing that the truck will always be on streets that at least sometimes see a plow (i.e. flotation would never be necessary)?

Hoping clothing and acclimation are working for you! It was way colder here today. High of about 8, most of the time at 3. Supposed to hit -4 tonight...

CPT Speedbump > BoulderZ
11/13/2014 at 23:19

I've got a buddy who's been dailying his bike for 2 winters now, I don't understand how. He just got a old FJ though, so hopefully he can get it running soon, lol. I'm not sure on the trucks, do know the front tires dig almost all the time, only understeered once so far. The biggest issue is getting the truck moving again sometimes, just spins the tires for a bit. Not gotten stuck at least though :D And yeah, I was perfectly warm today, had one of the trucks doors open till about 4 pm even, then I started closing them (and at some points had to turn the heater off do to being to warm). I hear tommorow should be a bit nicer. All I can say right now is - under armor (and it's cheaper competitors) is a fantastic invention, lol.

BoulderZ > CPT Speedbump
11/13/2014 at 23:52

Nice! Does look like we'll get a break on Friday. Dailying a bike is kind of similar to your strategy for keeping warm on route. It's all about using the right gear. The coldest commute I ever had was -17 F, winter 1996/1997, and it was fine. It was only about 3 or 4 miles and I was comfortable. Thermal base layer, jeans (casual workplace), then waterproof shell outer layer pants, thin base layer socks like you'd use for backpacking, then neoprene socks, then GoreTex street shoes (Merrel or similar). Up top, thermal base layer, collared shirt, fleece, then GoreTex parka shell (Marmot, NorthFace, Columbia, or whoever). Thin silk glove liners, then Pearl Izumi lobster cycling gloves (kinda hybrid of mitten and glove), fleece balaclava, Smith Optics glasses with clear or amber lenses, and a helmet. It was a beautiful ride. There was snow on the ground, so I used my old mountain bike, but it was so cold it squeaked as you rode on it. It was at night and absolutely crystal clear, felt like you were going to drift off the planet in to space. Nobody was out, making it very peaceful. I remember seeing the steam plume from the campus power plant going up, condensing/freezing in the extreme cold, and coming down as snow a few blocks away on some poor house that ended up with a personal snow storm.

CPT Speedbump > BoulderZ
11/14/2014 at 00:15

Gloves is definitely my biggest issue right now personally.and my face but I have a winter mask on the way, but it's hard for me to find gloves warm enough for me (my hands are stupid in the cold) that are also small enough to use the computer we carry with us.. bulky gloves make it impossible to hit the buttons. The gloves I have atm are decent but their velcro only lasted a day, now it won't attach anymore so they're all loose -.-

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 02:30

Wasn't enough snow to really find here, only got upto like 3 inches at most :P I did go offroading (lightly) a few hours ago (so like, 10 pm) with a friend, wanted to take a picture of the truck in a field we were driving around in with grass over the hood and headlights poking through, but phone died -.-

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 15:17

Haha, Dammit! Sounds fun.

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 15:21

lol, it was fun, pretty easy though, just one super steep incline with a 3 foot deep rut to -avoid, and a 3-4 foot drop were the only really hard parts..that and stopping on the underside of a hill covered in snow/grass then trying to turn around up the hill in 2wd, lol. Was able to do it all in 2wd, when we'd get past the drops we were kind of just flying around at over 30-50 mph..which on snowy grassy hills is interesting, my friend in his XJ would go straight over, but at times he'd hi the brakes (being newer to driving and less experienced at the art of the Hoon and knowing what his vehicle will do) and I'd turn to go a different route to avoid hitting him, and would end up going sideways over a lot thanks to little to no weight over my rear tires, lol

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 15:27

Haha, Glad the truck held up well! Make sure to teach him the full art of the hoon though, lol.

I've considered Rallycrossing my A4, but never do :)

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 15:32

Setting up a Rally Cross 350Z would be fun I thinks, but the current goal is time attack car

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 15:37

You should totally try to kickstart a UPS rallycross team using freshly retired trucks :)

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 15:43

lol, the issue is that UPS crushes retired trucks though..or rather they strip them of anything useful then crush them

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 15:45

That's too bad really, Do you drive a manual one? I really hope they save some of those before the automatics take over completely :P

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 16:02

Yeah, I've yet to drive a automatic at all. Wish I had a auto though, they're way faster..not only because they are auto, but also because of their engines and driver terrain. But atm with the snow I'm kinda glad I have a manual.

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 16:04

Haha, Can you tell-toe in it? The clutch is, Heavy?

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 16:18

In mine I could but no point seeing as they're so slow/geared so stupidly, lol, and I don't think so..but then again, I use it all day, as well as walking in and out of the truck (up and down the steps over and over and over) so..my calves could just be beastly, but I dont think it's that bad. The 2nd of the 3 I drove yesterday was super light..but it pretty much had no clutch left, was all in the top 1/3 of a inch of pedal travel. I drove 3 because my usual one had a wiring harness failure, causing it to run on half of it's cylinders and top out at 15 mph..if you could get it to move at all (up hill wasn't happening without clutch kicking it otherwise it'd stall) then I had a 2nd one for my pick ups since that one broke and I was now a hour+ behind, then they gave me a different one to finish since the 2nd one was so small for my route and shitty..then the 3rd ones battery died and I had to wait 20 minutes for a mechanic to come jump it...yesterday sucked.

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 16:58

Jeez, that's a lot of problems in a short period of time :O

I'm still confused how you guys manage to get your routes down, and know which houses to stop at :P

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 21:40

It gets worse too, I stepped to far in the cab and my foot slipped off the top step, landed on my ass on the pavement/ice and my back on the stairs of the truck..my shoulders and back are killing me now -.- also, slipped down one of those slanted curbs and shinned myself on the truck -.- yay working in the dark and not seeing where the curb even ends (y) and it gets easier with time, pretty much find the street, look at the cross street numbers, find which side has odds and which as evens. My route is cool because it has a lot of ## st's. Like, from 71st down to 29th, so if I have a address thats like...3007 butternut dr, I know that that is slightly north of 29th, because 29 - 30(07) - 31...etc, and I also know that streets runing east to west (like the 29th, 30th, etc)numbers go higher from east to west..hardest thing is just knowing where named streets and coldesacs are, which like i said is repition, or driving in circles, or looking at maps..or having a GPS, lol

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 21:43

Ouch, Hope it feels better soon :O

It would be cool if they installed a light below the step that activated when the truck has the handbrake on or something.

Pretty cool about the route though, I'd imagine you have to have a pretty solid sense of direction and patience to be able to do that.

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 21:46

There is a cab light, and lights in the back with the shelves, but you have to hit a switch to turn them on..and having the lights on in the cold is what killed my battery last night :P though then the mechanic told me to just leave the truck running, and if the supervisors or manager ask me wtf I was doing getting out with the truck running, tell them the mechanic said so...so, that's what I'll do if they yell at me on monday, lol. And somewhat, haha

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 21:52

Ohhhhh, That's a pain. First week I owned my A4, I was showing a buddy and he left one of the cabin lights on. -_- I made my most noble attempt to push start it, with no luck. Headlights also have to be switched off by yours truly, and I'm not going to lie. I almost forget quite often.

Just point your finger at the mechanic without saying a word, and then creep into a shadow :)

CPT Speedbump > jkm7680
11/15/2014 at 22:04

I'm forgetting less now that all my cars have manual lights, lol. And they'd be yelling at me in the morning if anything, the night mechanic wouldn't be their yet :P

jkm7680 > CPT Speedbump
11/15/2014 at 22:09

Haha, Hope you don't get yelled at :)