what do you drive-

I see 2 flaws in batmanwest's Subi... the front and rear license plates.  

Originally posted by getkong Originally posted by Superorb That Outback looks great! But steel wheels? I thought they ALL came with really nice 17" aluminum wheels. They just look like aluminum wheels that were painted to me.

Look at the first pic. You can see the wheel cover (painted black) and between the spokes you can see the black steel wheels.

Originally posted by Viper713 My 2006 Nissan 350Z. Love this car, but for me a stepping stone for a Viper. I love all cars, so hopefully someday my garage is way bigger than my house! For snowboarding I use my Jeep though

Why a Viper? I could think of several cars I'd put ahead of that.

Originally posted by Superorb Originally posted by getkong Originally posted by Superorb That Outback looks great! But steel wheels? I thought they ALL came with really nice 17" aluminum wheels. They just look like aluminum wheels that were painted to me.  Look at the first pic. You can see the wheel cover (painted black) and between the spokes you can see the black steel wheels.

Didn't know my rattle can skills were that good.

Anyways...yeah,  steelies..I dunno. The hubbies are subi branded though. (not saying that makes them nice, just that it throws another wrench into the situation) I thought base models had hubs, but I really don't know THAT much about subies. Oh...and they are 16 inch btw. To even confuse you more hahah.

Originally posted by batmanwest Anyways...yeah,  steelies..I dunno. The hubbies are subi branded though. (not saying that makes them nice, just that it throws another wrench into the situation) I thought base models had hubs, but I really don't know THAT much about subies. Oh...and they are 16 inch btw. To even confuse you more hahah.

I've never seen steel wheels on an Outback EVER, so I never considered them coming with steelies. Even the old school ones had aluminum wheels.

Ok, so it looks like they started with the steel wheels in 2007 on the base (basic) model and kept it that way. Just wanted to make sure you didn't get hosed. You could use those wheels for winters and buy a set of the 17" standard wheels from the 06 or older Outback for the rest of the year.

Originally posted by batmanwest Originally posted by Superorb You could use those wheels for winters and buy a set of the 17" standard wheels from the 06 or older Outback for the rest of the year. That's the plan....well..kinda. The summer wheels will prob not be from another subi. but rather something a little darker, and flashier. My wife has fallen in love with BBS. I just wish she would understand that her bank account will not feel the same way. Ever since she has gotten this thing, she has been surprising the piss out of me. All I hear is, "I want this...I want that" and so on. Already wants a light bar, fog lights, rally armor flaps, expensive flashy ass summer wheels, and so on..

Not too intrude on the conversation but I love the way Safari Racks look on Subaru's (not my car)

Rota wheels are super popular with the Subaru crowd for good reason. Look nice, don't weigh too much, and decent prices. 

^^ Is that your dad's garage? Some day I wish to have a garage larger than the house it's attached to :)

^ Believe me, a 3 car garage isn't as big as you might think.  The damn thing fills up fast, even though we have just 2 vehicles.  Lawn/landscaping equipment, snow blower, bikes, sports gear, kids summer outdoor toys... before you know it you're lucky to be able to squeeze 2 vehicles in.

I like your idea, 3 car attached and 3 car detached.

Originally posted by Superorb ^^ Is that your dad's garage? Some day I wish to have a garage larger than the house it's attached to :)

It was a small garage where we kept our race cars with my dad's friend. That friend has since gotten a huge warehouse and made a race/restoration shop. Needless to say, lot's of amazing cars come out of there!

changing the valve springs, valve seals, spark plugs, wires in my z06.  serious pain in the ass, especially when i lost a single valve spring keeper, and had to wait until this morning to pick one up from the dealership. ugh.

I absolutely LOVE that s5, except that you need to put some blacked-out wheels on there.  These perhaps?

my friend just got the A5, in red. its a beautiful car. wouldnt have chosen red though! enjoy it! 

if only the rs4 avant was coming to the states...

Originally posted by ichiban Got this in June, finally got around to taking some photos...2012 Audi S5

That's an awesome car. I try to explain to some people how good an A5 or S5 look using a picture but it just looks so much sexier in person.

Not just you kong... I've always liked performance sedans. So much more practical, plus I think they look better. The old school M3 sedan is nice.

Love the e39 m5 and e46 m3. They've been worse after those two, in my opinion. 

The older cars just felt more connected to the road.

I ended my 3 day long hell with my car yesterday with a stroke of luck. What started out as a simple CV axle boot replacement turned into a nightmare. The axle was stuck and wouldn't come out of the hub. I even broke an axle press trying to press the axle out of the hub. So, I had to reboot the axle with it still on the car. NOT fun... I riped a tiny hole in the lower ball joint so I had to buy another one at the stealership. Then I couldn't remove the BJ because the separator borked the threads on it. I had to take a needle file and file ever so slightly the threads to repair them. A few hits with a mini sledge and the BJ came out. Kim's car put up a 2 day fight removing the BJ so I had a beer in celebration :) I had to manually repair threads on another bolt that ate itself too. What a nightmare, but the car is back on the road :)

Originally posted by getkong ouch.  my valve spring job was *supposed* to take no more than 6 hours, but with losing a single valve spring keeper, and then snapping a bolt in the head, it took closer to 11 hours.

Not even doubling the time is a win in my book. Usually something is rusted to hell and it takes me a few days longer than expected. Rebooting an axle should've been an hour or two tops, not a 3 day disaster. If I wasn't ale to fix the threads of that BJ I would've had to find another knuckle, new wheel bearing/hub along with another axle.

Originally posted by Lux I'd put some fire on the hub to help loosen up the axle. Axle splines will tend to stick in the hub after some time. For most FWD cars, you can remove only the tie rod from the knuckle and give yourself enough room to pull the axle-- this avoids tampering with the ball joints. A good deadblow hammer, or a sledge with a drift punch, can tap the axle out once heated with a torch; or an air hammer is super useful in these cases. Always strike with the axle nut still on the threads to prevent mushrooming.

The tie rod end DOES use a ball joint to connect to the knuckle ;)  And removing the tie rod doesn't allow the knuckle to move farther away from the car since all the tie rod does is pivot the knuckle on the knuckle's ball joint. I just rebooted the inner joint while still on the car. Not easy or fun, but doable on mine.

Originally posted by Superorb The tie rod end DOES use a ball joint to connect to the knuckle ;) And removing the tie rod doesn't allow the knuckle to move farther away from the car since all the tie rod does is pivot the knuckle on the knuckle's ball joint. I just rebooted the inner joint while still on the car. Not easy or fun, but doable on mine.

yeah I know a tie rod, but I thought you were talking about the upper/lower balljoints lol. Usually that wide knuckle angle is more than enough to pull out an axle if you compress the shaft (so long as your CV balls haven't seized in their bores). If you do these a lot, I recommend a pitman arm puller. I just got mine a month ago and have used it whenever I had to press out balljoints from their seats instead of using my overdestructive sledge or air hammer; as long as there is a pilot relief in the metal to centre the tool on, it will work every time in literally 3 seconds, with little effort.

Originally posted by ichiban Got this in June, finally got around to taking some photos...2012 Audi S5

94 toyota 4runner, maroon

Taking the scenic route back from Mt Evans and stopped at Echo Mountain.