What did you do today?

[Horsin'round 321]

21 minutes ago, c-series don said:

How does that tool work? I didn’t know that existed! 

 

Cleat said it was for setting the rivets that hold the blades.  I will be learning as well. I'm accustomed to setting rivets with a ball peen hammer. Not sure if it is still available but the toy was in it's box. Here's a part number 

[Dan 312-8 275]

On 9/28/2025 at 10:08 PM, Ed Kennell said:

Rolled into crab camp at 3PM and moved in for the week.

 

And the relaxing begins.

 

Nice! Enjoy!

[cleat 7,709]

Bought my loving wife a new 2025 Explorer.

We will also be using it for road trips and since it has a hitch it may do some horse hauling some day.

 

It came with 21" wheels and big brakes so it handles and stops well.

 

Her car has the upgraded interior.

 

Lots of cargo room.

Third row seats are up in this pic but will likely spend most of their time folded down flat.

 

 

 

[sqrlgtr 1,113]

Man I really like them and been wanting to trade oladys 2020 Ford Fusion in on one. Thats really what we wanted when we bought fusion but got a pretty good deal and 0% on car sooooo. 

[Ed Kennell 43,201]

Nuther good start crabbing yesterday.

never know what may come up in a crab trap.

 

The beach crowd thinned out so we decided to walk the 80 miles to Ocean City. 

79 mile to go.

 

20-40 MPH winds today so time to relax.

 

 

Few more crabbers just rolled in.

 

Edited October 1 by Ed Kennell

[adsm08 3,663]

8 hours ago, sqrlgtr said:

Man I really like them and been wanting to trade oladys 2020 Ford Fusion in on one. Thats really what we wanted when we bought fusion but got a pretty good deal and 0% on car sooooo. 

 

The Fusion is by far the better vehicle. I am very unimpressed with the current generation of Explorers. I'm unimpressed with FoMoCo in general right now, from both a product and a business entity stand point.

 

I guess if you only plan to own their vehicles until the warranty runs out and you never have to actually work on one they might not be so bad. 

Edited October 2 by adsm08

[Horsin'round 321]

Livin' the dream Ed!

 

5 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Nuther good start crabbing yesterday.

never know what may come up in a crab trap.

 

The beach crowd thinned out so we decided to walk the 80 miles to Ocean City. 

79 mile to go.

 

20-40 MPH winds today so time to relax.

 

[Beap52 1,684]

We returned from our road trip to Niagara Falls this afternoon.  I asked a couple of months ago for suggestions from you all that live in the area and the replies were helpful.  

 

We were gone eleven days.  During that time we traveled from Southwest Missouri to Des Moines to meet with friends who accompanied us.  We drove up through Canada to the falls.  Stayed in a house not too far from Youngstown.  Visited the falls from both Canada and the States.   Got wet on a boat ride up near the bottom of the falls. Watched a video produced by drones flying around the area.  Video was only 6 minutes long but very interesting.  Rode boat through couple of locks on Erie Canal and drove through a tunnel under the canal.  Spent time at Fort Niagara, several light houses and military ships in Buffalo.  I toured 1905 a power house that produced electricity.  The walk down the 2,200 foot tunnel was impressive.  On way home, rode a steam engine train.  The ride was ok but getting to watch the engine run was the highlight for me.  We also stopped at the RV museum in Indiana.  Very interesting.  

 

The weather was perfect.  The grass was green--quite the change from 1 1/2 months with only 1/4" of rain  that we received.  The folks we met and visited with were super friendly and helpful.  They suggested local restaurants that had great food--a couple we visited more than once.  I ate my first roast beef on a weck--quite tasty--never heard of such a thing before.   Lots of history.  Not likely to get back that way again but surely enjoyed our short time there.

 

Below is a wheel horse at the RV museum.  They also featured other things produced in Indiana.  I liked how they had it "hitched" to the hitching post. 

[Ed Kennell 43,201]

The NE winds calmed a bit so we took a boat ride.  Dropped a couple crab pots and sand shark was the fish of the day.

 

 

Good day with my boys.

 

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,855]

Broke 400 miles with today’s ride! I’ve pedaled (no battery power here!)  402 miles to be exact so far this season. 
 Was a chilly start, I warmed up once I had a couple miles under my belt. 
 

 

 

 

[Dan 312-8 275]

On 10/1/2025 at 11:07 AM, cleat said:

Bought my loving wife a new 2025 Explorer.

We will also be using it for road trips and since it has a hitch it may do some horse hauling some day.

Nice! Love the color!

 

Crazy when you think about it when most of us cut our teeth in the automotive world, 13", 14", & 15" where the common wheel sizes, unless you had a 3/4, or 1 ton truck you had 16" or 16-1/2" wheel sizes, and those looked big... 

Edited October 4 by Dan 312-8
grammar

[953 nut 62,380]

1 hour ago, Dan 312-8 said:

 

Crazy when you think about it when most of us cut our teeth in the automotive world, 13", 14", & 15" where the common wheel sizes,

And eight inch drum brakes that would stop the car,   well sorta.       Love the big disc brakes on today's cars.

[8ntruck 8,198]

  When I started in the steel wheel industry in 1978, 15" was the largest automotive size.  I think the first 16" wheel we did was for Mitsubishi Eclipse built in the assembly plant in Normal, Ill.  At the time, we thought it was a kind of exotic application for a small car.  A few years later, the 15" wheel had pretty much become the 'small" wheel.

 

A couple of my projects in that time period were to modify the blank feeders on some of the transfer presses to be able to feed the larger diameter blanks that were needed.

 

We pretty much maxed out the presses with 18" wheels for Ford and GM pickups.  Those needed blanks that were about 20 1/2" diameter.  Those got close to maxing out the tonnage of the press and filling up the distance between the transfer rails.  I think GM is still using one of those wheels on their BrightDrop electric delivery van.

[cleat 7,709]

3 hours ago, Dan 312-8 said:

Nice! Love the color!

 

Crazy when you think about it when most of us cut our teeth in the automotive world, 13", 14", & 15" where the common wheel sizes, unless you had a 3/4, or 1 ton truck you had 16" or 16-1/2" wheel sizes, and those looked big... 

 

Parked my 2020 truck beside it.

Truck has 20" wheels that I thought were huge 5 years ago.

 

[Ed Kennell 43,201]

Another great day on the water.  Captain Mike searching for fish.

[ebinmaine 74,738]

Trina decided the camper needed the lights and flamingo here in the yard. 

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 29,394]

So... that's your new sleeping quarters... 

 

Cute birds... 

[ebinmaine 74,738]

24 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

So... that's your new sleeping quarters... 

 

Cute birds... 

 

 

Lamps. 

Night view. 

 

 

[Handy Don 14,780]

11 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

When I started in the steel wheel industry in 1978, 15" was the largest automotive size. 

My latest car came with 20” wheels. I thought “this is just extra bling to boost the price." I admit that I was wrong.

The larger overall diameter and the advances in tire tread/carcass/and banding (and I’m sure some better suspension dynamics) were a revelation in handling compared to my 2004 with 16” wheels. 

[8ntruck 8,198]

The shorter sidewalls makes them stiffer improving what is called 'turn in'' - the tire reacts quicker to steering input.  There is probably some reduction in rolling resistance as well.

 

Years ago, we had a Sable station wagon that I went to 16" wheels and shorter tires when I replaced tires.  I noticed an improvement in handling, put a slight reduction in brake performance, due to the low profile tires acting as more efficient flywheels.

[Handy Don 14,780]

13 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

The shorter sidewalls makes them stiffer improving what is called 'turn in''

I was skeptical, too, of the shorter sidewalls given the, shall we say "challenging," road conditions that the freeze/thaw cycles inflict on roads in the Northeast. I’ve replaced rims and tires aplenty.

I’ve since learned that to protect expensive rims, prevent pinch flats, and provide safer handling in case of a sudden flat, most newer low-profile tires have a beefier shoulder molded in. Nice!

[8ntruck 8,198]

Yup.  The shorter, stiffer sidewalls also make for a rougher ride.

[953 nut 62,380]

6 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

shorter sidewalls makes them stiffer improving what is called 'turn in'' - the tire reacts quicker to steering input.

6 hours ago, Handy Don said:

I’ve since learned that to protect expensive rims,

 

Just remember to stay away from curbs or you will need a new rim or two.

[JPWH 6,542]

Took a short walk on the beach the last three days. We will be here till Thursday. Our annual anniversary trip that we have missed for the last four years.

[19richie66 17,765]

1 hour ago, JPWH said:

Took a short walk on the beach the last three days. We will be here till Thursday. Our annual anniversary trip that we have missed for the last four years.

 

Happy Anniversary!