After almost 20-years of service, the motor of the driver’s door window regulator gave up the ghost. It still worked sometimes if you knocked it around, but the operation was halting, indicating the brushes had been ground down to their wear limit. I took the door apart and removed the regulator to make sure of this, and indeed, when the motor housing was removed, the brushes were bottomed out: The flexible, braided conductors connecting the brushes to the external power wires run through slots in the sides of the brush channels, so when these reached the bottoms of the slots, the brushes were held away from the commutator, and conductivity was lost. There was no “evil intent†on the motor subcontractor’s part to make the motor have a limited lifetime – the location of the braided conductors on the side of the brush was to keep the top of the brush clear for the brush springs. Continue reading ‘FJ80 Power Window Regulator Motor Swap’
Author Archive for risu
Page 35 of 95
These popped up on Amazon since I got the 2008 iteration of the M-pact glove there a couple years back. My old ones were getting old, and these were available in somewhat subdued tacti-geek coyote brown instead of NASCAR neon, so into my shopping cart they went. The build quality appears as good as my old pair. The molded-on vinyl armor is slightly more minimalist, but looks cool and still does the job about as well. Grip, breathability, and comfort are all about the same. The sizing seems to be a bit loose compared to my older set, which probably is why the armor strip for the pointer doesn’t quite line up with the first knuckle and centerline of the finger properly. These don’t really shrink, so the fit will remain the same for their lifetime. The brown color doesn’t show dirt stains and crud, which is great for MTB use, but they tend to blend in with the background, so avoid dropping or misplacing them in the woods. It would be nice if they were made of a flame-retardant material for actual motorized vehicle wrenching or tactical use, but for MTB riding, they are fine – plunging one’s hands into flames is an exceedingly rare occurrence while cycling. They’d work pretty well for airsoft too (another generally flame-less activity). Like their predecessors, they lack any kind of absorbent sweat/snot wiping material. Although they were not expressedly designed for sports use, it’s not like the need to wipe the sweat from one’s brow is unheard of when working on a car or patrolling the streets of Iraq.
Model # MMP-72
Made in The PRC
About $35 USD MSRP/$25 USD street price
Recommended with reservations (specifically, that PRC part)
Three-and-a-half out of four grinning gear monkeys
Similar to Clif Shot Bloks, these gummy energy blocks from the makers of GU gel are a convenient medium between energy gels and full-blown energy bars. The size and consistency are similar to the Clif Shot Bloks, but they seem to be a little less sweet. I’ve seen three flavors – blueberry/pomegranate, strawberry, and cranberry/apple. The strawberry and cranberry/apple have caffeine, but the blueberry/pomegranate does not (boo!). The packaging is like the original Clif packaging, where once opened, there is no built-in way to reclose the bag or otherwise keep the unused portion from escaping. If you don’t eat the whole 60-gram package at once, stash a rubber band to hold the package shut, or tear a hole just small enough to force a single block through and hope for the best. The caloric value is listed as 180 calories for the entire 8-block package, with 100mg of sodium total: The similar Clif product is 200 calories for 6-blocks with 140mg of sodium (for the non-sodium enriched flavors). It’s pretty clear that the GU product was designed to be a direct competitor to the Clif one. On a recent trail ride, I passed around a package of the blueberry/pomegranate flavor, and everyone in the ride group was positive about them. Last year, Root did a review on these also – click here for his review.
Made in The USA
About $2.00 USD retail
Recommended
Three out of four carbo-monkeys
Monday, 16 August 2010
Ckucke, Root, and I were pretty worn out from Sunday’s trail ride, but at JT’s insistence, we met up for a St. Louis drop with Kevyn. I relented because JT said it would be easy. The weather in the morning was terrible, so I thought maybe I’d get some respite from riding, but shortly after noon, the clouds dispersed, and the sun baked the trail again to dryness. To keep the muscle effort down, we stayed up on Mainline and went straight through to the rock drop trail after taco jumps. Descending to agave, we took the smooth, lower line out to the water tank, and stepped up to the rocky bypass above the concrete road. It seemed like we were going pretty fast in sections. Back at Kanewai, I talked with Cook Paul and my cousin, Mike, while Kevyn shuttled Ckucke back up to recover his truck. After ditching the bikes at Ckucke’s, we met Kevyn and Lorna for Vietnamese dinner at the top of Wai’alae. They got my order right this time.
Pictures here
D = 3.69 km (2.29-miles), Vavr = 15.8 km/h (9.8-mph), Vmax = 36.0 km/h (22.4-mph), T = 14-minutes
Sunday, 15 August 2010
The weather was perfect and the crew willing, so we turned out a little earlier than normal for a full Luana loop. JT was finishing up some artwork, and Dr. Paul had family business, so they were missing, but Chris, Ckucke, Danny, Jeff, Sara, Root, and I made the roll-out. Jeff started out pushing pretty hard on the initial road climb. I was trying to take it easy so I’d still have something left for the rest of the ride, but I ended up pushing hard near the front regardless. We entered the woods quite a ways further down than normal, climbing through the ironwood forest below the telephone pole hill. This entry made for a little less climbing. After a food and rest break at the big tree with rope-throwing and camera-swinging antics, we dropped to the Ditch via fat guy and took it all the way to the top of Government road before another break. Ckucke, Root and I were off the back going up the road. I’m not sure what everyone else was on, but it was full of “climbâ€. Continue reading ‘Seeking Ikaika’
Having missed riding over the weekend and Monday evening, we were all feeling the need for some dirt, so when JT instigated a Wednesday St. Louis drop, we were all in. Root, JT, and I piled into Ckucke’s truck, and we met Kevyn at Kanewai for the shuttle up. Although it had rained overnight and intermittently during the morning, the afternoon sun dried things out, so there was no trace of wetness on the way down through Dumps. At Agave, we climbed up briefly to the middle sortie and descended to the concrete road. Kevyn pinch flatted on the step-up after the water tank, so he had to walk it out to the street. Dinner was at Serg’s in Manoa at JT’s suggestion. I had some good carnitas enchiladas with tomatillo sauce for about $10 USD (oh, and JT, don’t forget to give me $20!).
Pictures here
D = 3.89 km (2.42-miles), Vavr = 13.7 km/h (8.5-mph), Vmax = 31.2 km/h (19.4-mph), T = 17-minutes
Just got home from The Contamporary Museum of Honolulu’s August Moon wine tasting fund raiser at The Edge at the Sheraton Waikiki. I was one of the featured artists at the “Drawn Out” venue table of artists who all donated their time and talents to create artwork on the fly for sale to the attendees to whip up some much needed cash for the museum. Traffic going into Waikiki was horrendous (Saturday? go figure) so I got there a little late (Sorry, Waileia!) – I really should have known better. I managed to draw two pieces – an oni gnawing on a skull, and two nekomimi girls in a box. Both pieces sold almost immediately. Whee! Cade ended up with my last minute scribble “Tio Muerte contra El Prehensilo”, which was not ready for prime time. I am a little curious as to who bought my pieces… Continue reading ‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’
I was stuck on the freeway today. No, it wasn’t because it is “back to school” time. No, it wasn’t the accident or stalled vehicle at the bottom of the School Street on-ramp on the other side of the freeway. It was Mr. Pokey in the Sentra who forced his way in front of me from the Like Like on/Vineyard off then dropped down to 25-mph. At least 15 cars took advantage of his 10-second following distance in the few miles I was on the freeway, all the while the traffic in back of him got further and further behind. The other lanes of the freeway were moving at a good clip, so there was no opportunity to pull out and change lanes.
(0)Sunday, 01 August 2010
Following a clear Saturday, Sunday broke clear, then flipped into alternating periods of rain and sun in increasing frequency. The call went out when it was sunny, but the clouds had closed in by ride time. Chris was champing at the bit to get on the bike, and Jeff and Root seemed enthused too. Ckucke texted me before roll-out time, asking about the weather. I walked outside, and after a brief inspection of the conditions I could actually see, I texted back that I thought “it would be OKâ€. When I left home, I could see Mt. ‘Olomana, but before I even got to Pali Highway, all had gone white and the roaring downpour began. I became skeptical about our chances of riding, but I figured I’d get a little closer to Waimanalo before calling it. As suddenly as it started, the rain stopped passing Castle Hospital. Ckucke had called to say he was running late, so I told him not to panic when all heck broke loose on the Pali. Waimanalo exists in its own microclimate and seemed to have missed the major precipitation. The edge of a rainsquall just caught us as we were gearing up to ride, but it soon passed and within moments, the sky was blue again and ground had dried out. The trail was much less forgiving: The areas under tree cover were damp, but not slick. Continue reading ‘Rain, Rain, Go Away’
The Monday after riding Ditch hungover, we took a run down St. Louis. After a hard charge down Upper Dumps and a grind back up to the dirt jumps, we headed down Mainline into the clear sunset. The light was pretty and made for nice photos, but it made riding challenging. Bright glare and dark shadows in the open areas forced the switch from visual cues to inertial guidance and memory going through the jumps and berms. Even so, there was a good flow going on. Somewhere along the last pitch, Ckucke got a pinch flat and had to run out the finish. Dinner was at the Vietnamese place on the top of Wai’alae. Root and I ordered stuff with vermicelli, but got stuff with rice. Oh well. At least they got the “stuff” part right…
Pictures here
D = 4.54 km (2.82-miles), Vavr = 12.2 km/h (7.5-mph), Vmax = 36.7 km/h (22.8-mph), T = 23-minutes