Piston Slap: What's so Hellabad About Hellaflush?

Casey writes:

Hello Sajeev,

I had a coworker who had an older Acura NSX that was lowered. He complained about having to buy new tires because they were worn on the inside edge (down to the belts!). He had, what I thought to be, extreme negative camber due to an improper lowering. He said it was supposed to be like that. I have seen other cars running the negative camber and I’ve seen cars that were lowered without. So question, is there a reason to run extreme negative camber or is this just a bad lowering job?

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Piston Slap: Spicy…or Spicier?

John writes:

Wasup, Sajeev!

I have an 06 R/T Charger and I am contemplating getting a set of Eibach springs for it. What other costs might be associated aside from installation? What other products would I need to purchase, if any?

Thanks for any input,
John

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Piston Slap: To What End Unibody Repair?

Matt writes:

Hi Sajeev, Long-time listener, first-time caller. I have a 2011 Volvo C30 that was recently rear-ended pretty good. As a result of the collision, the car has just had $8k+ of work done in a body shop. Included in the list of work done (among the obvious paint, bumper cover, tailgate, etc) is 4 hours of labor for a “unibody pull”. Like everyone else, I know people who have horror stories about cars that have never been the same again after accidents. I’ve only had the car back for a couple of days and everything feels ok so far, but I do fear lingering issues.

What are your thoughts on a repair like this making the car 100% again? Would you dump it immediately to avoid any potential issues or hold on to it and see?

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Piston Slap: Better Steering Without the Better Car?

Oliver writes:

Sajeev,

In December of 2011, through an unfortunate chain of events, I became the not-so-proud owner of a 2007 Malibu. True to its origin as an ex-fleet car, it is saddled with the miserly 4-banger engine rather than the still-slow-but-adequate V6. The only positive attributes of this car are its cheap cost to own and excellent fuel economy for its size. It presently has about 80,000 miles on it – I expect to get another 40K out of it before the transmission implodes (domestic automatic – you get what you pay for).

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Piston Slap: The Cupped Tire Quandary

Mark in Upper Kentucky writes:

Sajeev,

Here’s a tire question for you to chew on: I just bought a new Mustang V6 (w/ the performance package), so I’ll soon put my ’07 Focus ST on the block. The car is in good shape mechanically and cosmetically, but I’ve got a bit of a tire issue. The Goodyear Eagle GT on the left rear has about 30k miles on it and is making a racket.

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  • ToolGuy I watched the video. Not sure those are real people.
  • ToolGuy "This car does mean a lot to me, so I care more about it going to a good home than I do about the final sale price."• This is exactly what my new vehicle dealership says.
  • Redapple2 4 Keys to a Safe, Modern, Prosperous Society1 Cheap Energy2 Meritocracy. The best person gets the job. Regardless.3 Free Speech. Fair and strong press.4 Law and Order. Do a crime. Get punished.One large group is damaging the above 4. The other party holds them as key. You are Iran or Zimbabwe without them.
  • Alan Where's Earnest? TX? NM? AR? Must be a new Tesla plant the Earnest plant.
  • Alan Change will occur and a sloppy transition to a more environmentally friendly society will occur. There will be plenty of screaming and kicking in the process.I don't know why certain individuals keep on touting that what is put forward will occur. It's all talk and BS, but the transition will occur eventually.This conversation is no different to union demands, does the union always get what they want, or a portion of their demands? Green ideas will be put forward to discuss and debate and an outcome will be had.Hydrogen is the only logical form of renewable energy to power transport in the future. Why? Like oil the materials to manufacture batteries is limited.