Post your "Failure Stories" and lessons learned from unsuccessful modifications

[justme1969]

Oh forgot another one for all ya pizza pan modders. first go of it back in 1995? I tried pizza pans on my Metro xfI It was simple job because the car had aluminum wheels and lip was close enough to drill n tap 3 holes and done.
Did that and drilled each hub to match the stem and pulled them through.
The holes wer too large to hold stem still and too small to prevent movement.
But just rite to act like mini saws cutting through the valve stems slowly unnoticed untill one failed. Non issue I thought if was a road hazzard and loaded on spare.
At tire shop 2 days later I got to pay for 4 dismount replug and remounts.
A simple and stupid thing but it could have killed me too.

[101Volts]

On subject of poorer-grade gasoline:

Before I get into this far, I will mention that there's a local gas station which sells pure gas but on the few occasions we got it, It ran worse for a lawnmower and even the van and their ethanol-grade gas was cleaner.

Anyway, I don't know for sure which grade of gas the gas station attendant pumped into the van the last time (I did say "Regular" and not "Pure Gas" but he seemed to be in a rush) but as of late the ScanGauge has been reading that we've been getting 16 MPG or so in it even with the way I drive, We should be getting over 20 at least. The ScanGauge II hasn't been calibrated for a long time, So I have no idea if it's quite accurate but the gas we got from that one station did go through the car faster according to the fuel gauge.

Also, My Mother used to get gas at that same small station and was getting about 17.5 in her Dodge Caravan which is a 3.3 litre, *According to her on-board FE meter which may or may not be quite correct*. I recently pumped gas into it from Sheetz instead and so far, The on-board average meter (Since a stop near the gas station to calibrate the odometer and F/E meter) says the van got over 18 so far.

So, Keep fuel quality in mind.

EDIT - The section between the asterisks was added at this time.

[hawk2100n]

Coroplast isn't really tht stiff and will sag if it isn't supported enough on the underbody. Mine started scraping after about 80 miles on the highway and I ended up removing everything after just a few hundred miles. Version 2 is much smaller than the first attempt, only for the rear bumper and much more rigidly attached. I haven't had any problems after several thousand miles.

[101Volts]

Removing the Pizza Pans was quite a drag and caused me to hold down the accelerator pedal more. Putting them back on helped, Though I don't think the van is getting quite the same FE as it was just yet.

[101Volts]

Yesterday another pizza pan fell off. The two which remain are attached in a way as to not modify the hubcap, So perhaps I should modify the hubcap to attach them or put something else on the hubcaps that won't fall off so easily.

Also, This is a lesson for me: Driving at night. Another thing which happened yesterday is I took a long time to get out of whole foods; I took nearly an hour to eat my small meal starting at about 5:09 PM EST (I chewed my food a lot and sampled olives!) and then I had a long detour on the way home (Which is where the pan fell off,) And then before long I was driving at night. I went below the speed limit in a lot of places and on a road near home I was going at about 25.

By the time I woke up at about 10 AM this Tuesday morning, My arms were tired and my eyes were tired and my legs were tired. I'm not saying negative things about driving at night, Just that it was much more difficult to do than driving in the day and perhaps others are more used to it, But I'm not and it tired me.

[NeilBlanchard]

The smooth wheel covers that have failed on my car are all because the stupid springs that hold them on are crappy. I think I've lost five or six, and my wife lost one? The stainless steel moonies have decidedly rust-prone steel springs, and those failures cost me over $125.

I tried smoothing over the trough along the windshield at the 'A' pillar and it did absolutely nothing.

My rear belly pan sagged and "kited" and fell off and dragged on the road, and I pulled it the rest of the way off.

The rear wheel strakes have been beat up a fair bit, and right rear one got knocked off on a deep dip at an intersection with four people in the car. I retrieved it and repaired and reattached it, and it has been fine.

The first set of LCD monitors I used failed in hot sunlight. And I've had at least 3 video cameras fail, one because the wiring chaffed on the steering column and shorted out - which blew a fuse and the car would not restart, and I had to have it towed. That was embarrassing and a pain...

But, I've saved probably well over $1,500 on gas, so it has been well worth it.

[ksa8907]

Knock knock

who's there.

WAI with too much grill block. Thought I was going to be lose the engine.

[Sporty Modder]

How avout driving without a thermostat for the last 1000+ miles? Is there a emoticon for beating your head on the wall?

[101Volts]

Originally Posted by justme1969

So far just changing the front spoiler into an air dam. I had it rite the first time when I tilted out the conveyor material at the bottom.
It worked really well but when I added side skirts I figured air dam and it dropped mpg 1.5its still that was 2 months later because I threw away the bracketts required to angle it forward at the bottom. Air dams work for some people but my sephia is pretty aero and it is just a big speed brake infront of the bumper now.

Could you explain this more? I'm curious.

[oil pan 4]

I see a few people are having problems with aero hub caps.
My aero hub caps have worked great for more than a year now, several cross country trips later.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...eel-22003.html