Category: Vehicles

Being Prepared, Even On A Routine Mission, by J.W.

One day, last year, I found myself in a pretty serious situation that tested my nerves and my luck. It happened on the C&O canal in Maryland. The canal runs 184.5 miles from Washington DC to Cumberland Maryland. Living just across the Potomac in McLean, Virginia, I made it my custom to ride my mountain bike on the canal every chance I got. It was and still is my favorite ride of all time. I would enter the trail at the 12.6 mile mark across the street from the Old Angler’s Inn near Carderock, Maryland. where there was ample parking …


Two Letters Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

JWR, RE: basic mechanics & vehicles, specifically more on tires/wheels, etc. Make a jacking platform to support the jack in soft soil. I used 2 thicknesses of 3/4″ plywood Gorilla Glued together. I’d suggest at least 12″ square, but there is an advantage to making it larger. I made mine as large as would fit underneath the passenger seat in my truck, which was 14.5″ X 16″. Inflate the spare to 15-20% over the regular running pressure in the other four. That won’t hurt it, and it’s easier to let air out than to force it in .[JWR’s Comment: If …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

JWR,  Keep up the good work! Now that everyone knows the woes of removing a tire, does anyone check the spare tire to see if it holds air etc? Most people don’t check the tires on a road trip, let alone daily driving or the condition of the spare tire. I would ask everyone to make sure the spare tire is not only inflated, but holds air for more than a day or two! This should go before the first post: Do you have a proper (working) and weight-rated jack to lift the vehicle, and do you know where to …


Two Letters Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim, The king of the hill when it comes to breaking loose lug nuts is the four-way lug wrench. It is also called a “cross wrench” by some folks. I have used them since I was a child learning everyday fixes from my father in the 1960s. But beware of cheaply-made imports. I have bent and actually broken a few of the cheap ones while helping friends break lugs loose on their vehicles using their cheap four way lug wrenches that I had told them not to buy, but they ignored my advise and went cheap. Sitting on a desolate …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Dear JWR, Instead of a breaker bar, which while good to have is large and hard to store, I’ve found extendable lug nut wrenches to be the ideal compromise.  Easily twice as strong as the much thinner wrenches that come with the vehicle. The only caveat is that I’d recommend a long/deep wall socket that’s the precise size of your lugs to ensure you don’t damage and/or jam or lug nuts inside your socket… I’ve tried both the Torin (sold at Wal-Mart stores) and the Grizzly (sold by Amazon.com) with satisfactory success.  Both are over 20″ extended, and even slightly …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

Jim, If I might add my two cents to Albert’s comments on Basic Mechanics Skill and Knowing Vehicular Limitations:  I was also inconvenienced with lug nuts being over-torqued. I bent the factory lug wrench in the process.   My dear spouse would have never been able to loosen one, much less five lug nuts. So I vowed to never again be put in that position again.  I made the assumption that the tire store torqued the lug nuts to factory specifications. They went far beyond that number. Apparently, many do.   My solution was far less high tech, EMP proof, and far less expensive: a 24-Inch …


Letter Re: Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations

James, Thank you for your contributions on SurvivalBlog. I read with interest the article on basic mechanical skills.  Changing a tire can be a difficult process,  last summer I had a blow out on a 100 degree day, found that changing a tire in the severe heat was a difficult task  and for an older man, and possibly dangerous.   I decided to decide to find a workable solution for this problem. At first I tried the 12 volt DC impact wrenches but found them unsatisfactory. My solution was to take a 1,700 watt inverter that I placed in a tool box …


Getting Out After a Trigger Event, by Paul H.

Despite years of reading valid arguments for moving to the American Redoubt or other remote area, of the hundreds of preppers I’ve met I can count on one hand those who made the move and most of those were retired.  I meet relatively few preppers living at a secluded retreat, a few with secondary retreats, many planning to bug out to property they do not own (hopefully by agreement), and the majority still living in and around cities with no alternative plan to shelter in place.  Only one of those four types I just described is unlikely to be on …


Basic Mechanics Skills and Knowing Vehicular Limitations Part 1, by “Zachary Taylor”

Basic mechanical knowledge and skills are something that any person who hopes to be successful in TEOTWAWKI must have. I am not speaking just about vehicles, but vehicles are an excellent avenue to learn them. I can only talk with authority on my own past, but I know that the wealth of much of my knowledge comes from my extensive background in working on cars. I won’t claim that any of this post is going to be something that you have never read before. Heck, I am willing to bet that you heard much of this speech by a parent …


Nomads of the Second Great Depression, by A.J. in Texas

For 45 years I was all about the Great American Dream.  A 100 mile per day [round-trip] commute to a six figure pressure cooker job supported an upper middle class lifestyle.  All that changed in 2001 when I was squeezed out of that job during a company transition to second generation children.   Overnight, the new CEO and COO determined I was too traditional and old school for the vision they had for the company going forward even though I had served their father profitably for a decade.   In quick succession I lost the house, the cars and a wife of …


Letter Re: Prepping for Winter

Hi! Thanks for all you do.  In my quest to do one thing to prepare for the coming uncertainties each day, I thought I would take a moment to remind you and all readers that this coming weekend is the Equinox, the time that I update my car kit to prepare for the coming winter.  Besides my day to day car kit, I’ll add extra warm coats, hats, gloves, boots and scarves to the trunk.  Additionally, a few ponchos and garbage bags.  Here in one of the nanny states in the northeast US, there aren’t many places I go that …


Stuff Hitting the Fan: A Position Paper – Part 3, by R.L.

(Level II Scenario, continued) Utilities For me, a 1,000 Gigawatt generator is not needed. Just 12 volt deep cycle storage batteries and a photovoltaic panel to charge them up, along with with a homemade generator from a lawnmower engine fan belted to a Chevrolet car alternator will be enough to power some communication electronics and spot lighting.  Deep cycle batteries are preferable to regular 12 V car batteries as they last much longer, but car batteries will certainly do in a pinch.  Incandescent lights need more power than fluorescents which need more than white LED arrays. Do some experimenting.  Another …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Come-Alongs

Hi Jim, I’d like to mention another heavy duty come-along/manual winch you and your readers may be interested in.   It is built by a long time American manufacturer, Wyeth-Scott.  Please note the pull ratings are based on dead lift capacities and, as they state, pull ratings are approximately double those.  Please see their notes regarding rating differences between lifting and pulling.  A vehicle on a flat road or a tree, through mud, up a hill. Thanks, – Guy S.  Dear Mr. Rawles, and Readers, Always be careful where you place your fingers around come-alongs. I always warn people who …


Advice on Come-Alongs

Reader L. in Tucson recent wrote to ask for some guidance on buying come-alongs for his new retreat ranch in northern Arizona. Here is my advice: Ratchet cable hoists (commonly called “Come-Alongs”) are crucial tools for life on a retreat and for off-road driving. They have umpteen uses for everything from wire fence stretching to lifting elk carcasses for butchering. These should be purchased in pairs, for the greatest versatility.  We keep four come-alongs here at the Rawles Ranch: Two that are 2-ton capacity and two that are 4-ton capacity.  All four are American-made, by Maasdam under the trade name Pow’R …


Two Letters Re: Extending Your Vehicle’s Driving Range, Without Cost

Hello Mr. Rawles, Some thoughts on the recent post on Pulse and Glide driving (PGD), taking for granted that safety is always more important than fuel economy, and not considering any survivalist aspects: I don’t doubt the core claim made by Steven B. – that his use of PGD has reduced his fuel consumption. I am, however, skeptical about some of the other statements made in support. I note that while my comments are based on my experience as an engineer and physicist, I have not done any tests of PGD versus other driving styles. If an actual automotive engineer …