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Post by human on Mar 7, 2013 22:40:48 GMT -6
So I was at the junk yard this afternoon and had the pleasure of harvesting a couple of parts off of a previously untouched '98 Aurora that had apparently just come onto the yard. The car still had all four of its OEM chrome wheels with fairly decent looking Nexen tires (I'm totall unfamiliar with the brand). The yard gets $19.95 for a tire and $19.95 for a wheel, and $2.49 for a center cap, so each complete wheel/tire/center cap would cost me $41.39 and the whole set of four would cost me $165.56 + tax. I'm just trying to decide whether it's worth it to upgrade from my base model silver painted wheels. There's also a $1 per wheel core charge but I'm pretty sure I can get more for my existing wheels on Craig's List. If not, I'll just keep them.
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XJSman89
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Post by XJSman89 on Mar 7, 2013 23:11:34 GMT -6
Do it. Chromes look way better. You won't regret it. A single chrome goes for that much on eBay without a tire. Do it, do it, do it!
... Or get just the wheels and caps and use your existing tires?
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Mar 8, 2013 0:02:35 GMT -6
And if you don't do it soon, the center caps will be GONE. ;D
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Post by wireless on Mar 8, 2013 6:28:28 GMT -6
For what it's worth, I have Nexen N3000's on my Fusion and they're pretty decent tires!
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Post by human on Mar 8, 2013 6:36:12 GMT -6
I had chromes on my late lamented '98 and really liked the look of them. They had some rare center caps with gold Aurora emblems set into them. These just have the plain chrome caps. The silver ones aren't bad but they look a little too much like the wheels on my LSS. Hmmmmm, wonder how silver Aurora wheels would look on the LSS.
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Post by aba1987 on Mar 8, 2013 6:52:54 GMT -6
Grab em before it's too late! Don't think about it ;D
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fur24
Aurora Groupie
R.I.P "Pearl" 1/8/12 forever remembered, she saved my life u will be missed!!!!!
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Post by fur24 on Mar 8, 2013 10:12:45 GMT -6
I had chromes on my late lamented '98 and really liked the look of them. They had some rare center caps with gold Aurora emblems set into them. These just have the plain chrome caps. The silver ones aren't bad but they look a little too much like the wheels on my LSS. Hmmmmm, wonder how silver Aurora wheels would look on the LSS. Omg.. u had the center caps with the gold Aurora symbols in them.. as far as I know these are almost never seen.. kinda like the door emblems on my old 98 ;D
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XJSman89
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Post by XJSman89 on Mar 8, 2013 10:46:58 GMT -6
All I will say is that if I found a deal like that I would be jumping on it. ;D
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Post by human on Mar 8, 2013 13:02:07 GMT -6
Okay, I snagged the wheels, tires, and center caps. It ended up costing me about $185 with tax, environmental fee and core charge (No way they're getting my silver Aurora wheels for $1 each). The good news was they threw in the center caps (no Aurora emblems) and the OEM lug wrench for free. I was slightly irritated that one of the chrome valve caps was missing, but then I looked over at the Cadillac next to it and there were two more just like them.
The tires, Nexen N5000's, are in great shape. There's a small amount of visible wear on the two front tires, but they've easily got 75-80 percent of their tread left and don't show any sign of having been run out of alignment. The rear tires are even better with nearly 90 percent of their tread left.
All in all, not a bad haul for about the cost of one new mid-grade tire.
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98redaurora
Aurora Driver
This is not your fathers Oldsmobile.
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Post by 98redaurora on Mar 8, 2013 14:30:25 GMT -6
Niceeee ;D
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Post by rorafan on Mar 8, 2013 16:27:16 GMT -6
All in all, not a bad haul for about the cost of one new mid-grade tire. Yeah, I'd say you did all right! ;D If you're curious, there is an easy way to tell the tires' age from the sidewall info: www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11FWIW I think I've seen Nexen tires at Walmart but have no first-hand experience with them.
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XJSman89
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Post by XJSman89 on Mar 8, 2013 16:42:28 GMT -6
Great steal, man! Gotta love a good junkyard win.
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Post by human on Mar 11, 2013 16:03:08 GMT -6
Interesting information. Turns out those Nexens were manufactured the 49th week of 2009. They're considerably newer than the HanKraps presently on the front of my car. They were manufactured the 26th week of 2002. The Goodyears I put on the back of the right after I got it in December were manufactured the 15th week of 2012, meaning the tires were about months old when they were installed on the car. If we take that as an average, the Nexens might have been installed on the car I got them from sometime in mid-late 2010. By the same formula, HanKraps went on my car sometime in early 2003. That's slightly after the service receipts I have for the car stopped, which lends further credence to the idea that the car sat for a few years before I came into possession of it. All in all, not a bad haul for about the cost of one new mid-grade tire. Yeah, I'd say you did all right! ;D If you're curious, there is an easy way to tell the tires' age from the sidewall info: www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11FWIW I think I've seen Nexen tires at Walmart but have no first-hand experience with them.
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Post by rorafan on Mar 11, 2013 16:29:49 GMT -6
6 mos. seems to be the going rate for tire age at install based on my experience as well. Sometimes can be a bit longer if they were slow sellers or shipped from overseas, but in my case almost all have been right around 4-6 mos.
Car history detective work is fun stuff!
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Post by human on Mar 15, 2013 16:23:44 GMT -6
Well, 'Rora's got a new set of shoes! I had some unexpected free time this afternoon, so I went over to my storage unit and swapped on the chrome wheels. The swap went very easily since I didn't have to use the OEM tire tools except to pull off the wheel centers. I hate the OEM jack. I've got a 2.5-ton trolley jack that I almost never use and I bought an X-shaped lug wrench especially for this project. Took less than 45 minutes to do all four tires. Three of the four tires were even properly inflated. One was down around 20 pounds. Good thing I had my little 12-volt compressor in the trunk.
Afterward, I took the car to the car wash and gave it a good scrub down, especially the tires and wheels, which were pretty muddy. The wheels came clean to varying degrees and I was diappointed to find the chrome was a bit deteriorated around the edges. They almost look like they've had a prolonged exposure to salt, but the donor car appears to have been sold new here in N.C. and we just don't get that much snow and ice around here. Also, two of the center caps aren't shiny at all. It's a bit disappointing, but I'm heading to Wal-Mart tonight to get some chrome wheel cleaner to see if I can improve their appearance any. Hopefully I can shine them up tomorrow.
The best part of the whole deal is getting those HanKrap tires off the front of the car. They were even more worn than I thought, especially the one I took off the left front. The car always felt a little squirrely with those tires on the front, but now it feels pretty sure-footed. I'm definitely taking it to an alignment shop this week to get the front end checked before I do any damage to the tires I just put on.
Speaking of tires I just put on, it felt kind of silly taking two perfectly good Goodyears with only about 3,000 miles on them off the back, but I'll have them when I need them.
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98redaurora
Aurora Driver
This is not your fathers Oldsmobile.
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Post by 98redaurora on Mar 15, 2013 17:13:02 GMT -6
Pictures? ;D
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Post by human on Mar 17, 2013 18:51:11 GMT -6
I dropped my car off today for an oil change and an alignment check while I was at work. Boy, was I glad I got the alignment checked! The camber was out about 1.5 degrees on the passenger front and almost 2 degrees on the driver's front! The rear was out a little as well, but not by nearly as much. The difference in the front was visible to the naked eye, once it was corrected. I'm glad I only drove about 30 miles since I put the new tires on the car Friday afternoon.
I'm going to work on those wheels later this week. I'm pretty sure I can get them shined up better. I'm not as certain about the center caps, though.
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Post by human on Mar 19, 2013 15:22:41 GMT -6
Time and weather converged this afternoon to allow me to work on the wheels. I hit them with some Black Magic Chrome Wheel Cleaner. The directions said to spray it on and hose it off. I don't have access to a hose at my apartment, so I just used a bucket of clear water and a sponge. The wheels came clean with a minimum of scrubbing and look great despite the small spots where the chrome is flaking off. Definitely dresses the car up. The best part, though, is the car appears to be getting better gas mileage with the Nexen tires and alignment. I've been hard pressed to keep the in-town fuel economy above 17 mpg and I'm now averaging around 19.
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Post by sall on Mar 19, 2013 17:04:16 GMT -6
Good score! You need some Nevr-Dull! These are the ones I just sold after one hasty polish and they were filthy before hand!
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Post by human on Mar 19, 2013 19:12:50 GMT -6
Yeah, Nevr-Dull wadding is great stuff. I used to polish brass with it all the time, but I never thought of using it on chrome.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Mar 19, 2013 23:32:29 GMT -6
The best part, though, is the car appears to be getting better gas mileage with the Nexen tires and alignment. I've been hard pressed to keep the in-town fuel economy above 17 mpg and I'm now averaging around 19. Just dropped 8 bills on new rubber all around and all I gained was a hummmmmmmm @ 65mph. +2 city is great! Whatever it is, don't mess with it. ;D
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Post by human on Mar 20, 2013 7:22:28 GMT -6
Yeah, the increased MPG was a nice bonus. I wasn't expecting it. The best part, though, is the car appears to be getting better gas mileage with the Nexen tires and alignment. I've been hard pressed to keep the in-town fuel economy above 17 mpg and I'm now averaging around 19. Just dropped 8 bills on new rubber all around and all I gained was a hummmmmmmm @ 65mph. +2 city is great! Whatever it is, don't mess with it. ;D
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