Zuk's Toyota Gear Installs: A Great Website for Gearheads!

Zuk's Toyota Gear Installs website is fantastic. It stands out because it's got lots of very detailed, but very clear, information about setting up Toyota 4x4 differentials.  Zuk's website is also rich with large, sharp pictures of the procedures he carries out when he sets up a differential. In fact, some of his pictures are downright artistic (note the picture at left).

It seems like he documents every one of his rebuilds and re-gears, so his site is just overflowing with tips and techniques. I imagine that if someone took the time to read through the whole site and to gather the special tools needed to do the work he would come away from the experience with at least a bachelor's degree in gear-ology.  I wish Zuk would take up transmission work and engine rebuilds so I could follow him on that too.  -- Mitrik

Tool of the Day, #1

This tool review is about the common hydraulic shop press. Pictured at left is a floor-standing model rated at 40 tons. 

What would you need one of these for you might ask.

Many automotive operations can only be carried out with a press. Axles, differentials and transmissions almost always have gear assemblies, bearings, races and bushings that are pressed on and off of a shaft or other component. Suspensions also have bushings that are pressed into control arms and spring eyes.  Presses are handy for bending and straightening operations as well.

The market has seen a flood of inexpensive hydraulic presses from China offered at stores like Harbor Freight and on eBay. Press capacity ratings start at about 4 tons with compact models that can be placed on a workbench. Models rated at over 100 tons can also be had. Common units for automotive type work are rated at 12 and 20 tons (24,000 - 40,000 lbs). The rating refers to the amount of force the ram can place on a workpiece. Twelve to twenty tons is usually enough muscle to git 'er done. Harbor Freight stores, that great outlet for Chinese manufacture, sell presses in this capacity range for less than $250.00. You will also find them on eBay, but if you are not local to the seller freight costs can be a killer.

Anybody who's serious about shop work that involves engines, drivetrains and suspensions is going to find one of these useful.

Electric Car Kits in Our Future?

You can buy a kit to build a replica of cars like the AC Cobra or Porsche 356 Speedster. And you can buy a kit to build a 350 mph airplane. So where are the electric kit cars!!?

I recently read an article about the Aptera Motors 2e plug-in electric (pictured above). It's going to be built, as a production vehicle, in California and sold to the public in 2010. One of my first thoughts was, "This looks like a cross between a kit-car and a kit-plane! I want to build something like this!"

Can a 90 mph home-built electric car be built for less than the $35,000 price of the Aptera? For now I'm going to be watching sites like Wired's Autopia to see what happens.  I've got my fingers crossed that some brave and creative soul is working out the details. -- Mit Spanner

Land of the Free, Home of the Diesel Deprived

In Europe and across the globe a revolution in fuel efficient diesel cars and trucks is underway, yet Americans are prohibited from participating. Take for instance the 2010 Mercedes E220 Blue. Here you have a nice, sporty mid-sized sedan that gets nearly 40 mpg highway. It has a 2.2 liter, 4 cylinder turbo diesel that puts out 180 hp and 290 lbs/ft of torque, and it can be teamed up with a manual six-speed transmission. Now this is no AMG hot rod, but it has some zip. And did I mention that it gets nearly 40 miles per gallon of diesel. Unfortunately it's not cleared by U.S. transportation authorities for use on American roads, so forget about getting your hands on one unless you plan a trip to Europe, where you may be able to rent one. If a Mercedes sedan is not your cup of tea, perhaps you'd like a compact 4x4 pickup like the Toyota Tacoma with the latest of the clean burning, smooth running, high power diesels. Or a Subaru Outback. Or an Audi, or a host of BWMs. Again, don't look for these in the U.S., because they are forbidden. It all has something to do with this being the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave I'm sure.  Maybe it's time to move to sunny southern Italy or Spain.