Giant Awesome bicycle

another germ-bike, an 18-speed "mountain bike".  It's small but pretty peppy for buzzing around the campus streets and challenging cars!  Rounds out my fleet of nine bikes: 2 in FL and 7 in WI. Gotta take it up the big hill and measure it's spin capabilities.

2005 Ford F-150 Pickup (Chris)

I have put front brakes in Chris' F-150 pickup as well as new rotors either last summer or the one before.  This time, he had to have some alignment and ball joint stuff done and the mechanic told him his rear brakes were very nearly gone.  He drove down and we got right at it, although he was sick with a cold and weak as a kitten.  He had gotten the pads on the way down for about 25-bucks, he said, in Tomah, probably at O'Reillys.  We took off the rear driver wheel and the caliper bolts came out easily.  We pried off the caliper and found that there was about 1/32 of an inch of pad left on both the outside and inside.  We also realized that the piston had a triangular chunk cracked out of it, but it was extended beyond the point where any leak could take place.  When we pushed it  back in, however, the dripping started, so we bolted it back on, and removed the line to it, then took it off and in to O'Reilly's in Sparts.  42-bucks for a new one if Chris gave them the old one to be re-cored.  Back we went and put it on, dribbled some brake fluid in, and purged the line of air, which went excellently.  Next morning we did the passenger side in about 45-minutes and took her for a run.  Perfecto!

Giant Option bicycle

a germ-bike.  The Option Giant is a very comfortable bike to ride but I do not think it is very macho, either on the hills or on the straightaways.  Need to take it on the Sparta hill course and measure it.

2002 Ford Focus (Pam & Nate)

Pam & Nate's 2002 Ford Focus.  Couple summers ago I had the thrill and nightmare of doing a brake job on the front wheels.  We decided that the rotors were shot and, on the hottest day of the summer, I beat on them for 4 or 5 hours with a 4-lb hammer, unable to budge them.  Finally I got wise and went into Green Bay to O'Reilly's and borrowed, at no cost, a gear puller.  I reversed the pulling tongs so that they were wide enough to clamp around the rotors, and put the fulcrum pin on the spindle.  A few turns with the wrench (after soaking also with KrudBuster) and pop, off they came.  That being accomplished, the rest was a whiz and the new rotors and pads have lasted a couple years already with no problems at all.