Mess free Oil Changes with an Oil Extractor

June 17, 2020 in Automotive, Review

I recently came across the topic of doing an oil change with an oil extractor. This essentially allows you to suck the oil out of an engine through the dipstick channel. As a result, there is less chance of making a mess and if you have easy access to the oil filter, you don’t even have to lift the car and this makes the entire process safer.

Most of the extractors that I’ve seen are manual in the sense that you have to use a hand pump to create a vacuum that sucks the oil out. Electronic extractors are available but they are generally more expensive. Well, after some looking around, I found an electronic extractor that only costs about $20.

My particular extractor is listed under the name YaeTek but it seems like this product is sold wholesale and various vendors just buy and resell them under whatever name they feel like. I bought this YaeTek extractor because it was the cheapest version that I could find. If you’re interested in this particular device, I’ll include a link below that leads to this exact one but if you find something that looks similar and is cheaper, just go with that because they’re all the same.

When you buy this product it comes dissembled. We get the extractor itself with the attached battery terminal leads. We also get two clear hoses and hose clamps. The hoses attach to either side of the extractor and are held in place by the hose clamps.

For the initial trial, I tested the extractor out on my lawnmower. I was actually pretty excited about this because if you’ve never changed a push lawn mower’s oil before, this typically requires you to turn the entire lawnmower on its side and drain the oil through the oil filler neck. The whole process is just kind of a pain so if I can get the oil out and have the lawnmower sit normally, that’ll be great.

With an oil extractor, the idea is that oil is sucked through one end and out the other. So to use the extractor, we just have to put the suction hose into the dipstick channel or in my case the oil filler neck and the other hose into the container that will hold the old used oil. Then just turn the extractor on and watch the oil come out. Make sure that the suction hose reaches the bottom of the oil pan.

Remember, warm oil is going to flow faster than cold oil so it’s a good idea to run the engine and let it warm up prior to doing an oil change. How fast the oil extractor empties out an engine is largely going to depend on the oil capacity. On my lawnmower that holds less than one-third of a quart, the process took less than 2 minutes. When using an oil extractor, you know that the job is complete when you hear gurgling from the suction tube, like when you suck liquid through a straw and there’s only a few droplets at the bottom. When this happens, you can try pulling and pushing on the tube a few times to see try and get anything that’s leftover.

For my test, I used an external battery. This is because the oil extractor requires 12V power. The extractor is intended to be used with the battery in the vehicle that you’re doing an oil change on but my lawnmower doesn’t have a battery so I needed an external source of power. But realistically, I would still use a spare battery to not put any excess stress on my car’s battery when it’s powered off.

And there you have it, a very simple, easy, and mess-free approach to doing an oil change. I personally really like the idea of doing an oil change like this because it makes the chances of making mess go way down. Also, if you have a car that has a top-mounted oil filter or just one that’s easily accessible, you won’t even have to lift the car and put it on jack stands. The whole process is just much simpler.

The main argument that I’ve seen against using an extractor is the possibility of it leaving some oil behind in the pan. I personally feel that some oil is going to be left behind no matter how you change the oil. Some oil pans are just poorly designed and will leave oil behind even when the car is on stands and oil is drained through the drain plug. At the end of the day, it just comes down to what you’re comfortable with. It’s your car, do what you want with it. I for sure will continue to use the extractor on my lawnmower and will experiment with my cars in the future when the time comes for an oil change.

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Rhino Arc II Slider System

June 14, 2020 in Review

I recently bought into the Rhino slider system and I would like to share my experiences with this system and some things I think potential buyers should be aware of.

My purchase consisted of the Arc II, the High-Speed Slider Motor, and the 24” carbon fiber slider. I also have the Focus, carrying case, and some minor other accessories but we won’t be getting into that. I fully invested in this system for a total of $2910 before taxes. No doubt a major investment.

Well, at that price point I expected a certain level of quality and care. Let me just tell you that I had to exchange some of these things out multiple times. I first ordered the Arc II and there were a few issues. First of all, it arrived with some damage. There were noticeable scratches and scuffs on the main body. Some portions of it even looked as if someone had been prying on the pieces. It doesn’t help that there’s a lot of plastic so things get damaged quite easily. The display also had a bunch of scratches and I can even see contaminants under the screen from assembly. On top of this, the Arc II just seemed to be making a lot of noise when in use. This product is advertised as having a 15 lbs load capacity. Well, the setup that I tried with the Arc II was a Sony A7RIII with a 24-70mm f/2.8 GM and this combo weighs less than 5 lbs. Even at only a third of the max payload, when I used the Arc II to tilt up and down, it would make a very audible vibrating sound. Because of all this, I contacted customer support and got an exchange.

The second Arc II came along with everything else and again there were issues. The Arc II again arrived with some cosmetic damage. I was willing to look past the stuff on the main body but then I saw the screen, it had even more scratches, a noticeable gouge, and a pretty noticeable piece of contaminant under the screen.

Then when I went to look at the Slider Motor, it was pretty obvious that someone else had mounted it and tried it out considering that there were paint chips at the mounting locations. I tried to look past this because at this point, it’s already been weeks since I made the original order and just wanted to use the stuff I ordered. So, I set everything up and did some initial test runs. Right away, something was up with the slider motor. It was making a lot of noise. Whenever the carriage moved away from the motor, the motor would make an audible scraping sound. When the carriage moved towards the slider motor, it makes a clicking sound. So there was no winning. It always made noises. The weird thing is, these noises corresponded to the speed of the slides. If it was a slow slide, there would be slow scrapes or slow clicks. If it’s a fast slide then I’d hear those scraps and clicks louder and faster.

The worst part is that if this slider is set to fast speed, the slider motor would stop the carriage at about the half point. Sometimes I would have to backtrack and it’ll let me advance a bit more but not all the way to the other end. So, my 24” slider essentially became a 12” slider. I tried recalibrating but this didn’t help at all.

At this point, I have to say that I’m pretty disappointed in this system. At around $3000, you’d think that this would be it, especially with all those high praise reviews on YouTube. Who knows, maybe I just happened to receive multiple bad units in a row. I really don’t care about the reasoning. I’m just glad that I’m within the 90 day return period so these things are going back.

If you’re interested in the Rhino slider system, I’m not going to tell you not to buy it. It’s your money, do whatever you want with it. Just know that there’s a chance that it may not live up to the hype. As I said, the stuff I ordered is going back and I will not be purchasing another Rhino product. Hopefully, I’ll be able to show you another slider system soon. One that works properly.

https://rhinocameragear.com/?rfsn=2000975.85be338

If you do decide to invest in this system, I would highly suggest to purchase the various parts individually and not buy everything at once. Buy the Arc II first. See if its build quality and function is up to your standards. This is a major part of the system and for me, was a point of failure. Then move on to the slider and slide motor. Make sure these things work. Again, just purchase in small chunks. This may take more time but if you buy all at once like I did and something goes wrong, the return process is a much bigger headache and there will be more money on the line.

At the end of the day, Rhino Camera Gear does offer returns. Just realize that you'll be out the shipping fees but if you're good with that, you'll be able to try the system out for yourself. Opinions are great but nothing is going to beat your own personal experience.

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Covercraft UVS100 Premier Series Custom Sunscreen for the Toyota Supra MKV

June 11, 2020 in Automotive, Review

I park my car outside so it constantly gets beat by the sun’s UV rays. I apply interior protectant but one thing that I really like to have is a sunscreen. It’s a simple accessory that’s quite effective.

When I had my Tacomas, I used a Covercraft UVS100 Premier Series sunscreen. The overall experience was good. The Covercraft sunscreen fit the Tacoma well and it looked pretty good so when it was time to buy one for the Supra, going with Covercraft again was an easy decision.

The specific sunshade that I purchased is the UVS100 Premier Series in the chrome camouflage finish part number UV11657EC. This is listed at $83. There is a normal UVS100 sunshade for $70 and from what I understand, the main differences between the two is that the Premier Series has a black binding whereas the standard has grey, the Premier Series has some more premium color options, and the Premier Series comes with the optional storage bag which costs $14. I really like the chrome camouflage finish so the Premier Series was the obvious option.

These Covercraft sunscreens are advertised as being “Custom Patterned for a Perfect Fit”. I would say that the overall fitment is pretty good. However, the sunscreen that I received does seem to be a bit short on the sides. This is interesting because it was actually a bit difficult to get the sides positioned because they felt too long at first. But when I got them in place, there is a small gap on either side. This is expected to be able to make the screen fit but the gap just seems to be larger than my Tacoma’s sunscreen.

Getting the sunscreen in place was somewhat difficult in general. This is because I had to work around the Supra’s infotainment system and the HUD projector. The infotainment system sticks up right in the middle of the dash so I had to maneuver around it in an interior that’s not all the big to start with. Then the HUD projector creates a bump in the dash that causes the sunscreen to be more snug on the driver’s side than the passenger’s. These things made positioning the sunscreen a bit annoying but I’m sure that with some experience, the process will go by more quickly.

If I had to complain about something, it would have to be quality control. My sunscreen arrived with a few issues. First, it looks like the adhesive that they used for the interior lining is not holding in place properly and is wrinkling. Second, the side that faces out looks like someone dropped a strip of adhesive on it. I’ll be contacting Covercraft about these things to see what they say about the situation.

Overall, I’m enjoying this purchase. At the end of the day, the Covercraft sunscreen will help to protect my Supra’s interior and that’s all I care about.

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Toyota Supra / BMW / Mini Cooper Jack Stand Adapters

June 07, 2020 in Automotive, Review

With Toyota’s collaboration to make the Supra with BMW, comes some interesting BMW auto making decisions. One of these things is the locations where you’re supposed to put the jack stands.

If we go under the Supra we’ll see that there are four hollowed-out plastic rectangles. This is where we’re supposed to put jack stands or lift the Supra from if we’re using a car lift. The problem is that you shouldn’t really use them as is.

First, if you take a floor jack and lift up from one of these points, there’s a good chance that the edges of the plastic will damage and deform. Second, if we try to use a normal jack stand with a curved saddle, then things don’t exactly fit and again could damage the jack stand location. I’ve seen people, stick one edge of the saddle’s curve in the hole and call it good. All I can say is that I personally wouldn’t do that.

So, what are we to do. After looking around, one of the most common solutions is to use a BMW/Mini Cooper jack pad. These are typically made from rubber or aluminum. These pads work when you use a floor jack because they have a flat section to hold the pad. They don’t exactly work with a jack stand unless the stand also has a flat surface like these ESCO jack stands. The ESCO stands with a jack pad seem to be a good approach but it’s an expensive one. Each stand costs about $55, then we also have to factor in the cost of the jack pads. So, we’re essentially looking at between $200-$300 or even more, just for a four-point jack stand setup. I just think that’s way too much for what it is so it was back to searching for something else.

After some digging on eBay, I found Forsvara Engineering who makes adapters for the jack stands that I already owned. This seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

So here they are, the BMW/Mini Cooper/Toyota Supra jack stand adapters. Installation of these adapters is very straightforward. You essentially just slip the adapter over the saddle of the jack stand and tighten it down with the included bolts. Forsvara Engineering makes a variety of different adapters for some common jack stands. If you have something different, they also have two universal designs. Take this Harbor Freight Pittsburg jack stand. Forsvara makes a few different Pittsburg specific adapters, but just not for this particular model number so I had to go with a universal design. The difference between the universal adapter and the model-specific adapter is that the universal adapter comes in two pieces that clamp together around the jack stand saddle rather than one piece that slips on. The universal adapter is available in a compact and standard size. The sizes are to accommodate different sized saddles.

Take a look at them in action. With the Forsvara adapters, we now have jack stands that are perfectly suited to hold the Toyota Supra and any other BMW or Mini Cooper that uses a similar plastic post.

I can’t tell you how happy I am with these adapters. I’ve seen some sketchy setups and am so glad that to have found these adapters. This right here has got to be the best jack stand set up for the BMW jack stand supports.

If you’re planning to do your own services on the Supra, this is one of the best investments in my opinion. Check out Forsvara Engineering and support what they do. If you’re interested in anything mentioned in this post, links to everything are listed below.

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Forsvara Engineering eBay Store https://www.ebay.com/sch/forsvaraengineering/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
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Torin BIG RED Double Locking Jack Stands T43002A

June 03, 2020 in Automotive, Review

With the recent recalls, I’ve decided to move away from my Harbor Freight Pittsburg jack stands even if they are not affected. I just don’t want to take the chance in case the recall inaccurately listed the affected stands. So, I was in need of some replacements.

After some research, I’ve decided to pick up the Torin BIG RED Double Locking Jack Stands. The stands that I purchased are rated at 3 tons but 2 and 6 ton options are also available. Indicative of the Big Red name, these jack stands are only available in red for the main body with black accents.

For the most part, the Big Red has a pretty basic design that looks like many jack stands. It has a pyramid-shaped base frame, locking handle with a rubberized tip, and a ratchet bar with a curved saddle. All pretty basic stuff.

Again, I’m replacing my Harbor Freight jack stands because of a concern over safety. From what I understand about the recall, it seems like there were some inconsistencies in the molding and casting of the various parts. I’ve seen examples where the pawl was not manufacturered correctly and that resulted in it barely touching the ratchet teeth. Because of this, if there is a shift in weight while the stands are under load or if the handle is accident touched, everything could come crashing down. This can cause damage to property, injuries, or even death.

I’ve never done any research on jack stands. The Pittsburg stands are actually the first set that I ever purchased. They were just what I had readily available around here so I bought them without hesitation. That being said, I’ve always thought that jack stands have an interesting design in the sense that the ones that utilize this basic design, essentially have no fail-safe. Everything is dependent on the pawl and ratchet design. If that ever fails, like in the case of the Pittsburg jack stands, it’s game over.

This is why I went with the Big Red double locking jack stands. Along with the standard pawl and ratchet design, this stand does have a fail-safe. This comes in the form of an additional pin. With a traditional jack stand, you lift the ratchet bar up to the desired height and call it a day. With the Big Red Double Locking jack stand, that can also be the case but if you want an additional point of safety, you can insert the pin in the side of the jack stand. Now, if the ratchet teeth happen to slip past the pawl, it would also have to get past the pin.

As of right now, I’m happy with my purchase. Hopefully, I’ll never get to find out if the double-locking design actually works under load. If you’re in the market for some new jack stands and want something safe, give these Torin BIG RED Double Locking Jack Stands a try. If you own a Harborfright Pittsburg 3 or 6 ton jack, check them immediately to make sure that they were not affected by the recall. If they are, take them back to Harbor Freight immediately. They’ll give you store credit or a comparable replacement. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been using your jacks for years and they haven’t failed yet, just get rid of them. You never know what could happen.

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Camera Gear Used: https://www.amazon.com/shop/haihoangtran?listId=3QJCL9HQG8JDW&ref=exp_haihoangtran_vl_vv_d
All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

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