codrus

I don't go very often these days -- too many bicyclists. That was back in January, one day when I went on a whim.

--Ian

codrus

Oh, I've been focusing so much on the trailer lately because I've got a couple days at Thunderhill coming up, April 12th & 13th. Need to make sure the trailer is good to go before then, and it needs the brakes/bearings serviced. I'm going to be a lazy bastard and pay someone to do that, but it took 2 people and 45 minutes to get it into the side yard last time, so I want the backup cameras all working before I have to do it again.

--Ian

codrus

Oh, one other thing from last month -- took the kids to K1 speed. Sean (my 7-year-old) is #47, Erin (my 11-year-old) is #48.



--Ian

icantlearn

I don't go often either, mabe once every couple months. But there are some days where the weather is just right and I just can't not.

icantlearn

Are you going to the may 3rd event at t-hill?

also, if you ever need help putting the trailer away shoot me a text

codrus

That's the GGLC 5 mile event? I've thought about it, but I'm not signed up. May and June are going to be super busy at work, so not a great time to be taking time off for track days.

--Ian

codrus

I might take you up on that.

--Ian

icantlearn

Ya its the 5 mile. Its too good of a deal for me to pass up. $200, 2 run groups, 5 mile course, yes pls.

codrus

I'm not a huge fan of the 5 mile course. The 3 mile east track is great, and I love the new 2 mile west track (it's an awesome track in a Miata), but I don't really like them joined together because I think it's too jarring to go from the wide open east to the tight technical west and back every lap.

--Ian

icantlearn

Well, I've never done it. And its a lot of track time for the money. So I want to see if I can squeeze it in my schedule.

Im just hoping my car makes it there and back (knock on wood). I don't see why it would break, but for some reason I have a weird feeling about this one. My gut tells me to rent a trailer and save myself the agonizing, back braking drive; as well as peace of mind.

codrus

Oh sure, I'm not telling you not to go, I'm just commenting on why the 5 mile doesn't hold as much appeal for me as the separate halves do.

Be careful, once you start towing the car to the track you never want to go back to driving it there.

--Ian

icantlearn

I need more money....

codrus

Took some photos of the solar stuff while it was light. Panel:



Weatherproof cable pass through on the roof:



Curly-cue cable between truck & trailer:



I also got the truck wired for the cameras. Getting those big fat weatherproof connectors through the dashboard was a PITA, maybe wireless would've been worth it after all!

It's working now, but I'm getting odd noise in the signal on the trailer rear and left cameras. It seems that it happens while the truck is off (key on, but not running), and briefly after it starts, and then it clears up. I dunno what it is, although I'm fairly sure it's not spark plug wire noise...



And video:


--Ian

codrus

Interesting, the truck motor changes briefly right as the video signal noise goes away, I hadn't noticed that until I watched the video again. I wonder if that's when the alternator kicks in, hm.

--Ian

codrus

TK pointed out that it's probably not the alternator turning on, but rather the glow plugs turning off. Either way, the noise goes away shortly after starting, so it's good.

I'm taking the car to Thunderhill on Wednesday and Thursday, so the TPD gets its first use. One really nice thing about an enclosed trailer is you can pack it ahead of time.

Tow straps, waiting for the Miata to get loaded:


I need to make some modifications to the tire rack to mount the Miata tires more securely, but ran out of time. I'll do for now, but it's less convenient than it could be. The quickjack frames go on here too.



I put some E-track on the walls to help with securing stuff.



There'll be a tool cart here at some point, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. For now it's just a cooler.



Finally, I have a trailer where the spare tire isn't flopping around loose.



This is so much more civilized than trying to cram all of this crap into the back seats of the truck.



--Ian

icantlearn

Ughh. I envy you. much want, such little money.

Please get some in-car footage if you can. I'm dying to see this thing rip.

codrus

Well, that spare didn't stay neatly mounted in the cabinet for very long. Something like 40 miles from home a guy in a pickup pulls up next to me on the freeway and shouts over that I've got a flat tire. Pulled off at the next exit and had this:



Doh. No idea how long it was flapping around, the TPD pulls very smoothly so I didn't even notice. The tires on it are date-coded late 2012, so they're a bit over 4 years old. I dunno what killed this one, but since the others are all the same I decided to limit myself to about 50 on the way here just in case it was due to the tire age, since I didn't have a second spare. I figured lower speed, less heat, less likely to kill a second tire if it's age that's the problem. Made it the rest of the way without incident, so maybe, who knows.



We'll see if I can find a tire store to replace the dead one so I'll have a spare for the trip home. I'm going to think about trailer TPMS.

--Ian

sonofthehill

iTrader: (1)

Glad there was no incidents because of it. Nice triple redundancy though, the wheel still looks perfect.

codrus

Yeah, I took the wheel to a tire store in town, they mounted a new one and I was out the door in less than 10 minutes for under $100. That's much better service than I'd get in the bay area.

Alas, not everything went that well today. These rotors were new this morning, 55 track miles later:



So much for the idea that the 3" ducts would solve the problem. Time for the directionals, I guess.

--Ian

afm

iTrader: (3)

That is insane. Wonder what the peak temps are.