123,804 miles -- new tires (again)

services have been hinting at the need for new tires for some time now ... and i was planning on getting a new set before i hit the MS river this summer anyway ... but that didn't keep me from being shocked by a noticeable tumor on the outside of a tire that i noticed when filling up immediately after my most recent run from denver.  (i should have taken a pic of it, but forgot to.)

my best guess is that was from a pothole somewhere, but i don't remember hitting anything hard enough to do that kind of damage (and this is complicated by the fact that my bother and my accomplice were traveling with me ... we hit the car on fill-ups like a team of 60s full-service gas station attendants, so i'm not always the one checking the tires ... it could have been there for miles), with maybe the exception of temporary rumble strips put out by the UT DOT.  there's no telling how far i drove on those tires ... or how much further i could have gone ... they were holding air just fine.

an extremely good honda repair shop in the bay area says flat-out that you should just buy your tires from costco if you can, so i did.  the online website showed two possibilities, neither of which were actually at the store closest to my house ...

what they did have was a bridgestone and a michelin.

i tried poking around on my phone to compare the two, but quickly got mired ... for 100 bucks less, i could get 5,000 more miles of warranty on the bridgestones, so i went with those.

the cruiser is a heavy car and a tire wearer.  in order to keep my tire warranty effective, i need to rotate the set (free) every 7,500 miles ... i'll probably just do it every other oil change instead, just to keep track of things.

my last set of tires was 70,000 miles ago.  it wouldn't surprise me if these don't make the 65,000 they're warrantied for.

need to get an alignment, tout de suite.  (speaking of which, the tire techs said that the alignment on my car was way off ... but i had one done not long ago ... hmm.)

$544 TVC

(aligned 6/12 with about 150 miles on them.)

count it off!

near green river, UT

123,003 mile service

through a series of unusual circumstances, i've been racking up the miles.  in just two and half weeks i have 3000 miles and another oil change.

back at valley chrysler in boulder ... this one's already paid for in the package i bought last time.  aside from (again) telling me that my tires are shot, there are no problems.

$0 TVC

119,596 mile service

drove back to CO for mother's day ... even though i'm 400 miles early on the change, i wanted to get it done before i drove back to LV.

oil change now.  bought an air filter yesterday.

unfortunately t i'm having trouble finding make-up filters in stock at auto parts stores and the dealer -- which means i may have to hoard a few when i finally DO run across them.

a recent service means i don't have to have to change the plugs and wires now.

bought a four-service oil change package for $70, that makes 'em $17.50 apiece which is a good deal.

new dealer for this car, valley chrysler dodge, inc. in boulder.  they were fine.

(new tires coming ... i keep getting tire recommendations on my services ... the one thing i've learned over the years is you want to buy all your tires from costco ... cheaper, better warranty, and follow-up services are free.)

$83 for oil change package and filter.