Jer

I think all the scots learned from the greeks is how to sneak up on them sheep...

...it just got light enough out to see outside... ...and the lake is starting to freeze already, looks like a solid skim most of the way across. ...and me with my docks still in the water, the boat is out, but not covered or winterized yet. Is this all coming too early this year? or is just me?

I don't like 25 kph winds on an inland lake, never mind Lake Ontario. East wind on Bluffers park could be nasty.

I recently had an Expressvu HD/PVR Plus receiver installed at my house (one of the coolest pieces of electronic equipment ever, I highly recommend it). The unit came with a dish that can run 4 separate recievers at a time. There are 4 outputs directly from the dish (maybe one of those switches built-in?). The new reciever uses two of the outputs (it runs two TVs) and two additional recievers can be hooked up (but must be wired directly to the dish). My original dish is still on the roof and I could hook up two more recievers to it as well, but how many TVs do I need?

...especially after just fogging the cylinders...

...you gotta be kidding...

...and this applies to a GPS unit how? My unit (like most I'm sure) has a safety setting that won't allow it to be played with while in motion. You can set your destination before hitting the road, then just follow the directions. How is this distracting?

I just might have to take you up on that offer. I did some more research on the Goodyear Silent Armour and it looks like a really good tire. That price can't be beat either (one local dealer had the Goodyears priced higher than the Michelins). I"ll send you a PM and we can make arrangements. Thanks again.

...so you don't recommend an LT tire for my truck at all? I didn't realize the difference in recommended pressure from a P-tire to an LT-tire. Maybe I need to re-think this through. Sounds like a good price on both the Michelins and the Good Years. Too bad your shop is all the way down in Scarberia, how would you like to drive my truck to work for a day?

I've heard good things about the All Terrains, just stay away from BFG Radial Long Trail. That's what I have on the truck now. Really bald and cracked with less than 50K on them. The original Goodyear Wranglers lasted almost 90K.

Thanks Bill, I already checked a similar calculator and my speedo, odometer, etc will only be affected by +0.56% or something like that. I hardly think it's that accurate from the factory as it is.

Thanks Billy, I've long been wanting a set of Michelin LTX M+S, but they never seem to go on sale anywhere, always around $250 or more each. It's hard for me to justify more than a grand for rubber on a truck that I only drive about 5000 km a year. The Dunlops on sale come to $140 each installed (+$13 each for balancing, what's up with that, like you're gonna mount a tire and not balance it?). I actually haven't paid for anything yet, just got a raincheck til they come into stock. Maybe I'll check out the Revos in the meantime. One thing I liked about the Dunlops is that although they aren't considered a winter tire per se, they do have the snowflake/mountain logo meeting certain standards in 'severe snow conditions'.

I just ordered a new set of tires for my Dakota: Dunlop Radial Rover RVXT (on sale at crappy tire, buy one, 2nd at 1/2 price) and was wondering if anyone has any opinion (good or bad) on these tires. I have never run on Dunlops before on any vehicle. They seemed to get a pretty good review on Tirerack.com. Original tire size on the truck was P265/70R16 but I wanted to avoid another passenger type tire and go with a light truck tire (only available in that size on 'special order', no sale price) so I opted for LT245/75R16 which works out to almost the identical diameter but 2 cm narrower. I think the narrower tire will be better in the snow anyhow. Any comments are welcome.

Snowing all around Peterborough right now. At least an inch of heavy slush on the roads around Fowlers Corners. Drive safe!

They are not illegal. If so, they better start pulling over every other car on the road. To be honest, they make you a much better driver when you're not sure where you are going. Playing with it while driving can be hazardous just like anything. Just set your destination before leaving and you're all set.

I've got a Garmin Nuvi 200 and I love it. I work on the road and use it almost everyday. My girlfriend has the Nuvi 250 and the only difference is hers has complete North America maps (and she could get it in pink), mine only has Canada and the border states. Both units can be picked up for less than $200.

...no other stores in town?

Hi Terry, I have much the same truck (2001 Dakota, 4x4, 3.9L, rear wheel ABS) with much the same problem. Front wheels like to lock up on hard braking on loose or slippery road surface. All my brakes are new, had it back to the shop in the summer to see if he could figger what was up. The mechanic agreed that the front seems to lock up too easily but couldn't find any obvious problem. He scuffed and adjusted the rear shoes to grab as much as possible and this did seem to help, but it's still not right. Luckily it wasn't Midas, and he only billed me for 1/2 hour labour (rear brake service) even though he played around with it for over an hour. He suggested it could be the proportioning valve not sending enough pressure to the rear but also suggested new tires before I replace the valve. My tires are quite worn and could be causing the front to lock-up prematurely. If the problem persists with new rubber, I'll have the valve replaced. I've only really noticed a problem with the truck empty. With some weight in the back or the boat behind me, everything stops just fine. I see your truck is 2WD. I've found my truck has always had much better braking control when in 4WD. A few years ago, I had a front caliper seize up on me and found that both my rear wheel cylinders were also seized and I had no back brakes at all. Everything was replaced at that time (calipers, rotors, wheel cylinders, pads and shoes) to the tune of almost $1500. At the time, we chalked it up to "driveway rust" as the truck sits for weeks at a time and I only put about 5000 km a year on it. Now I'm not so sure and wonder if there is some inherent problem with the back braking system on the Dakotas. I'd be very interested to hear what you find it to be.

I found myself in Oshawa yesterday as well and stopped at Gagnons and picked up a pack of 'slammers' in watermelon/red fleck. Tried them out last night on a drop-shot rig and in about an hour I had three small bass and a crappie. No size to the fish but more than I caught the night before on Chemong in about 3 hours on my senko.

There's no way a boat that new should be taking on any water. My boat is in the water April to November and it never has water unless it's caught out in the rain without the cover.

I'd say the lake has turned over. We were on a smaller lake last week with exactly the same conditions as you said. Surface temps at 63-64F were lower than anywhere else I have seen so far this year, just the day before we were at a nearby lake with tamps as high as 69-70F (same as Buckhorn right now) and the water was nice and clean. We didn't get much all day either, best bite was early.

I'm assuming they sell gas in Buffalo by the US gallon (3.79L), not Imp. gallon (4.5L). Take into account the exchange and he was about bang on.

That trailer might be fine for the boat it was originally sold with (Sea-Doo jet-boat), but that Smoker-Craft doesn't really fit it properly. The bow ring on the boat should always snug up underneath the rubber bumper at the front of the trailer. That way that boat is locked in and can't slide forward on a hard brake (or, god forbid, an accident). You may be able to adjust the winch mast higher to accomadate that boat properly, but it doesn't look like it. Still might be a good deal though, you can always trade the trailer in for a more appropriate model. Last year I got $400 trade-in value on a trailer much smaller and probably older for a brand new EZ-Loader properly sized and set-up for my similiar sized boat. Don't take that set-up on the highway as it is, if you have to brake real hard or rear-end somebody, that boat is gonna land on your roof.

...you must mean the Scugog River...

I'm one of the lucky ones with a company car (and gas card), but most of our sales force drive their own cars...and boy, are they ever getting hosed compared to most on here: $0.35/km for the first 2000 km a month and only $0.20/km after that.