My ‘Big White Whale‘ (2000 Nissan Maxima SE) just recently had to get some $erious $ervice to keep it safely on the road.  A week ago last Saturday, I took it in to Just Brakes for some grinding brake noise on the front left wheel.  I had that same company do their ‘brakes & discs special’ almost a year ago.  Well, they got me fixed up fine, brake wise; actually better than the last time.  But with the brakes no longer making any noise, they were able to hear the groaning/squeaking noise of my front end bearings.  I had been hearing some of that last year, but didn’t think too much of it.

Long story short – I had to replace the front suspension knuckles from a lower mileage car of the same year – it was easier & less expensive than the new front end bearing parts from the dealer.  I was without my car for 3 days.  Clint, the manager, was great to deal with – good customer service!

So, now the car is more enjoyable to drive (even still at 5/6 power, due to that misfire problem…) & to slow down.  I enjoyed it so much, yesterday, that on the way home from the SASCA autocross, I took a driving diversion detour to my favorite Tejas Trail piece of road.

It’s only 1.4 miles long, but it’s got some good twisties & some significant elevation changes.  In both directions, at the 1/2-way point there’s a 20+ degree inclined hill that peaks quickly.  I would like to go over the top of that crest at a faster clip, but I don’t for at least 3 reasons:

  1. It curves slightly right at the peak of the crest.
  2. You have NO idea if there’s a another car coming up the other side.
  3. Right at the crest, there’s some sort of dirt road/driveway that could hide an unsuspecting vehicle.

Having a spotter would be great – it could allow me to get some air at that crest…

:-)

In the afterglow of that fun, quickie of a drive, I witnessed my car turning over 100,000 miles.  Not a big deal, but I’ve never actually witnessed it before.

Racing Ready is also here for the long haul, sharing driving & motoring issues.  Please run up you mileage here & keep comin’ back!

Dan

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