Money is tight but I've GOT to put new tires on my 2000 AWD Safari. The best price I've seen is on the GY Viva 2s which I believe are made exclusively for Walmart. Does anyone have any experience with these tires?

Thanks!

My power locks have worked quite well in the past, but now that it's cold they're sticking. I have to hit the button several times to get them fully locked or unlocked. Seems like it probably has to do with some old lubricant getting dirty and thick. Has anyone broken down the door locks for as thor...

Interesting. I'm going to check and see what drums I bought. I'm pretty sure they were from NAPA but I can't remember specifically which ones. Maybe I'll take them off one at a time and try rotating them. Maybe only one is bad. Also, I'm going to have to get the parking brake adjuster unstuck. That ...

This van has disc brakes in the front and drums in the rear. Parking brake engages the rear drums.

I had recently done a complete front and rear brake job on my Safari but hadn't gotten around to adjusting the parking brake until today. I knew that I'd need to be able to rotate the rear wheel by hand to determine when the shoes begin to make contact with the drums, so I raised the rear end off th...

If the system needed to be recharged wouldn't you think that maybe there is a leak. DUH !!!!!!!!!!! Before you do a complete recharge you find the leak and do a repair. I dont think there's any reason for you to be insulting. All auto AC systems need to be recharged eventually. Most leak out very s...

A week ago I had my A/C recharged to the tune of $120. This week it won't cool worth a d**n. Today the guy who did the work told me a story about how lots of these vans leak in the rear air because of how the coolant lines are woven through the chassis, rubbing on straps, etc. He said that they actu...

Went ahead and replaced everything - calipers (loaded) and rotors, then bled the front brakes. (I bled the back a couple of days ago when I rebuilt the rear.) Test drove it this evening. The first couple of times I hit the brakes it felt like it was pulling to the left just a little, but that went a...

Yes. It's in my signature. (Not trying to be a smart*ss - just for future reference.)

Thanks for your responses, guys. I've been working on the dang thing now for awhile and, even after a trip to the hardware store to buy a bigger Easy-Out, it's still in there tight as can be. At this point I'm probably looking at removing the caliper, putting it into a bench vise, then hitting it wi...

Bled out the rear brakes last night at the end of my rear brake job. Just going to finish up bleeding the front this morning and all done, right? WRONG! Turned off the bleeder screw on the front passenger side. Guess that hasn't been opened for awhile... I'm wondering if I can drill that out and use...

OK, I'll move ahead with the job then.

MANY THANKS for your replies! You've been a huge help.

No, I'm afraid I don't have a welder. A friend tried to teach me once but, based on the results, the MN legislature passed a constitutional amendment forbidding me from ever welding again. I think I'd have to pull them and take to the local welding shop. I don't have any experience to draw on, so I'...

OK, I ground those pads a little with a dremel, then sanded and worked with a wire brush. Here are the results: brake_bplateL_front_pads.jpg brake_bplateL_rear_pads.jpg Here's the worst one: brake_bplateL_lower_rear_pad.jpg Now that things are bit easier to see, I figured I'd give you one more chanc...

I don't think that wear area is significant. If you smooth it out and lube the contact points as it is supposed to be lubed with every brake job, with the fresh new springs returning the shoes to the rest locations, you should be good to go. Check! I was going to use anti-seize compound as lube unl...