- -snip-
>not to my fears. I am about ready to put the web in the same
>category as network TV.
Without taking sides -
The Internet is a largely non-refereed environments, except for the
self-policing that we do within our own mail lists and newsgroups. As a
result, there is a lot of wrong information, mis-information, myth,
innuendo, etc floating around. But, groups like this mailing list do a much
better job of sifting through the "facts" because we have such a diverse
group of people with unique expertise.
Even within a given specialty there is often disagreement on a wide variety
of topics. It's no surprise that folks don't always agree on "engineering"
matters because there are often competing (sometimes dissimilar) views even
among recognized experts.
Patrick just posted an excellent comment about remembering what people are
trying to sell. A pratical subtext to that is: understand the SPECIFICs of
the conditions surrounding a recommendation. The torque measuring is a good
example. I was also taught to loosen then tighten bolts, screws etc when
"measuring." Others were told to use a clicker. Which one is "right"
depends on the ccircumstances.
Recommended practices are just that - recommended. It doesn't mean that
it's the only way, or even the right way. And they definately aren't
neccesarily extendible to other situations.
The controversy over the "facts" sometimes leads valuable resources to drop
out. They get tired of trying to correct what they perceive to be bad
advice, wrong information, etc. Wes Coughlin is one of those, and it's too
bad he doesn't participate here. (he told me he doesn't participate because
of the cluelessness of Internet folks in general, not necessarily us).
The value to me in this list is that there are a large number of
well-informed folks who will share their opinions and what worked/didn't
work for them. We're all adults and can choose what to follow for
ourselves. We indivually deal with the consequences. (yeah, I know - a
wheel falling off in heavy trafic may have other folks involved, but you
get the idea.)
My personal experience with our GMC is that the coach drives better when
restored to original suspension condition than it did when I first bought
it. The modifications that I've made, and had others make, have each
improved some aspect of the coach. (the only thing I'm unsure of is the
brake guards that went on when I redid the brake system - I didn't test
them before and after). Not all repairs were done the "GM way" as described
in the manual. Some used techniques discussed here. Others were completed
by mechanics who had a lot of experience working on GMCs.
I won't use the GM approved bearing tool - I'll use Tom's puller that I
bought. I've used techniques from nearly everyone on this list - and
ignored at least as many. Sometimes I've had good results. Sometimes not.
I hope that nobody drops from this list because of personal disagreements.
Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (831) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (831) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com/ http://www.henry-davis.com
>not to my fears. I am about ready to put the web in the same
>category as network TV.
Without taking sides -
The Internet is a largely non-refereed environments, except for the
self-policing that we do within our own mail lists and newsgroups. As a
result, there is a lot of wrong information, mis-information, myth,
innuendo, etc floating around. But, groups like this mailing list do a much
better job of sifting through the "facts" because we have such a diverse
group of people with unique expertise.
Even within a given specialty there is often disagreement on a wide variety
of topics. It's no surprise that folks don't always agree on "engineering"
matters because there are often competing (sometimes dissimilar) views even
among recognized experts.
Patrick just posted an excellent comment about remembering what people are
trying to sell. A pratical subtext to that is: understand the SPECIFICs of
the conditions surrounding a recommendation. The torque measuring is a good
example. I was also taught to loosen then tighten bolts, screws etc when
"measuring." Others were told to use a clicker. Which one is "right"
depends on the ccircumstances.
Recommended practices are just that - recommended. It doesn't mean that
it's the only way, or even the right way. And they definately aren't
neccesarily extendible to other situations.
The controversy over the "facts" sometimes leads valuable resources to drop
out. They get tired of trying to correct what they perceive to be bad
advice, wrong information, etc. Wes Coughlin is one of those, and it's too
bad he doesn't participate here. (he told me he doesn't participate because
of the cluelessness of Internet folks in general, not necessarily us).
The value to me in this list is that there are a large number of
well-informed folks who will share their opinions and what worked/didn't
work for them. We're all adults and can choose what to follow for
ourselves. We indivually deal with the consequences. (yeah, I know - a
wheel falling off in heavy trafic may have other folks involved, but you
get the idea.)
My personal experience with our GMC is that the coach drives better when
restored to original suspension condition than it did when I first bought
it. The modifications that I've made, and had others make, have each
improved some aspect of the coach. (the only thing I'm unsure of is the
brake guards that went on when I redid the brake system - I didn't test
them before and after). Not all repairs were done the "GM way" as described
in the manual. Some used techniques discussed here. Others were completed
by mechanics who had a lot of experience working on GMCs.
I won't use the GM approved bearing tool - I'll use Tom's puller that I
bought. I've used techniques from nearly everyone on this list - and
ignored at least as many. Sometimes I've had good results. Sometimes not.
I hope that nobody drops from this list because of personal disagreements.
Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (831) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (831) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com/ http://www.henry-davis.com
)
