Absolutely right. Using fixed wheel weights "CAN POTENTIALLY" contribute to damage of trans and differential components much more readily than using liquid fill in the tires. As johninmd points out, the liquid is free to move inside the tire and because of that it does not increase the torsional load that the drivetrain must deal with when starting and stopping. In contrast, fixed wheel weights can easily increase the torsional loading of the drive train by 4 or more times (as compared to an unweighted tire, wheel, and axle shaft assembly). Once you get the machine into motion (or get it stopped on the flip side of the coin) the torsional resistance is not a factor. And to be completely fair about the situation, ANYTHING you do to increase the tractability of a tire (whether it's weight boxes, tire chains, wheel weights or liquid fill in the tires) CAN INCREASE the torsional load imposed on the drivetrain during take off and during braking. Any time you increase traction (which is just a different way of saying "reduce slipping") you have to be more cautious and conservative about how you get the machine into motion and get it stopped. That means no "catapult shot" take offs and no tire sliding stops. (you shouldn't be doing that on purpose anyway, regardless of weighting). Of course if you have a machine that has the brakes mounted "outboard" (at the wheels per se) the stopping imposes no torsional loading on the drivetrain.

He is weird and too up tight. He needs to suck it up, you lend you take a risk, period. Several years ago I was stuck at work during a snow storm and had to work long hours. My family could not shovel my house out. My neighbor took it upon himself and used his snowblower and did my entire driveway and walks. He accidently went between my curb and my car on the driveway and scraped my car along the side and left some red snapper snowblower paint. So I sucked it up. Would be ungreatful for me to rip him a new a_ _. Oh well, you win some you lose some. But in the big picture, it is better my family was not trapped and it is better to have neighbors like that versus selfish ones.

Make sure that the wheels you get are for disc brakes (if you have disc brakes). Although you may find that the bolt pattern of wheels for shoe brakes will fit a disc brake equipped wheel, the wheel may interfere with the caliper assemby and that won't be discovered until the final tightening of the lug nuts. Damage may result since great force can be developed by the lug nuts. The dished shape of wheels for disc brakes are different to older wheels for shoe brake autos. Beware of this when getting wheels from a slavage yard. Also, when buying used wheels, make sure that the beveled holes for the lugs are not worn out. The lug nut should contact the wheel face and become snug before the backside of the material around the hole touches its clamping surface. The wheel acts as a very stiff spring lock washer to keep the lug nut in place. If the backside of the wheel bottoms, or the lug nut bottoms, before the lug nut begins to tighten on the wheel face, the lug may loosen, or the wheel will not be tight. This happens when the beveled hole is too large.

This morning, the sky through the bedroom window was bright and blue and cloudless. SWMBO pointed out that we had lox and cream cheese, so all we needed was bagels and red onions. I pushed the dog off my legs and walked outside, turned left, crossed a street and another, and in three minutes was at a bagel shop. Across the street, the grocery store had onions, and red potatoes. If coffee wasn't making back in the house, two cafés were a block further down. My shoes could have been repaired, a burrito eaten, a used book or DVD purchased, or any number of other daily errands done, within a block of where I stood, onion and bagel and potatoes in hand. Three minutes stroll later, I was slicing bagels in "our" kitchen. A walkable neighborhood is magical. It feels like Star Trek, where the Enterprise could warp from planet to planet in less than a minute (of TV time) and the crew could teleport up and down from the planet surface in seconds. In a walkable neighborhood, you can beam from bagel-world, grocery-planet, coffee-station, with less effort than it took to walk from the bridge to the transporter room. In comparison, a driving community feels to me like hitching up a covered wagon and rattling for hours through two-light intersections and endless parking lots, from big box to strip mall. It is so much of a harder way to live, I think. In Portland we live in a "semi walkable" neighborhood. There is a grocery store, coffee shop, several eateries and brew pubs, pizza, a haircut place, and a few assorted stores within an eight minute walk. The much denser commercial streets are more like 15 minutes' walk. The more convenient way to get around is on a bicycle, which I think of more like Luke Skywalker's X-wing. It is a fun way to get around, you get to swoop and speed, but there is a certain pre-flight delay as you unlock the bike, buckle on the helmet, clip into the pedals, and you need a certain degree of alertness, lest your fragile craft be smooshed by Imperial Battlecruisers of the Buick class. I love riding my bike and living in a cycling neighborhood, but there is something even more special about living in a walkable neighborhood. I feel so lucky to be spending two weeks in such a place. I'm thinking about how I can manage to live in a walkable neighborhood someday. The potatoes were for crab chowder. No recipe was followed. Just melt some diced onions in butter, cube red potatoes with skins, add boiling water and half a bouillon cube (no stock being handy), simmer for awhile, then mash up some of the potatoes to thicken. Add consistent sized cubes of stuff with pleasant colors - I had cucumber, but bell pepper would work - little strips of parsley or scallions or other greeney, salt and pepper. Bacon is always recommended but I had none, so I threw in a Parmesan cheese rind and some cubes of gruyere cheese. After the seasonings are right, add heavy cream and simmer a bit more. A flour slurry if you want thick spoon-standing chowder, but I prefer a more liquid soup. The crab comes last. Let it stand and the flavors mingle, then reheat and serve.