Taevas :: 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage DE (Garage entry)

[Eggman]

Thanks! No major upgrades planned. Maybe minor things, like grabbing a set of the window deflector/awning things so I can vent the windows when it rains, or one of the luggage nets. I have a set of Weather-Tech floor liners on the way for the front seats, and I'll grab the rear ones later. I wish I had the upgraded alloy wheels, the steelies with plastic caps look pretty crappy up close. Perhaps one day I'll run into a set of the alloy ones cheap, and I'll mount snow tires on the steel ones for winter. Can you buy those 14" Mirage alloy wheels?

Every so often a forum member changes our their set of tires for something else, and puts their old set up for sale. You might be able to find some that way. Also, there are various threads about replacing wheels that might provide some ideas. For example, some thread around here lists other model vehicles with like-sized tires. Browsing scrap yards might get a cheap set for winter use, or even a fancy set for summer.

It's main use will be for trips and part of my commute. My fiancee was not pleased with my airbag-less 1994 Geo Metro for traveling in, especially with our 18 month old daughter.

Smart move. Amazing how safety features have changed our outlook on driving.

I don't want to beat the crap out of a new car on my 60 mile commute, so I'll likely drive it 2 days a week, and drive the Metro 3 days. The Mirage will have to pick up the slack for the Metro until I repair the drum brakes on the Metro, seeing how they are wore to the point that the parking brake won't hold on a hill, with the parking brake cranked all the way up... Yikes!

Do you suppose they might simply need adjustment? There is another thread here discussing rear drum brake adjustment... let me look for it.

Here it is: Brake pads worn out at 25K!

The discussion turns to drum brakes around post #81:

On the subject of wearing out your front pads prematurely...

Are you guys regularly (at least a couple of times a year) taking off your rear drums and cleaning/adjusting your rear brakes?

My daily driver is a 2009 Pontiac G5 XFE (Chevy Cobalt twin). My car has 175,000 miles on the original brakes. I keep my drum brakes clean and in constant adjustment. The automatic adjusters don't cut it. Every 4-5 months I can always get 5-10 clicks out of the adjusters. I think this has gone a long way in preserving my front brakes. My front pads had about 40% left the last time I checked. My rear brake shoes will probably need to be replaced by 200K miles, but I'm not complaining. Oh...I do drive my car very easily...but about 40% of my driving is still in the city.

Generally speaking, using the brakes in reverse is supposed to keep them in adjustment. In reality, this really doesn't always work that well...at least in most of the drum brakes I've seen. When my brakes are properly adjusted, I can only pull my e-brake handle up 1-2 clicks. If I can pull my handle up and hear 6-7 clicks, I know it's time for me to adjust them.