That's a nice feature - a cop stopped me to tell me.

The 1968 Corvette had rear light monitors... Seems like I remember the Lincoln also had one at one point back then.

They could do it if they wanted. The problem is the overall light design. There are three lights on the back of the car a tail light (dim when lit), a brake light (dim when lit), and a combo brake/turn light that is very bright. That bright light is on when you hit your brakes and it flashes when you have your turn signal on. That's the reason the circuity has to go through the damn switch in the steering column. If they just had three separate lights (tail, turn, and brake) then you wouldn't have to screw with the goofy switch business.

:3DSMILE:

If they just had three separate lights (tail, turn, and brake) then you wouldn't have to screw with the goofy switch business.


Gee, Patrickt that would make to much sense and be to easy to repair. But if you think it is bad now,wait until the Obama, Pelosi designed cars that are 1single piece of degradable plastic come along. :LOL: :LOL:

Ron :p

Ron,

I think cars designed for the world market have three separate lights . My '94 Mazda B4000 pick-up has separate rear amber lenses for turn signals as opposed to the red stop lenses. It's kind of a pain in the butt, needing a logic diode harness converter, when adapting to old style brake/signal combo-filament trailers (all of them).

Wes

Rick, please pardon me for pointing this out, and making my plea, but...

Being a big proponent of the American working class, particularily the need for unions ...I wonder how this "set for life" is working out for the Mexicans when these jobs go to Mexico (or elsewhere). Skilled factory work might pay more like the miserable pay scale for quality mechanics down there.

Our ownership/management and the Mexicans ownership/management think alike when it comes to self-proclaimed ownership of jobs. The only difference is the self-chosen social position and the thinking of the respective workforce. Who owns the jobs, yours, mine, and why.

I wouldn't willingly trade for the meek Mexican "set for life" if I were you. Best take the corporate propoganda with a grain of salt. There is a good reason we have been, and continue to be, media-molded to think like we often do. Unions certainly aren't perfect, but they're all we got. Help clean them up, whatever ...but don't let some big-business media shill entirely talk you out of organized labor. Give it some more thought. Do the right thing by our children.

In corporate-speak, God forbid we would bring the rest of the world up to our Class One middleclass standards instead of dropping middle America to their lowerclass poverty, where only the rich and the poor live ...no middle.

I think middle-America is worth fighting for ...again. Hear the call.

Wes

...

The one on the 'vette used fiber optic cables run back to the taillight reflectors, crude, but effective.

I don't know if unions are finished... but my wife works in electronic sales (cables, switches, etc). Big supplier to the auto companies. She told me the other day that a good part of the manufactering sector is moving back to the USA (mexico, china) since quality and safety are proving too hard to "export". A good example of this is the melatonin poisoning issue. Its problematic in many other areas too. I asked her why we were not hearing more about this in the news. She said it was because the economy was so depressed that the companies moving back are not doing a lot of business. Plus it is taking time to get these companies spun back up.

Fisher Price and Matel for example simply could not risk another PR debacle involving lead paint. To them, the cost benefit is just not worth it. I dunno when we will start hearing and seeing more about this, but it should be soon.

http://www.industryweek.com/articles...ing_16778.aspx


Mike

mike,
i must say that has to be the best news i have heard in months if not years.
you hear about lawsuits and complaints about goods,ie: Chinese, and you wonder isn't there any common sense in these corporations that contract out to the foreign manufacturers. i guess eventually when it begins to hurt their pocketbook in the way of hurting their brand it begins to sink in

Mike,

I hope that many of the companies move back into this country and that they will employ American labor.

On the union part, that hospital here that has had one scandal after another and been closed and sold 4 times in the past 6 years has another problem. The nurses got together ad voted the union out. They just felt they could do better on their own and now it seems the Union won't contest it because some of their top people were deeply involved in the millions that vanished. Also they had the big insurance scandal that closed it down, then came the unneeded open heart surgeries which they made a fortune from and caused another shut down and 3 doctors losing their license. That place should have been torn down and closed long ago. Three CEOs have just quit with no warning in the past year.

Ron

...

Great link, Mike. Thanks for the uplift.

That sounds like a Mexican hospital, Ron. Sometimes, when I consider the state of current medical scam, I think that one of the highest forms of corruption commonly exists in the American medical world. Anything with insurance is apparently considered fair game with deep pockets.

Wes

...

Wes,

This hospital has been nothing but a disgrace since it opened many years ago. Just one scandal after another. Over the years they have had 4 CEOs just suddenly vanish over a weekend and never knew why until they started checking the books. Patients that were never in that hospital were billed for huge amounts. Surgeries that were not only unneeded but cost a couple of people dearly. Three doctors suspended and on trial for everything from lying to a federal investigation panel to doing open heart surgeries on patients that never even had heart trouble until they got through with them. I have always thought they should just bull doze that thing down and build something else worthwhile in the space it occupies. The latest big scandal that is now on going is they refused to take any of the insurance companies that insured people around here. So people all started going to the other hospital which is now having huge problems with the overflow as they just don't have the room and personnel to cope with hundreds of patients suddenly dumped on them. Now the bad hospital is trying to get the patients to come back and says they will accept their insurance so long as it pays enough for them to make a profit as they are a for profit only hospital. This mess they have created over the years may never be straightened out. Oh yea, and they are being sued for a $360 million utility bill they never paid and are now claiming they don't owe any of it as the former owners ran up a lot of it. Really gives you a warm feeling about them. I used to play racquetball years ago with one of their doctors and he told me then that he and two other surgeons were quitting and going to a hospital in the Bay Area as this one was so crooked they didn't want to be around whet the Sh** hit the fan.

Ron :(

Mexican? Nah. Symptomatic of union mentality.