go for it - march 2012

March 2012 GO FOR IT 1

2 GO FOR IT March 2012

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March 2012 GO FOR IT 3March 2012 GO FOR IT 3


By Bob Cox


Do these statements sound familiar to you? “I just don’t understand the grown kids these days. They have no drive, no ambition and no get up and go. They’re lazy, unmotivated and mooching off their poor old parents, who are enabling them by allowing them to live with them rent free!” Well, these words do sound familiar to me as I hear them quite often from many people I know. My wife Diana also happens to know plenty of people saying the exact same thing when it comes to the subject of grown children who still live with their parents.

Once upon a time, when a child reached the ripe old age of 18, they were considered adults. In previous generations, most young adults were anxious, motivated and willingly embraced their new freedom by leaving the nest as quickly as possible. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore and the new ‘norm’ is an increasing population of young adults who still live at home with their parents.

According to Christina Newberry, the author of The Hands-on Guide To Surviving Adult Children Living at Home, nearly 25 million adult children are living with their parents in the U.S. alone. A recent Canadian census showed that, of kids aged 20 to 29, 44% still live with their parents!

Christina also acknowledges a growing trend in a new group called boomerang kids, which are kids returning home after being out on their own. This growing segment of the population has created a unique set of challenging circumstances for themselves and their parents.

According to one Canadian study, couples who had boomerang kids suffered through 10% more arguments than couples living in an empty nest. The book describes a few other common problems for adult children and their parent’s cohabitating together, including:

• Parents that have made the fatal mistake of giving too much, even to the point of jeopardizing their own hard-won financial security.

• Boomerang kids having a negative influence on younger children still living at home.

• Parents who feel like they’ve failed, even when they’ve probably done all that they can and perhaps even more than they should! A new survey indicates the percentage of people who purchase their own homes while in their 30s increases with age of departure from the parental home until about age 25 – then it drops. After age 28, their chances of becoming homeowners are no better than children who fly the coop at 16.

So, what’s happened? Why are more and more grown children burrowing deeper into the nest? Some might be lead to believe that the Great Recession is partly to blame. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in October 2009, 15.6% of 20-to-24-year-olds were unemployed vs. 8.7% for people over 25. I have a different theory.

When I was growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s, most of my friends had a complete set of parents to come home to. They were usually greeted after school by their mom. Then, everything began to change. The equal rights movement was gathering momentum and more and more women sought greater independence by entering the workforce. During the economic boom of the 1980’s and the yuppie generation, inflation and the cost of living skyrocketed, which created another trend where both the husband and wife were forced to work just to make ends meet. So, who watched and guided junior after he/she arrived home from school?

It was very unusual in my days as a kid to encounter someone who lived in a single parent home. Nowadays, that appears to be the norm, as for the first time in history, over half of all homes with children are run by a single parent, according to a recent article published in

the Sacramento Bee. So, what’s the answer to “Who’s been watching and guiding junior after he/she arrived home from school during the past 30 years? The

electronic babysitter…Meet “Aunt Internet” and “Uncle Facebook!”

Many of the adult children who are now still living at home were guided after school by an

assortment of electronic gadgets, including a huge selection of video games, cable T.V. stations and the early days of the internet. The absence of

adult guidance and supervision has lead to this new reality, where more young adults feel lost, unprepared and emotionally stuck on age 17. I believe that they are looking for something

that our generation had an abundance of…time with mom and dad.

My advice for those of you who feel agitated because either you or someone you know has grown kids at home and they’re driving everyone crazy, take a big step back to gain a healthy perspective. Realize that most of the people belonging to our generation had lots of time with mom and dad while growing up. Perhaps a bit too much, which was likely the reason we were counting down to the day we turned 18. I’m sure they were just as excited to see us go too! The first step to truly solving any complex problem involves a desire to dig deep and get a better understanding of the situation and then to proactively solve the problem by taking a healthy and balanced course of action. Summon the courage and wisdom within to establish clear lines of communication, expectations and a successful exit strategy. Mostly, don’t let fear stop you from getting the life you and your child deserves…Go for it!

Bob Cox is the founder and publisher of

Go For It Magazine. He can be reached by phone at (916) 266-3115. His email address is [email protected]. Go For It Maga-zine is owned and operated in Rancho Cor-dova, CA. Copyright © 2012.

Stuck on 17


March 2012 GO FOR IT PB


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Decking Out Your BackyardBy Bob Cox

When Rob Peterson decided to deck out his backyard this past winter, he decided to go with the people who had consistently delivered quality for him over the past year: Alco Home Improvement Specialists. As a former naval officer, Rob was trained by the cream of the crop and that meant having a very keen eye for detail. Rob’s experience began last year when he decided to get his widows replaced.

Rob wanted to work with a company that had an outstanding reputation, so he started asking around. One day, Rob was sharing his plan with a friend and he got the direction he was looking for. “Well, I learned about Alco from a good friend of mine. When I told him we were looking to get windows done in our home, he said that Alco did a really great job. He had several other experiences but Alco was by far the best. So, based on that opinion, we went with Alco and it really was a great decision! My friend got it right they just did super work,” exclaimed Rob.

Rob was so pleased with the job Alco did on his windows; he hired them to do a wide variety of home improvement projects, including replacing his old vinyl siding with stucco. After that, Alco installed a new roof and gutters, remodeled both bathrooms, installed crown molding and painted the entire interior. Each time, Alco exceeded Rob’s expectations, so when it came time for Rob to add a deck to his backyard, the decision was a no-brainer.

The decking project presented a few major challenges early on, starting with the removal of the old cement patio. The patio had begun to lift and had several major cracks caused

by roots from a neighbors tree. Once the patio was removed, the workers dug out all the roots and placed several oversized footings in excess of 40 inches deep. They chose to play it safe by going extra deep, just in case more trees roots came back. The unusually deep footings would help prevent new roots from lifting the deck up.

Once the foundation was in, the deck came together quickly. Rob decided to stay away from the less expensive redwood decking because it requires a lot of maintenance over the life of the deck. He chose a synthetic decking material because of its durability, beauty and zero maintenance features. Rob also liked the 20 year warranty on it. Synthetic decks have become more and more popular because they won’t fade, stain and are basically foolproof. With wood, you have to stain and treat it with a clear coating agent approximately every 18 months. With a synthetic deck, there’s none of that. Ultimately, a synthetic deck is cheaper in the long run.

The deck Rob selected was assembled with a tongue and groove system, with all the fasteners hidden for a really smooth finished look. The octagon shape off the back of his house adds extra dimension and a step down all the way around the deck makes for easy access to the entire yard.

I asked Rob what it was like to work with the people at Alco, and here’s what he had to say.

Q: As a former officer in the U.S. Navy, would you agree that you really have an eye for detail and like things to be done the right way?

A: That’s exactly right. I was on a destroyer when I first got out of college and I was a First Lieutenant and was in charge of the deck ports which does all the painting and visual presentation of the ship from the waterline on up. If you don’t have it right, you are going to hear it from somebody above you like the captain of the ship. So, I know good work and detail and I do focus on those things.

Q: What have you liked most about working with Alco? A: The people that I’ve worked with at Alco have been

outstanding. They have been great to relate to and had an attention for detail. They have done the work and made sure they did it exceptionally well. As I have said before, they couldn’t have done a better job if they working on their own homes, so I really felt like I was getting my moneys worth from them.

Q: Were they able to stay within budget and be on time?


A: Oh yes, they gave me the costs of the project as they went along and that’s what they were. We knew everything ahead of time and no payment was due until the job was completed to perfection.

Q: That’s very rare, isn’t it?A: Yes it is. They invested their time until the job was

completed and then I paid them. If it took longer than they or I expected, well they didn’t get paid until it was done. That was the commitment they made and I liked that an awful lot.

Q: It sounds like you would recommend them to your friends and family?

A: Yes, I certainly would. There is no doubt about it, they have done excellent work!

Q: Can you tell us more about this beautiful deck they just finished?

A: Sure. They really did a great job on the deck, no doubt about it. They took it from a slab of cement patio which had been cracked because of the tree next to my property and then built this deck. We all worked together with the ideas of it and it really came together just as I imagined it. It’s quite a work of art and it will be here for ages, which is great.

Q: So, do you have some big plans for this spring and summer?

A: Well they won’t be that big (laughs) but there will probably be some people on lounge chairs out there. It’s almost big enough to hold a dance party or something out there. It’s really quite impressive.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to say about your experiences working with Alco?

A: I couldn’t recommend them more highly. They have done excellent work and their word was good. Their word was their bond and it was very good to work with them.

Editor’s notes: Rob has hired Alco for his next home improvement project, which is going to be a new driveway, sidewalk and front stoop, and all will be finished in a beautiful stamped concrete. We can’t wait to see the results!

Alco is about to become certified for selling and installing Pli-Dek, which is a waterproof coated material that goes over an existing wood deck, a concrete porch, a garage floor and even floors inside a house. A wide variety of beautiful patterns are available, including brick, stone and just about anything you can dream of. It can even look like acid washed concrete!

For more information about Alco Home Improvement Specialists, visit their office at 10255 Old Placerville Road in Sacramento, log onto their website at www.alcohis.com or call (916) 362-1400.

The old cement patio was severely damaged by old tree roots and had to be removed.

The New synthetic deck installed in Rob’s backyard won’t fade or stain with time and requires zero maintenance.

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Before March MadnessBy Bob Cox

Whenever the four of us got together to play against our arch enemy Chris and his group of thugs in a spirited game of basketball after school on the blacktops of Calle Mayor, we would look back on each epic encounter and say that was the greatest game ever! Chris’s teammates came from another school halfway across the Universe called Meadowview, which I believe was actually more than a whole mile away! These unwelcome invaders dared to take the four of us on, which comprised Vince, Jim, Dave and yours truly.

Vince had been my best friend since first grade and he was famous for impersonating his idol Wilt Chamberlain, the center for our home-town heroes, the Los Angeles Lakers, by dressing in Wilt’s signature wristbands and matching gold headband. Like Wilt, his game was all about collecting rebounds, which he was able to do faster than we could grab a handful of donuts before first period at the bakery behind South High.

Jim was a soft spoken Greek boy whose parents had two great aspirations for him: To marry a nice Greek girl and open a hamburger restaurant like his father. When Jim moved to our school in 6th grade, he would always seem to wind up smack dab in the middle of a major war between Vince and me. Vince liked to use poor Jim to get even with me whenever we would get into an argument, which sadly, was about as often as we would overeat. He’d hang out with his “new and improved best friend” while ignoring me like a leper. Fortunately for all of us, those days were short-lived and Jim and I became good friends. Jim was clearly our best all around player, with a sweet outside shot and deceptive quickness that helped him score easy layups.

Dave was our red-haired, freckle-faced big man in the middle, tickling the measuring stick at 6 feet by 8th grade! Dave moved from Seaside Grammar School, which was just a stone’s throw from my house to Calle Mayor in 7th grade. I should know, because I threw plenty of stones back in the day at cars passing down Bindewald Road, hitting the hot rod of an angry teenager one day! Anyway, that was the year Calle Mayor was converted into a middle school. The three of us eagerly recruited Dave to our side and we were ecstatic when he joined forces with “The three stooges!” Dave was the second tallest kid in school and he was our ace in the hole when we needed a quick score. He had great skills shooting the ball inside and was surprisingly accurate with his outside shot. Best of all, his mom spoke with a real English accent and I loved going to his house after school. I would hope his mom would answer the door, because whenever she did, she would invariably turn and shout “David, Bobby’s here,” which sounded more like this: “Diii-vid, Boppy’s ear!”

As one of the shortest kids in school, I had to pattern my game after another Laker star back in the day, a shooting guard named Gail Goodrich. Like Gail, I never met an outside shot that I didn’t like. I practiced every day after school on my rusty old rim in our driveway. If I was lucky, Tim McBride and his older teenage friends would invite me over from across the street for a spirited game of two-on-two. They would howl in amazement whenever I would get into a zone and knock down one 20 footer after another.

Looking back, the thing I remember and cherished most about those games with Chris and his crew is how no matter what was going on, no matter how great or how terrible things were going in our world, nothing else mattered when we played. It was as if time stood still as we played another full-court marathon game that would last for hours. The first team to score to 100 points would be the winner and every game always seemed to come down to the last shot as our teams were evenly matched in talent and competitive fire. After those epic encounters, we drug our weary bodies over to the faded chrome drinking fountains and gulped water down like thirsty Sahara Desert nomads, then collapsed in exhaustion on the metal tabletops outside the cafeteria. Although each team desperately wanted to earn the bragging rights that the joy of winning would bring, our mutual respect and friendships grew because we truly all brought out the best in each other.

The following year, our freshman year at South High, our “two teams” merged together to play in the big show for all the marbles! We joined forces to play in the high stakes of organized basketball in the Torrance Park and Recreation League. We weren’t playing at our daddy’s little elementary school anymore. This was the real deal: Indoor courts with hardwood floors, nets on the rim, real referees and an electronic scoreboard that had a loud buzzer that sounded when time expired. We all felt like we had just hit the big time as we kept our eyes peeled for talent scouts lurking in the grandstands. Okay, so it wasn’t the N.B.A. but it was the closest we’d ever get to it in our pathetic little lifetimes!

In one highly contested game, our coach decided to insert a kid named Harry into action, while subbing out Vince, much to Vince’s snarling displeasure. Harry was a perennial bench warmer and for good reason. His complete lack of skill was superseded by his inability to grasp the importance of the situation. For each of us, these games were the closest thing to a life and death situation. Every possession, every shot, every dribble and every pass could either lead us to the thrill of victory or to the agony of defeat. Depending on how you look at it, the four remaining players on our team either played as a tight, cohesive and unselfish team or did a terrific job of playing keep-away from Harry. After just a few seconds of

being subbed in, Harry panicked at the thought of not touching the ball. In our second possession

with Harry on the court, his desperation for the ball reached a breaking point, so he did the unthinkable. He lunged into the passing lane, stole the ball from one of his teammates and heaved the brown leather orb well over the rim and into the stands.

After watching this tragedy unfold, Vince stood up in defiance, said a few choice words,

and then yanked off his sweat soaked headband and flung it in a fit of comical rage. We all watched

transfixed in time as the golden sphere twirled halfway across the court like a U.F.O. in stealth-like silence. Walking on the court Vince looked at

Harry with eyes bulging, threw up his hands and yelled “Harry, you stooge! Well, that was the silence

breaker we all needed as both teams, including Harry, roared with laughter!



I realize it has been a while since you wrote the page about “Thanking A Veteran”, but I was moved by it enough to finally write you about it. My father was a SeaBee in the Navy during WW2 in the South Pacific, and whatever horrors he saw in that war (I know there were many) he never talked about. Ever. He dealt with it by suppressing and/or trying to forget about what he saw. Never complained.

This article you wrote, to me, was a masterpiece, because my father always gave my sister and me his unconditional love, and our lives are so much better because of the kind of man he was. I am so grateful for being so damn lucky to have had him for my father. Everyone should be as grateful as you and I are...

I don’t have a lot of time to write right now, but had to at the very least, wanted to express to you the feelings I felt when I read it.

I hope you have a Happy New Year, something most of the public has no clue they can celebrate because of the sacrifice every veteran made and still makes for our country. Just finally taking the time to write you right now bring those feelings to me one more time. It has been on my agenda for over a month.

Have a great day Bob,

Phil Miller

*For tools and tips, as well as Bob’s bio, visit www.BobsPocket.

And we can be “merely players” or writers and producers. Business philosopher Jim Rohn said “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much.”

So what does it take to write your own “life story”? Here are some good things to start with:

1) Things you are good at and enjoy doing. We all have talents and gifts. A life well lived will incorporate your gifts into your life and perhaps your livelihood too!

2) Things you are passionate about. A life well served will involve our advocacy of something besides our-selves. Compassion is passion turned into action...

3) Goals of what you want to be, do and have. The “have” will be things on your “dream board”, the “do” will be things on your “bucket list”, and the “be” will be the things on your “legacy list”*.

Storyboarding is a technique used by film-makers to pre-visualize a story. Writing things down and visualizing are great ways to start planning your future and living your legacy. Con-tinually ask yourself: “Player or Producer? To be or not to be?”

All the World’s a Stage...

• Rancho Cordovan of the Year: Conrade Mayer• Distinguished Business Partner: Slama Electric• Distinguished Community Service: Scottie Moore• Distinguished Community Service Organization: Metro Fire CERT• Distinguished Service to Youth: Rancho Cordova Police Activities League• Distinguished Teen Service: Mark Sohl• All American Fourth of July Volunteer: Karen Teague• We Couldn’t Do it Without You Award: Wayne Harmer Family• Hometown Hero Award: Sam McDonald

To learn more about the honorees, about the Council or just to check out pictures from the Dinner, visit www.CordovaCouncil.org.

Each year, the Cordova Com-munity Council recognizes outstanding volunteer contri-butions to the community. On February 24, the following individuals and organizations were honored at the annual Awards dinner, apropos-priately themed “Lights, Camera, Action!”

Visit BobsPocket.com for more community news and events. We are also proud to work with:

Thoughts About Thanking a Veteran


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1. Sacramento Zoo, Sacramento The Sacramento Zoo is home to more than 400 animals, including the snow leopard, red panda, eagles and reptiles.

2. Spirit Of Sacramento, Sacramento Take a cruise on this riverboat, Spirit Of Sacramento, and enjoy its saloon, dining room and open-air dance floor.

3. Old Sacramento, Sacramento For a taste of the Old West, complete with dirt and cobblestone streets flanked with wide wooden sidewalks and “Bonanza”-style buildings, visit Old Sac.

4. Sacramento Kings, Sacramento Sacramento locals are intensely devoted to the Sacramento Kings, who hold court at Power Balance Pavillion.

5. Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento A block from City Hall and Cesar Chavez Park, this building was renovated in 1992. 6. Sacramento River, Sacramento This river is a popular spot for locals and visitors during Sacra-mento’s infamously hot summers.

7. Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento Come catch various events at the Sacramento Convention Center, and let this attractive city enthrall you on your visit.

8. California State Railroad Museum, SacramentoCalifornia State Railroad Museum is the largest train museum in the country. 9. McKinley Park, SacramentoThis is the most photogenic park in Sacramento.

10. River Otter Taxi Company, SacramentoFrom Old Sacramento to marinas, restaurants and shops along the Sacramento River.

11. Funderland, SacramentoConveniently located across from the Sacramento Zoo, Funder-land is an amusement park designed for kids 12 and under. 12. Downtown Ice Rink, Sacramento The Westfield Downtown Plaza Ice Rink, located at 7th & K Streets in downtown Sacramento .

13. Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Carmichael This center combines the services of an art gallery along with an excellent art instruction program.

14. Cesar Chavez Park, SacramentoThe native plant landscaping would make the park’s namesake, the United Farm Worker union founder.

15. Discovery Park, SacramentoWith its 275 acres studded with stands of mature trees and grass-lands, this park where the American River flows into the Sacra-mento River, is a favorite of local fishermen.

16. Raley Field, West Sacramento The seats in Raley Field offer a nice view of the Sacramento skyline. The park has more than 11,000 seats and is a popular venue for concerts, festivals and other events.

17. Historic City Cemetery, Sacramento More than 20,000 pioneers from the Gold Rush era (1840s) “rest in peace” here, including John A. Sutter, Jr. (founder of Sacramen-to), Edwin Bryant Crocker and Mark Hopkins.

18. Amtrak Rail Passenger Terminal, Sacramento A block north of Downtown Plaza and within walking distance of several hotels, this is an excellent location from which to begin a Sacramento visit.

19. Sacramento State Aquatic Center, Gold River If you want to learn a water sport from pros or just spend time enjoying a well-equipped urban recreation area, The Associated Students of CSUS have just the thing for you.

20. California State Capitol Building, Sacramento Surrounded by a lush green park, the Capitol Building in downtown Sacramento is an impressive display of neoclassical architecture.

21. Campus Commons Golf Course, Sacramento This scenic little 3,074-yard, nine-hole layout runs right along the American River near the J Street Bridge.

22. Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento Founded in the 1870s, Crocker Art Museum is known as the first art museum in the West.

23. Wells Fargo History Museum, Sacramento The Wells Fargo History Museum in Old Sacramento showcases a 140-year history of the Pony Express, gold discovery and banking long ago.

24. William Land Park Golf Course, Sacramento This 9-hole layout, at 5208 yards, has the length and difficulty of many 18-hole courses.

25. Fairytale Town, Sacramento Fairytale Town is a world of Mother Goose where fairy tales come to life. Children can chase each other around the crooked mile and crawl on the tortoise and the hare.

26. K Street Mall, Sacramento Starting at the fountains and grove of dwarf palms outside the Convention Center at 13th and K Streets, the mall extends six blocks west to the Downtown Plaza.

The hoTTesT 50 Things To Do in Sacramento



38. California Museum, Sacramento The California Museum offers the history of the state in a dazzling array of high-tech, multimedia displays and exhibits.

39. Bing Maloney Golf Course, Sacramento Bing Maloney Golf Course is one of the area’s first public courses. The trees lining most fairways are fully grown and best avoided.

40. Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento Are you interested in bronze art or casting? Art Foundry gallery is devoted to a variety of unusual bronze works.

41. Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course, Sacramento Long is not too important, but straight is mandatory to score well on Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course’s 6,118 yards of narrow fairways.

42. Camera Art, SacramentoAside from being one of the area’s most popular sources for cam-eras, photographic and darkroom equipment, this shop is also noted for its monthly photo shows.

43. The California Military Museum, Sacramento California Military Museum has a large display weapons, uniforms, battle flags and medals. In chronological order, you can see ar-tifacts from before California was a state through the Spanish/American War.

44. RiverWalk, Broderick RiverWalk is a natural oasis meandering along the western bank of the Sacramento River.

45. Granite Bay At Folsom Lake, Sacramento A part of the Folsom Lake Recreation Area, the Granite Bay is a safe waterfront for day outings. Lifeguard services on the well-maintained sandy beach are available making swimming safe.

46. Barton Gallery, Sacramento The pale, conservative background of this gallery tends to fade away; highlighting rather than competing with the art on display.

47. SushiMasters, Sacramento Hundreds of people assemble to witness the masters of sushi bat-tle it out in the SushiMasters, a state sushi competition, organized by the California Rice Commission.

48. The Colonial Theatre, Sacramento Much of the original look of this historic theatre has been main-tained since it opened in the early 1930s. This is a popular venue for music video taping, CD release parties, wrestling, boxing, movie festivals, etc.

49. Beals Point, FolsomA mere half-hour drive east of downtown Sacramento, this natural oasis is a great place to get away from all the hustle and bustle. The kids can go swimming in the warm waters of Folsom Lake.

50. Thunder Valley Casino, Lincoln Thunder Valley Casino brings a little bit of Vegas to the outer-Sacramento landscape.

27. California State Capitol Museum, Sacramento Operating continuously since the day the doors opened in 1869, California State Capitol Museum is where the State of California’s legislature met.

28. Sutter’s Fort, Sacramento Originally built in 1839, Sutter’s Fort is symbolic of the Gold Rush era in California. It is equipped with 12 cannons and a jail.

29. Raging Waters, Sacramento With summer temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit, Sac-ramento locals flock to Raging Waters for relief from the heat.

30. Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, SacramentoAcross K Street Mall from the Regional Transit (RT) Cathedral Square train stop, is an edifice sculpted in the classic architectural mode.

31. Cal Expo, Sacramento Located in the Arden area of Sacramento, Cal Expo hosts a variety of concerts and expo shows, a sports wagering center, and the California State Fair.

32. Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento The Governor’s mansion, built in 1877, has 14-feet ceilings, crystal chandeliers, ornate moldings, Persian carpets, Italian marble fire-places and French mirrors.

33. Scandia Family Fun Center, SacramentoFun is what this attraction has to offer, with a variety of activities for all ages. You can play miniature golf on one or both of the Scandinavian-themed 18-hole golf courses.

34. Curtis Park, Sacramento A short walk east from its more renowned neighborhood William Land Park, this quiet piece of natural territory is a welcome respite from noise and crowds.

35. California Auto Museum, SacramentoThe California Auto Museum displays antique automobiles of all makes and models. Antique mannequins and artifacts enhance this museum’s history of the automobile.

36. Teal Bend Golf Course, Sacramento Teal Bend Golf Course may sound like a tough track, but it really plays shorter than its posted 7,061 yards from the back tees.

37. California State Indian Museum, SacramentoLocated next to Sutter’s Fort , California State Indian Museum dis-plays history from the Native American perspective.

The hoTTesT 50 Things To Do in Sacramento



Car Tech TalkAlignments, Tires and Balance

More than once a week, we get a customer asking for an alignment. When probed as to why more often than not the answer is, “My car is shaking at xyz speed.” The simple answer is that an alignment will not cure a wheel shake. As technically advanced as a BMW is, the effects of an alignment are still the same as any other car.

What an alignment will cure is uneven tire wear and in some cases a pull to one side. There are 3 major alignment adjustments, camber, caster and toe. Of these, only two will cause tire wear and only one of them will cause a pull. Camber and toe will cause tire wear in very distinct patterns. Caster will only cause a car to drift to one side or another.

Toe is how much of a difference there is between the tread in front of and behind the tire. If the wheels are toed in, the tires will wear on the outside inch or so and across the tire you’ll encounter a fish scale effect. If the wheels are toed out, the tires will wear on the inside outside inch or so and across the tire you’ll encounter a fish scale effect. Running your hand lightly over the surface of the tire front to back will reveal this pattern. The tire will feel smooth in one direction but will catch your hand going back across. / \ = toed in

\ / = toed out

Camber is the amount of lean the tire has while looking at the front or back of the car. Negative camber is most common and is indicated by the top of the tire leaning in. BMW’s are designed for performance and will usually have a lot of negative camber on the rear wheels. Unfortunately this results in premature inner tire wear. You will almost never run into a car with outside

wear due to camber (positive) unless the car’s been modified or wrecked at some point.

Caster, now this one’s hard to explain. The best way to describe it is by talking motorcycles. A chopper has a long front fork that leans out. That’s positive caster, and more caster equals high speed stability. Look at a sport bike, short front forks and hardly any lean. It’s built for quick turning at speed but would be hard to maneuver slowly. Cars trade off straight line stability for improved handling and steering wheel feel. If there’s less caster on one side the car will pull to that side.

Caster will not cause tire wear of any sort. Balance issues and loose front end parts are what cause a car to shimmy or shake. Typically, if the car shakes at a certain speed and then goes away, it’s either an out of round tire or loose front end parts. The wheel, at that certain speed will reach its resonant frequency and begin to shake. When you increase road speed, the resonant frequency is passed and the shaking goes away. A shake that begins at a certain speed then gradually gets worse is most likely the common wheel balance issue. If the tires are in good shape, we spin them up and re-balance them properly. BMW’s are finicky when it comes to alignment and balance issues. It’s why we have invested in only the best Hunter alignment and tire equipment. We do not farm any of it out as our desire is to deliver the car in perfect condition, we simply do not trust a “tire shop” to align one of our customers BMW’s.

Editor’s notes: Walter Ford is the owner of Valley Motorwerks. He can be reached at his shop, which is located at 11401 White Rock Road in Rancho Cordova, CA. His phone number is (916) 636-9526 and his website is www.vmwerks.com.

By Walter Ford


22 GO FOR IT March 201222 GO FOR IT March 2012

go for it - march 2012

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