For the record, its not because of the rubber tired that your car is the safest place during a thunder storm, its because your car is a Faraday cage. The metal chassis directs the electricity around you instead of going through you. Electricity always takes the shortest route, metal is a much better conductor so the electricity goes on that route instead of jumping through the interior of the car to get to you.
@@VirginiaBronsonno in a car your safer because of faradays cage, the lightning can’t get to you while if your in your house near metal or water your in danger and lightning can set your house on fire
@@Donuts_random_stuff that applies only if lightning is the biggest risk. Often high winds, hail, and occasional tornadoes are also a risk of strong storms. Better to be in the house or a store, not in the car during a strong storm
11:06 one of the deadliest pileups happened because of fog on March 10th 1997 on the M41 in the UK. 160 smashed vehicles, 20 serious injuries and 3 deaths, but a lot of it was also caused by drivers going too fast for the conditions. 28 drivers were charged with dangerous driving and one went to prison.
Damn blud. Buzzkill. And @taylorrudy9594 typical yankie… everything is always bigger in the south. 🥺 you’re making me so proud. #nowyoullhavetoanswerto #americafuckyeah #bleedingredwhiteandblue #ineedtoseeadoctor
Glad to see this guy back, he didnt really seem to suit the crazy repair situation vids like the other 2 mechanics, but this; this is where his perspective make sense.
I've been stuck by lightning in a car on 3 different occasions. Each time it struck the body of the vehicle and left no damage. If the bolt strikes metal on the vehicle, the body will act as a Faraday cage and keep the lightning on the surface of the exterior and will ground out through your tires. If it strikes a window such as in that clip, it's far more dangerous, but possible for your cars electrical systems to survive if lucky enough.
For the Killer Fog, 1 important rule of thumb that was left out is using your hazards when inside killer fog. Living in the HD going down the Cajon or Grapevine commuting teaches you alot
@@909lizardman i used to be a habitual speeder. i've had to take my points test twice. it's in the Pennsylvania how to drive manual, not just a courtesy.
@@ProthoPectore @909lizardman California law (where the Grapevine and Cajon are) prohibits driving with hazards on ESPECIALLY in Killer fog. It's low beams or low beams AND fog lights. Hazards reflect in the fog and can look bigger than they are which can throw off other drivers because they will break inappropriately thinking there is a stopped vehicle or a work vehicle in the road. It's on the dmv website and I'm speaking as someone who lives on the central coast just south of SF where killer fog is notorious
And if there's 2 lanes, stay in the more center-lane because I noticed the lanes on the side usually get more potholes & dips. Sincerely, Z on race suspension lol
I live in New Jersey bro. I feel this. When I worked at a tire shop, like 90% of tire replacements were from potholes. Tires don’t even have time to wear out, there are so many potholes! People were lucky if they got away with just needing a tire, and not a tire and rim.
Lighning isnt harmful to car electronics because it goes through everything. The positive wires at 12 volts are identical to negative wires and ground, when you are sending millions of vokts through the chassis. Many ignition systems dont have a ground or negative: the secondary side of the ignition coil fires 20kV to 40kV through the spark plug which grounds to the engine block. But, most ignition coils have no ground connection on the secondary windings, and the ground is only connected on the primary before the coil fires(ECU connects ground to charge the coil, and releases it to fire). The ground connection is backwards through battery positive.
3:43 fun little story, but the road I live on is notorious for frost heaves, which are basically the opposite of potholes and called "nature's speed bumps" by some people. Snow melts at the first thaw, seeps under the road, then freezes. This causes the soil under the road to expand and push upward, pushing the pavement up with it. When I was in school we called the back seat of the bus the "Cape Canaveral Launch Pad" because anyone sitting in that seat when the bus went over a frost heave would be launched a good foot into the air. Potholes and frost heaves are no joke
Last clip was insane, when I lived in MI I saw a Semi driver go full jackknife on similar road conditions and own 3 lanes in front of me. I was going slow enough to just drop throttle and maintain momentum to slow down and get the hell out of his way. To his credit he actually got it under control and headed to the shoulder where I am sure he climbed in back to change his shorts! love these videos, keep em' coming!
Staying in your car during a thunderstorm is great advice. However, your tires have nothing to do with it. It is safe because the metal exterior of the car acts as a Faraday Cage redirecting the flow of electricity around you and all your squishy bits.
The other important rule is not to touch anything metal in your car, as it is conducting and shunting those millions of volts around you. As for tires, if electricity can ionize air, which is less conductive than rubber - well, you know.
@@caseycooper5615Actually, electricity stays on the outer shell of a Faraday cage. So you're good to go so long as you're not resting you're arm out the window during the thunderstorm!
for fog, it doesnt matter where the lights are, its about the colour temperature. More yellow lights will penetrate fog while white light will get reflected. This is why you want your fog lights to be slightly yellow, even if it ruins the all white aesthetic
Lifelong Canadian here; I wouldn't be even half the winter driver I am (so far) if it wasn't for video games. Legit. They way you drift in video games makes it absolutely instinctual in the ice & snow when you break traction!
thing about salt is, as a tourist from Ecuador, it was a godsend. We don't learn how to drive on snow or ice because we don't need to. We're in the bleeping Equator! haha. So when I rented a car in Chicago last year in the winter and saw snow for the first time in my life, snow and ice were a huge worry for me until I drove on the salted roads.
Really, REALLY loving this channel. This is probably one of the most "car guy" things you have ever done, next to your car build series, because you're giving a platform for ACTUAL mechanics, not some day trading dude that started buying used exotics. These are the pros and one of the most often overlooked areas of car enthusiasm. We tend do go DIY and try to stay there, but mechanics have so much knowledge, and so many stories to tell. It often seems that they are only shown in "Customer states" videos, but you give was more insight into what they see and know.
If you want to see some of the best drivers go to areas that get a lot of snow and have a lot of unpaved roads. Growing up driving fast on loose gravel and icy roads gives you the knowledge to control your vehicle no matter the amount of traction you have.
14:45 I do a little bit of that in the bus I drive to see how slippery it is when it snows. If it kicks out real easy, it's time to be careful. It's also fun
I've hydroplaned a couple of times. Once, it was because my tires were very old and worn down. The other, I was just not paying attention to my speed. Both times, though, my dad's advice kicked in. I let off the accelerator, held the wheel, and when I skidded a little in one direction, turned into it. When I got traction again, I had full control, made a smooth recovery, and moved on, if a little shaken. Scary stuff, but thankfully, I was not on the highway either time.
Lightning has just jumped a mile through open air, it does not get stopped by one inch of rubber tire. What protects you is the frame of the car which conducts the electricity around the outside of the vehicle, so as long as you're not in direct contact with the frame or any conductor touching the frame, you'll probably be fine.
The first one happened to a friend of mine, while we were driving in a convoy, with his 2003 Mercedes CLK - the flash hit him right in the middle of the car. The car shut off, the hazards were going on - and nothing was faulty at all. Just a restart and the car was as good as new. A car is a farraday cage. the electricity is in the outside of the shell, not the inside.
It's almost always front right tires getting damaged (in US) from potholes because a majority of them form near the roadside instead of the middle since weather erodes that area more with drainage.
This. And the softer eroded base soil pack on the right side of city roads also incurs the most traffic from heavy vehicles: City Busses running their stop-n-go driving all day long, garbage trucks, big rigs and haulers etc.,
I remember watching donut and seeing them build cars and driving around or even telling me the history on B2B.. now I'm watching them tell me basic shit like part on high ground when it's flooding. Awesome.
Flood vehicles: I got an MG Midget and an MGB that were under 5 feet of fresh water from Florida's hurricane last year. They are both now running and driving, and look great! The Midget even had a Datsun 5-speed transmission installed. No computers in these cars. Dried them out, changed all fluids, cleaned the carbs, rebuilt a starter, changed out a solenoid, and they ran. Best result for a chance taken.
I love all the hosts and mecahanic combos, but to be spicific my favourite is James and Paul, Dustin and Zandro, Angelina and Nolan. Love you all Donut fam!
1:29 - Cars keep you safe in lightning strikes because they're more electrically conductive than our squishy bodies. It's called a Faraday cage, and it's how high-voltage workers often stay safe. If lighting can jump through 10 miles of air, which is only 5 times less insulative than rubber, and your tire is filled with air, do you not think lightning could jump from your bodywork to your rims, to the ground? In other words, air is only 5 times more conductive than rubber. Think about it.
4:30 it's the RF tire because you're in a LHD country, and the sewer grates along the curb sink into the road, making a very sharp edge for the wheel the smack right into
To this day, I'll never understand driving at high speeds while raining. Living in Texas, I see this all the time and when those accidents do happen, the driver is ALWAYS pissed the hell off.
I remember being on the freeway when rain came rather suddenly. I slowed down to 50Kph because the rain was really something (visibility was as bad as the fog at 10:45 in the video) and yet people zoomed past me. And for added bonus, a doofus in front of me was driving a gray car, ALL LIGHTS OFF. Seriously. And on top of that, he slowed down by letting go of the gas, so every now and then I would see his rear appearing through the rain and I would have to slow down without hitting the brakes by reflex. Of course it was a loooong stretch of freeway without anywhere to stop, so by the time I reached a gas station to stop, rain got more reasonnable. One of the longest hour I ever spent on a freeway.
Yeah. "Can't avoid em" lol excuse me? Maybe something can catch you by surprise but if you keep your eyes on the road, stay a reasonable distance from the car in front and avoid suspicious puddles you'll save yourself a lot of trouble and that's not just pothole damage.
I hadn't ever experienced bad fog conditions until recently. Like every time I thought it was bad fog it was nothing. The last time though was insane it might as well have been a blizzard. At times I couldn't see more than maybe 25 feet. It was morning time at least so not in the dark but still crazy to experience.
@@TheRedneckAtheist Not for Tulsa. It was the heaviest I've experienced in my 30+ years here. I know places like San Francisco can have it worse but for this part of the country it's not common at all.
@@supremecai5857look back any videos on the channel where it's "tow truck drivers react to..." One of the guys is a legit dude just trying to make a living. The other one is named "November." He's an actor, reading lines from the real guy who doesn't want to show his face on camera, because he's a POS who openly admits to breaking the law because he can get away with it.
@@supremecai5857They had another episode of this with a "mechanic" named November. Pretty much every comment on that video is about how said mechanic seems creepy or sleazy and that people hated him, as well as that he seemed to make James uncomfortable. But I'm pretty sure it's just some sort of bad joke by Donut as some kind of "satire" or inside joke. It seems most likely that it was just a character, not a real mechanic.
I'm bummed that I've already watched every video on this channel.. at least twice. Great content dudes. Looking forward to the next one! Guess I'll head back to Donut for now!
Just so ya know. The gm wax coating doesn’t hold up in the Midwest. It cracks and/or breaks down after a few years then traps moisture causing it to rust faster. Best prevention I’ve seen is sand blasting, painting, then put pb surface shield on every year after a in depth wash
As a Mainer I would love to take people snow drifting who've never really experienced it. The "right" kind of snow/ conditions can make all the difference. Along with tire set up of course. FWD, AWD. RWD all so damn fun. Do away with electronic ebrakes! 😊
aquaplaning - I was also taught to step on the clutch. That way, once the tires regain the grip, there's a less chance they will start skidding as the wheels will match the roadspeed faster without the engine interfering/braking.
Having TH-cam premium i always hate the in video commercials but this one I'm happy to see and sponsored your video. I wonder how well this camera would be as a dashcam? Also seen a smaller 360 cam this guy Kevin Talbot for his RC trucks that he bashes the hell out of them for testing for us so we don't have to.
Donut's Sponsored Segments are some of the funniest on the Tube. Much better than just sitting in front of a camera looking bored. Keep it up Donut Crew!
@matt_acton-varian oh those sponsored videos are the best I've seen on donut compared to other channels. Still kinda annoying paying for the premium and still get a "commercial/ad" Last time I looked for time of ad's skipped by premium is like some 1000+ hours now. Plus the other features that premium provides is pretty nice. Not sure if the free TH-cam has the picture and picture while I watch TH-cam and play a game or browse the web so YT will still play. Turning off the screen still let's YT play and that's super awesome while listening to music, stories, podcast or whatever. Not sure if YT music is free or not but that's included with the same feature playing in the background while I have something else open or turn the screen off. Time to time you can sign up and have access to any testing or beta features YT might release in the near future like the picture in picture. I'm on mobile btw so all these features are freaking great for me.
@@bigv6724 Sponsored Segments can be annoying but they are not under TH-cam's control. They are private deals negotiated directly between the product brand's marketing team and the content creators themselves. Depending on the terms the creators are even given a set amount of products or even given a small payment to advertise their goods. They can't automatically be bypassed by ad blocking or subscription service rules. It is what it is, but with creators now running as full time businesses, they need to have the resources to provide a regular stream of new videos. The commission from views, regular ads and subs royalties alone are rarely enough to support the businesses, so sponsorship deals gan generate a significant amount of revenue.
Had a family friend cross paths with lightning. Their '89 Caddy soft top ended up with a massive burn through the back support, the electric system was fused scrap, and two rear windows turned into fused crackle glass. That and the poor grandma driving blew out her hearing aids. She survived but her car ended up a write off.
At 5:23 about those big potholes , CALL THE CITY to get them to fix this ASAP , it's what they are paid for 😲 In low visibility conditions such as FOG , don't be shy about turning your HAZARD lights on and drive slower for everyone's sake. About salty roads in the winter , it's why I request the under-wash option every time I get in a car wash. That extra buck is definitely worth it , the brakes and suspension also work better afterwards.
11:42 my English teacher had to be airlifted to hospital after he crashed coming to school in heavy fog. I feel like heavy fog is a good reason to be late, but we have to drive through it
I’m from Canada and we use the saline solution for icy roads but also use sand and rock for snow covered roads in the more heavily covered regions. We all know to wash our cars daily. I also lived in an area where the fog would get so bad that you couldn’t see the street light posts at a crossing. We all just drove slow, with hazards and low beams on
@@jonathansmith7306 one of their "repo men" turned out to be an actor and not a tow truck driver or repo man, just playing one on this channel. His name on the show is November. It would be nice to know if he fooled them or if they just straight up hired an actor and lied about it. I can only speak for myself, but it made me wonder how much of the show is fake after that.
living in Colorado 1 tip for winter I'd suggest is to wash your vehicle 5x as much if not more because of the crazy amount of mag or salt and other crud/dirt , spending most of that time getting wheel wells and undercarriage. 1 tip for fog is get in the slow lane keep your speed down keep your lights on ride your hazards until you intend to turn then kick them back on. in the rurals you can have 1/4-3 miles of fog on a strait road and the hazards let folks know there's something there better because they flash on and off vs just your tail lights, turn off when your in the clear. Should make them more mindful of the conditions to but horses to water.. Love these mechanic vides Bigtime.👍
If you got a car with a manual transmission you can partially pop the clutch when you start sliding in water, snow or ice. It will cause your driving tires to slow down while maintaining that momentum, this will help you by trying to regain your traction. Done this many times in Northern Michigan while in some pretty harsh blizzards.
6:00 Reminds me of when I was a kid and my dad was taking his friend as well as my friend and I to a swap meet. Was pouring rain and the car in front of us spun out and was bouncing back and forth across the highway. At first it looked like it would hit no one, everyone around seemed to react and give them plenty of room including us, but then it bounced off the divider again and went backwards straight for us. My friend still remembers waking up to my dad yelling "Brace for impact!" No one was hurt, the damage to our car seemed small but was considered totaled since they hit us over the front bumper.
4:43 "Why the right front?" (for left-side driver) 1) Less visibility because of the angle of view - spacial accuracy is skewed. [So drivers will more often hit curbs & potholes on that side of the vehicle.] 2) Drivers instinctively protect their side of the car. [So if they swerve away from something that is centered, they typically swerve left causing the damage to most likely hit the right side of the vehicle.]
11:22 thats what fog lights here are for. learned for the license that your only allowed to turn those on when visibility is below a certain distance which you can see bc the way street markings are put is that they aloways show the same distance so you can litterarry calculate the view tbh when its freezing or hevy rain i drove with my fingernails. bc then you dont jerk. you mive slower and very deliberately. still feels very floaty
That last clip is pretty normal here in Finland. Not usually done by driving in trucks, but almost every 4x4 and rear wheel drive owners will play on snowy roads just like that, me included. At the moment I own Audi A4 Avant Quattro, and it is so fun to drive on the snowy roads. 🤩
Those potholes can be your worst nightmare if you're not careful. I had a friend who hit a huge pothole about 10 years ago. She slammed the brakes and went straight to it and the end result was cracked front bumper, twisted front rims and brake rotors and a broken front suspension on the passenger side 😬 that one mistake ended up costing her about 1000€ because she had full brake job done couple days earlier and those rims were 19" 😅
One thing i do have to mention as a canadian (most people own pickup) if you have a modern pickup with tires in good condition (for example i run falken wildpeak a/t) they have deep tread patterns and excavate the water very fast and efficiently. In a tighter highway tread pattern for a pickup they cant evacuate as fast. That especially true when talking about 'cars' with lower profile tires and lower depth treads from the factory. Just an observation, love this channel. Been watching you guys for alot of years. Keep it up donut!
During the slippier days on the road and you manage you oversteer your car you either full throttle and steer (carefully) to counter the oversteer, or you can pump the gaspedal, depending on how much traction you have or oversteer youre into!
Yeah that salty undercarriage is very much why a lot of carwashes in the midwest are touchfree (basically a power wash, it just sprays your car with jets of water or soap), and there's usually an undercarriage wash option, which works as you pull in to the wash.
the right front pothole damage is caused by busses and other heavy vehicles, the municipal will put in new bus stops, not make the pavement in the area re-enforced (rebar re-enforced concrete) and over time you get massive pot holes where the busses pull over for the bus stop and spend more time there.
Lifelong mid-west driver. Thankfully my city doesn't use salt because it runs into the lakes that we're very proud of (and it's regularly too cold to actually accomplish anything). It's a ritual the first time it gets above freezing even for an afternoon there's a line for the carwash. That said, I'm a pretty fearless ice/snow driver, but holy cripes that last clip makes me look like a grandma on her way to church. When I was a teenager one of my friends had a "Drive it like you stole it" window decal (very popular with law enforcement) but that guy is taking that mantra to a whole new level.
If you're moving anywhere where salt is put on the roads in the winter I'd suggest going into a touchless wash with a underbody wash kwiktrip's and bp's seem to have them at most locations. It's kept the underbody of my car pretty clean for rust and its a 04
Pro tip for spotting how deep a pothole is: look beyond it to see how much gravel/asphalt millings are after the holes. It's not foolproof but it's a good telltale sign and at least can help you figure out if you should swerve or not.
Lightning strike vs cars electronics. Spike the system all you like, you'll blow fuses / trip circuit breakers before popping a ton of other components. "I don't know how the lights are still working" well, because the circuit breaker for the lighting system (Brakes, headlights, dome, dash, hazard / turn) tripped and reset.
We have a lot of dust storms here in Arizona, and they text everybody when they happen, to pull _well_ off the road, and then turn off all lights, put it in park, and take your foot off the brake. If you keep your foot on the brake, or your lights on, there's a chance your tail lights will actually trick other drivers into thinking that's where the road is and they might plow into you. At speed, because humans will human.
Up north here we get what i think is the most frightening weather phenomenon imaginable for driving; freezing fog. Thats right, clouds of moisture vapour floating through the air that freezes to surfaces like roads, cars, etc, in sheets of essentially invisible ice. That ice has less air trapped in it as well, so instead of being kind of crunchy offering some hope of traction, and being considerably more visible as its white and crusry, its hard as marble and smooth as glass.
On the road salt issue, you shouldn’t get an undercarriage protection unless your car is brand new. If it’s brand new, get the add on and get it done annually thereafter. If it’s not new and hasn’t had the treatment before, corrosion is likely already occurring and the treatment will actually trap moisture and cause the metal to corrode faster
It does sound counterintuitive, but I've slid on ice before and hitting the brakes did nothing but make the car fishtail. I remember my dad telling me something about losing control of a front wheel drive car, that hitting the gas pulls the car forward and straightens you out. It did. It works. You really can't appreciate traction until you have none.
Minnesota here, recently moved from the pnw, car washes here are open all year round for the salt. I wash mine once a week during the winter. Only costs $10-12 and saves a lot more than having a Midwest roach coach
That Tesla ford crossing is the same ford in Nottinghamshire, UK you saw in a previous vid, Rufford Ford. They've actually closed it off in the last few months until the local council can decide what to do with it. They've said a bridge is too expensive, so they're considering options such as closing it depending on water level, dropping the speed limit for that stretch of road etc.
That hydroplaning clip with the Nissan is in Texas from ages ago, Just leaving Dallas and going into Richardson/Plano. 75 highway northbound going under PGB Turnpike. Crazy spot of highway to say the least.
Well, slight correction. Lightning comes from the ground up when it damages things. Also, you'd be surprised how little damage is done to that vehicle beyond some cosmetic stuff. It's more than likely just some blown fuses. The battery is still in good condition because it is powering the lights.
7:45 - My 2nd car was a '93 Altima bought on eBay for $305 and had been in a flood. Had 230k+ miles on it when I got it. Drove it until 947k when cylinder one started to piston slap from worn out rings.
It's a rule of thumb for Rio de Janeiro that you should never drive over standing water if you don't know that road when its dry. In the 1990's there were even PSAs for that. They would show what seemed to be a harmless puddle of rain water and then trap a car there with the full tire going under. Last shot was the same car in the same whole without water
I work in a Peterbilt dealership lightning strikes on rigs are more common than you would think. They never damage any harnesses but it usually takes out every module that has constant battery power and all of the batteries. Very expensive repair!
For the record, its not because of the rubber tired that your car is the safest place during a thunder storm, its because your car is a Faraday cage. The metal chassis directs the electricity around you instead of going through you. Electricity always takes the shortest route, metal is a much better conductor so the electricity goes on that route instead of jumping through the interior of the car to get to you.
The car is better than standing outside. What's safest is going indoors, not staying in the car.
Faraday cage, thought that was obvious
@@VirginiaBronsonno in a car your safer because of faradays cage, the lightning can’t get to you while if your in your house near metal or water your in danger and lightning can set your house on fire
@@Donuts_random_stuff that applies only if lightning is the biggest risk. Often high winds, hail, and occasional tornadoes are also a risk of strong storms. Better to be in the house or a store, not in the car during a strong storm
Was just coming here to say that. Thanks.
11:06 one of the deadliest pileups happened because of fog on March 10th 1997 on the M41 in the UK. 160 smashed vehicles, 20 serious injuries and 3 deaths, but a lot of it was also caused by drivers going too fast for the conditions. 28 drivers were charged with dangerous driving and one went to prison.
Did you see the one that happened this year in I believe Louisiana? 150+ cars. On a bridge above water at that.
Damn blud. Buzzkill. And @taylorrudy9594 typical yankie… everything is always bigger in the south. 🥺 you’re making me so proud. #nowyoullhavetoanswerto #americafuckyeah #bleedingredwhiteandblue #ineedtoseeadoctor
Glad to see this guy back, he didnt really seem to suit the crazy repair situation vids like the other 2 mechanics, but this; this is where his perspective make sense.
I've been stuck by lightning in a car on 3 different occasions. Each time it struck the body of the vehicle and left no damage. If the bolt strikes metal on the vehicle, the body will act as a Faraday cage and keep the lightning on the surface of the exterior and will ground out through your tires. If it strikes a window such as in that clip, it's far more dangerous, but possible for your cars electrical systems to survive if lucky enough.
Hello??? How is no one else talking about how your car(s) got struck by lightning THREE times?! What kind of car? How does one get so unlucky?
@@CatManDax my guess is bud pissed off Zeus. 😅😂
I wonder what the odds are of getting struck by lightning in a car
Paul is like the grizzled old mechanic we all aspire to be
Definitely final form energy
Paul is the goat 🐐
hes like the Macheté Vin Diesel
Exactly bro
Word...
For the Killer Fog, 1 important rule of thumb that was left out is using your hazards when inside killer fog. Living in the HD going down the Cajon or Grapevine commuting teaches you alot
You don't use your hazards when your car is moving. Just turn your regular lights on
@@jonathansmith7306 you're required by law to turn on your hazzards when going 15 m.p.h. under the posted speed limit.
@@ProthoPectore that too, but it's just a courtesy to other motorists even though it's not in the books. Street smarts
@@909lizardman i used to be a habitual speeder. i've had to take my points test twice. it's in the Pennsylvania how to drive manual, not just a courtesy.
@@ProthoPectore @909lizardman California law (where the Grapevine and Cajon are) prohibits driving with hazards on ESPECIALLY in Killer fog. It's low beams or low beams AND fog lights. Hazards reflect in the fog and can look bigger than they are which can throw off other drivers because they will break inappropriately thinking there is a stopped vehicle or a work vehicle in the road. It's on the dmv website and I'm speaking as someone who lives on the central coast just south of SF where killer fog is notorious
'Get to know your local potholes' hits hard. I live by this.
I ride a lot, I know where every single one is
And if there's 2 lanes, stay in the more center-lane because I noticed the lanes on the side usually get more potholes & dips. Sincerely, Z on race suspension lol
i hit the same pothole on m6 every single workday.
I died when I saw that lmao 😂😂
I live in New Jersey bro. I feel this. When I worked at a tire shop, like 90% of tire replacements were from potholes. Tires don’t even have time to wear out, there are so many potholes! People were lucky if they got away with just needing a tire, and not a tire and rim.
Lighning isnt harmful to car electronics because it goes through everything. The positive wires at 12 volts are identical to negative wires and ground, when you are sending millions of vokts through the chassis.
Many ignition systems dont have a ground or negative: the secondary side of the ignition coil fires 20kV to 40kV through the spark plug which grounds to the engine block. But, most ignition coils have no ground connection on the secondary windings, and the ground is only connected on the primary before the coil fires(ECU connects ground to charge the coil, and releases it to fire). The ground connection is backwards through battery positive.
would love to see an episode where the mechanics show off their cars!
And the other mechanics critic their rides.
Mechanics always ride a shit car.
90% sure most of them ride some absolutely boring, easy to repair cars
Yes
@@TheWinjinand we GOTTA see what those cars are
I'm happy to see Paul is getting a lot more comfortable with the crew!
Ouuuu perfect timing was just looking for something to watch
Haha me too
Word
its time for the TH-cam And Eat segment of the day
Lunchtime
Same!
3:43 fun little story, but the road I live on is notorious for frost heaves, which are basically the opposite of potholes and called "nature's speed bumps" by some people. Snow melts at the first thaw, seeps under the road, then freezes. This causes the soil under the road to expand and push upward, pushing the pavement up with it. When I was in school we called the back seat of the bus the "Cape Canaveral Launch Pad" because anyone sitting in that seat when the bus went over a frost heave would be launched a good foot into the air. Potholes and frost heaves are no joke
Y’all should do toolbox tours from all the featured mechanics
THIS IS SUCH A COOL IDEA!!! DONUT MAKE IT HAPPEN I WOULD LOVE TO WATCH THAT
I would LOVE to see that
YESSSSS
Last clip was insane, when I lived in MI I saw a Semi driver go full jackknife on similar road conditions and own 3 lanes in front of me. I was going slow enough to just drop throttle and maintain momentum to slow down and get the hell out of his way. To his credit he actually got it under control and headed to the shoulder where I am sure he climbed in back to change his shorts! love these videos, keep em' coming!
I'm impressed with Josh - good knowledge and cool. Look forward to seeing him again. Donut is getting a pretty good group of people together.
Good knowledge? He would loose a chess game against a potato!
That last video was totally sick. That guy needs an award for that one!
Staying in your car during a thunderstorm is great advice. However, your tires have nothing to do with it. It is safe because the metal exterior of the car acts as a Faraday Cage redirecting the flow of electricity around you and all your squishy bits.
Came here to say the same thing
Not a Faraday cage by definition. But your heading in the right direction of thought.
The other important rule is not to touch anything metal in your car, as it is conducting and shunting those millions of volts around you. As for tires, if electricity can ionize air, which is less conductive than rubber - well, you know.
@@caseycooper5615Actually, electricity stays on the outer shell of a Faraday cage. So you're good to go so long as you're not resting you're arm out the window during the thunderstorm!
for fog, it doesnt matter where the lights are, its about the colour temperature. More yellow lights will penetrate fog while white light will get reflected. This is why you want your fog lights to be slightly yellow, even if it ruins the all white aesthetic
Red foglights (at rear) are mandatory in EU.
I like when James spends time with his new dad
That box truck driver definitely has slicks on his daily lmao 🤣
Lifelong Canadian here; I wouldn't be even half the winter driver I am (so far) if it wasn't for video games. Legit. They way you drift in video games makes it absolutely instinctual in the ice & snow when you break traction!
This is legit, can confirm.
That “Boxtruck” driver has got my MAJOR respect. And I LOVE to drive around on some snow and ice. 😊 Seriously love it 🫡
thing about salt is, as a tourist from Ecuador, it was a godsend. We don't learn how to drive on snow or ice because we don't need to. We're in the bleeping Equator! haha. So when I rented a car in Chicago last year in the winter and saw snow for the first time in my life, snow and ice were a huge worry for me until I drove on the salted roads.
Really, REALLY loving this channel. This is probably one of the most "car guy" things you have ever done, next to your car build series, because you're giving a platform for ACTUAL mechanics, not some day trading dude that started buying used exotics. These are the pros and one of the most often overlooked areas of car enthusiasm. We tend do go DIY and try to stay there, but mechanics have so much knowledge, and so many stories to tell. It often seems that they are only shown in "Customer states" videos, but you give was more insight into what they see and know.
If you want to see some of the best drivers go to areas that get a lot of snow and have a lot of unpaved roads. Growing up driving fast on loose gravel and icy roads gives you the knowledge to control your vehicle no matter the amount of traction you have.
This is absolutely true!!
14:45 I do a little bit of that in the bus I drive to see how slippery it is when it snows. If it kicks out real easy, it's time to be careful. It's also fun
I've hydroplaned a couple of times. Once, it was because my tires were very old and worn down. The other, I was just not paying attention to my speed. Both times, though, my dad's advice kicked in. I let off the accelerator, held the wheel, and when I skidded a little in one direction, turned into it. When I got traction again, I had full control, made a smooth recovery, and moved on, if a little shaken. Scary stuff, but thankfully, I was not on the highway either time.
Lightning has just jumped a mile through open air, it does not get stopped by one inch of rubber tire. What protects you is the frame of the car which conducts the electricity around the outside of the vehicle, so as long as you're not in direct contact with the frame or any conductor touching the frame, you'll probably be fine.
The first one happened to a friend of mine, while we were driving in a convoy, with his 2003 Mercedes CLK - the flash hit him right in the middle of the car. The car shut off, the hazards were going on - and nothing was faulty at all. Just a restart and the car was as good as new. A car is a farraday cage. the electricity is in the outside of the shell, not the inside.
+1 for Faraday cage.
It's almost always front right tires getting damaged (in US) from potholes because a majority of them form near the roadside instead of the middle since weather erodes that area more with drainage.
This. And the softer eroded base soil pack on the right side of city roads also incurs the most traffic from heavy vehicles: City Busses running their stop-n-go driving all day long, garbage trucks, big rigs and haulers etc.,
@@iviui2d3i2 true that. Good points
James is what you'd get if Tenacious D had a really cool baby. Love watching the guys crack up guest experts
This guy implying The D could create anything else? :0
James' formula is one part Tenacious D, two parts Initial D.
I remember watching donut and seeing them build cars and driving around or even telling me the history on B2B.. now I'm watching them tell me basic shit like part on high ground when it's flooding. Awesome.
I love this channel this is a great donut side channel especially whenever they have great guests
Matts Off Road Recovery guest starring was the highlight of my summer so far.
Flood vehicles:
I got an MG Midget and an MGB that were under 5 feet of fresh water from Florida's hurricane last year.
They are both now running and driving, and look great!
The Midget even had a Datsun 5-speed transmission installed.
No computers in these cars. Dried them out, changed all fluids, cleaned the carbs, rebuilt a starter, changed out a solenoid, and they ran.
Best result for a chance taken.
I love all the hosts and mecahanic combos, but to be spicific my favourite is James and Paul, Dustin and Zandro, Angelina and Nolan. Love you all Donut fam!
who the fuck is Dustin??? You mean Justin? And nah, Jeremiah and Sandro are a better combo.
1:29 - Cars keep you safe in lightning strikes because they're more electrically conductive than our squishy bodies. It's called a Faraday cage, and it's how high-voltage workers often stay safe. If lighting can jump through 10 miles of air, which is only 5 times less insulative than rubber, and your tire is filled with air, do you not think lightning could jump from your bodywork to your rims, to the ground?
In other words, air is only 5 times more conductive than rubber. Think about it.
03:46 That car jumped the 2nd pothole/mud hole. What an impact, my neck hurts just watching this!
4:30 it's the RF tire because you're in a LHD country, and the sewer grates along the curb sink into the road, making a very sharp edge for the wheel the smack right into
To this day, I'll never understand driving at high speeds while raining. Living in Texas, I see this all the time and when those accidents do happen, the driver is ALWAYS pissed the hell off.
May I ask what area I be on 45 and see the same
I remember being on the freeway when rain came rather suddenly. I slowed down to 50Kph because the rain was really something (visibility was as bad as the fog at 10:45 in the video) and yet people zoomed past me. And for added bonus, a doofus in front of me was driving a gray car, ALL LIGHTS OFF. Seriously. And on top of that, he slowed down by letting go of the gas, so every now and then I would see his rear appearing through the rain and I would have to slow down without hitting the brakes by reflex.
Of course it was a loooong stretch of freeway without anywhere to stop, so by the time I reached a gas station to stop, rain got more reasonnable. One of the longest hour I ever spent on a freeway.
Yeah. "Can't avoid em" lol excuse me? Maybe something can catch you by surprise but if you keep your eyes on the road, stay a reasonable distance from the car in front and avoid suspicious puddles you'll save yourself a lot of trouble and that's not just pothole damage.
I hadn't ever experienced bad fog conditions until recently. Like every time I thought it was bad fog it was nothing. The last time though was insane it might as well have been a blizzard. At times I couldn't see more than maybe 25 feet. It was morning time at least so not in the dark but still crazy to experience.
@@TheRedneckAtheist Not for Tulsa. It was the heaviest I've experienced in my 30+ years here. I know places like San Francisco can have it worse but for this part of the country it's not common at all.
Thank god it’s not another “November” episode, I don’t think anybody would’ve wanted that 😂
I do just because I love watching him get roasted in the comments 🤣
He’s so universally disliked it’s crazy - even James just seems uncomfy around him lol. He creeped him out with the murder comment 😂
What is this referencing?
@@supremecai5857look back any videos on the channel where it's "tow truck drivers react to..." One of the guys is a legit dude just trying to make a living. The other one is named "November." He's an actor, reading lines from the real guy who doesn't want to show his face on camera, because he's a POS who openly admits to breaking the law because he can get away with it.
@@supremecai5857They had another episode of this with a "mechanic" named November. Pretty much every comment on that video is about how said mechanic seems creepy or sleazy and that people hated him, as well as that he seemed to make James uncomfortable. But I'm pretty sure it's just some sort of bad joke by Donut as some kind of "satire" or inside joke. It seems most likely that it was just a character, not a real mechanic.
That box truck hit a nasty Scandinavian flick. That was clean.
I'm bummed that I've already watched every video on this channel.. at least twice.
Great content dudes. Looking forward to the next one! Guess I'll head back to Donut for now!
Just so ya know. The gm wax coating doesn’t hold up in the Midwest. It cracks and/or breaks down after a few years then traps moisture causing it to rust faster. Best prevention I’ve seen is sand blasting, painting, then put pb surface shield on every year after a in depth wash
started watching you guys video last week, popped up in my suggestions and I gotta say, I love it, keep up the great work
As a Mainer I would love to take people snow drifting who've never really experienced it. The "right" kind of snow/ conditions can make all the difference. Along with tire set up of course. FWD, AWD. RWD all so damn fun. Do away with electronic ebrakes! 😊
Paul is the type that would hang out with you and your family and would do a cook out with them
aquaplaning - I was also taught to step on the clutch. That way, once the tires regain the grip, there's a less chance they will start skidding as the wheels will match the roadspeed faster without the engine interfering/braking.
Having TH-cam premium i always hate the in video commercials but this one I'm happy to see and sponsored your video.
I wonder how well this camera would be as a dashcam?
Also seen a smaller 360 cam this guy Kevin Talbot for his RC trucks that he bashes the hell out of them for testing for us so we don't have to.
Donut's Sponsored Segments are some of the funniest on the Tube. Much better than just sitting in front of a camera looking bored. Keep it up Donut Crew!
@matt_acton-varian oh those sponsored videos are the best I've seen on donut compared to other channels.
Still kinda annoying paying for the premium and still get a "commercial/ad"
Last time I looked for time of ad's skipped by premium is like some 1000+ hours now. Plus the other features that premium provides is pretty nice. Not sure if the free TH-cam has the picture and picture while I watch TH-cam and play a game or browse the web so YT will still play. Turning off the screen still let's YT play and that's super awesome while listening to music, stories, podcast or whatever. Not sure if YT music is free or not but that's included with the same feature playing in the background while I have something else open or turn the screen off.
Time to time you can sign up and have access to any testing or beta features YT might release in the near future like the picture in picture.
I'm on mobile btw so all these features are freaking great for me.
@@bigv6724 Sponsored Segments can be annoying but they are not under TH-cam's control. They are private deals negotiated directly between the product brand's marketing team and the content creators themselves. Depending on the terms the creators are even given a set amount of products or even given a small payment to advertise their goods. They can't automatically be bypassed by ad blocking or subscription service rules. It is what it is, but with creators now running as full time businesses, they need to have the resources to provide a regular stream of new videos. The commission from views, regular ads and subs royalties alone are rarely enough to support the businesses, so sponsorship deals gan generate a significant amount of revenue.
Had a family friend cross paths with lightning. Their '89 Caddy soft top ended up with a massive burn through the back support, the electric system was fused scrap, and two rear windows turned into fused crackle glass. That and the poor grandma driving blew out her hearing aids. She survived but her car ended up a write off.
The mechanics are back baby!
At 5:23 about those big potholes , CALL THE CITY to get them to fix this ASAP , it's what they are paid for 😲
In low visibility conditions such as FOG , don't be shy about turning your HAZARD lights on and drive slower for everyone's sake.
About salty roads in the winter , it's why I request the under-wash option every time I get in a car wash. That extra buck is definitely worth it , the brakes and suspension also work better afterwards.
I really love this content. More shop disaster stuff please!
11:42 my English teacher had to be airlifted to hospital after he crashed coming to school in heavy fog. I feel like heavy fog is a good reason to be late, but we have to drive through it
I’m from Canada and we use the saline solution for icy roads but also use sand and rock for snow covered roads in the more heavily covered regions. We all know to wash our cars daily. I also lived in an area where the fog would get so bad that you couldn’t see the street light posts at a crossing. We all just drove slow, with hazards and low beams on
finally a video without actors pretending to be someone they clearly aren't.
I wish they would make a short video explaining how this happened in the first place, and confirm for us that they will do better going forward.
@@zappabeefheart3433What happened?
@@jonathansmith7306 one of their "repo men" turned out to be an actor and not a tow truck driver or repo man, just playing one on this channel. His name on the show is November. It would be nice to know if he fooled them or if they just straight up hired an actor and lied about it. I can only speak for myself, but it made me wonder how much of the show is fake after that.
living in Colorado 1 tip for winter I'd suggest is to wash your vehicle 5x as much if not more because of the crazy amount of mag or salt and other crud/dirt ,
spending most of that time getting wheel wells and undercarriage.
1 tip for fog is get in the slow lane keep your speed down keep your lights on ride your hazards until you intend to turn then kick them back on. in the rurals you can have 1/4-3 miles of fog on a strait road and the hazards let folks know there's something there better because they flash on and off vs just your tail lights, turn off when your in the clear.
Should make them more mindful of the conditions to but horses to water..
Love these mechanic vides Bigtime.👍
10:15 Wait getting water in the engine can bend the rods?? Is that because it tries to compress the water and can't?
Yes
If you got a car with a manual transmission you can partially pop the clutch when you start sliding in water, snow or ice. It will cause your driving tires to slow down while maintaining that momentum, this will help you by trying to regain your traction. Done this many times in Northern Michigan while in some pretty harsh blizzards.
Dude! That last clip is sick, mad props to the driver! 👍
6:00 Reminds me of when I was a kid and my dad was taking his friend as well as my friend and I to a swap meet. Was pouring rain and the car in front of us spun out and was bouncing back and forth across the highway. At first it looked like it would hit no one, everyone around seemed to react and give them plenty of room including us, but then it bounced off the divider again and went backwards straight for us. My friend still remembers waking up to my dad yelling "Brace for impact!" No one was hurt, the damage to our car seemed small but was considered totaled since they hit us over the front bumper.
6:20 Nissan Altima is competing with mustang drivers
the volvo in the advertisement is sick as hell i wanna see more of it.
I'd change from "That used to be a street, now it's a river" to "That used to be a Prius, now it's a boat"
4:43 "Why the right front?" (for left-side driver)
1) Less visibility because of the angle of view - spacial accuracy is skewed. [So drivers will more often hit curbs & potholes on that side of the vehicle.]
2) Drivers instinctively protect their side of the car. [So if they swerve away from something that is centered, they typically swerve left causing the damage to most likely hit the right side of the vehicle.]
What no Angelina. This is blasphemy 😢
11:22 thats what fog lights here are for. learned for the license that your only allowed to turn those on when visibility is below a certain distance which you can see bc the way street markings are put is that they aloways show the same distance so you can litterarry calculate the view
tbh when its freezing or hevy rain i drove with my fingernails.
bc then you dont jerk. you mive slower and very deliberately. still feels very floaty
That last clip is pretty normal here in Finland. Not usually done by driving in trucks, but almost every 4x4 and rear wheel drive owners will play on snowy roads just like that, me included.
At the moment I own Audi A4 Avant Quattro, and it is so fun to drive on the snowy roads. 🤩
Those potholes can be your worst nightmare if you're not careful. I had a friend who hit a huge pothole about 10 years ago. She slammed the brakes and went straight to it and the end result was cracked front bumper, twisted front rims and brake rotors and a broken front suspension on the passenger side 😬 that one mistake ended up costing her about 1000€ because she had full brake job done couple days earlier and those rims were 19" 😅
One thing i do have to mention as a canadian (most people own pickup) if you have a modern pickup with tires in good condition (for example i run falken wildpeak a/t) they have deep tread patterns and excavate the water very fast and efficiently. In a tighter highway tread pattern for a pickup they cant evacuate as fast. That especially true when talking about 'cars' with lower profile tires and lower depth treads from the factory. Just an observation, love this channel. Been watching you guys for alot of years. Keep it up donut!
During the slippier days on the road and you manage you oversteer your car you either full throttle and steer (carefully) to counter the oversteer, or you can pump the gaspedal, depending on how much traction you have or oversteer youre into!
Definitely a great video for new drivers! Gotta teach em young so that we can all be safe! Love yall!
Yeah that salty undercarriage is very much why a lot of carwashes in the midwest are touchfree (basically a power wash, it just sprays your car with jets of water or soap), and there's usually an undercarriage wash option, which works as you pull in to the wash.
the right front pothole damage is caused by busses and other heavy vehicles, the municipal will put in new bus stops, not make the pavement in the area re-enforced (rebar re-enforced concrete) and over time you get massive pot holes where the busses pull over for the bus stop and spend more time there.
Josh is great, very practical attitude. Hope to see more of him
Lifelong mid-west driver. Thankfully my city doesn't use salt because it runs into the lakes that we're very proud of (and it's regularly too cold to actually accomplish anything). It's a ritual the first time it gets above freezing even for an afternoon there's a line for the carwash.
That said, I'm a pretty fearless ice/snow driver, but holy cripes that last clip makes me look like a grandma on her way to church. When I was a teenager one of my friends had a "Drive it like you stole it" window decal (very popular with law enforcement) but that guy is taking that mantra to a whole new level.
Love that James is wearing a LexTech hat too!
If you're moving anywhere where salt is put on the roads in the winter I'd suggest going into a touchless wash with a underbody wash kwiktrip's and bp's seem to have them at most locations. It's kept the underbody of my car pretty clean for rust and its a 04
Pro tip for spotting how deep a pothole is: look beyond it to see how much gravel/asphalt millings are after the holes. It's not foolproof but it's a good telltale sign and at least can help you figure out if you should swerve or not.
I skip every single in-video ad in every single video I watch. Except for the ones advertising the cameras, because the bgm is so sweet
Lightning strike vs cars electronics. Spike the system all you like, you'll blow fuses / trip circuit breakers before popping a ton of other components. "I don't know how the lights are still working" well, because the circuit breaker for the lighting system (Brakes, headlights, dome, dash, hazard / turn) tripped and reset.
We have a lot of dust storms here in Arizona, and they text everybody when they happen, to pull _well_ off the road, and then turn off all lights, put it in park, and take your foot off the brake. If you keep your foot on the brake, or your lights on, there's a chance your tail lights will actually trick other drivers into thinking that's where the road is and they might plow into you. At speed, because humans will human.
re-circulation on/off is a plastic fin that opens or closes the airway path. Water can force that in any direction it pleases.
I just wanna say I’ve been watching this channel since I was in highschool and I personally would pay AAA title money for a donut media game.❤
Up north here we get what i think is the most frightening weather phenomenon imaginable for driving; freezing fog.
Thats right, clouds of moisture vapour floating through the air that freezes to surfaces like roads, cars, etc, in sheets of essentially invisible ice.
That ice has less air trapped in it as well, so instead of being kind of crunchy offering some hope of traction, and being considerably more visible as its white and crusry, its hard as marble and smooth as glass.
Great Scott! That car was hit by a bolt of lightning!
Paul just so fun to watch he is that father type
On the road salt issue, you shouldn’t get an undercarriage protection unless your car is brand new. If it’s brand new, get the add on and get it done annually thereafter. If it’s not new and hasn’t had the treatment before, corrosion is likely already occurring and the treatment will actually trap moisture and cause the metal to corrode faster
I love the sponsor video Donut produce. They are amazing and doesn't look out of place in their videos
It does sound counterintuitive, but I've slid on ice before and hitting the brakes did nothing but make the car fishtail. I remember my dad telling me something about losing control of a front wheel drive car, that hitting the gas pulls the car forward and straightens you out. It did. It works. You really can't appreciate traction until you have none.
Minnesota here, recently moved from the pnw, car washes here are open all year round for the salt. I wash mine once a week during the winter. Only costs $10-12 and saves a lot more than having a Midwest roach coach
And yes they're heated and have big ass blow off fans in the exits with generous timers.
Fun fact cars in Europe automatically hit the hazard lights when there's an accident. Some in Australia do to..
That Tesla ford crossing is the same ford in Nottinghamshire, UK you saw in a previous vid, Rufford Ford. They've actually closed it off in the last few months until the local council can decide what to do with it. They've said a bridge is too expensive, so they're considering options such as closing it depending on water level, dropping the speed limit for that stretch of road etc.
That hydroplaning clip with the Nissan is in Texas from ages ago, Just leaving Dallas and going into Richardson/Plano. 75 highway northbound going under PGB Turnpike. Crazy spot of highway to say the least.
I knew I recognized it.
Well, slight correction. Lightning comes from the ground up when it damages things. Also, you'd be surprised how little damage is done to that vehicle beyond some cosmetic stuff. It's more than likely just some blown fuses. The battery is still in good condition because it is powering the lights.
7:45 - My 2nd car was a '93 Altima bought on eBay for $305 and had been in a flood. Had 230k+ miles on it when I got it. Drove it until 947k when cylinder one started to piston slap from worn out rings.
It's a rule of thumb for Rio de Janeiro that you should never drive over standing water if you don't know that road when its dry.
In the 1990's there were even PSAs for that.
They would show what seemed to be a harmless puddle of rain water and then trap a car there with the full tire going under.
Last shot was the same car in the same whole without water
1:30 In the most cases? It is not about rubber tires that protect against lightning. It is called a Faraday Cage. It also works grounded.
Paul’s laugh is so contagious. He’s getting more silly which each vid, great addition for sure.
I work in a Peterbilt dealership lightning strikes on rigs are more common than you would think. They never damage any harnesses but it usually takes out every module that has constant battery power and all of the batteries. Very expensive repair!