So.. Why did the US never convert to the metric system?? It's 10 X easier..

:laugh:

 

275-60 15 so thereuzzled:

 

And see how well that worked out? :laugh:

 

Actually the problem with this example is these were neither 14 or 15 inch rims and only one tire fit the rims that I know of. The tires are 14.3700787 inch. Almost everyone with these rims bought aftermarket rims so they could buy tires

 

So we'd have to rename Inch Worms? Centipedes would be safe though.

 

The Big 3 have been using metric system since the mid to late 60's. I've worked for all of them (and some aerospace) engineering for over 20 years now and its always been in metric.

Also for those who may be wondering about the moon landing...

http://www.doneyles.com/LM/Tales.html

So there was a mix of both SI and English units used to get us there and land. My uncle worked for NASA and wrote parts of the LGC code that put them there.

 

And ever since Canada went metric I've had to have two sets of tools around. Half the bloody car is either metric or standard. It's a total pain considering that with an old Buick one usually needs 3 wrenches; 1/2, 9/16 and 5/8. Now one also has to have a 10, 12, 13 and a 15 mm alongside just in case.

At least when I fixed Mercedes it was easy; - all metric. These hybrids are a pain.

 

everything evolves. I remember when I first took auto shop in school the teacher gave us a list of needed tools to buy. grampa had his tools and handed them to me. Who knew that Model A's could be fixed with an adjustable wrench, pipe wrench and a hammer Now I have so many tools just to do simple maintenance its crazy But I got wise after my garage was broken into and my Snap On tools stolen I now buy everything hand tool wise from a pawn shop, craigslist or retired friends:Brow:

 

.
Don't care about the metric system, but really concerned about the spelling of TIRES.:bla:

 

In my early days in the engineering field, things were pretty much all done in sae. We did get the occasional metric drawings come into the shop, and one of my jobs was to convert them to English. But progressively more and more came in dimensioned with metric units. Now at my current job, its all metric. Any use of the sae system is thoroughly forbidden. However, some shops I communicate with are still sae first, metric second. So I have to be able to interchange microns and ten thousands of an inch, newtons and foot pounds, etc interchangeably and on the fly. I'm not bilingual, but I am bi-mathematical!! Haha. That said, there are still times I have to stop and think about it, kilonewtons are not exactly second nature.....

 

And the pawn shop is where your stolen tools ended up. :grin:

 

Its all because 10 inches sounds way better than 25.4 centimeters.

 

Simple answer to the OP question, years ago..

We don't want to.

We don't want to be dictated to, as to how we measure things, and we won't be. It has largely been seen as a waste of money to convert the infrastructure to the metric system.

We are smart enough to translate when required, to do business with the rest of the world. Many countries were forced into the metric system by a dictator or other oppressive government.

Has more to do with freedom, than making sense..

JW

 

I expect we'll go to the metric system when England, Japan, and the few others learn to drive on the right side of the road!

 

Yeah, I'll convert to the metric system when all my Buicks have metric nuts and bolts. Frankly, I'm more pissed about daylight saving time than the metric/SAE.

 

It's really not a big deal. In my opinion, it exercises your brain to convert.

 

Until recently, I worked in international logistics so I am used to working in metric
and doing conversion between metric and English for my vendors here in the US.

Personally, I wish the US had gone to metric back in the 70s when I was still in school;
it would make international commerce so much easier.

Plus, a miscommunication between English and Metric units cost us the $327 million
Mars Orbiter back in 1999.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

 

Simple arrogance on the part of JPL's technical people. As austingta says, it's good brain exercise. All it takes is a little memorization, like most all the rest of a child's education. I agree that the changeover to SI would have been nice, except for the sheer amount of infrastructure that would have had to be changed. Of course, if enough manufacturing keeps going to China, it'll be a moot point. Now that I've dropped that little stink bomb, I'll just leave the room. :grin:

 

merica thats why