Archive for November, 2009
A Few Things You Need To Know About Lowering Your Car
Sure enough any custom tuner would want to lower their car for the heck of it. Some even push their suspension units to its limit or rather insanely lower it than it should be. The basic suspension system is composed of the progressive spring the shock absorbers leaves and torsion bars. Leaves are generally used for vehicles that carry huge loads so let us focus more on the conventional car suspension system.
Basically springs are designed to recoil when you hit a pothole or a bump. This helps the tires keep its traction on the road for better handling. Lowering the spring in a cheap and dangerous way may involve clipping or cutting the stock spring. This will result into initial savings since there is no need to purchase a lowering spring shock and camber kit or a long steering arm. But the trade off would come in a few weeks time since the shock would initially be compressed. So when you hit bumps and potholes it would compress even more and would burst. Also a misaligned camber or arm would result into an uneven wear on the tire. The wear would be more evident on the inner side of the tire since it would look like an inverted V if you look up front.
Lowering your tire the right way would mean that you have to buy different aftermarket parts which are expected to be a bit pricey. Your next probable question would be on “what and which brand to buy?” Go with the OEM aftermarket parts. These people know the car’s design and have built them in accordance to the car’s specifications so a perfect fit would not be that hard.
A reminder though when choosing which kit to buy is to buy the kits that are specifically for street use if you will be using the car on the street since this should be a bit higher and softer than the racing kit. Racing suspension kits are intended to be very low in order to get the car’s center of gravity low to make it more stable. Since race tracks normally have even surfaces it would be perfect to use a very low suspension system.
A couple of things should be remembered before you splurge on that aftermarket lowering kits. Try to take a ride on a lowered car and feel the handling as well as the suspension. Keep in mind that altering the suspension system will cost you an uncomfortable ride since the dampening system will be set to hard so that the tires will not come into contact with the car chassis or the fenders.
About the writer: James Brown writes about RideGear online coupons partsamerica.com coupon and StylinConcepts.com online coupons
10 Do-it-yourself Ways To Solve Car Starting Problems
Car ignition problems have a knack of turning up during the most inopportune time and in the most inconvenient places like when you are in the middle of nowhere on your way to an important job interview. Here are ten techniques to troubleshoot this motoring menace:
1. Clean your battery posts. Remove corrosion and dirt in the contact area between your battery posts and the wire clamps that connect to your battery.
2. Jumpstart your car. First of all carry a multimeter tester in your car. Its cheap and takes up negligible space in your toolbox. But if you are one of those people who hate to carry one around the only way to find out if your battery is dead or dying is by jumpstarting with the help of another car. If your car starts without a hitch your battery is most likely the problem.
3. Blame the ignition switch. If you can be fairly certain that your battery isnt the problem blame the ignition switch. Turn the key to the on position but not all the way to start. If the low battery warning lights on your dashboard dont light up then you may indeed have a faulty ignition switch. To confirm your suspicions turn on the headlights before starting the car. If the headlights dont dim drastically or turn off completely when you try starting then you are right about blaming the switch.
4. Investigate the starter. Make sure the starter doesnt have a loose connection. Its easy to see the wires that connect to the starter motor assuming you know what a starter motor looks like. If not search Google Images for carstartermotor. Now!
5. Check your fuses. While its understandable that you are about to blow a fuse by now try having a little more patience. If your car has a fuse box which is associated with the starting system you might want to make sure that the problem is not as simple as a blown fuse. You might want to do this before getting your hands dirty with step numbers 1 to 4. Oops sorry!
6. Test the ignition coil. Use a multimeter tester that can measure impedance. In the absence of a multimeter tester use your hands to feel if there is any current in the coil when the car is started. Really a lot of people do this but I dont recommend it.
7. Inspect the coil wires. Examine the coil wires and see if they are shorted or broken then use the multimeter tester to ensure their connectivity.
8. Wipe the distributor cap. Remove the cap and wipe off any moisture with a clean and dry cloth. Look for cracks and replace when necessary.
9. See if the oil filter is clogged. The oil filter has an average lifespan of about 12000 miles.
10. Tighten electrical connections. Your cars fuel injection system has a lot of electrical connections. In simple terms tighten every electrical connection you can get your hands on under the hood.
If you have already exhausted these 10 easy ways but your car still refuses to start there could be a bigger problem that requires an experts attention. The question isnt whether you should call a mechanic or a towing service. The question is: If you were on your way to an important job interview why for Petes sake did you have to stop in the middle of nowhere and turn off the engine?
by: Evert Canada
AutoTerminal.com
About the writer: AutoTerminal.com A worldwide distribution network selling used Japanese vehicles. Regionbased distribution centers are located in New Zealand Australia United Kingdom USA Asia Africa and South America.
7 Simple Tips To Improve Your Gas Mileage Today!
For people who are worried about the gas price inflation and the poor state of the industry but don’t have enough money to buy a new fuel efficient car here are some basic tips that will provide noticeable gas mileage improvements:
1. Avoid overstocking your trunk. People tend to stuff a lot of things into their trunk thinking that they may have a use for it somewhere down the road. Unfortunately doing so will increase the overall weight of your vehicle and create more rolling resistance which also increases the amount of gas it needs to run. Try to keep the things you bring along to a bare minimum. If your car has a bicycle or ski rack installed you may want to remove it if you’re not using them. Aside from weighing down the car they also tend to create more aerodynamic drag.
2. Try to keep your tank halffull if you’re not planning a long trip. All of that gas you didn’t get also adds to the overall weight of your car. Additionally try to get your tank refilled during the coolest time of the day. Gas is usually denser when it’s cold and the difference is that a car’s engine will consume fuel based on weight while a gas pump dispenses fuel by volume. This means you will get more gas for the same money if you do it during the early morning or late at night.
3. Avoid slamming the brakes like a madman. A lot of drivers particularly novice ones have a habit of slamming on the brakes in order to speed up the stopping process. The idea behind this is that the more you break the more you need to accelerate again. Every single kickstart requires the engine to expend more gas than it usually needs.
4. On the other hand try not to abuse the gas pedal. For the same reason that stomping on the brakes frequently hurts your gas mileage aggressive acceleration also increases your gas consumption greatly. But try not to overdo it and drive like a snail find the sweetspot that lets you maintain a speed that isn’t too fast yet doesn’t get in the way of other drivers. Drive on the right lane if you have to.
5. Use the terrain to your advantage. If you’re all alone on the road and there’s a downhill try to decelerate the engines and just leave it to inertia to bring your car down.
6. Regularly have your car tuned up. It’s true that your fuel savings will never make up for the cost of a tuneup but if you consider the fact that a regular tuneup will also increase the performance and reliability of your car which means savings on the cost of repair then regular tune ups are still a good idea regardless of whether you are trying to conserve gas or not.
7. Finally try to plan your routes ahead. The less you drive the more gas you will not use up. Try to plan ahead which roads you’re going to use. Avoid heavy traffic and make sure you get the least distance.
About the writer: You can find out more about how to Improve Your Gas Mileage as well as much more information on increasing your gas mileage and saving money at http://www.GasMileageBoost.net
