Several reports from consumers have been found to have accidents linked to old tires being sold at many tire centers across the world. Even newly installed tires that have been manufactured years before they were installed onto vehicles have the potential to fail miserably soon after installation. These tires have long since been in inventories that though they are new have been sitting for as long as 10 years, maybe more in shelves and stocks. Tires like all manufactured goods have a specific timeframe fro them to retain their reliability and for something that is supposed to carry your car as you drive around that becomes a serious matter. Many have died as a result of old tires that have been stripped of treads sending vehicles crashing into everything in its path. Tires that blow out takes away control form the driver for the much needed traction which is the main form of control for all motorized vehicles. Tires that have been sitting on shelves for more than 10 years lose integrity with plies separating and shearing off resulting in accidents.
Tires do have a code to indicate when they were manufactured but they come in cryptic codes that only the manufacturer knows how to read. Families of people who have died as a result of tire blowouts, wants congress to issue strict laws that would require tire manufacturers to include manufacturing dates on the information stamped on tires and that a ten year limit to be imposed as shelf life for them.
The deaths have to stop and it would only be prudent for these manufacturers who sell millions of these tires worldwide to take measures that allow consumers to determine the lifespan of their products. Hopefully, these measures would make the Sunday drive safer and people would be assured of safer cars with brand their new tires.

Written by Marcel on May 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The sudden rise of gas prices has many Americans turning to mass transportation for the majority of their needs. In previously posted facts about hypermiling, the whole thing has more to do with driver discipline rather than the vehicle itself. With diesel going way above gas prices (which is quite unusual for gasoline is normally priced higher than diesel) big rig truckers and heavy machinery operators are feeling the crunch with many considering handing in the towel, for now that is. Heavy machinery that used to consume $400.00 of diesel a day now get the same amount for $700.00. Hybrids are alleviating some of the problems but not many can afford to purchase a newer more efficient vehicle. Besides, the environmental impact of green fuels (ethanol) are more than their weighted benefits.
People have formulated their own unique gas saving techniques such as collating all errands into one trip and taking it easy on the gas pedal. Gone are the days of hitting pedal to the metal and in with ease on the gas pedal for more fuel economy.
Cars have become more and more efficient as better engine technologies and lighter parts have been steadily finding its way into the market yet the sudden price increases have caught many off guard. Out with the V8’s and V6′ and in with the hybrids who may be the only option though a very costly one. Concepts like the one suggested by a previous post regarding a hybrid company which sells the car but leases the batteries might be a sound way to go. Gas prices would continue to go up as supply truly is dwindling, not because it is getting scarcer but because some of the biggest suppliers are experiencing conflicts like Iraq (some say it s the second largest producer of oil which is why many are interested in the troubled land). There might be no sight to an end to the high prices which affects all other goods for most rely on transportation at one time of the other.

Written by Marcel on May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Yes, we’ve heard it again and again, seatbelts save lives and this is true if they are indeed used. There are however some precautions in the use and care of seatbelts which like any other part of your car is a simple machine that can indeed mean the difference between life and death in a crash. Now to begin with, statistics show that most injuries occur at slower speeds (too high the speed and even seatbelts cannot provide total safety without supplementary support from airbags and other active systems) and in the most unlikely places such as the parking lot where say the car backing up behind you miscalculates and hits you injuring your neck or smashing your face onto the dash or steering wheel. So even if you do not expect to go far and fast, just wear it so you are protected from such incidents.

If you do get into a crash while you were wearing your seatbelt (May it be at slow or fast speeds) have the seatbelts inspected (by a certified mechanic of course) for any damage. Since the belt itself retracts into the side of the car’s decorative moldings, there are several parts that need inspection after such an incident to assure you stay protected in the event of another crash. The restraining action of a seatbelt (which many of us hate for it wrinkles our clothes and causes streaks across your new white shirt) is done on purpose to prevent your body from getting thrown around in the event of a crash. It holds you against the seat (which is usually contoured against your body) providing maximum protection from a rear or frontal collision. Seatbelts can be quite effective in a frontal or rear collision, but with side impacts, not as effective without side collision airbags, reinforced doors and other supplemental restraint systems in most high end cars. The amount of material and space between you and the door is so small that yes you can be protected from a little force but at higher speeds, seatbelts may not be enough.

Ending this, these safety belts should be worn properly (which is stated on your owners manual) the lap belt on your hips or belt line and the shoulder strap across your torso. Placing it in other places defeats their restraining properties thus rendering them useless in the event of a crash. If you have children, adult seatbelts are not suited for them for they can easily slip through adult sized belts, consider getting child restraint systems such as a child seat or adapters that lowers the points at which the shoulder belt is in relation to the torso. Children are always safer at the rear rather than in front even with safety equipment. Also take into consideration that even the most expensive child restraint system if not properly installed would result in no protection at all for your child. Buckle-up for safety’s sake, for the life you save can be your own. (Tip: Want to know the actual production year of your vehicle, check out the driver’s side seatbelt which should have a tag sewn onto it having the said information) Drive Safe, Wear your Seatbelts.

Written by Marcel on January 29, 2008 | 2 Comments

There have been recent studies that have shown that Nitrogen gas for use in inflating your car’s tires makes them last longer. Well, there might be a good scientific backing for this for many of the new muscle cars that are coming out onto the market have them in their tires. Nitrogen being an inert gas that prevents the problems associated with regular compressed air which contains a sizeable amount of moisture that causes corrosion in aluminum and steel wheel rims. Oxygen causes oxidation which can eventually weaken wheels whatever type they may be. Nitrogen is also cooler than regular air which can translate to better mileage which may be needed due to ever increasing gas prices. As it turns out, the tires on your car looses air even if it does not have a puncture which translates to 2 psi per month compared to 6 months for nitrogen gas.

Nitrogen also causes less problems with your car’s wheel valves making them last a tad longer than usual. Wheel valves should be replaced everytime you have your tire changed to ensure they are at par with the wheel. They might be slowly leaking air which if added to the leak in the rubber tire can get you in an odd spot when you least expect it. Also, it would be a good idea to make it a ritual to have the tire pressure checked everytime you fill up to ensure your wheels are running as designed. Uneven wear, cupping and other wheel maladies should be taken seriously for they are indicative signs of other problems such as in the suspension. Low tire pressure leads to poor mileage (it also heats up the wheels excessively even causing failure). If you have experienced having to run on a flat tire due to an emergency or unexpected flat the tire would surely be a goner for the plies of the tire tends to separate on the sidewalls for they are not designed to come in contact with the surface of the road. Till next time, keep safe on the road and off guys. Drive safely.

Written by Marcel on January 11, 2008 | 1 Comment

We just had our Baguio trip on new year’s eve and I noticed “speed” reminders at NLEX and the subsequent warning that we are being monitored via radar. Speeding on the expressway is so tempting specially if you want to test the mettle of your car, or when some dude just overtaken you.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Sonnie on January 5, 2008 | 1 Comment

You might be driving for a while now but you may not know how to read your dashboard gauges. Or are you even looking at them while driving? While it’s important to keep your eyes focused on the road so you might not hit other vehicles, pedestrians or objects, it’s also equally important to keep reading your gauges. Today’s most common gauges pre-installed to new model cars are the Speedometer, Fuel gauge, Temperature Guage and the Tachometer.

The Speedometer

This gauge obviously measures how fast your car is moving. Many says that this is the most frequently used gauge on your dashboard. Because the most common traffic violation is over-speeding, it’s been our practice to have a glance on it from time to time when driving on the freeway. Makes sense?

Older type speedometers work by the help of spinning cable connected to the transmission. The cable spins in proportion to how fast the speedometer gear inside the transmission rotates. The rotation serves as input to the meter by providing electromagnetic signals that makes the needle pointer to move. Modern speedometers use electronic sensors that measures wheel speed and sends it as input to the meter.

The Tachometer

Tachometer measures the revolution per minute (RPM) your engine makes. While over-revving is dangerous to your engine, the importance of this device comes in. Not all engines have the same maximum RPM. Ordinary cars can have a maximum of up to 4000 - 5000 RPM while racing cars can go up to 15000 or even higher. Racing cars have a special type of engine but this is a different story. Tachometer also helps you achieve the smoothest performance for your car. When you know the proper RPM you must have before each gear shift, I’m sure you’ll enjoy driving more. And another thing I noticed personally by considering proper RPM before each shift is that I maximize gas mileage.

Older type tachometer works exactly the same way as the speedometer. It has a cable with one end attached to the engine that rotates and send signal to the meter.

The Temperature Gauge

Car engines require certain amount of heat for best performance. When your engine is too cold, you may sometimes feel that your exhaust system is clogged and you’ll see lots of smoke coming out. You’ll also fell that your engine is a bit shaky. It also increases engine wears.

When it’s too hot, you won’t have the best performance either. Based from experience, it slows down my car and not only that, it seriously damaged the engine. So it’s better to monitor the temperature of your engine.

Common temperature gauges do not have the exact numbers in degrees on it. They only show Cold and Hot levels which means any degrees outside the hot or cold area is just good enough for your car. Too cold engine is not as problematic as too hot. If this happens oftentimes, consider checking these guidelines. Or might as well have your engine checked by a certified mechanic.

The Fuel Gauge

I would say, this gauge has the least importance. In fact, it’s the most inaccurate gauge of all. If you notice, after filling up your tank, you can see that the gauge is almost not moving but when it reaches below 3 quarts, it’s going down a bit faster. So it’s not accurate after all that you have consumed 1/4, is it?. Some gauges have the 3/4 mark a little closer to full to be ‘less inaccurate’. But I still don’t see its importance here. If you regularly fill up your fuel tank, it’s like you don’t need a fuel gauge anymore.

But I don’t say it’s not important at all. I saw its importance once when I drove quite long and when my gas run low, I can’t find a gasoline station nearby. So I keep on monitoring the gauge until I found one. I learned that the lowest mark doesn’t mean I’m out of gas. I still have some reserve. Though I don’t know how many liters I still got. And I felt so lucky that I was able to refill before the reserve run out.

Written by A. Cantos on December 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment

You’re driving down the road and as you come upon a corner you sudenly realize the brakes aren’t doing any good and the vehicle continues going forward, what do you do?

This is a real-world scenario that causes many accidents year after year and as with many other car troubles, totally avoidable (most of the time that is, there is the 1% in the 99% reliability of your brakes that it can fail without any apparent reason). The key is maintenance, for if there has been sufficient maintenance on the vehicle meaning all safety and vital systems are inspected on a regular basis, there should not be any problems like this. Maintenance gives owners a chance to find problems as they begin as with brakes, yoi can see fluid from the brake system on the pavement or on the wheel rims. Hoses might be cracked or for the unfortunate few, that rock or piece of steel you ran over might have severed a brake line (actually hose) and your car is bleeding vital brake fluid needed to stop safely. Enough of the sermon and back to the point, What do you do?
First, any sign of trouble whe in a car, hit the flasher lights to tell everybody that something is wrong. Check the area in front of you if there are any vehicles in the way, if there are then you have to find spot to go to without hurting anybody else. If you are on open road like the interstate or highway, you can try pumping the brake which might give you some stopping power and use the hand brakes intermittently till you get to a full stop, ideally off the road on the shoulder. Using the handbrake is effective, but do it slowly for pulling hard can cause the rear tires to lock and spin you in many ways than one.
The point is, to keep you calm for panic causes you to loose your objectivity. Most modern cars have dual brake systems where the front driver’s side wheel and the rear pasenger’s side wheel are connected and so are the opposite two. You can brake (but you might have to push a bit harder on the pedal) even with one system down and use the handbrake to augment them. For some more important information check out the NSC fro more details
Keep safe, drive carefully and get home safe.

Written by Marcel on November 28, 2007 | 3 Comments

Going on a Road Trip? Here are tips for a safe, pleasant, worry-free road trip.

Before planning a road trip, make sure to have your car checked or serviced first, things like under the hood (the car battery, A/C, Engine Oil) and under the chassis (shocks, align wheels, as well as the exhaust systems)

Now on the actually going to the road trip part, Before leaving make sure you check :

1. Check the Brake Fluid Level. Fill up to the recommended level
2. Radiator coolant Level. Fill up to the recommended level
3. Window wiper Washer Level. Fill up to the recommended level
4. Check Brake lights, Headlights, foglamps, and always bring a spare bulbs
5. Check Fuses, bring spare fuses
6. Fuel tank. A full tank is wise choice
7. Check tire pressure. Inflate to recommended level
8. Check your spare tire, set of car tools, Early warning Device, First aid kit
9. Maps

Simple Tips I’ve learned from driving on long road trips

1. Bring Water for all the passengers.
2. Eat light snacks to keep you alert
3. To keep you charged, drink energy drinks, soft drinks, or fruit juices.
4. Don’t drive all the way take short breaks to stretch your muscles, If you have a replacement driver even better.
5. Whenever you feel sleepy, take a rest or switch with your co-driver.
6. Listen to a happy driving song, ( I listen to Gin Blossoms & Better than Ezra, whenever I go on a road trip)

Lastly, Have fun and Safe Road Trip.

Written by Jaren Cudilla on November 23, 2007 | 4 Comments

 

Many people hit the road without knowing the basics. They go to driving school to learn, pass the test, get their license and go on driving. Many do not realize the danger that driving without the proper knowledge is crazy and irresponsible. We see it all over the news, a poor driver with a stalled vehicle, on the side of the road, struck by oncoming traffic because of the mere fact the other driver can’t see the broken down vehicle. Sad indeed, most of these tragedies end in fatalities that can be avoided if they knew that the two pieces of reflectorized triangles at the back of your car were placed there to save your life and possibly the life of the driver who can run you over.

For those who didn’t know they have two colors, one yellow and one red, why, well the yellow one is supposed to be placed about twenty feet farther than the red one which is supposed to be placed at least ten feet from the stalled vehicle. The yellow one attracts drivers of on-coming traffic that there is something wrong. just in case they don’t see the yellow one, the red one comes into view which means, “MY CAR’S BROKEN DOWN, GET OUT OF THE WAY!” They are now made of plastic which also serves a purpose, when on-coming traffic does not see them and runs them over, it will catch their attention and alert them that something is wrong ( I assure you that they would notice it) and hopefully get them to steer away from your car in time. Hopefully even if they run over the plastic triangles it catches their attention enough for them to get them to avoid hitting your stalled vehicle and injuring you both in the process.

Written by Marcel on November 22, 2007 | 2 Comments

Before one can drive any motorized vehicle on the road, one should first acquire a driving license. A license is very important for it signifies and assured that you know how to drive and more importantly, you understand traffic rules and signs.

The Land Transportation Office or LTO is a government organization that provides driving licenses to drivers in the Philippines. They also execute traffic rules and regulations. They are also in charge of penalizing traffic violators. Anything that relates to traffic, they are responsible for it.

LTO has several office locations around the country. Every province should have one to provide convenience to people of their border. But anyone can have their licenses from any branch offices from different provinces.

A Student Driver’s License is a pre-requisite to a Non-Professional or Professional Driver’s license. In acquiring this, here are some tips.

1. Prepare the requirements. Go to LTO site and look for the requirements. Make sure you have them with you when you go to an LTO branch to avoid inceonvenience. Accomplished application form, Birth certificate and ID picture are the most important you should have. Make sure that your Bith certificate is NSO certified. Have a photocopy so you can keep the original in future needs.
2. Be early as possible. LTO operations start at 8:00 AM. The offices are usually crowded everyday and you do not want to wait long , do you? If your papers will be the first on their queue, you would decrease the chance of paying extras to fasten the processing. You know what I mean. Need I explain more?
3. Show respect to the officers. Eventhough you are paying for their sevice, they usually do not observe the principle of ‘Customer is always right.’ Not even if you pay under-the-table cash. So the only way to have their good mood on you is keep them respected.

After you have your student license, you have to wait for a month to be able to acquire a Non-Professional or Professional license. Do not forget to bring the requirements when applying for one.

These tips are more appropriate for Filipino citizens acquiring licenses only. If you are not a filipino who wants to acquire driving license here, please check the requirements from LTO site.

Written by A. Cantos on June 11, 2007 | 4 Comments