Category: Auto Body Blog

If you have an SUV or similar vehicle with a four-wheel drive feature, you may be looking forward to putting it to good use this winter. Between thick snowfalls and mountain ski trips, this is a time when your wheels are working overtime. Of course, you don’t want to end up reaching for the four-wheel drive when you need it and finding that it isn’t working properly. You’re probably not using it over the summer, so a faulty four-wheel drive can sneak up on you. This is why it is important to check your system before the start of the cold season.

It is also important to remember that, while a four-wheel drive system can greatly improve your traction on snow and ice from a stationary position, it is not a magical system that will allow you to speed about like a racer on a frozen street. When you apply your brakes, your tires will not grip the pavement any better than you could without four-wheel drive. Various four-wheel drive systems work differently; check your vehicle’s owner’s manual for the best environment in which to use your system.

Aligning your car’s wheels involves adjusting their angles according to the specifications of the manufacturer. It is a process that you will likely need to have done by a professional auto body shop.

There are many things that can cause your wheels to go out of alignment, including hitting a pothole or striking a curb. If you notice that your car is drifting to one side as you drive, and you need to turn the steering wheel away from the center position in order to drive straight, first check your tires; be sure that they are inflated to their recommended pressure, as improperly inflated tires can give you the same effect of misaligned wheels. If your tires are properly inflated, you may very well have alignment issues.

If you observe a vibration in your wheels, this does not necessarily mean that they are misaligned. It likely points either to bent wheels or problems in the suspension.

Should you require an alignment for your own vehicle, visit Greenwood Collision in Seattle.

Winter is fast approaching, and this is a time when many people like to put their cars into storage. If you plan to put away your own vehicle for the cold season, be sure to do it right so as to make sure it’s in proper driving condition come spring time. The following steps will help you to accomplish this:

• Clean Your Car: Clean both the interior and exterior, applying a coat of wax to your paint job. Apply undercoating to any exposed part of the body that is prone to rusting.
• Guard Against Pests: Sometimes rodents will take refuge in your engine. A few dryer sheets or mothballs can work well. Alternatively, consider placing mousetraps outside your vehicle.
• Inflate Your Tires: Your tires will slowly lose pressure in storage, particularly during dramatic temperature changes. It can pay off to inflate your tires to a higher air pressure.
• Use Fuel Stabilizer: A common ethanol-blended fuel has an expiration date. The gas in your car’s engine will last for roughly three months unless you add a stabilizer.
• Store Your Battery: Remove and store your car’s battery in a place where it won’t freeze and crack.

Automobiles account for a large part of the pollution that civilization pumps into the atmosphere. Fortunately, Toyota is stepping up in an admirable effort to reduce the emissions of their cars. It is the goal of this automotive giant to cut the carbon dioxide emissions of their new vehicles by 90% by 2015, compared to 2010 levels.

To achieve this goal, Toyota intends to reduce the use of internal combustion engines in favor of hydrogen fuel cells, hybrids, and electric engines. On top of this, they also have announced plans to achieve zero carbon emissions at their factories within the same time frame.

The bad news is that this will not be an easy goal to achieve. Even a company as robust as Toyota will have to jump through some serious hoops to eliminate so many emissions. Executives of the company themselves have acknowledged that, without the support of all of their suppliers, all of their dealers, and their customer base, their plan will not be possible. How much support they are to receive has yet to be seen.

Between strong hurricane activity and a powerful El Nino brewing in the Pacific, flash flooding is a big concern throughout much of the country this year. An average of seventy-five people in the United States have been killed by floods every year since 2004, and roughly two thirds of these were drivers in their cars.

Indeed, should you find yourself driving in a flooded area, you should take particular care. One of the big killers is driving into water of unknown depth; it can be easy to misjudge the depth of water, particularly in low-light conditions. Unlucky motorists will sometimes find that the road or bridge they are driving along has been entirely washed out, and they don’t realize the dangers until it is too late.

FEMA gives the following advice:

• As little as six inches of water will reach the bottom of most cars, putting you in danger of stalling or losing control.
• A foot of water will cause many passenger vehicles to float.
• Two feet of moving water has the potential to carry away most vehicles, including pickups and SUV’s.

Should your car become damaged by flood waters, you will want to act quickly to salvage it. Talk to Greenwood’s auto body shop in Seattle for more information.