Vehicle and Highway Safety

Here are a few tips from professional suspension specialists at NASCAR for the average motorists when dealing with this important but often misunderstood component.

“If there’s a lot of body movement, it’s hard to control the car in turns and it moves a lot when you’re stopping, you’ve got a problem,” says a seasoned NASCAR veteran “You need to replace them right away. You pretty much have what you have, so when they’re used up you need to replace them.”  

There are many quality aftermarket shock absorbers to choose from, when it’s time for replacements.  

In-car cameras have added a new dimension to watching automobile racing on TV. TV cameras, firmly secured at locations around the track, follow drivers’ maneuvering for position and other drama that makes automobile racing the most popular spectator sport. Action in the pits gets its share of air time during NASCAR events, too.

A NASCAR Car Chief makes his living communicating. It’s his job to make sure all the changes that Crew Chief wants made are finished, and he must be accurate and exact on instructions to various members of the crew at the track.  

If you’re good to your car, it will be good to you.

That’s a commonly used phrase in the automotive industry so why is there still an estimated $60 billion in unperformed maintenance on an annual basis?

Are we really performing the necessary routine maintenance our vehicles need to travel the long haul?

Curious, we called on a few consumers known for being hard on their vehicles: ones who don’t pay attention to how much their engines rev and typically don’t even have a lick of tread on their tires!

Who did we call on?

Crew members of NASCAR!

Drive-offs at the pump are becoming more and more of a problem these days for gas stations everywhere.

High gas prices will do that to a person; surely you can sympathize …

Perhaps Sunoco could hook up a discount for avid NASCAR fans?

Until then, and before you go breaking any laws, stop and do your research on how to be more fuel efficient and get better gas mileage.

We called on a professional NASCAR catch-can man for help.

Of course, during a race, NASCAR drivers fly through an abundance of fuel because cars can average 190 mph. 

NASCAR tire changers know the importance of tightening lugs nuts.

Some learn their lesson the hard way. Two years ago before the Daytona 500 when Tony Stewart radioed the pits complaining of a loose wheel after what he thought would be a routine tire change.

“Yeah, I got a lecture,” said the tire changer, who forgot to tighten a lug nut creating a vibration in Tony’s car. “If this happens to a motorist, it could cause an accident, so be aware.”

The inside of your car is full of hot air and this time the culprit is a malfunctioning air conditioning (A/C) system. According to the Car Care Council, an annual checkup of your vehicle’s A/C system will help prevent it from breaking down when you most need it, especially with record high temperatures hitting many parts of the country.

The typical A/C service consists of the following:

Even if gas prices hit $5 a gallon, the traditional family vacation by vehicle costs less, is more convenient and not as stressful as flying, according to the Car Care Council.  A family of four traveling by car costs the same as one person traveling by air.  

Halloween is the time of year for squeals, squeaks, screeches and things that go bump in the night, but when these eerie and haunted sounds come from your car, it’s time for maintenance. Noise is to the vehicle what pain is to the body: a warning. According to the Car Care Council, the following strange and scary noises are clues that trouble is brewing within your car and that it should be checked out by an automotive repair technician.