Dec 2012
Schedule a Suspension Inspection at Compton Automotive
18/12/12 09:43 Filed in: Suspension | Compton Automotive
Schedule a Suspension Inspection at Compton Automotive
Today's Mesquite car care article focuses on your suspension system. After many years and tens of thousands of miles, your minivan suspension system components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive. As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth Mesquite highways, your shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy roads or hauling heavy loads.
In addition to just wearing out, Compton Automotive customers need to know that suspension components can be damaged in an accident or by a hard impact – like a pothole, hitting a curb or a rock in the road. Because the life span of shocks can vary so widely, your minivan manufacturer and Compton Automotive recommend periodic inspections. During an inspection, your Mesquite service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts.
Signs that shocks or struts are wearing out: The tires may have a cupped wear pattern. This is from the shocks bouncing unevenly as you drive around Mesquite. You may notice a floaty or drifting sensation when cornering. If the front of your minivan dives excessively when stopping, or rocks back and forth after you stopped, your shocks may be worn out. And if they are leaking fluid, it’s definitely time to replace them. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, come into Compton Automotive for a suspension inspection. Same if you’ve been in an accident that involved one of your wheels. Worn or broken shocks can cause premature wear or failure on other minivan suspension parts such as ball joints and other steering components as well.
If your suspension actually fails, it could lead to a serious accident, so let us take care of your suspension components at Compton Automotive. When you replace your shocks, it’s usually a good idea to replace all four at the same time. That’ll give you more even handling. Talk with your service advisor at Compton Automotive because you don’t want a big difference between the performance of your shocks from wheel to wheel, and replacing all may be the safest bet.
Give us a call if you need to do some customer detective work in Dallas TX 75218!
Compton Automotive
10333 Garland Road
Dallas, TX 75218
At Compton Automotive in Dallas TX (75218) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 214.321.2617. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.
Today's Mesquite car care article focuses on your suspension system. After many years and tens of thousands of miles, your minivan suspension system components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive. As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth Mesquite highways, your shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy roads or hauling heavy loads.
In addition to just wearing out, Compton Automotive customers need to know that suspension components can be damaged in an accident or by a hard impact – like a pothole, hitting a curb or a rock in the road. Because the life span of shocks can vary so widely, your minivan manufacturer and Compton Automotive recommend periodic inspections. During an inspection, your Mesquite service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts.
Signs that shocks or struts are wearing out: The tires may have a cupped wear pattern. This is from the shocks bouncing unevenly as you drive around Mesquite. You may notice a floaty or drifting sensation when cornering. If the front of your minivan dives excessively when stopping, or rocks back and forth after you stopped, your shocks may be worn out. And if they are leaking fluid, it’s definitely time to replace them. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, come into Compton Automotive for a suspension inspection. Same if you’ve been in an accident that involved one of your wheels. Worn or broken shocks can cause premature wear or failure on other minivan suspension parts such as ball joints and other steering components as well.
If your suspension actually fails, it could lead to a serious accident, so let us take care of your suspension components at Compton Automotive. When you replace your shocks, it’s usually a good idea to replace all four at the same time. That’ll give you more even handling. Talk with your service advisor at Compton Automotive because you don’t want a big difference between the performance of your shocks from wheel to wheel, and replacing all may be the safest bet.
Give us a call if you need to do some customer detective work in Dallas TX 75218!
Compton Automotive
10333 Garland Road
Dallas, TX 75218
At Compton Automotive in Dallas TX (75218) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 214.321.2617. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.
Tire Tread Depth
18/12/12 09:39 Filed in: Compton Automotive | Tires
Tire Tread Depth
When talking about stopping power, we tend to focus on our brakes. But our tires are where the rubber meets the road. So having good brakes isn't enough: we have to have tires with enough traction to translate braking power into stopping power. Let's focus on stopping in wet conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can't move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water. To move water out of the way so the tire has channels for water to flow through. Look at a tire and you'll see channels that run around and across the tire. They're designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.
The deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new tire has very deep channels and can easily move a lot of water. As the tire wears down, the channels become shallower and can move less water. When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop on wet roads. Consumer Reports and other advocate groups think that a good standard of replacing tires when the tread is worn down to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. That's 3.2 millimeters.
When tires are worn to two-thirty-seconds of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible. So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out tire - and that little bit of additional tread makes a big difference. Stopping distances are cut dramatically on wet roads. A safe stop from freeway speeds with four-thirty-seconds of an inch of tread could result in a crash with worn out tires. There's an easy way to tell when a tire's worn to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn't cover George Washington's hairline; it's time to replace your tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.
Give us a call at 214.321.2617 or stop by and visit:
Compton Automotive
10333 Garland Road
Dallas, TX 75218
At Compton Automotive we install quality NAPA replacement parts. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.
When talking about stopping power, we tend to focus on our brakes. But our tires are where the rubber meets the road. So having good brakes isn't enough: we have to have tires with enough traction to translate braking power into stopping power. Let's focus on stopping in wet conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can't move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water. To move water out of the way so the tire has channels for water to flow through. Look at a tire and you'll see channels that run around and across the tire. They're designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.
The deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new tire has very deep channels and can easily move a lot of water. As the tire wears down, the channels become shallower and can move less water. When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop on wet roads. Consumer Reports and other advocate groups think that a good standard of replacing tires when the tread is worn down to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. That's 3.2 millimeters.
When tires are worn to two-thirty-seconds of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible. So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out tire - and that little bit of additional tread makes a big difference. Stopping distances are cut dramatically on wet roads. A safe stop from freeway speeds with four-thirty-seconds of an inch of tread could result in a crash with worn out tires. There's an easy way to tell when a tire's worn to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn't cover George Washington's hairline; it's time to replace your tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.
Give us a call at 214.321.2617 or stop by and visit:
Compton Automotive
10333 Garland Road
Dallas, TX 75218
At Compton Automotive we install quality NAPA replacement parts. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.
Automotive Work in Dallas TX 75218
18/12/12 09:31 Filed in: Compton Automotive
Automotive Work In Dallas TX 75218
One might say the most challenging part of being an automotive service technician in Dallas is diagnosing a problem before it can be fixed. Cars in Dallas are made up of a bunch of complex systems. There usually could be a number of reasons for any given symptom. So it's challenging to track down the actual cause of the problem. And it can be frustrating for the Dallas vehicle owner because it can take time and money to get to the bottom of a problem.
If it's not something obvious, it's easy for the customer to focus on the fixing and not the diagnosing.
Let us at Compton Automotive introduce you to something we'll call 'Customer Detective Work' – that is helping the technician find clues to what's wrong. We start with the detective basics: What, Where and When. Play along with me; You come in to Compton Automotive and your car is making a funny sound…
Compton Automotive
10333 Garland Road
Dallas, TX 75218
At Compton Automotive in Dallas TX (75218) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 214.321.2617. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.
One might say the most challenging part of being an automotive service technician in Dallas is diagnosing a problem before it can be fixed. Cars in Dallas are made up of a bunch of complex systems. There usually could be a number of reasons for any given symptom. So it's challenging to track down the actual cause of the problem. And it can be frustrating for the Dallas vehicle owner because it can take time and money to get to the bottom of a problem.
If it's not something obvious, it's easy for the customer to focus on the fixing and not the diagnosing.
Let us at Compton Automotive introduce you to something we'll call 'Customer Detective Work' – that is helping the technician find clues to what's wrong. We start with the detective basics: What, Where and When. Play along with me; You come in to Compton Automotive and your car is making a funny sound…
- Where's the sound? – 'Around the right front wheel'.
- What kind of sound? – 'Kind of a clunk, clunk sound'.
- When do you hear the sound? – 'When I turn and accelerate.
- Right and left? Forwards and back?'
Compton Automotive
10333 Garland Road
Dallas, TX 75218
At Compton Automotive in Dallas TX (75218) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 214.321.2617. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.