If you don’t know or understand how parking lights work; you’re not alone. Your use or need for parking lights greatly depends on where you’re from, North Americans are the least likely to have experience with parking lights because of our well lit roads and ample dedicated parking space. In Europe and many other...
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When you hear or read someone say not to put anti-seize or another lubricant on your threads just remember; torque is just the means to getting appropriate tension. The problem is, tension goes both ways, and dry torque specs assume clean new threads. As this video illustrates, a less than new bolt yields only...
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As technology has advanced, you would assume that oils and their ability to lubricate have improved; and they have, but that development is a double edge sword. The agenda behind oil development is as much about lubrication as it is a battle against environmental impact, catalytic converter health, and fuel efficiency. If you look...
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Every rim and tire is slightly different and all have their unique high, low, light and heavy spots. On a rim, naturally the spot that is the ‘heaviest’ is where the valve stem resides as the stem adds weight to one side of the rim. On a tire, its not as obvious because a...
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Inevitably if you own any car long enough, it will likely blow a fuse, and it may blow it again and again because of an underlying problem. Resettable automotive fuses are a great tools in chasing a problem, as you can trouble shoot and not have to pay nor reinstall a new fuse every...
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One of the most frustrating parts of doing suspension work, especially for someone who doesn’t have a ton of experience is loosening or tightening the nuts on balljoints; because they spin. They are designed to spin, and sometimes need to be persuaded to not rotate so the ball joint nut can be tightened or...
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So you go to jump start a car, and soon after you disconnect the jumper cables the car dies, what gives? Is it a bad battery? Bad alternator? If you do a quick google search you will think you have a bad alternator, but often this isn’t the case, and its not the battery...
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Tools come with the territory of being a gear head and a car enthusiast. We are just as passionate about tools as we are cars and love sharing tool information. That is why the second installment in the RTS project is now up and running at www.Rtstools.com
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Linear springs: Linear springs require the same amount of force per inch of compression throughout its full travel. Almost all OEM’s use linear springs for three main reasons: 1.The automaker has the luxury of designing the strut, tower, and suspension geometry around their spring and shock. Therefore if they want the car to be...
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These are from technical specification drawings for stock E30 springs straight from BMW Germany. The spring forces and lengths were from BMW Germany, while I calculated the spring rates to accurately compare the springs per inch of travel. Only looking at spring force does not allow you to compare springs because it only signifies the force...
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