Tech Update: Top 5 TPMS Questions
From professional and college football down to youth-league soccer, everyone (including TechShop!) has a “Top Something-or-other” list. Why should the tire industry be different? Over the last year or so, Tire Rack has been conducting an informal and unscientific survey of its customers regarding the reoccurrence of issues dealing with tire pressure monitoring systems. Thanks
Tire Changer Q & A
Tire Changer Q & A We talk to Pete Liebetreu of Hunter Engineering on Tire Changers This month we talk to Pete Liebetreu, tire changer product manager of Hunter Engineering, on the future of the market and how shops can get the most out of this vital piece of equipment for most undercar shops. BRAKE
Ride Control Upgrades: Struts, Springs and Sway Bars
Some magazines write about suspension modifications on some of the most mundane vehicles, BRAKE & FRONT END never takes the easy way out. When most people think about lowering springs and other modifications, they think of Asian imports shaking the fillings out of a young driver. You almost never think of a BMW 7 Series.
Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems: The Ins and Outs of Indirect and Direct TPMS
This is the year of the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitor System). It’s been coming for some time. In response to a rash of highly publicized rollover accidents caused by tire failures on SUVs, Congress passed a law called the TREAD Act in 2000 which required all vehicle manufacturers to have TPMS on all their cars
Dispelling TPMS Myths
In the October issue, we addressed lessons learned from Toyota dealerships and how they have come to handle TPMS issues. This month, a Ford Motor Co. engineer provides helpful information on myths that surround TPMS units and service. Myths are fine if you’re teaching mythology. However, they are a pain in the bay for the
Alignment Update: Consider Long-Term Value of Equipment
Alignments are an equipment-intensive business. Purchasing this equipment is often done with the state-of-mind of “who is the least expensive.” But, “least expensive” is a relative term that can be narrow or broad in definition and scope. Least expensive can be looked from two different perspectives. Short-term is looking at just the one-time purchase price.
Selling Services: Handle Muscle-Car Horsepower with Complete Suspension Upgrade Packages
In the current import market, performance-modified vehicles known as sport compacts are finding themselves equally at home at local road courses and drag strips as they are on city streets. While the most popular hot-rod imports were originally designed to squeeze the last mile out of a drop of regular gasoline, these gasoline-miserly vehicles may
Selling Services…Fitment Blues: Solving Aftermarket Wheel Problems
Aftermarket wheel installation requires much more than just placing the wheel on the hub and tightening the lug nuts. It involves a great deal of knowledge and expertise that, admittedly, very few people have. Here is just one scenario that may help you avoid or diagnose a problem. Case Study A customer complains that his
Selling Services: Marketing Nitrogen to Your Customers
What’s wrong with air? Like a slumbering giant, the passenger and light truck tire industry is slow to evolve and slower to accept new products and ways of thinking. Take the current buzzword going around: nitrogen. That inert gas has the industry and, as I found out, consumers, in an uproar about who and what
TPMS: What are Dealers Doing?
Service shops aren’t the only ones concerned about TPMS these days. Auto dealers, also, are handling an increasing number of TPMS-equipped vehicles in their service bays. While there’s strong competition for vehicle service, TPMS is forcing both auto and tire dealers to cope with a new side dish on their service menus. The common thread,
Tire Tech: OEM Engineer Dispels (and Adds Fuel to) TPMS Myths
Myths are fine if you’re teaching mythology. However, they are a pain in the bay for the automotive aftermarket, especially when dealing with new components like tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). With every new technology, there are inherent learning, maintenance and problem-solving issues. Also, there are accompanying apprehensions and fears. Some concerns are valid; others would fall into the category of myths.
Tech Tip: Servicing Cabin Air Filters
They call it the "hidden filter" because many motorists don’t realize their vehicles have separate air filters for the passenger compartments. Cabin air filters first appeared back in the mid-1980s. The earliest applications were on Audi and other European makes. Today, about 80 percent of all new import and domestic vehicles have a cabin air filter – or a slot where one can be installed.