Power Your Profits with Performance Mods
The sport compact car market is certainly a good place to be these days. One of the advantages of doing import performance modifications and upgrades is that you don’t have to wait for cars to break to get business. The people who drive these cars spend money on performance modifications regardless of the age, mileage
Suspension & Brake Repairs: Ensure Customer Service and Safe Vehicle Operation
This month, we find ourselves in a familiar environment — under a car or in the wheel well. The good news is you’re under a Mazda car or truck that will present few surprises in terms of service procedures, while providing the additional service opportunities we’ve come to expect from undercar repairs. A vehicle can
Selling Services: Shock & Strut Replacement
The primary purpose of a shock absorber (or strut) is to control suspension movement. This is done by a piston moving fluid through a series of valves within the shock or strut housing. The valves control the damping rate of the shock throughout the travel of the piston. The damping characteristics are engineered to complement
Tech Update: The 10 Commandments for Selling Shocks & Struts
“143” alt=”” align=”right” /> Look for signs that the units might be leaking oil, such as the accumulation of road grime or the presence of oil inside the boots and dust shields. Also keep an eye out for “witness marks” that indicate the suspension might have bottomed out recently. Make sure all bushings and hardware
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
2006 Ford Explorer Pointers
Photo 2). Another change for the 4.6L in 2006 is that it no longer uses a knock sensor. Both, the 4.0L and the 4.6L use a PCM-controlled heated PCV valve. The PCV valve on the 4.0L SOHC engine is located in the back of the left valve cover, mounted horizontally, and is well hidden from
Honda Performance Upgrades
Service & Diagnostics Call it what you want — the compact performance market, sport compact market, import scene or the tuner market — but there’s no denying the import car performance segment has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. According to SEMA’s 2006 Compact Performance Market Report, retail sales for this niche
Ride Control Repairs: Keeping Your Customers’ Tires Glued to the Road
Confused about modern ride control technology? Sometimes looking back into automotive history can put such technology into a more usable framework. A good illustration is how ride control technology evolved from the simple, early-century friction shock absorber to the electronic variable-rate shocks and MacPherson struts currently being installed on late-model imports. When early automobile manufacturers
Alignment Update: Alignment Bay Neglect
Four Steps to Help You Get More Alignment Sales
Maintenance Essentials…, OBD II & Chassis Checks
All cars need maintenance. The fact is mechanical devices wear and fail in normal use, and deteriorate over time, so being able to diagnose a future failure has become a part of the automotive repair and service industry. Customers always ask how long it will be before a component will fail, and are usually not
GM ‘W Platform’
Preventive Maintenance and Undercar Service
Ready-To-Install Struts: Saving Time & Adding Profits
It should come as no shock that preassembled, ready-to-install struts have been a huge hit lately, not only with do-it-yourselfers, but even more so with professional technicians. The pros like them because they are much easier, faster and more profitable to install than ordinary struts. They don’t need a spring compressor to disassemble and reassemble