January 8, 2023
Bet you didn't know:
Some of the earliest rearview mirrors were marketed as "Cop Spotters" so drivers would know when police were following them. Who wants a ticket, anyway? According to eBay Motors, Elmer Berger first patented a rearview mirror that was mounted on the front fenders, on the spare tire secured to the side of the car of at the top of the driver's door frame.
About 80 percent of your vehicle is recyclable. So says The Balance. That means four-fifths of most vehicles can be recycled. Much of that recycling is done by automotive aftermarket recyclers. Between the U.S and Canada, they reclaim enough steel to produce 13 million new vehicles.
The man who invented the first modern cruise control couldn't even drive a car because he was blind! His name, says Smithsonian.com, was Ralph Teetor. Blinded at a young age by a knife accident, Teetor was inspired to create a speed control by a couple of things. One, the U.S. imposed a mandatory 35 mph/55 kph during World War II to conserve fuel and tire rubber, and Teetor wanted drivers to go a safe and steady speed. Plus, a chauffeur who drove him around used to randomly slow down and speed up which irritated Teetor. So he invented a speed control to encourage drivers to drive at a more constant and safer speed.
The first grooved tires were invented in 1904 by Continental. But that was a big improvement over the very first "tires" which were actually metal hoops that made riding in the first cars a pretty rough experience. The first rubber tires were solid rubber, not inflatable like today's tires. Things have come a long way. Modern tires are made with sophisticated rubber compounds that can deal with heat and cold. Plus their tread patterns help drivers get better traction on wet roads when it storms. Still, it's important to make sure yours have enough tread and are properly inflated for maximum safety and performance.
Quite frankly, there's a lot we don't understand about the vehicles we drive. They're much more complicated than the old horse and buggy that preceded them. Leave your vehicle's maintenance and service to highly trained technicians who DO understand how to maintain, diagnose and repair today's modern, sophisticated vehicles.
Tuffy Kentwood (Kalamazoo Ave SE)
4384 Kalamazoo Ave. SE
Kentwood, Michigan 49508
616.301.1436
November 17, 2024
When you start your vehicles engine, theres another motor that makes that whole process possible. Its called the starter, and its a small electric motor that gets your vehicle running. As you can imagine, its quite a chore for a little electric motor to turn over the big engine that powers you... More
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You've probably never paid much attention to the writing on the sides of your tires, but they contain a wealth of information. There's a long combination of letters and numbers that can tell you a whole lot about what tires your vehicle was designed to be riding on. Let's check out this example... More
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If your vehicles power goes to the rear wheels, then you have something called U-joints in the drivetrain. U-joints are connectors that allow the rotating power from your vehicles engine to deliver its power through a driveshaft to make the rear wheels rotate. You need U-joints because the surfa... More