Cars of Technology

You don't want a wheel falling off your trailer. That could be one very bad day. Besides a wheel bearing failure you could easily have the lug nuts loosen. The next thing you know the trailer wheel passes you as you go down the road.  The torque setting for your trailers wheels is generally greater than it is for your car or truck. Plus the trailer nuts loosen easily. On your car or truck the wheels actually turn as you go around a corner. OK - at least the front ones turn. Your trailer wheels are fixed in place. This means that when you go around a corner the wheels actually flex. This loosens the lug nuts, for bolts.  You can't just tighten the lug nuts with a bigger wrench because you might break the wheel stud. That's an even bigger problem. The solution is to tighten them correctly and do it several times.  People say you should do it until the nuts actually stabilize. I'm suggesting that you do it after 50, 150 and again at 300 miles. You should be fine then until...

Battery Types As long as the battery starts the car we just ignore it. When it finally stops working we think that buying a bigger, and better, battery can solve the problem. How about just taking care of the battery you currently have in the car? Novel as this idea might be it’s worth some consideration.              First, what type of battery do you have in your car? There are three basic types of batteries. Wet Cell:   This is the most common lead-acid battery. They offer the greatest array of size and design. While some still have caps that allow you to replenish the electrolyte the battery vents while charging many are now “maintenance-free” with no access to the cells.             Each cell has a grid of lead plates along with a liquid electrolyte that’s based on sulphuric acid. Since the grid is only supported at the edges, flooded lead-acid batteries are stru...