How Rain Can Be Bad For Your Car

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Rain can be refreshing on a hot and humid day, but car owners usually don’t like it much, especially when their cars are newly-washed and sparkling. Somehow, rain has the uncanny quality of making the shiniest of cars dirty and grimy.

Here are few reasons why rain can actually be bad for your car.

Rain makes the car dirtier than it should be. The funny thing is, rain makes a clean car dirty, but makes a dirty car even harder to clean! When you take out your dusty car and drive it through the rain, some of the dust and grime are washed off, but when the rain stops and you’re still driving, expect the remaining mud to. Your tyres accumulate hard to remove mud, and even the underside of your car is caked with mud. Failure to do this will hasten the deterioration of your car. A car’s metal parts, when left underneath layers of dirt will quickly rust, therefore causing depreciation and eventual breakdown of the car body.

Rain puts added pressure on the tyres, wipers, fan belt, power steering and brakes. Rain or moisture causes a lot of car parts to slightly malfunction. Although cars are meant to be driven even through the roughest of rains, the moisture it produces makes some normal car functions to trip and cause some alarm to the driver.

The most obvious will be your windshield wipers, which take the brunt and force of heavy rain. And what will you do without them? Driving through rain with broken or malfunctioning wipers is extremely dangerous. Especially when visibility is near zero, you’d be better off parking somewhere safe, and allowing the rain to pass – this is the best thing to do when you know you have trippy wipers that could cause you major accidents. Keep you wipers in tip top shape.

Another victim of moisture is your fan belt. Moisture can cause your fan belt to squeal, especially if the moisture gets between your belt and the pulleys or belt tension.that all hold it in place. If you notice your belt squealing minutes after you drive through a large puddle or in the rain, chances are your belt is getting wet somehow. Have it checked out by a good mechanic.

If you drive a car with power steering, you know that the rain messes up with it, too. The power steering will fail temporarily (it locks up). Having your mechanic replace the pump regularly is a good idea, but rain and its moisture will somehow affect its normal function. Once it locks up, force it to move back and forth and little, the belt will finally give a little squeal and then everything is back to normal.

Another victim of rain is the braking system. A lot of cars have a tendency to make brake-grinding noises for the first few stops after they’ve been parked in the rain or mist. It’s because brake discs rapidly get a very light coating of rust from the moisture. Using the brakes scrapes the rotors clean again, and the noise goes away pretty fast. Your brake rotors can rust very quickly. They can make a grinding noise when you first drive your car after the rotors get wet, but it will go away after the rust gets scraped off by the brake pads.

Acid rain. Defined by automakers as environmental fallout, it is a term used to describe the deposit of damaging pollutants, whether wet or dry. These pollutants are released by burning fuels and react with other elements in the atmosphere and become acids. Rain itself is not the culprit, but when the rain dries, it leaves the concentrated acid part. Paint acts like a sponge and it keeps collecting all that acidic material.

How to avoid damage on your car – Repeated exposure is bad. If you consistently park your car in a covered area, garage or carport, you can avoid some of the worst effects of acid rain. Some manufacturers used acid-resistant paints, which costs a lot less than it might cost you to fix a problem afterward. To avoid permanent scarring, have your car washed and hand-dried frequently. Light-coloured vehicles seem to suffer less obvious damage; darker-colored vehicles will show wear sooner.

And when some paint damage has already happened, there is still hope. Hire a professional to have your contaminated paint cleaned up. A high-quality polymer paint sealant also has co-polymers and amino functional resins that will fight future acid rain while resisting the effects of soap and sun.

Rain is a natural phenomenon which brings life and helps maintain the environmental equilibrium. It may not be kind to man-made machines, but there are ways to make your metal babies survive even the harshest rain weather. The prime factors are care & responsibility but maintenance is the key.

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Source by Tim Matthews

How to Build Your Very Own Stretch Limousine

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How many times have you watched a limousine being driven down the road and thought to yourself, “man that sure would be nice to own one”. The cost of purchasing one though is the prohibitive factor for most people. There is an affordable option though and that is to turn the car you now own into a stretch limousine by following these simple easy to follow instructions.

Start Taking Your Car Apart

Your going to start by removing all of the interior paneling and seats, down to the point where the car is pretty much bare inside. Next, you will need to climb under your car and remove the drive line and any brake fluid lines that are running up the under carriage.

Cut Your Car in half

Also, you will want to remove any wiring that is running the length of your car both inside and out. Next, remove all of the side windows as well as the doors. Your next step will be to get a saws-all and a pack of new metal cutting blades and saw the car in half.

Head to the Wrecking Yard

Make sure that your cut line avoids any doors for simplicity. Have a friend help you to pull the two halves of your car apart and set them up on blocks. Now head to the wrecking yard and find a car just like yours that you can cut a midsection chunk from.

A Total of Six Doors!

Bring the chunk back and weld it in place. Now you have two extra doors in back, for a total of six doors in your car! Grind and sand down your welding seams, finish them off with bondo and then hit them with a good coat of primer paint.

Easy As Pie!!

Take your drive line to a machine shop, have it extended and start to put your limo back together. Some of your interior panels will fit and some won’t, so you are going g to have to do some creative upholstery work. Your also going to need some extra long brake lines and an extended wiring harness. Hit the car with a paint job and you are good to go!

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Source by Zena Andersten

Factors To Consider When Buying A Hoverboard

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Hoverboards are fun to ride on and they help you cut traffic. For you to buy the right ones you need to consider a number of factors. These factors include:

Size

This is very important. The right size of hoverboard that you should go for should depend on your preferences. While you can tell the size of the unit by simply looking at, it’s also important to check the diameter of the wheels. As rule of thumb ensure that your unit can easily move you from one place to the other without straining it. If you are a big guy, go for a big hoverboard and vice versa.

Wheel sizes range from 5 inches to 10 inches. Small wheels are easier to control but unfortunately, you can’t use them off-road. If interested in riding your hoverboard on rough terrains, you should go for one with large wheels.

Quality of the battery

As you know, the hoverboard is powered by a battery and the last thing you want is riding your unit for a few minutes and being required to charge it. To enjoy riding in your unit you should go for a unit with a high-quality battery. For a great experience, go for a unit with a battery that is capable of lasting up to 8 hours. I’m sure you have come across explosive batteries. To avoid being injured by an explosive battery you should go for UL approved batteries. Before parting with your money you should check the UL certifications.

Quality of the unit

For your travel vehicle to last for a long time it should be of good quality. Some of the things you should look out for when making the purchase are the material used in making it. As rule of thumb ensure that the unit is made from high-quality materials. To protect the unit from water damage, you should ensure that it has a top-notch waterproof feature. If buying offline, always try on the hoverboard and ensure that it’s comfortable to rid on.

Store where you are buying from

Many people pay a lot of attention to the features of the hoverboard and forget where they are buying it from. To buy a high-quality unit, ensure that you buy from a reputable store. This calls for you to do a lot of research before you make the purchase. If buying online, you should read the reviews of the website and ensure that it’s reputable. To avoid getting scammed you should avoid a new website without an established reputation.

If buying offline, you should ask around about the reputation of the store. You should also visit the store and take a look at the quality of the products that they have in stock. You should avoid a store with poor quality products.

Conclusion

These are the factors that you should consider when buying a hoverboard. As mentioned, you should buy from a reputable store in order to increase your chances of buying a high-quality unit.

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Source by Satvik Mittal

Driver Etiquette – Do’s and Don’ts

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There are certain behavioral norms that we are used to following in regular interactions with other people. All that seems to go out the window when you are on the road. Road rage is far more commonly discussed these days than driver etiquette, but it’s our manners while driving that are most important.

What exactly should we be doing and how should we be acting while on the road? Here are a few guidelines.

DO

o Leave on time. If you’re rushed and racing to get to an appointment or meeting, you’ll be more stressed out and far more likely to ignore proper driver etiquette which could cause some serious problems.

o Let people pull in front of you. It really won’t delay your journey if you let one or two cars get into the line and you’ll save yourself and someone else a lot of frustration.

o Slow down. Going too fast means you could miss a sign or signal and end up in an accident. This isn’t just about etiquette, it’s also about safety.

o Give advance notice. If you’re going to turn, be sure to turn on your signal ahead of time, not just as you are about to make the turn. This lets the vehicles around you react appropriately.

o Dim your headlights. When coming up on another car, keep in mind that your brights can blind the other driver, whether reflecting in his rearview mirror or shining directly into the oncoming car.

o Move to one side when emergency vehicles come through. It might be tempting to race ahead, particularly if your turnoff is coming up, but keep in mind why they are in hurry and pull over.

o Let buses cut in. They are on a schedule and you’ll be able to overtake them at the next stop, which won’t take much time off your commute, but could make a big difference to those who travel public transport.

DON’T

o Expect people to guess what you’re thinking. It’s important to always let them know with signals what you are about to do. Expecting someone to get out of your way because you’re in a hurry is only going to cause problems.

o Tailgate. There is nothing more annoying than someone who just won’t back off, so move back and keep an appropriate distance between cars.

o Talk on the phone while driving. Studies have shown that you simply don’t have the same reflexes when having a conversation on the phone and using just one hand to drive. Instead, invest in a headless phone system or wait until you can pull over.

o Lose your temper. Take deep breaths or even pull over if you need to. Getting angry and giving in to road rage will only cause more trouble than it’s worth.

o Block cyclists and motorbikes. They might be annoying, but it’s not worth causing problems if they are trying to pass you on the shoulder.

o Drive too slowly. If you are going lower than the speed limit, make sure you move to one side so people can pass you. It’s rude to cause a hold up by driving too slowly.

Being polite on the road is just as important as having good table manners. How you act will affect the people around you and driving etiquette will also affect how you go through your day. Being nice to people is proven to make you feel better and boost morale, so it`s a good way to start the day off right, by letting someone move into the line ahead of you during rush hour.

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Source by Amy Nutt