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The Benefits of Chassis Braces

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Today’s cars, even the commuter ones, are designed and tested with tools and concepts that were unavailable even two short decades ago. But even with these advances, designing an automotive chassis is fraught with compromise, as numerous design parameters such as engine placement, cabin space, safety and material considerations and target costs play on what the final design will be. Few laymen or automotive enthusiasts will even care about understanding the forces – such as axial forces, shear forces, bending, torsion, angular deflection and moments of inertia – when they set out to purchase a car. Engineers worry about these things, but as we said, design compromises compel a lot of designs to be compromised in favor of balancing the features of a car towards a certain percentile of the population.

Car guys know that an automotive chassis’ job is to hold the vehicle’s components together while the car is in motion, all while being loaded by forces (such as vertical and lateral loads) that are transferred to it by the suspension, through the wheels. With standard OEM components like the tires, shocks, springs, bushings and a stock drivetrain, whatever loads are transferred to the chassis can be handled by the original design. The problem arises when you add stickier and/or wider tires, stiffer springs and/or shocks, stiffer bushings and more power. You then get unwanted chassis flex that affects the way your car handles. A big no no then. And when you talk about a car that’s been on the road for more than a few years, you can add metal fatigue to the equation.

The best solution for a really stiff chassis would be a carbon fiber tub or a chassis that has been stitch-welded with a roll cage added. Highly impractical for a street/strip car enthusiast who has to juggle a budget or simply wants a good enough solution. Enter chassis braces. Old-timers will at once be intimately familiar with the simplest of these, the strut brace. This, even today, is one of the first add-ons you purchase when you put a chassis brace on your car. When cars were made with a separate ladder frame onto which the body was attached, there was also the subframe connector. Nowadays, you have strut braces for the front and rear, underchassis braces, fender braces, floorpan braces and rear suspension braces for stiffening the mounting points for the rear links.

Obviously, the effect of these braces will be to stiffen the chassis to the extent that tuning the car’s handling will be a much more consistent affair. For those who take to the track, these chassis braces may not result in dramatic time improvements, but the improved confidence through better feel will improve consistency, which will affect the way the driver well, drives. This then, can indirectly lead to improved times. For less than new cars, these braces, as we have said, will stiffen the aging chassis to the extent that the platform will be as rigid, if not more, than when it was new.

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Source by Janus Onbekend

Problems With ANPR

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People are aware of the benefits of Automatic Number Plate Reader technology (ANPR) and how it is used by the police to catch uninsured drivers, criminals whose license plates are on record and people who have cloned license plates from cars. But what often gets overlooked are the problems with ANPR. This article, however, is all about those problems.

The first issue, which has only started emerging, as ANPR technology has become more and more widespread, is that the equipment can bring up false positives. This is caused by the cameras misreading the registration number rather than the plate being read correctly but is misidentified as not having insurance. The most common occurrences of this are when the police perform roadside checks and scan all of the cars that drive past with a portable device. The cars which are identified as uninsured or criminal are then pulled over and the drivers are questioned.

The false positives can arise when the officer operating the camera does not have a good view of the plates as they pass, which can lead to the device identifying some plates incorrectly, for example, reading an “8” as a “B” or not being able to view the whole plate. When this happens, somebody who does have their car fully insured may be pulled over and be asked to prove this. There have been more and more reports of this happening and each time it does, the police have to phone up the insurance companies to check whether the car they have pulled over is insured or not. The vast majority of the time they are, and this therefore wastes the officer’s time, the driver’s time, and the time of the insurance company.

The second problem is with number plate cloning. If a criminal copies your registration number and attaches it to another vehicle and then commits a crime with that vehicle, you may find yourself being stopped by the police for a crime that you didn’t commit. Even if the car the criminal was driving is completely different in every way to the one you are driving, ANPR will identify your car as a car that requires to be pulled over.

The third problem and perhaps the most controversial, is whether ANPR infringes on people’s privacy too much. With some cities and counties wanting to cover all their borders with ANPR cameras, all that would need to happen is for a centralised database to be created, that records where and when number plates have been seen, and anybody who has access to this, could potentially chart all the trips an individual has made across the country.

Whether the benefits of ANPR outweigh these problems, is something that each individual must make their own mind up about, but the authorities seem to think that the benefits do outweigh these problems.

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Source by Jane Henry

Ten Reasons a 20 Year Old Truck Is More Efficient Than a Prius

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Have you ever wondered if you should get rid of your old truck for something smaller and more efficient? Chances are you usually only think about this when you are pumping gas into your truck. Here are ten reasons why you are better off than trading it in for a little gas sipper. If you don’t have a truck, then see below what you are missing out on.

1. No car payment.

That fifty miles per gallon comes with a surcharge of 22,000 dollars for a new Prius. Thanks to their cult-like following used vehicles are commanding nearly the same prices. A 20 year old pickup really, really should be paid off by now. A truck getting 15 mpg will cost 4200 dollars in gas a year; chewing tobacco and cowboy hat are optional.

The Prius uses 1400 dollars worth of gas, and makes a typical monthly payment of 400 for 5 years. (22k + tax + interest / 60 months) My math is terrible and I did not calculate APR, but instead just tacked on interest based on initial loan value, but anyway I digress. Four hundred a month plus gas puts the pick-up cleanly ahead to the tune of 166 dollars a month.

2. Maintenance is cheaper.

I know some of you out there might already be getting defensive and saying that my math will never work because at some point the Prius will be paid off. The current economy has changed things slightly but in my experiences as a mechanic, once the car is out of warranty most drivers will run to the dealer to trade in a vehicle before paying costly repairs. But even if the Prius was paid off, the cost of batteries and labor to repair the vehicle is substantially higher than the truck.

The 20 year old parts are plentiful at the local auto parts store, and are typically much cheaper. A new engine: 600 dollars, new transmission: 400 dollars: differential: 300 dollars. Take care of the engine with proper maintenance and get 200k miles. Replace the transmission every 100k or so, sooner if required. The rear end is good for 400k. The rest of the truck consists of parts that cost less than 100 dollars each.

3. Trucks last forever

Toyota likes to claim that its cars last forever. How many mid 70’s Toyotas are running around? How many mid 70’s Hondas? How many mid 70’s pickups are still running around and being used daily?

4. Insurance is cheaper

An old truck is paid off and the driver is not required to pay for full coverage. Full coverage would not matter anyhow, as any claim whatsoever would likely total the vehicle. For full coverage on the Prius I estimate the figure approximately 400 every 6 months. The truck’s cost I will roughly estimate at 280 or less.

5. No deliver fees. Ever.

As a proud owner of a truck you will not need to pay for delivery of furniture, or lumber, or anything really. A truck can tow a boat, help the cute neighbor move, and haul rocks and dirt. The Prius can fold down the back seat. A truck can carry a Prius.

6. Your kid can fix your truck

A degree in engineering is not required to fix it yourself. A 20 year old vehicle was made in simpler times. Fixing a twenty year old truck is much easier than fixing anything on a Prius. You can fit the trucks motor, plus two small four cylinder engines under the cavernous hood to keep your V8 company. Even if you don’t fix your vehicles yourself, repairs are faster, and cheaper. See number two for parts.

7. Trucks look great

I can appreciate that not everyone loves the look of a truck. I usually don’t consider those people normal, but that isn’t relevant at this point. This is America and people can buy whatever they want. But reason number seven is because the truck has a timeless classic design. The Prius has a timeless interrupted design. Does it look pinched off to anyone else?

8. Traffic

Traffic is easier to navigate with a truck. Sure in the city the Prius will find parking spots easier, and is more maneuverable around tight spots. But the age old rule of bigger is better definitely works with a truck. The added benefit of an old truck is that 20 years worth of rust and dents lend a “I do not have insurance” appearance to the vehicle, thereby causing the smaller vehicles to yield.

9. No Depreciation

A 20 year old truck will never be upside down. It will not depreciate. A 1975 Chevrolet bought today for 2000 dollars will be worth 2000 dollars when you sell it. A Prius also has good resale value due to the cult-like following, but a Prius will still suffer depreciation at some point.

10. Camping

Camping is not only possible in a truck, but there is an entire industry built around the notion. Load up the truck with firewood, beer chest, lawn chairs, spare change of clothes, and some food and meet your buddy at the lake. The same buddy that drove alone in his Prius without wood, lawn chairs, or food, or beer.

*Bonus*

In case of the end of the world all drivers, while fleeing from nuclear radiation, zombies, foreign armies, or cross-Canadian bird-pig flu, will inevitably flock to the highways. A truck can take the median, the field, the curb, or the sidewalk. A truck can drive out of situations where it is completely buried in dirt, drive through molten lava without issue, and drive down mountain sides without roads (source: Lone Wolf McQuade, Dante’s Peak, and Commando.)

As you can see a 20 year old truck is clearly superior to a Prius in every way. Not only will you have much more utility with the truck, but it is cheaper to own as well. So I only ask that the next time a Prius blazes down the highway at ludicrous speed, firm in the belief that they are saving the world, take a moment and truly think how much more awesome and efficient your truck is.

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Source by Matthew Fuchs

Importance of Turbocharger in a Vehicle

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A good running vehicle is what most car owners would like to have especially if it is needed for their job. Police cars are examples of vehicles that need to be fast and always in great condition so they can catch criminals and respond to calls the fastest possible time. Now, for this reason, there are many vehicle accessories that can help speed up your unit, add more power and make it run more smoothly. A turbocharger is one of the most important accessories for your vehicle. Turbochargers can increase your engine power as much as 35% compared to having no turbocharger.

All vehicles whether it is run by diesel or gasoline must have a turbocharger in their engine. The turbocharger helps increase engine horsepower. Usually, a single turbocharger is used for diesel engine while two turbochargers are used for gasoline engine and it commonly referred to as twin turbo.

The main function of turbocharger is to increase the amount of air intake needed by the engine for better fuel combustion. It is actually connected on the exhaust manifold of the unit which is made of two kinds of impeller separated by a chamber. As the exhaust manifold releases air, it actually rotates the impeller of the turbo charger in the exhaust manifold side and since the two impeller of the turbo is directly coupled together, the impeller on the other end which is directly connected to the intake manifold would eventually turn itself adding air in the combustion process.

Turbocharger impellers rotate almost 3000 rpm and because of this it is prone to overheat just like the engine itself. There are two cooling processes done for turbo chargers to prevent overheat, the first is by using oil lubricants and the second one is through combination of water and oil lubricants. In oil lubricants, the turbo charger is regularly fed by engine oil through a steel pipe directly connected to the main engine. It cools down the turbo charger by lubricating its rotating parts which is the impellers and because of this it easily cools down itself. The combination of water and oil, it is usually used on large turbo charger, because engine oil is sometime not enough to cool down the turbo. A connection directly connected to the water passage way of the engine is connected and passes through the turbo to cool it.

One way of maintaining the good condition of your turbo charger is by ensuring that there clean engine oil is always present. You should also regularly check for any leak or damage in its connection. Avoid engine revolution especially when you have just started your engine. Owners have experienced turbo charger problem when they turn on their engine and run their car without allowing it to heat up especially on a cold weather. The usual turbo damage is mostly in the impeller itself because it is usually broke down into pieces when damaged. Now the most important thing to maintain the turbo in good condition besides checking its cooling system is by avoiding early engine revolution. It is also best to start the engine and wait until it reaches a designated temperature before running your vehicle.

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Source by Thomas Glickman