Archive for the ‘Autos’ Category
Guide to subwoofers for car stereos
The dream for any music lover when they pop in a CD or fire up their mp3 player is to feel like they’re sitting right in front of the artist playing the music they love. Whether you like violent guitar riffs or the elegant massaging of ivory keys, accurate reproduction is the key to living that dream. If you can’t feel the beat of the kick drum in your chest or the lazy sounds of the baritone sax in your stomach, perhaps adding a subwoofer to your car audio system will put you back in the front row.
The subwoofer is actually a system in itself consisting of a high excursion driver, an enclosure, crossover, and amplification. Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsWhat to look for when buying used motorcycles
Use.Why are you buying a bike? Bikes are like women. You get women built for speed or comfort. Tempramental or reliable.Would you spend 1,000 on a diamond engagement ring for a girl you hardly knew,just because she was a good looker?
I like to know what purpose I am committing my money to. For me, I needed to pass my bike test before any options I wanted were open to me. That cost me 700! Now, budget providing, the motorbike world is my oyster. I am an older biker in my early fifties. When I was a teenager, I had a Suzuki 250cc two stroke, GT250. It was fast on accelleration, and reliable, but smokey and poor fuel consumption.I had a Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsWhy are cars built to go at double the regulated speed limit?
I have a simple question for you. Why if the Average Australian speed limit is lower than 120 km/ph, are cars made to do twice that speed? Every year we lose so many lives to deaths on the road and when nearly all of them have speed as the reason or a contributing factor, something needs to be done. So here is my solution: STOP making cars that can do in excess of 120 km/ph. While I understand that this will not stop all accidents it would help curb the numbers, as drag racing your friends would be no fun if both cars can only reach the same speed, high speed chases would suddenly get much slower and young people Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsHow does a closed centre hydraulic system work?
The principal of close centre hydraulic systems is to provide oil flow on demand it enables simultaneous operation of many users connected to one pump.
These systems almost always use variable flow piston pump with swash plate.
There are few exceptions where gear pump is used with special LS dump wale
These systems offer significant benefits in reducing engine power loss if compared with open centre systems where full capacity of the pump, almost always gear pump, is continuously pumped round the hydraulic circuit even when it is not operated.
So how does it work? Well the swash plate changes its angle Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsBuyers guide to bed rugs for pickup trucks – Part 1
Bed rugs and bed liners are accessories designed to protect the bed of your pickup truck and the items you carry in it. Some protect only the bed, some protect the bed and sides, and some primarily protect the cargo. Which kind you choose will depend on what you want your bed liner to do, and whether you want it to be a permanent part of your truck.
At the low end of the scale is the simple rubber mat. This will protect the floor of the truck bed quite adequately from dings and scrapes, and will also keep most cargo from sliding around and possibly itself causing damage or being damaged. It will not, however, protect more than the bed Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsTips for buying your first car
When it comes to purchasing a vehicle, there are a lot of things that we need to consider. But when it is your first car, there are a lot of things that are less important than if you were purchasing your ninth car. Most of the time we all want certain things, or options, in a vehicle that make everything more comfortable. But when purchasing a first car, the most important thing that should be on the list is safety and affordability.
All too often when someone purchases their first car they want it all, luxury to the max. But if you have never owned a vehicle before, you don’t know what goes into maintenance and repair.
First vehicles should always Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsCar reviews: 2008 Toyota Tacoma
When I told my kids I was buying a little pickup, my 17 year-old daughter said, “Aww, Dad, get a real truck, not some sissy truck!” Well, I bought a 2008 Toyota Tacoma Access Cab pickup. When I brought it home, both my daughters and my wife took a drive in it with me. Afterward, my oldest daughter said, “It’s alright for a sissy truck.” That’s probably about the highest praise I could have gotten from her.
This is a basic little pickup. It is not meant to haul heavy loads or tow large trailers. I bought it because I wanted a pickup, but also wanted to be able to park it in my small two-car garage. I also needed good Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsHow to safely share the road with motorcycles
Nowadays, the family of bikers includes much more than just ex-WWII aces and rolling post-apocalyptic hooligans, like extras out of a Mad Max movie; Now, bikers are stock brokers and English teachers. Motorcycles are everywhere.
As a former and future motorcyclist, I am fairly well acquainted with the perils of driving a bike in America; Hurtling down the same road as preoccupied soccer moms in giant SUVs and teenagers bouncing to the latest Hip Hop or Heavy Metal classic with 6 friends in the family sedan, insulated from the outside world by a tornado of sound, can be a very scary experience.
Imagine cruising along on your shiny motorcycle at 70 miles an hour, knifing through the wind, and getting great gas Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsHow to read tire measurements
Deciphering the long string of letters and numbers on the sidewall of the tire may be confusing at first glance, but they provide important information about the tire’s dimensions, load capacity, intended purpose, internal construction, and durability at high speeds.
Recently, I was forced to purchase a new set of tires for my trusty 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier. I guess it’s a good thing since the old ones were all worn to the bone, dry-rotted, and the tread on one of the tires was literally peeling away. Not a good recipe for passing Texas’ annual inspection.
Gazing at the wide array of tire choices in my local Sam’s Club Tire & Auto Center, I selected a set of BF Goodrich Tour T/A Pros. Read the rest of this entry »
No CommentsCar reviews: Nissan Maxima – Part 1
My goal was to find a reliable, comfortable and entertaining car for my wife and I to use everyday. I searched high and low through the bowels of the car market, used car dealerships. I was earnestly looking far a car that had not been salvaged after a wreck. Finally I found what would become my car.
That was in 2002, and everyday I still drive my 1998 Nissan Maxima. 220000 kms and going strong. This car is fabulous. It has leather everywhere, which in hind site, I should have avoided. I live in Canada and Leather seats do not feel so exotic in the dead of winter when no heated seats seem fast enough. Other than that seasonal complaint this Read the rest of this entry »
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