Shop Profile: A European’s Recipe for Success
Blend Quality Service with Expert Advice When the ambitious, young Fred Sonsini, an Italian immigrant, set up his automotive repair business in 1982 in Plymouth Meeting, PA, — Fred Sonsini Imported Luxury and Sports Car Center — he had but a “simple” recipe in mind for achieving business success. Sell “quality” service and repair for
H3R Performance Offers Aftermarket UL Listed, Premium Fire Extinguishers
In a market flooded with fire extinguishers that do not meet basic safety standards, H3R Performance provides the automotive aftermarket with a UL Listed product that is legal to sell in all 50 states. H3R’s premium fire extinguisher lines, MaxOut and HalGuard, give consumers protection in case of a vehicle fire.
AC Update: Running A/C Diagnostic Tests Before Dash Surgery
I must have worked on Mercedes-Benz automobiles for 15 years before I ever replaced an evaporator. Through the 1970s, we pulled many an evaporator out of 107 and 116 chassis models to repair a poorly designed interior drainage system. The early models had little flappers on two interior tubes that carried the condensation to a
Sealing It Up Right: Proper Engine Bolt Use
How important are the various fasteners in an engine? Consider this: the head bolts have to withstand tremendous loads to keep the cylinder head sealed tightly against the head gasket and block. In an engine with 4” cylinder bores and peak combustion pressures of around 1,100 pounds per square inch, each cylinder exerts about 13,827
Tire Tech Tip: Right Size, Wrong Load Index Can Mean Liability Risk
When you sell a set of non-OE tires, do you set the air pressure the same as it was in the OE tires? Do your sales staff, manager and technicians understand the importance of load index? Can they read a load and inflation table? Can they recite, from memory, the inflation rule – that the replacement tire must meet or exceed the OE tire’s load-carrying capacity?
A Brief History
In 1931, people thought Edward S. Babcox was insane for launching a magazine in the middle of the great depression. But, 75 years and almost 900 issues later, BRAKE & FRONT END is still going strong. For the past few months, I have been reading back issues of BRAKE & FRONT END non-stop. In musty
Alignment Equipment
From the brake pad to the shock absorber, every product that you come in contact with at a shop has a history that goes back at least 75 years. We will look at different product categories and track the innovations that have shaped these products and the future for these segments. Alignment Retrospective In the
Getting Tanked: Flex Fuel Engine Modifications Allow for Alcohol-Based Fuel
In case you haven’t heard, Flex Fuel technology is really starting to take off in the U.S., becoming more popular in late-model vehicles than technicians may realize. If you haven’t had any training on these vehicles, you may find some of the technical changes OEMs have made to the engines will alter the way you
Directions: Issues that Could Impact 2006
As we usher in a new year, we thought we would take a look into the ol’ crystal ball and try to see what issues technicians, shop owners and others associated with the aftermarket can expect in 2006. These are not ranked by order of importance, but as a guide to what one can expect
Bad Gas Update
How bad can it get? When the price of gasoline soared to over $3 a gallon after hurricane Katrina, people were shocked. They actually began to change their driving habits to conserve fuel by eliminating unnecessary trips, sharing rides to work, staying home in the evening instead of going out and doing what little they