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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-04-24, Page 11AMA ATTENTION FARMERS Spring is here! NOW IS THE TIME to get your electric motors, fans, pumps, etc. in smooth running condition Down time during seeding can be costly. DO IT NOW! - to prevent breakdown when you're busy. Call Anytime - Phone: (519) 345-2403 Fax: (519) 345-2257 R.R. #1, Bornholm, ON (5 miles north of Dublin) THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1996 PAGE 11. Rubber, a car's grounding Accelerating. Cornering. Stopping. Get a grip! Have you ever stopped to think how much contact your car actually has with the road? You stay on the road courtesy of about four hand- sized pieces of rubber compound. Without that contact, your car is a candidate for making soup cans. It's well worth your while to keep your tires properly inflated, rotate them at least once a year, and replace them when the tread gets worn. But there's more to it than that. Your tires can also be an early warning system for other problems such as alignment or a failing suspension. Suppose you look at your tires, and you notice that the tread seems to be more worn on the inside than the outside edge. You probably need your wheels aligned. Getting the alignment fixed will improve your car's handling and fuel economy, as well as giving you a more comfortable ride. Does your car start to shake when you reach certain speeds? It could be that you need your wheels balanced. All wheels and tires have very slight differences in the weight distribution, and at the speeds they're turning that translates into a powerful vibration. All it takes to fix it is the position- ing of those little lead weights around the edge of the wheel. Feathering is caused by incorrect toe-in or toe-out. The tire drags across the road, instead of rolling easily. You need an alignment. Wear on one side only means that the camber is out of adjustment. This, too, means you need an alignment. Cupping occurs when the tire bounces, rather than rolling freely. Small areas of excessive wear appear. This is generally caused by worn shocks or loose suspension components. You need to have your suspension adjusted. A series of cups suggest that the tire is shimmying — you need your wheel balanced. Burning rubber Now that Spring is in the air, young hot dogs will be out spinning their tires. Don't join them. Accelerating rapidly from a stop burns up as much as 50 per cent more fuel than if you pull away gradually. Catalytic converters can't handle sudden surges. When they occur, all sorts of excess pollutants are blown out the tailpipe. This costs you money and harms the environment.