Suspension, when discussing cars, refers to the use of front and rear springs to suspend a vehicle's "sprung" weight. The springs used on today's cars and trucks are constructed in a variety of types, shapes, sizes, rates, and capacities. Types include leaf springs, coil springs, air springs, and torsion bars. These are used in sets of four for each vehicle, or they may be paired off in various combinations and are attached by several different mounting techniques. The suspension system also includes shocks and/or struts, and sway bars.

Keeping your vehicle in tip-top shape requires constant monitoring of vital fluids. Read you owners manual and look for a diagram of the engine. Most times there will be a diagram showing where to check all the major fluids. This should be your starting point. If your manual is lost in the glove box or you never had one, then ask your mechanic or a friend who knows cars to show you all the places to check. There are 4 major levels to check on most cars.

Ready to spray...? Make sure you have prepared the surface of your car first. Most suppliers provide you with a piece of specially coated poster board paper called a spray out card or test panel. Paint this card first to determine color match. There is nothing you can do once the automotive paint is on your car. You are ready to spray when all high quality solvents have been added to the paint to assure high performance. Avoid dry times, sanding times, flash times, or any other directions that may cause poor performance.

When buying a used car always insist on determining if the vehicle has a rubber timing-belt. Be aware that about five years ago an International Oil Company did a follow up on 5,000 cars it had turned back after 3 year leases and traced them to their eventual private owners. All the cars had by then passed through wholesale auction markets and likely one or more retail dealers before being sold to a private owner. The survey disclosed that 50% of the cars had their odometers illegally turned back.

If you've read anything at all about biodiesel, you'll probably wondering that biodiesel is experimental fuel and has not been thoroughly tested, causes filters to plug, or does not perform as well as diesel. Some of you might think that biodiesel causes degradation of engine gaskets and seals, or doesn't perform well in cold weather.

Infact, biodiesel is the first and only alternative fuel to have completed the rigorous Health Effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act.

With automotive engines as with many aspects of daily life, timing is critical. One vehicle component often overlooked during routine maintenance is the engine timing belt. If it fails, the engine will stop and the car will coast to a stop. The lucky motorist will only have the inconvenience of being stranded on the side of the road until the car can be towed to a repair facility to have the timing belt replaced. On the other hand, the engine might suffer severe, if not catastrophic, damage to its internal components.

Walk into any auto repair shop and ask the mechanics what intermittent electronic problems mean to them, and if they don’t get real graphic with their answer, then either they don’t do electrical repairs, or they have the patience of a saint. At the very least they will tell you that intermittent problems are headaches.

An increase in global temperatures can in turn cause other changes, including a rising sea level and changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation. These changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornados. Other consequences include higher or lower agricultural yields, glacier retreat, reduced summer streamflows, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors. More info, visit Global Warming Awareness 2007.