29th
May
2008
Biodiesel can extend the life of your engine whether it is in your diesel equipped auto, truck, tractor, bus or highway rig. Biodiesel can increase the longevity of your engine by up to 100 %. Costs are reduced – whether it be for maintenance or vehicle replacement. The engine last longer , breaks down less frequently resulting in longer vehicle life spans , greater reliability and overall less vehicle costs – again be it diesel equipped auto , car, truck ,tractor or highway rig.How can this be so? The improved lubrication properties of biodiesel over regular vehicle diesel fuel results in increased parts longevity by up to 100 %. As a result commercial vehicles may be used for decades as well as travel millions of miles. Increased engine longevity translates into reduced maintenance costs, longer life spans and overall increases in reliability.Biodiesel is a renewable fuel derived from vegetable oils, animal fats and cooking oils that are processed so that it can be added to diesel fuel as an additive. You cannot just mash up these fats and mix them with your diesel fuel. It is not as if any old Alvero character can make biodiesel in his garage at home. If the biodiesel is not prepared properly in a qualified industrial process – the contaminants of water, glycerols and other trace elements can well clog up your fuel injectors or even an expensive injection pump. Properly done biodiesel is a safe and beneficial fuel additive – now being routinely recommended and touted by major vehicle and diesel engine manufacturers.Prepared properly in a commercial setting. and bought commercially you can be assured that not only will the biodiesel will be safe for your engine to use – but will even give the benefits of much greater engine life , enhanced reliability and lower maintenance costs overall.Biodiesel is added to the regular diesel fuel. The percentage added depends on the climate the vehicles or autos will be used in. In warmer climates – such as tropical or
Florida type climates – a percentage mixture of up to 20 % can be used. A 20 % biodiesel percentage in a truck driven up North to
Edmonton
Canada in the cold of winter will thicken up in the cold
Alberta winter weather.In such a cold winter temperature a biodiesel mixture ratio of 5 % would probably be used. To increase the blends of biodiesel used commercial vehicles such as trucks and busses can have fuel heaters installed – either inline fuel heaters of fuel tank heaters.Why go to all this trouble for biodiesel ? First of all biodiesel is a renewable resource – crops such as soybean oil or canola can be used instead of scarcer and more expensive petroleum oil based products. Using biodiesel doe mean that we use less regular diesel, however the percentages of biodiesel use are relatively small. For example most diesel manufacturers recommend only 5 biodiesel (B5 mixed wit 95 % regular diesel. Of course again in colder climates such as
Edmonton Alberta the percentages may be eve less. Biodiesel is also good for reducing emissions and pollution levels of sulphur, carbon monoxide as well as overall tailpipe smog pollutants.However as with most good things in life there are disadvantages to the use of biodiesel as a vehicle fuel additive. First biodiesel has slightly less energy than regular diesel fuel, so that the larger the percentage content of the Biodisel in the fuel – the less power the engine will have to deliver. Fortunately at the low percentages of biodiesel being used as a fuel additive this is not a major issue.In addition biodiesel spoils with time. If the biodiesel is too be stored for a long period of time – then additional additives must be added.As a result of its benefits to reducing petroleum oil use and increasing engine life and reliability biodiesel has a bright and emerging future in our transportation and automotive industries.The use of biodiesel – an alternative renewable fuel, is fast on its way up.
posted in BioDiesel |
29th
May
2008
The next time you are in need of tires for your vehicle, you may want to consider buying them online. This is a relatively new way to shop for tires, but it is catching on quickly as people learn about the option. Online tires can definitely save you money!It is quite easy to find the exact tires you need for your car, truck, van or SUV. There are several tire dealers who have an online presence, and a web search will ferret them out for you. Once you have chosen a dealer, go to their site and choose your vehicle by inputting the make and year, model and option. Then, you will choose the type of tire you would like to buy. You can choose from passenger tires, performance tires, truck and SUV tires, or tires manufactured especially for winter driving. You can also specify the tire brands you are most interested in.Once this is done, you will be taken to a page of tire choices that will work on your vehicle. You are normally given quite a lot of detail about these tires, too. Things that are important, but that you might not think of when purchasing tires, such as traction, ride comfort, and whether or not a certain tire will give you a quiet ride are all covered for each brand of tire your search found.Better Deal When Buying A Whole SetWhen you have decided on the type of tire you want, click on an icon to add the tires to your shopping cart. It is possible to purchase just one tire, but you get the best deal when buying 4 tires at a time. At this time, you are also usually given the option of purchasing some sort of replacement plan for your tires, which varies depending on the dealer.The best part of buying tires online is that there are usually no shipping charges. Normally, there is a small charge for balancing, valve stems, tire disposal fees and so on, but mounting and an alignment check for your tires is usually on the house.Tire DisposalYou may be wondering about that tire disposal fee and how it works when buying tires online. The tires are not shipped directly to you, but to a dealer who will contact you when they arrive. You then take your car in to have the tires put on. Simply give the online dealer your Zip code at the time you order your tires, and they will automatically be shipped to the closest location to you. It just doesn’t get any easier than this!If by chance you own a vehicle that takes an odd sized tire that you have had trouble finding locally, online tires can save you a lot of time and trouble. It is easy for an online vendor to have access to a large number of different tire brands and sizes, so you are almost sure to have no problem finding the tires you need. This option for purchasing tires is sure to save you both time and money!
posted in Useful Tips |
29th
May
2008
When traveling with a child in the car, parents must ensure that they follow strictly and comply with child safety seat regulations for the maximum safety of their kid. The state governments of the
US require the strict observance of these regulations, knowing that the young children can suffer the most injuries in case of accidents. Traveling with the kids without these measures strictly followed would reflect some gross irresponsibility for the children by their parents.A child restraint system secures the kid with an infant safety seat while the family is traveling on the road. There is a standard design for this used in most states with the child facing to the rear of the car. Regulations of different states differ only in terms of the penalties imposed for non-complying parents. There are some variations also in the ages of children in allowing them to face to the front from the mandatory rear-facing positions required of the smallest infants.The seating of a child, whether facing to the front or to the rear of the car, is most vital considering that the most harm can happen to the kids when they are facing in the wrong directions when accidents happen, like frontal car collisions. A small child seating in the front seat will be open to harm from a deploying air bag. Hence, parents must see to it that the child faces to the rear for as long as possible as they grow in weight and size.There are many models of these infant safety seats in the market. Parents are free to choose the types that they want. The common characteristics of these seats are that they have harnesses and straps that conform to the baby’s small body measurements, depending on the baby’s age.While some models can be of the convertible type (babies seat facing to the rear, or facing to the front), most are made and designed for attachment to the rear portion of a car seat with the baby in a position facing to the rear. Babies, especially those less than a year old, should seat facing to the rear. The rear-facing position is the safest for them.One other advantage for a rear-facing position is that it is in this type of sitting arrangement that neck injuries to the child can be avoided, since the back of the seat can be a good support to the infant’s head when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, as what happens on impact in a vehicle frontal collision incident. A child facing to the front risks the head snapping forward without any support and this could cause a severe injury to the neck.A parent should not travel/drive singly with the infant, even if the baby is in an infant safety seat. Since the baby is positioned at the back of the car’s front seat and facing to the rear, another adult must be at the back seat to monitor the baby’s condition all the time. A young infant would certainly need the care and attention of a human being, very much more than what an infant safety seat can provide.
posted in Driving Tips |
29th
May
2008
Anyone who is tired of skyrocketing gas prices should learn to use water as fuel. As far fetched as it sounds, there are actually several blueprints available that will show you exactly how to run a car on water and how to do so safely and with very little investment.Scientists have been working on a way to use water for gas for several years. Some have actually been driving their own water powered cars for some time now. For some reason, the government hasn’t gotten on board in this development, but rather has opted for pushing the electric, or hybrid cars instead. If you’ve got an extra $30,000 to $50,000 to spend on a hybrid that’s great! Most of us don’t! Blueprints for converting our current cars to run on water are available all over the internet. Prices for these plans run from around $100 down to about $45. There may be some even lower as competition is beginning to build.With the plans you will learn that you won’t get to use water as fuel in 100% capacity. You will still need gas, but these methods will increase your mileage by as much as 200%! It will also burn much cleaner which is a plus for the environment. You will get plans to build the conversion kit yourself. It is not difficult and all of the necessary parts are easily available at the hardware store. The total costs for parts should be under $50.The experts say this is 100% safe for all cars and trucks. Many of the websites about running your car with water have great videos that cover the safety issue in detail.This morning I spent $85 to fill my tank. That was the last straw for me as I still had over a quarter tank when I pulled into the station. I’m a slow learner, maybe one with too much optimism that oil prices will soon drop. Obviously, I’m wrong about that! The only answer I can see is to begin to run my car with water.
posted in BioDiesel |
29th
May
2008
You’ve heard a lot of people talking about their gas mileage and you still don’t know how to calculate it. If that is true, then you will need to follow some simple steps and you could figure it by yourself really fast.Knowing which is your car’s mileage is really important if you’re planning a long trip and you want to estimate a cost on how much gas you need for it. You could do this by using simple math and by following a couple of steps.First, you will need to fill your gas tank completely and you will have to look at your car’s gauge and check out how many miles you’ve made until then or reset your odometer back to zero if you could do that. Drive your car as you normally drive until your gas tank is almost empty. Now, you will need to check the odometer to see how many miles have you made and write down that number.You will also have to figure out how much gas you have used since you filled-up your gas tank. You could check this at the gas station when you refilled your tank. The number of gallons you will add to fill the tank again it’s the exact number of gallons you’ve used.After you will do all these steps, you will have to divide the number of miles you’ve made with the number of gallons used and that number is your gas mileage. If you want to figure out an average gas mileage for your car, you should repeat this process a couple of times and make the average.There are several differences with gas mileage. For example, the gas mileage for your car should be a lot lower outside the town than the one you will calculate for the time you’re just driving in your town.
posted in Driving Tips |