Posted on 7/25/2017
Here's an interesting statistic for our in HURST, TX, drivers: Only 30 percent of car batteries make it to 48 months. And the life expectancy varies by where you live. It ranges from 51 months in extremely cold areas to just 30 months in extremely hot climates. Why is that? It turns out that it's our modern cars with all their electric accessories that are to blame. Things like, GPS, DVDs and entertainment computers are keeping vehicle batteries from maintaining a full charge. The longer a battery goes with a low charge, the sooner it'll die. It's clear that you HURST drivers need to recharge your batteries. This is the job of the alternator. The problem comes when the car's demand for electricity is high and we are driving in stop and go conditions or short trips around HURST. The alternator just can't keep up. The result is shortened battery life. So what can we do to improve our battery's health? We need to keep the battery as clos ... read more
Posted on 7/18/2017
Remember snow tires? They were basically just regular tires with big, knobby lugs to get them through deep snow. They were loud and rode hard, and HURST drivers couldn't wait to get them off the car. Then along came television advertisements for “all-season” radials. TX drivers ran out and bought some and we thought we were done with snow tires forever. Tires have come a long way since then. Modern winter tires sold in the HURST area are much better designed for the wide range of conditions that come with TX winter weather. They are made with a rubber compound that helps them stay flexible in cold weather. Regular tires become hard and stiff at HURST temperatures below 45°F (7° C) which reduces their traction. That's a concern in winter, especially with snowy or wet conditions. But it also means that HURST drivers are better off with winter tires in cold weather even when it's dry. The tread design on winter tires has been improved to move snow, slush ... read more
Posted on 7/11/2017
Welcome to the Honest - 1 Auto Care - Hurst, TX automotive blog. Today, let's talk about the effect of tire wear. Let's focus on stopping in wet HURST conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can't move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water. That's called hydroplaning. If it's really bad, HURST drivers can actually spin out of control - endangering themselves and the other drivers around them. At best, you won't stop as fast. So how does a tire move water? It has channels for water to flow through. Look at your vehicle tire and you'll see channels: channels that run around the tire and channels that flow across the tire. They're designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better. And the deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new Honest - 1 Auto Care - Hurst, T ... read more
Posted on 7/3/2017
We live in such a disposable society. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away. New stuff comes out so fast, we just toss the old and move on. In the old days, TX folks were real sticklers about taking care of their things. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough - they had to do without. Most HURST drivers couldn't afford new vehicles very often, so they had to make them last as long as they could. It's a good thing that vehicles are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us TX penny pinchers is that a modern vehicle can easily go 200,000 miles/320,000 km with proper care. The engineering and the manufacturing quality is tremendous. The missing ingredient is us HURST vehicle owners making sure we follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedules. Every time you go a little farther between recommended oil changes, you have created an opportunity for sludge to be form ... read more