Understanding Common Brake Rotor Types: Solid, Vented, Drilled and Slotted

By: Teddy Havrington

Solid and vented rotors made with gray cast iron are the most common types of rotors. Drilled and slotted rotors are a variation of the same design.

A solid brake rotor is just that - solid. There is no space between the two friction surfaces. A vented brake rotor more commonly has a space between the two friction surfaces of the rotor. This helps with cooling and is more common on the front of the vehicle because front brakes do 70-80% of the braking and endure the most heat.

Unlike slotted or drilled faced rotors, general stock replacement rotors are normally solid faced rotors that are either solid or vented. When replacing a rotor, there should be little confusion as to whether you need a vented rotor or not. If your car came with a vented brake rotor, then the replacement part will be a vented brake rotor. If the car came with a solid brake rotor, the replacement part is a solid brake rotor. No solid rotor replacements are available for a vehicle that came originally equipped with a vented rotor.

Slotted and drilled rotors are a performance modification that do not increase braking power, but might aid in the cooling of the rotors in high heat situations. There are both advantages and disadvantages to having slotted or drilled rotors. One rule of thumb is that if you are just daily driving, there is no reason to get slotted or drilled rotors other than to improve the way your rotors and wheels look. (Drilled and slotted rotors can have an aesthetic appeal to them because they may have a rust prevention measure applied to them and can be indicative of a performance braking system.) One disadvantage of drilled rotors is that they will provide more friction against your pads and reduce the life of them. Another disadvantage is the potential for a drilled brake rotor to crack when subjected to thermal stress. A drilled hole can upset the grain structure of the metal; the result is an uneven temper in the metal. As the brake rotor cools, the uneven temper can cause cracks. The most common crack seen is located from the outer most drilled hole to the edge of the brake rotor. Since the edge of the brake rotor is the first to cool, this is where the most uneven area of cooling occurs. For this reason, drilled rotors are not well suited to racing conditions in which high brake component temperatures are always occurring. Cracks cause vibrations and the larger the crack the more dangerous. The advantages are that the scrub friction of the holes and slots, while increasing the wear on your pad, reduce the chance of the pads becoming glazed.

Slotted and drilled rotors have a series of slotted channels, drilled holes, or both. These rotors primary purpose is to reduce the effects of brake fade. When the temperature is too hot for the pad and rotor to work properly together, brake fade occurs, which refers to the reduced feeling of brake power. The high temperature causes the brake pads and rotors to release a gas, thus reducing the friction that they would provide at lower temperatures. The slots and drilled holes are a means to dissipate this gas and reduce brake fade. The drilled rotors may even help cool the braking system; however, the drilled holes may encourage the temperature related fractures previously mentioned. Of course, when you are experiencing brake fade, you are punishing your rotors to the point that you could warp or crack them regardless of whether or not they are slotted or drilled.

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Property Maintenance and Tenants Property Repairs

By: Alan Wulz

There are many things that are involved in property maintenance. This may include obvious things such as keeping the grass trimmed, or the property free of rubbish. It may also include keeping hedges trimmed and/or keeping flowers planted and lawns properly watered.

Many individuals do their own maintenance, but there is a subset of individuals and businesses that hire others to maintain their property for them. It really depends on what sort of things an individual’s is considering to be maintenance as to what they will need done for their particular property. Are they just considering the outdoor property to be maintained, or do they want buildings maintained as well.

Property maintenance can consist of any number of things, and there are any numbers of people that can be hired to do the work. Those who are living in flats usually have maintenance personnel who will do the work for them; however, those who are living in houses must do most of the work themselves. Some people consider property maintenance to be a joy. Other individuals may consider it to be a necessary evil however.

People may look in business directories or the yellow pages to find individuals who may do property maintenance for them. It may be difficult to find a person's with whom the individual will feel comfortable having a business arrangement with however.

Most landlords will do maintenance and property repairs for their tenants, but sometimes renters are uncomfortable with the work that the landlords do. A tenant may talk to the landlord to see if they might be able to contract with someone to do the necessary property repairs, and have the landlord pay for the repairs that are performed. Individuals unfortunately sometimes will end up in court and try to force the landlord to make the necessary property repairs.

However, getting back to those who want to do repairs themselves, there are many ways to do property maintenance. Individuals who undertake these repairs should consult DIY articles to see how to do the necessary repairs, should they choose to perform them themselves. Many repairs are not as difficult as they seem at first blush and articles about maintenance can be helpful to perform the tasks.

The advent of the internet is helpful to those who need to have their property maintained. It is easy to get information for those you can hire to maintain your property. It is also helpful to get information about specific repairs you might want to do yourself; like unclogging a drain, or glazing a bathtub.

There are many things that an individual can do to maintain their own properties, and the internet is a helpful tool for that. An individual can even get email reminders about what sort of maintenance and repairs need to be done with.

So whether an individual chooses to do it themselves, or have someone maintain the property, repairs should be able to be done without too much trouble. Property repairs are something everyone has to deal with at one time or another. It is best to make them easy, and the individuals should do what works for them.

Most landlords will do property maintenance and property repairs for their tenants, but sometimes renters are uncomfortable with the work that the landlords do. A tenant may talk to the landlord to see if they might be able to contract with someone to do the necessary property repairs

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Fuel Injector Sizing Bayswater | Fuel Injection

By: Robbie Mcqueen

One of the things when selecting injectors for your car, or for your engine, is to know, what type of injector you want. One of the biggest things you need to know when selecting injectors is the o-ring size of the injector.

Some injectors come in 14mm o-ring size, and others come with 11mm o-rings. The dimension from o-ring to o-ring is a big thing.

Some injectors have 2 o-rings on them (one at each end), meaning it seals in the manifold with an o-ring, and it also seals in the fuel rail with an o-ring.

Another type of injector has an o-ring at the fuel rail end, and a buffer seal at the manifold end.

This is very important if you are going to start to run some boost, and you don't want to lose boost past where the injector sits. So, the correct placement and the correct injector is a big thing for high performance and big drivability.

There is another type of injector. It has a 14mm recess, but you can fit an 11mm o-ring to it. That may be perfect to help with the scenario of your car. This all comes back to working out what size injector you want for your engine.

You can also see there that we have different styles of connectors for different vehicles. Once again, generally you can match the injector to the car to save any kind of further cost and effort in wiring.

One of the other big issues with injectors that we come across a lot is that people go too big with their injectors. They always think that 800 or 1,000cc injectors is what you need. You can match an injector to the power rating of what the car requirements are.

This is very easily done. On average it takes 5cc of fuel injector size for every horse power the car wants to produce. This is an equation that we use quite often in the trade.

For example, if a car was to produce 400hp, we would install injectors that would supply 450hp. There is no reason to put injectors in it so it can go to 1,000hp.

It is a waist of time, and the drivability down low, at idle and fuel economy is not there.

Robbie McQueen is an expert in dyno tuning electronic fuel injection and engine management systems in Bayswater, Melbourne, Australia.

You can find out more information about Robbie McQueen and engine management system tuning at http://www.wolfems.com

He can be reached at 03 9761 3609.

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Chesapeake Collision Repair Service Gets Boats Back On The Water

By: Jeremy Smith

Living in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, it is important to find a reliable boat collision repair center that is centrally located. There are many waterways in the Hampton Roads area and boats routinely come in contact with things that cause damage, including trailers, other watercraft, seawalls, locks, docks and rocks. A Hampton Roads body shop is critical to getting the owner’s watercraft back in running condition and able to navigate the many rivers and tributaries in the area, and the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway.

Hull Repair The most important feature of a boat is the hull. This is what makes sure the boat will float. Without a sound hull, any boater is in trouble. The many waterways around Chesapeake and Hampton Roads have obstructed features that can damage the boat’s hull, making it questionable for seaworthiness. Dents, cracks and holes will prevent watercraft from floating and running properly. Patches and seamless repairs should be done by a professional Chesapeake collision center to ensure the boat is a seaworthy vessel.

Interior A boat’s interior can be damaged by unruly guests and passengers, harsh storms and breaches from the exterior. A qualified repair center in Chesapeake can also handle the damaged upholstery and interior structural problems. Broken instruments and steering mechanisms can also be repaired or restored.

Paint With every scrape and scratch on boats in Hampton Roads comes the likelihood that the watercraft will probably need to be repainted. A qualified Chesapeake repair shop will have professional painting booths with different types and colors of paint for the customer to choose. A well-versed collision repair service in Chesapeake will know when and how to do paintless repairs when possible.

Trailers When transporting a boat in the Hampton Roads area, keeping the trailer in top shape is also important. Flat tires and wheel repairs need to be made quickly and professionally so that the boat can be put back on the water as soon as possible. Trailer collisions can also damage a boat’s hull with dents and scratches. Repairs to the hull must be accompanied by trailer repairs to prevent a repeat performance.

Vehicles When the boat and trailer are damaged as a result of an auto accident on the road, the vehicle will likely need Chesapeake automobile repair as well. The vehicle can be fixed at the same time as the boat. Crumpled metal, alignment issues, body paint and frame repair should all be addressed by the same shop when possible to avoid the inconvenience and stress of having to take the watercraft to one place, and the vehicle to another.

If you are interested in chesapeake collision center, be sure to visit http://www.carstruction.com.

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Changing the Engine Oil

By: Elmer Kit

Engine oil is one of the most important fluids of the whole engine; it is like the blood that flows throughout the whole engine component. The main role of the engine oil is to lubricate all mechanical moving parts like bearings and linkage.

There are two classifications of engine oil. The first one is the mineral based oil and the other one is the synthetic or fully synthetic engine oil. There are some advantage and disadvantages of these two kinds of engine oil.

Mineral based engine oil is good for everyday use and for budget change oil maintenance. Ideally you should change your engine oil every 3 months or 5000km (whichever comes first). The advantage of using this kind of oil is that it’s affordable and you change your oil much frequent. Remember, using fresh oil will help protect your engine and preserves its condition. The disadvantage would be it is not recommended for high performance and racing engine plus you should give more time to change your oil.

Synthetic engine oil is also known as performance oil. The advantages of using this kind of oil are the following: higher break down temperature, adds more protection for the engine in extreme usage, longer change oil intervals and it adds a bit of horse power. The only disadvantage would be the cost of using this kind of motor oil. The price would be double as compared to mineral based motor oil.

Remember, you should know the viscosity recommended to be used for your vehicle. You can based it from the manual. But usually on tropical places they recommend the use of 50-40 viscosity while on places that has winter or four season climate they recommend to use 40-30 viscosity. It would be helpful for old engine to use thicker oil like 20w 50 because older engine are prone to oil leak for the seal would worn out. On the other hand modern engine would be fine using 15w 40.

Changing your oil would be very interesting to do. You can do it by yourself or just bring your vehicle to a shop and let them do the job.

Here are some steps on how to change your engine oil.

1. Jack up the front part of your vehicle. Make sure that it’s high enough for you to put a container where the use oil will be drained.

2. Look for the drain plug; it’s usually located at the lowest part of the oil pan.

3. Carefully remove the oil plug and be ready for the container, for after removing the oil plug the used oil will squirt out.

4. Don’t forget to change the oil filter. It is recommended to change it at the same time with the engine oil.

5. Give some time to fully drain the use oil.

6. Install the new oil filter and make sure not to over tight it.

7. Install back the oil plug. Never over tighten it. You don’t want to have it loose its thread.

8. Add fresh engine oil to the engine; make sure to look for the oil capacity of the engine. It should be always on the exact level.

9. Start its engine. Let it idle for a couple of minutes and don’t rev the engine.

10. Shut of the engine then check the oil level in the dip stick or sight glass. Always make sure that the level should be on the exact level. If the level is low add a bit of oil, but if over the limit you should drain some of it.

11. Lastly check for any sigh of oil leak. If there’s any, repair it at once. You wouldn’t want to run your engine without oil or else it will kill it.

We hope that this article would be very helpful to all readers and enthusiast.

Article from:
http://4wheelonline.com/atv

http://4wheels-atv.blogspot.com/

Source from ATV accessories site and Scala Rider

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Car Lift Safety Features

By: Brian Davis

There’s no one way to make a car lift or truck lift safer for the operator. Manufacturers of high-quality automotive lifting products are always looking for better, more secure lifting methods. As a result, many excellent automotive lift safety features are now offered to the consumer. Here are just a few examples of the great technological strides that reputable ALI / ETL certification partners have developed to keep you and your employees safe.

Two-post Car Lift Automatic Arm Restraints

Because the various car lifting solution designs can be extremely different from each other, it makes sense that some safety features are specific to only one kind of car lift. Two-post car lifts employ swing arm assemblies that allow the operator to change the arm configuration to suit a wide range of vehicles. It is important that swing arm lifts employ restraint devices to prevent arms from shifting or dislodging after a car or truck is already mounted and raised. Higher-quality two-post car lifts will feature this safety critical element; typically a gear mechanism that automatically secures the arms into place whenever the lift begins to rise. The automatic gear arm restraints will only disengage again when the lift is in a safe, lowered state.

Four-Post Car Lift Anti-Sway Blocks

Four-post car lifts are principally suspension lifts that rely on their columns to contain the lifting structure via cables or chains, while simultaneously bearing the load equally between them. Since the four-post car lift is not a rigid structure, it was once common for lifts to sway slightly during raising or lowering operations. Anti-sway blocks are one method of minimizing sway and maintaining proper spacing. This is especially important to ensure that safety locks are always engaged and that each post or column is holding 1/4th of the overall weight.

Four-Post Car Lift Runway Ramps and Chocks

Be sure your auto lift is equipped with manual wheel chocks as the primary means to restrain vehicles from inadvertently rolling off either end of the runways. Automatic stops on the approach end and fixed stops up front should be provided on runway lifts as a secondary means to restraint.

Hydraulic Flow Restrictor

Hydraulic car lifts that are designed with safety in mind use specialized hydraulic flow restrictors or velocity fuses integrated into the hydraulic cylinders or hydraulic circuit to control sudden, rapid decent in the event of a hydraulic component failure. These essential safety devices can dramatically reduce or stop downward travel in a free-fall situation due to a hydraulic system failure other than the cylinders themselves.

Design That Address and Eliminates Pinch Points

Pinch points are not just mere annoyances like the name might suggest. Without supervision and careful operation, pinch points can result in damaged property and injury. Reputable manufacturers employ engineers to help identify potential pinch points for hoses and limbs, and then they remove them from the design of an auto lift.


Brian Davis is an expert on Auto Repair Equipment and has written numerous articles on the Auto Repair Equipment industry. See more about Brian's products here: http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com

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What is a Portable Alternative 2-Post Lift?

By: Brian Davis

There seems to be be a lot of questions about the new type of car lift being introduced to the market. Like with anything new, exciting and different, there are some concerned opinions flying around regarding the safety & functionality of this portable two-post garage lift. The following provides valuable information relating to the MaxJax and will hopefully dispel some of the hearsay.

Is the MaxJax really safe?

Absolutely. If you compare the number of people killed or injured annually using floor jacks or jack stands to other car lifting solutions, it's evident that the MaxJax provides increased safety when installed and operated properly.

If you've ever visited a service garage, dealership or fleet repair business, it's easy to see that two-post lifts are the lifts of choice among professionals. In fact, the Automotive Lift Institute reports that out of the thousands of car lifts sold monthly, and among the many lift configurations available, two-post style lifts represent well over 63% of the market.

Lets be clear—the MaxJax is not just a hobby lift. It too is a "real" lift. It's built by our team of qualified engineers that not only designed the MaxJax, but also our family of full-sized lifts. We've got years of experience and we've done our math. While most car enthusiasts are talking about 4-bolt mains, our engineers are studying applied force, axial force, bending moment, center of gravity, concentrated load, deflection, deformation, distributed load, ductility, elastic limit, moment, normal strain & stress, potential energy, sheer strain, strength, yield stress, yield strain and so on.

It looks like a pain to setup. Is it? Nope. We've made it as easy as possible. The motor cart is easier to roll around than a heavy suitcase; carting a roll-around patio heater around would be more difficult than moving a MaxJax column; and cleaning a windshield would take longer than connecting the MaxJax hoses. So in reality, you could have the MaxJax set-up faster than you could throw two wheels on your mother-in-law's F150, drag her suitcase from the driveway to the truck, wipe the bugs off her windshield and toss the borrowed propane heater on the truck bed. And don't forget that her truck wheels would have six lug bolts whereas the MaxJax only has five for each column.

We say it sets up in about 15 minutes just to make sure there's no chance of being wrong in our advertising. The truth is, if you're dedicated, you can probably do it in about nine. Consider that most DIY'ers spend way more time trying to get vehicles positioned on ramps or floor jacks. And then when you tack on all the non-productive time you waste slithering around with your back on the in the cramped confines beneath your car while it's on jack stands, you start to see where the MaxJax is a real time saver.

If you have to go through all the trouble to set up, why is it marketed as portable unit?


Brian Davis is an expert on Auto Repair Equipment and has written numerous articles on the Auto Repair Equipment industry. See the newest auto equipment for your garage at http://BestBuyAutoEquipment.com

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