I Hate When That Happens

When talking about stopping power, we tend to focus on our brakes. But our tires are where the rubber meets the road. So having good brakes isn’t enough: we have to have tires with enough traction to translate braking power into stopping power.

Let’s focus on stopping in wet 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.

To move water out of the way so the tire has channels for water to flow through. Look at a tire and you’ll see channels that run around and across the tire. They’re designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.

The deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new tire has very deep channels and can easily move a lot of water. As the tire wears down, the channels become shallower and can move less water. When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop on wet roads.

Consumer Reports and other advocate groups think that a good standard of replacing tires when the tread is worn down to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. That’s 3.2 millimeters.

When tires are worn to two-thirty-seconds of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible. So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out tire – and that little bit of additional tread makes a big difference. Stopping distances are cut dramatically on wet roads. A safe stop from freeway speeds with four-thirty-seconds of an inch of tread could result in a crash with worn out tires.

There’s an easy way to tell when a tire’s worn to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline; it’s time to replace your tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.

Give us a call at (763) 753-4993 or stop by and visit:
Gerdin Auto & Tire
3128 Northwest Bridge Street
Saint Francis, MN 55070

At Gerdin Auto & Tire we install quality NAPA replacement parts. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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Minnesota is such a great place to live. Each of us have our favorite time of the year, for me, it’s summer. One of the main reasons is that I enjoy being on the lake with our family on our boat. So anyway, I finally got my boat out of storage in anticipation of warm sunny days and being on the water. I may be a bit weird, but when I hooked up my boat for the first time this year, I did my usual check list in my head of all
the things that I did last fall when I put it away and all the things I need to do before we go anywhere. Many people tow trailers all year so they know the routine. But if you are a rookie trailer tower, there are a few things that you need to know.

First, do I have a big enough vehicle to pull my trailer? This is a great question. The best place to find that out is your vehicles owner’s manual. There usually is a chart that will tell you how much weight your vehicle is capable of pulling. Make sure you look closely. The chart usually will have the body style, the engine size, the transmission and even the final gear ratio listed with different amounts of weight that the vehicle is capable of towing. Towing too much weight may harm your vehicle and may also be dangerous. Remember, your vehicle not only needs to pull the load, but also needs to be able to safely stop itself, the trailer, and the load. Many larger trailers have their own brakes that allow a much shorter stop while avoiding a jack knife situation on a hard or emergency stop.

Another item to consider is the weight of the trailer tongue, or the part or the trailer that actually hooks to the vehicle. Some trailers have fairly light tongues; you can actually lift them by hand. Others are extremely heavy and require a small jack to raise and lower the tongue to aid in hooking up to the vehicle. Most boats have a small wheel on the bottom of them so you can more easily move the trailer around by yourself. Be careful of too much tongue weight. If you hook it up and the back of the vehicle goes down considerable, you most likely will have a problem. This is very hard on the rear suspension, especially as you go over a bump. This also can make the vehicle fell “light” on the front end and make steering and controlling the vehicle hazardous. If you check and your vehicle is rated to pull the weight, but your tongue weight is too heavy there are some aftermarket kits that you can add to bolster the suspension, this will level out the vehicle and cure these problems.

A third important issue to consider is the trailer lights. The vehicle will need to have the proper wiring installed. In many cases, vehicles that have trailer towing packages on them come with the proper hitch and wiring already installed. But if needed, the wiring is available. I always recommend soldering the wires, using heat shrink and properly taping the connection or guaranteed, you will have problems down the road. Again, do it right the first time.

There are a few items to consider with the vehicle you are using to tow the trailer with. I spoke about the suspension, this is very important. Not only can it be hard to handle the trailer while driving, it can cause some serious and/or premature wearing of the vehicle suspension and steering parts. You will also need to consider if the tires are rated for the load you are carrying. Many pick-up trucks these days come with standard 4 ply tires. The same tier a car would use. You may need to upgrade the tires to a 6, 8 or even 10 ply tires to safely handle the weight. Most manufactures recommend that when towing a trailer, the transmission not be in overdrive, but in drive. Towing in overdrive is very hard on the transmission. Another thing to consider is to install an additional transmission cooler to help protect the transmission while towing. Please be realistic when choosing the right vehicle with which to tow.

A number of years ago, a customer had me install a hitch on his midsize car. I ask what he was planning on towing. He said he had a small fishing boat. After the hitch and wiring was installed, he stopped by because not all the lights were working on the trailer. When he pulled in, I was very surprise to find a 20 foot fiberglass boat with a 150hp engine. His front tires were barely touching the ground. I don’t remember the conversation exactly, but it was very disappointing for my customer. I think he ended up buying a pick-up truck to pull his boat. I Hate When That Happens!

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A lot of people in MN have older vehicles. They’re good commuters, grocery-getters or toy-haulers. They enjoy that fact that they’re paid off, or soon will be. They would gladly like to keep their vehicles for 200,000 miles or more – as long as it’s economical to do so.

There are plenty of people in Saint Francis whose vehicles are running after 150,000 or 200,000 miles. We can learn from what they’re doing to keep our own cars on the road.

A common denominator is that they never skip an oil change. That may sound a bit unsophisticated, but it’s really not. First off, oil is the life blood of your engine and it needs to be clean to properly lubricate. Skipping oil changes leads to clogged oil filters and sludge that can damage your engine. Enough said.

There’s another reason why the scheduled oil change is so important. It’s simple – a Gerdin Auto & Tire professional is going to be looking at your car. All of your fluid levels will be inspected and topped off so they won’t get so low that damage can be done. If there is a significant fluid loss, let’s use brake fluid as an example, your Saint Francis technician can look for the cause of the loss and find the problem before it leads to an accident or costly repair.

Your Saint Francis service technician will also visually inspect the vehicle for worn belts and hoses, uneven tire wear, leaking shock absorbers and more. Problems get addressed before they lead to repairs that cost more than the car’s worth. And your Saint Francis service advisor will be able to remind you of other services that the factory recommends you get done.

Just think of that oil change the same way as you do about going to the dentist for your six month cleaning and checkup. Don’t skip it.

Of course, good maintenance costs money, but it’s far cheaper than new car payments.

Give us a call to schedule your next oil change today. You can find us online at Gerdin Auto & Tire, or you can find us in Saint Francis, MN 55070 at 3128 Northwest Bridge Street. Or simply give us a call at (763) 753-4993. At Gerdin Auto & Tire we install quality NAPA replacement parts. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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Some people in Saint Francis MN are confused by charges for diagnostic services for a vehicle repair, even though many other services in life include diagnostic fees – things like computer service and appliance repair in Saint Francis.

Even when we go into the doctor for a medical problem, we’re paying her to diagnose our ailment and of course for the tests that go along with it. So receiving a diagnostic charge for a tricky automotive problem shouldn’t be a surprise.

Automotive diagnostics can cover quite a range. If you hear a noise in your brakes, a quick visual check is usually enough to know what needs to be done. If you’re having an intermittent problem with your engine, diagnosis may be much more involved.

Some think that when the check engine light comes on, the engine computer tells the technician exactly what the problem is. The reality is much different. The trouble code just tells your Saint Francis technician what engine parameter is out of range, not what’s causing it. Your Saint Francis technician at Gerdin Auto & Tire needs to determine the underlying problem that’s causing the symptom.

As you can imagine, some automotive diagnoses are quick and easy. Others are more involved and difficult. Of course, we at Gerdin Auto & Tire want to figure out what’s wrong with your vehicle and get you back on the road as quickly as possible.

Give us a call:

Gerdin Auto & Tire
3128 Northwest Bridge Street
Saint Francis, MN 55070
(763) 753-4993

At Gerdin Auto & Tire we install quality NAPA replacement parts. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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We’re going to be talking about the ethics of automotive repair in Bethel. Unfortunately, every profession has some bad actors that hurt the reputation of everyone else. It’s no different in the Bethel area.

In the automotive world, Bethel industry associations and MN professional licensing organizations are very committed to high ethical standards.

Yet some people are still uncomfortable with automotive service and repair in Bethel.

If we understand what’s recommended and the benefits of taking care of the work – and the pitfalls of putting it off – we’ll have more trust in the recommendation. So communication is key. It’s like going to the doctor. If she’s using medical jargon and takes a lot of basic medical knowledge for granted, we have a hard time following her train of thought. We understand It can be like that with your service advisor at Gerdin Auto & Tire, too. He’s so familiar with all things automotive, he may forget you don’t know a PCV from an EGT.

If you don’t understand what your doctor’s talking about: ask some questions. If you don’t understand what your Bethel automotive advisor at Gerdin Auto & Tire is talking about: ask some questions.

Let’s go back to those ethical standards. When we hear a repair recommendation, we always ask ourselves, “Is this really necessary?” Well, here’s the industry standard:

If a Bethel auto technician tells you that a repair or replacement is required, it must meet one of the following criteria:

1. The part no longer performs its intended purpose;
2. The part does not meet a design specification;
3. The part is missing.

For example, it you take your car in for a grinding noise when you step on the brakes, you may just think you need new brake pads. After the inspection, the technician says that you have a cracked rotor and need to replace it. If you tried to get him to just put new pads on, he would say that if you didn’t want to replace the rotor, he would ethically have to refuse the repair. To just put pads on a cracked rotor would have been very wrong. The brakes could’ve failed at anytime: they needed to be repaired – not just have a band-aid slapped on them.

Now, looking at something not so serious, Gerdin Auto & Tire may suggest repair or replacement if:

1. The part is close to the end of its useful life – just above discard specifications or likely to fail soon;
2. To address a customer need or request – like for better ride or increased performance;
3. To comply with maintenance recommended by the vehicle’s manufacturer;
4. Based on the technician’s informed experience.

Of course, Gerdin Auto & Tire has the burden of making ethical recommendations and properly educating their customers. For the customer, if you are uncomfortable with a recommendation, ask some questions. More information is always a good thing.

Give us a call

Gerdin Auto & Tire
3128 Northwest Bridge Street
Saint Francis, MN 55070

At Gerdin Auto & Tire we install quality NAPA replacement parts. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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