PLOT TWIST POTHOLE!
*Thud thud* This is a sound that haunts my dreams. *Thud Thud* Why you might ask? Well, this is the sound my tires make when they hit a pothole. The last time my car hit a particularly deep pothole, it had a LOT of damage. A tire deflated, a good portion of the underside of the car was shifted and cracked, so now even the sound gives me a fair bit of anxiety. What makes it worse is that you can’t always avoid the potholes. Narrow roads, large trucks, you do the math. It’s not looking good for you friend. *THUD THUD*
For this reason, it’s important to know what kind of steps you can take the minimize the effects of the pothole. But what can you do to avoid them, besides moving somewhere warmer or resigning to never leave your home again? There are actually several steps you can take that are a lot less extreme, and while it isn’t always easy, these tips should at least help slightly.
Alternatives to spending your life as a hermit living in constant fear of potholes:
Leaving more space between you and the driver ahead of you. This is just a solid practice to be in the habit of anyway, but if you are all up on the driver in front of you, how would you be able to see what fresh havoc has appeared before the other driver. After all, the more space between you and the other guy, the more likely you are to notice a pothole and calmly dodge it like you’re in the Matrix.
Slowing down. Thing one, much like giving space to the other driver, slowing down enables you to actually react when a crater appears on the pavement. In addition to reaction time, if you come at a pothole at 75 MPH you car will 100% feel it and more than likely suffer. At say 20 MPH, your car may just get out of there unscathed.
Watching out for water. Water on the road is a lie and will TRICK YOU. You might be looking at the road thinking to yourself, “Hey, this is fine. Look at how flat and fine this road is.” PLOT TWIST POTHOLE and all of a sudden, your right tire is at an angle that is in no way conducive to driving. After a rainstorm or snow, potholes can fill with water. That makes them harder to see, and harder to judge how deep they are. That makes them even more mysterious and dangerous! So when in doubt, avoid them.
Pothole damage accounts for nearly 500,000 insurance claims every year! So if you’ve been a victim of one, you’re not alone. That’s why we’re making this blog post in the first place. So remember, it’s important to stay alert, slow down, and keep an eye out, to avoid some costly damage and some serious stress. Should you fall victim to a pothole, know that Harchelroad Motors of Imperial and Wauneta is here to help you out! So stop by today to get that pothole damage fixed up!
Braking Under Pressure!
One of the most terrifying feelings as a driver is when you go to brake and you do not stop. You are at the mercy of your car and can only hope that there are no other drivers around so that you can find a way to come to a stop safely. To avoid instances like this happening, regular servicing will ensure your brakes are in good working order. Sudden brake failure in well-maintained cars is possible but you are probably more likely to be hit by lightning. Another way to keep yourself safe is getting in the habit of checking your brakes every time you get behind the wheel. That way you won’t have to worry about this situation happening. Brake testing only takes a few seconds to do and will become habit after a while. There are two checks that you can make – Static and Rolling.
Brake Tests You Can Do:Static brake test: The static brake test is just a matter of pressing the brake pedal when you get into the car. There should be resistance from the pedal; if there isn’t and the pedal feels soft or easily pushes to the floor you have probably got a fluid leak and should not drive the car.
Rolling brake test: Also pretty self explanatory, you perform this test by pressing the brake pedal gently as soon as possible after moving off and while driving slowly. It’s a surefire way to make sure that your brakes are OK before you need them. To be clear, I’m not saying floor it and brake. I’m saying start slow, like normal, then stop(at like 5-10mph).
Symptoms of impending brake failureIn addition to performing these tests regularly, what are some of the signals that your brakes are about to fail? To know that you’ll need to understand how your brakes work. Your brakes use a hydraulic system; for the system to work effectively there must be fluid in the hydraulic pipes. If the fluid starts to leak, the brake pedal will feel ‘softer’ and will often travel further when pressed. If your brake pedal feels soft or ‘spongy’ stop immediately and get a breakdown mechanic to check the car.
In an EMERGENCY SITUATION ONLY you might be able to build up brake pressure by repeatedly pumping it, however, this is only an ’emergency’ measure to stop the car once. This is definitely not a I-guess-this-is-just-how-I-brake-now solution. Driving with a ‘soft’ brake pedal is extremely dangerous because your brakes could fail at any moment. Even if they don’t fail, you definitely won’t be able to stop as quickly as you may need to and it could lead to an accident.
If your brake pedal feels hard and the brakes are not working or are inefficient, something might have broken in the braking system OR it could just be that something is jammed under the brake pedal. I found a chapstick stuck under there once, so really try to keep the floor area of your vehicle free of litter and other stuff that could slide under the pedals.
Your brakes are not something to take lightly, so make sure that you are really keeping up on their maintenance. If you need to get your brakes checked, you can stop by Harchelroad Motors of Imperial and Wauneta and we’ll be happy to check your vehicle out and get you back on the road!
Keeping Your Car Running Smooth As Butter!
My dad is not what most would call “handy”. He, to this day, has no earthly idea what to do with a wrench, much less have any working knowledge about cars. Even if my dad knew the first thing about cars, when I was a teen, I couldn’t care less about cars, how they worked, or what they needed. I had many more super important teenager things to deal with at the time, like the fact that all of my friends had the new flip phone and I just had the super lame Nokia (I swear that thing was rolled over by my mom’s Blazer and still worked. HOW???).
Now that I’m a super-mature and independent grown woman (I grocery shop now. *hair flip*), I have learned at least the basic maintenance my car needs. Fun fact, even the basics are pretty involved. I violently underestimated how many fluids went into the everyday function of my car, but here we are.
Motor oil, transmission fluid, Antifreeze????????? SEND HELP! Ok, so let’s try to break this down a bit.
Motor oilChanging your oil is one of the most basic pieces of car maintenance we do. But what does it do? WHY do I need to get my oil changed EVERY 3,500 miles? Simply put, oil lubricates your engine. Oil reduces friction and keeps your engine from overheating all of the MANY moving parts. This oil also prevents rust by blocking oxygen from getting to the metal. So win win!
Transmission fluidThe unsung lubricant hero of your car, the transmission fluid works a lot like motor oil, lubrication, and cooling. All good things. As transmission fluid moves through an automatic transmission, it gets pressurized, which provides the hydraulic power needed to perform the transmission’s basic functions, like shifting gears.
Antifreeze Ok, so this name is moderately confusing as it does more than prevents water in your radiator from freezing, it also keeps things from boiling…so a more appropriate name might have been Anti-Extreme-Temperatures, but that’s kinda a mouthful, so Antifreeze it is. Adding antifreeze to the water in your radiator lowers the freezing temperature of the water, which helps prevent freezing in cold weather.
Brake FluidLike transmission fluid, brake fluid gets pressurized and provides the force that activates your brakes. It’s quite a process, and I’m not super well versed in the technical side of how it works, but just know that when you need to hit the brakes because a pedestrian with headphones and a death wish crossed the road without looking, know that this fluid is the reason you are stopping!
Power Steering Fluid By this point, you have very likely figured out that most of these fluids serve to remove the majority of the friction going on in your vehicle. I mean, there are a LOT of moving parts going on here, so as many of the other liquids power steering fluid provides lubrication for the steering gear and makes it easier to steer your car. When you turn the steering wheel, a small opening allows pressurized power steering fluid to move in and help you direct the front wheels. Quite a force, right?!
Now that you know how important all of these liquids are, stop by Harchelroad Motors of Imperial and Wauneta to get them checked out!
The Road Trip Essentials
I don’t like to stay in one place for long. I much prefer the freedom and constant change of the open road. It’s always felt more like home to me than any one house could. I have spent the better part of my life on the road. Fortunately as a writer, my job allows the kind of freedom I need to travel as I please. I have traveled everywhere. One of my very first road trips took me from Maine to Washington State. I took this trip with my best friend and through some miracle we didn’t murder each other. Instead we were able to really explore and learn about each other and ourselves. We also learned some valuable travel lessons that have been proven useful in all of the following expeditions.
For that first road trip we had to pack everything into my little Chevy Impala. That car was completely awesome, but a road trip vehicle it was not. As such it wasn’t quite as spacious as we would have liked. This lead us to the realization that two small suitcases are better than one big bag. The ability to mix up how things are packed so that you can fit other items in your vehicle is ENDLESSLY helpful! We have learned from that experience and upgraded to the Equinox. While my 2017 Chevy Equinox is the ultimate road trip vehicle with lots of space for everything I could ever need, it’s still helpful to pack smart so that there is extra room.
While on that trip we had to struggle through every type of weather and temperature. So we had all kinds of clothing options for each situation. We’ve found it makes good sense to separate the clothing seasonally into two carry-on-sized suitcases instead of one large bag. This way, we don’t have to dig around in a huge bag just to find the clothes we need; we simply bring in that day’s weather-appropriate suitcase and leave the other one in the car.
I do a lot of cooking on the road. We keep all of the cooking supplies (cast-iron pans, good chef’s knives, a portable pour-over coffee station) in a clear plastic container. Occasionally we camp, infrequently if at all possible, and so all of the camping gear (tent and foot air pump, air mattresses, and sleeping bags) goes in another container. That way, when we need something, we know exactly where it is.
When you are traveling cross country, anything can and will happen, so it’s best to err on the side of caution. Of course we have a spare tire, car jack, jugs of potable water, and a first-aid kit in our trunk. We even have AAA membership. But the thing we’ve discovered are of the highest importance of all, are snacks. We try to keep it on the healthy side for good measure, but let’s be real, a bag of Cheetos or 2 have ended up on the road with us. We do bring a lot of dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, beef or turkey jerky, really the things that travel well.
The key to a successful road trip is to be ready for anything and have a vehicle that makes the drive comfortable. I can’t say enough good things about my Chevy Equinox from Harchelroad Motors of Imperial and Wauneta. It has upgraded our experience 100%. Granted when you go from an Impala to a big spacious SUV it’s going to improve the quality of your journey, but the Equinox is truly an exceptional road trip vehicle!
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