Total Kar; Cars, Trucks and Mechanics

I am sure you have seen that some cars have headlights that are faded, dirty looking and yellowed. Maybe even your headlights look like this. Do you ever wonder why?

Headlights didn’t used to do this, so why does this happen nowadays? The main reason headlights become faded and yellowed is because now they are made of different types of plastic, instead of glass…

The plastic degrades easily by UV rays from the sun. There is another factor at plays here as well; the plastic is less chemical resistant, and picking up road grime only aides in the degradation process.

All this yellowing and fading does not allow a lot of light to shine through, in turn may reduce your ability to safely drive at night.

So what can you do about this yellow headlight issue? There are several options I can suggest depending upon the severity of the headlight lens degradation.

-          For light to medium degradation there are refinishing kits on the market. Refinishing is normally fairly easy. They typically consist of several very fine grits of wet sanding paper (1000 to 2000 grit) and a finishing polishing compound.

-         For more severe headlight degradation there are basically two options: send off for professional refinishing (you can find companies online that do this) or replacement. You can go with factory replacement or with an aftermarket company that makes new headlight assemblies for most cars, sometimes at fewer costs than factory OEM parts.

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If your car does not go straight when you let go of the steering wheel while driving (don’t do this to long!), the chances are high you need a wheel alignment. Another sign that you need alignment is when your tires wear unevenly (only the outer or inner edge of the tire)

When you align your car you either align your two front wheels or you do all four of them. If you have a solid rear axle, there is not much point in aligning your rear wheels since the chance of them going out of alignment is negligible.

In case of independent suspension you need to do an alignment on all four of the wheels on our vehicle. No point in aligning just two wheels because you will end up having to go again on a later point.

Why should you have an alignment done at all on your car?

There are two good reasons:

-          Safety

-          Saving money

Safety – We want our vehicles going straight down the road. Your vehicle should not drift or veer out of your lane. Another important aspect is proper handling, alignment plays a big role in how your vehicle responds during maneuvers.

Safety and saving money – wear on your tires: if the wheels are not aligned it will wear the tires unevenly. You don’t want to wear the tires unevenly, this will shorten their lives, and furthermore, uneven wear could cause them to blow out.

Safety and saving money – When the tires toe in or toe out, you are scuffing your tread (like snow plowing on skis) which would cause them to feather and they will wear out faster (feathering happens when the edge of each tread rib develops a slightly rounded edge on one side and a sharp edge on the other) and again, they could blow out. Also, you are making the car work against itself, always trying to slow down while you’re driving, which will cost you more gas. When the tires are straight they don’t feather and the vehicle rolls more efficient, promoting better fuel economy.

So yes, it is always a good idea to make sure the wheels on your car are aligned!

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