Posted on 24 April 2014
Colorado Springs drivers want their tires to last as long as possible. Two ways to extend tire life are wheel balancing and tire rotation.When wheels are out of balance, they wobble and vibrate. That makes the tires wear in a cupping pattern. If a front wheel is out of balance you'll feel it in the steering wheel. If it's a rear wheel you'll feel it through your seat. To fix this, your technician at Lighthouse Automotive puts weights on your wheels to balance them out.That brings us to tire rotation. The front tires on a vehicle wear out faster than the rear tires. As they push through turns, the shoulders of the front tires wear down. So rotating front and rear tires allows them to all wear at about the same rate over the life of the tire.Proper tire inflation will also help Colorado Springs folks' tires last longer. Underinflated tires wear more on the shoulder and may even overheat. This could cause tire damage or a blow out. Overinflated tires wear too fast in the ... read more
Posted on 16 April 2014
It seems like everywhere you go in the Colorado Springs area you see custom wheels. Big trucks, little cars, mini-vans - it doesn't matter - are expressing themselves with custom wheels. Some Colorado auto owners want smaller tires and wheels - some want larger - and some want them enormous. So where do you start if you want new wheels? At Lighthouse Automotive, we suggest you start with your budget. We know, that sounds so practical. But if the look you're after goes beyond just new tires and wheels and enters into the world of suspension modifications, you need to be prepared for the additional cost.Let's start with something easy - you want to give your ride a unique look and the stock wheel size is just right for you. One of the concerns you will have is that the new wheels have the same offset as your vehicle factory wheels.Your tire and wheel professional at Lighthouse Automotive in Colorado Springs can help you find the right size wheel or install adapters to ma ... read more
Posted on 08 April 2014
Your engine is like a finely choreographed dance. All the parts have to work together. If the timing is off at the ballet, dancers crash into each other and fall down. It the timing is off in your engine, it may not run at all. One of the most intricate dances in your engine has to do with the combustion cycle.Your vehicle engine has cylinders in which a piston travels up and down. At the top of the cylinders are valves that open to bring in the air and fuel. And there are valves that open to let out the exhaust after the fuel has been burned. Call Lighthouse Automotive at 719.634.0005 for answers about your timing belt, or drop by our Colorado Springs, Colorado, service center on 2499 East Platte Ave. It's critical that the values be timed to open and close at precisely the right time in the combustion cycle, or the engine will run poorly or not at all.The timing belt is responsible for ... read more
Posted on 02 April 2014
Nowadays, Colorado Springs drivers are paying more at Colorado gas pumps. For some families it adds up to several hundred dollars every month. That's got to come out of the budget somewhere. This is one of the reasons many Colorado drivers are putting off buying a new car. They plan on keeping their old vehicle for a year or two longer than before.Even now, 2/3 of the personal vehicles on our local Colorado Springs, Colorado, roads have over 75,000 miles (120,000 kilometers) on them. The average age of vehicles is over nine years. And most people in the Colorado Springs area can't afford to be stranded or inconvenienced by a breakdown. So following a regular maintenance schedule, like personal diet and exercise plans, is actually critical to preserving your investment.Determining what to do for a higher-mileage vehicle can be challenging because many owner's manuals don't publish service intervals after 60,000 miles (100,000 kilometers). Thus, Colorado Springs drivers need to be b ... read more