Pequannock Safety Systems: Tire Pressure Monitoring System
Posted October 12, 2011 9:55 AM
Flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances can all be the result of Pequannock folks driving around on under-inflated tires. Now, it’s hard to tell when a radial tire is under-inflated. If your manufacturer recommends 35 pounds of pressure, your sedan tire’s considered significantly under inflated at 26 pounds. The tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds.
New laws required manufacturers to include a Tire Pressure Monitoring System – or TPMS system – in all cars and light trucks by the 2008 model year. The system has a dashboard mounted warning light that goes off if one or more of the tires falls 25% below manufacturer’s pressure recommendations.
This technology has been used by Pequannock race car drivers for years. They are able to head off problems from under inflation by closely monitoring tire pressure on the track. It’s up to your car’s manufacturer to determine which of many TPMS systems available they’ll use to comply with the law.
Obviously, all of this doesn’t come free for Pequannock drivers. U.S. government studies have estimated the net costs. Of course, the TPMS system itself will cost something. Maintaining the system will have a cost, replacement of worn or broken parts and tire repair cost increases.
The costs are partially offset by savings in fuel and tire wear. There’s also a saving in property damage and travel delay. The net cost is estimated to be between $27 and $100. The government predicts fewer fatal accidents. They estimate that it will cost between three and nine million dollars for every life saved.
Your safety has always been a concern at Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works. We want you on the road and accident free. We've traditionally provided things like tire rotations, snow tire mounting and flat fixes at a very low cost. We’ve been able to quickly and cheaply provide the service, and pass the low cost on to you as an expression of our good will.
That’s why we're concerned about how you’ll perceive the changes that this new law will force. Every time a tire is changed: taken off to fix a flat, a new tire installed, a snow tire mounted; the Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works service technician is now going to have to deal with the TPMS system.
Even a simple tire rotation will require that the monitor be reprogrammed to the new location of each tire. When a car battery is disconnected, the TPMS system will need to be reprogrammed. TPMS sensor batteries will need to be changed and failed parts replaced.
Like all other Pequannock service centers, here at Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works we've had to purchase new scanning equipment to work with the TPMS sensors and to update expensive tire change equipment to better service wheels equipped with the new monitoring systems. Our Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works service technicians have been thoroughly trained on many systems and new tire-changing techniques. All of this adds up to significantly increased cost to perform what was once a very inexpensive service for you.
So when you start so see the cost of tire changes, flat repairs and rotations going up at Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works, please keep in mind that it’s because of government mandated safety equipment. We want to keep you safely on the road – and we're committed to doing it at a fair price. This new safety equipment will help you avoid the most common types of vehicle failure in Pequannock, and possibly a catastrophic accident.
Posted in the Tires and Wheels category
Your Well Trained Technician At Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works
Posted October 7, 2011 9:29 AM
When your sedan breaks down, or just needs some routine service, you might get a little nervous. Your car’s so important to your life in Maywood, you need to back on the road as soon as possible – with the problem fixed right the first time.
If you’ve ever checked into some of the technician training Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works professionals receive, you may be surprised at how much knowledge and skill goes into diagnosing and repairing a modern car. Let me give you some perspective. Today there are four cylinder engines that make more power than the V-8’s in luxury cars twenty years ago. I mean a new V-6 Toyota Camry could beat Sonny Crocket’s Ferrari in a race to sixty.
Our engines are more and more powerful and at the same time their fuel economy keeps inching up – even with steep Maywood gas prices. And they’re so reliable. This is all due to engineering. But the advances come at the price of simplicity. The modern cars driving around Maywood roads are so much more complex from a mechanical standpoint that it makes your head spin – not to mention the electronics.
Some cars have several networked computers controlling most of the engine functions and many other vehicle functions as well. Maywood motorists take all of this sophistication for granted – but somebody has to fix it when it breaks. It’s a real challenge for Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works technicians to keep up, but we work hard to stay ahead of the technology. It requires a high level of commitment on the part of the technician and the Maywood service center as well.
In addition to the training, there’s the financial commitment to purchase the diagnostic and repair tools. Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works technicians receive training through a combination of formal classroom training, training provided at Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works by parts and equipment manufacturers, on-line courses and home study courses.
There are many independent certifications available at Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works all the way up to Master Technician. The ability to repair your sedan requires a strong combination of training and resources. No one can know everything, so Maywood auto service centers subscribe to data services, technical libraries and even on-line communities that can help them when they run into a difficult problem.
It’s like those medical diagnosis shows on TV. Here are the symptoms – what’s the diagnosis and treatment? Diagnosis is every bit as much an art as a science. At Bob Crevaux's Wayne Auto Works, we want everything to be simple, straightforward and cheap – but sometimes it just isn’t.
So try to be more relaxed next time you bring us your sedan. You’re in good hands.
