A Guide To Choosing Automotive Lifts (vehicle inspection checklist)
No commentsBy Christine OKelly
One of the most important tools in an automotive repair shop is the auto lift. Providing access to the under belly of a car or truck, automotive lifts make the job of car repair much easier for the home garage or auto shop. Choosing a lift that meets your needs is the key to profitability in time and money. There is a large variety of lift types available to meet the needs of anyone who is looking to purchase one. Keep the following in mind when choosing the best automotive lift for you.
Auto Lifts For The Home User
Consumers with a garage at home can now easily perform maintenance and repairs on the undercarriage of their automobiles. The convenience of owning a home auto lift not only increases the productivity of repairs, but also increases the amount of storage space available. Home automotive lifts usually involve a group of four posts, pneumatically controlled to lift an automobile safely.
These lifts provide a safe means to raise one’s vehicle for access to the car’s undercarriage for transmission and oil work. Automotive lifts also provide increased storage space, by allowing the consumer to lift their car out of the way and to open up the garage floor space. Lesser used vehicles and box storage can be placed on the lift and raised out of the way. Then, you can park your own vehicle underneath the lifted platform.
Automotive lifts are great for people who collect cars. A typical garage can only house two cars, but with use of a lift, four cars can be efficiently parked.
Auto Shop Automotive Lifts - Features To Consider
For more serious garages and commercial operations, there are heavy-duty automotive lifts available. Standard equipment usually involves one, two, or four post lifts. The final choice involves the balance of lift capability, lift stability, and available additional space for the lift equipment. These heavier lifts usually require additional maintenance. The industrial nature of these auto lifts means that their maintenance is better left to professionals if the user has any doubt about being able to work the equipment while maintaining the designed safety features.
One post lifts are the most economical in terms of space. The two varieties of one post lifts are centered lifts and offset lifts. Centered one post auto lifts have a lot more strength than offset one post auto lifts. Offset lifts provide space for a vehicle to be placed underneath a lifted object, providing space economy. Four post models also allow for the same space saving capabilities as a single post model, but they do require more space and power. The upside to a four post lift is a greatly increased power output (four times that of a single post). The two post model is a balance between the two versions.
Auto lifts give a home user full access to their vehicle from different sides. This allows you to perform maintenance and repairs on your vehicle from the comfort of home, saving you both time and money.
Christine O’Kelly is an author for SVI International, an automotive lift company specializing in home and commercial auto lifts.
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What Are HID Lights And How Can You Get Them
By Daniel Millions
Have you ever passed a newer Porsche or BMW and noticed their distinct headlights? Those headlights are called HID. HID, or High Intensity Discharge, is the new replacement technology for halogen headlights. There are numerous advantages of HID headlights. Brightness, electrical consumption, and looks are the most notable advantages of Xenon HID conversion kits. If you’re looking for the perfect upgrade for your vehicle, consider a Xenon HID conversion kit.
Brightness is the biggest advantage of an HID conversion. Not only will you be able to see farther and better at night, but other drivers will be able to see as well. It’s estimated that an HID conversion kit will increase your brightness from a halogen set up as much as 300%. With the addition of brightness you also get a unique and vibrate color to your headlight color. That is the perfect upgrade for any vehicle that lacks xenon light and will also be extremely beneficial to anyone driving at night.
Electrical consumption might seem misleading as an HID Conversion Kit is actually brighter than halogen bulbs, but HID actually consumes less electricity. In each HID conversion kit you are given ballasts. These ballasts actually convert your standard 55w electricity that powers your halogen bulbs and reduces it to 35w. This puts less strain on your electrical systems.
Relays should also be noted in order to have a functioning xenon upgrade. By using a relay instead of directly plugging your existing harness into the HID kit wiring plug you are able to prevent the flickering caused by poor halogen wiring. If your xenon kit has recently been flickering, a relay will almost always solve this problem.
A distinct xenon HID conversion will allow you to stand out among the thousands of other vehicles on the road. HID kits can vary in color, depending on how bright or which color you want. The lowest on the scale is 3000k, which emits a yellow beam. As we scale upwards, 4300k gives off a pure white, 6000k give off a light blue, 8000k a deep blue, and 12000k gives off a bright purple. There are advantages and disadvantages for the more unique colors. As you increase the temperature, or Kelvin (k), the output actually decreases. The 12000k purple is actually not as bright as the 4300k. If you’re looking for looks, go crazy with the 8000k or 12000k. If you want a balance between brightness and color, consider the 4300-6000k.
A Xenon HID conversion kit can not only update the look of your vehicle, it is actually in your own interest to increase visibility and make your vehicle safer by upgrading to an HID kit. The installation is actually very simple and all wiring, harnesses, bulbs and mounting is included with each HID kit. With a price tag of around $100, you can’t beat this upgrade in performance and looks.
Kits are available in almost all sizes as well (H1, H3, H4, H7, H8, H9, H10, H11, H12, H13/9008, 9004, 9005, 9006, 9007, D1S, D2S, D2R).
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We offer high quality HID conversion and Xenon Light kits for many vehicles.
Buying Cheap Collector Cars
By Chris Jensen
There is hope, unless you’re looking to drive something that belongs in a museum. Over the years, I have bought and sold many collector trucks and cars, and I have friends that have done the same. Over the last few days, I found some amazing deals that any collector would be happy with.
Now keep in mind, these aren’t cars meant for the showroom, but that shouldn’t matter! They are decent cars that we enthusiasts can appreciate for a practical price! For instance, a “eBay” listing here for a 1971 Chevy El Camino. The car looks clean, and has a 350 v8 engine and a Turbo 350 automatic transmission, power disc breaks, power steering, and customized wheels. The person posting on that site was asking for $2,800 OBO. Just for you information, OBO means ‘or best offer.’
Anytime you see ‘OBO’ it’s important you try and make some money, because they are willing to take less. If you have the gift of gab, you might really be able to swing an amazing deal, but it’s limited by your skills. The best way to make a substantial savings is to find someone really desperate to get rid of the product, and this could be for a variety of reasons, but whatever it is, it means a great deal for you. Another “eBay” car, a 1970 Mustang coupe.
It looks clean, no rust, comes with a 302 V8 engine, automatic transmission, power brakes, power steering, and clean chrome wheels. They want $2200 OBO (or best offer). Imagine you could actually get it cheaper than it already is, just be smart about negotiating the deal. In general, there are many more things that may interest you, this is just one example.
Every time when looking online I manage to find all kinds of collector cars and trucks, using a number of sources I’ve collected over time. Since this is something I’m passionate about, I manage to find new sources all the time. Now those cars may not be something you’re interested in, but there are plenty more cars and car-sales where that came from.
Remember, talking about cheap cars that could actually get you into a collector car show! There’s almost always a huge increase in the number of cars you can walk away with for every $500 you add. You can get a collector car for cheap; all kinds of collector cars. What I’ve mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg.
Chris Jensen is a contributing author of Jetfly Shop. For more related articles and views visit Jetfly Automotive Blog now. Also, for the best up-to-date related online products, check out Jetfly Automotive Collectibles Shop for todays current online deals.
Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 4:30 pm and is filed under automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
