Performance Unlimited Blog

That new car finish on your car isn’t so new anymore, is it. Oh, from a distance, it looks good enough. But, if you get close, you’ll find the spot where a truck on Route 31 in McHenry kicked up a stone that nicked the hood. You’ll see the scratch on the fender where a run-away shopping cart in the Meijer’s parking lot slammed into your car. You might even notice where you scratched the paint on the door yourself when you dropped a can of cream corn trying to close the door with your arms full of groceries. Scratches will happen to your car; there’s no way to avoid them. But, alas, C’est la vie (such is life), into each car’s life, a few scratches must fall. You grudgingly accept them. You try to shrug them off. But, they still bother you. You’re perfect car isn’t perfect anymore – not the way you brought it home from one of the auto dealerships in McHenry. It’s a positive trait when you can allow a nick here, a scratch there and a little dent elsewhere to roll off your back. You...

So, you’ve decided it’s time to put a lift kit on your Jeep or truck. Maybe you want to take your Jeep or truck offroad where ground clearance is a critical factor. Maybe you just like the way it looks, not to mention the improved vision from sitting higher from the road. Whatever your motivation, a lift kit can make a significant change to your Jeep or Truck. It’s even safe to say that a lift kit is transformative. When you’re done, your truck just won’t look the same. It will be like an entirely different Jeep or Truck. But, if you’re going to add a lift kit, you want to go all the way. That means that you want to do the job right. The first issue presented by adding a lift kit to your Jeep or Truck is that it will move the rear differential away from the back of the transmission. This means that the length of the driveshaft needs to increase to compensate for the change. If you don’t make this critical adjustment, you may find yourself on the side of the road when your driveshaf...

We’ve all heard about people driving their cars for years while a red “Check Engine” light glows in the dashboard. They’re not sure what the light means but, well, the car is still running. They ignore it and nothing seems to happen or, at least, they don’t notice how some problem may be decreasing the engine’s performance and/or mileage. And, there is another indicator that may come on in the dashboard that they may ignore – the “SRS” warning light. SRS stands for Supplemental Restraint System. That may sound unfamiliar. How about this – the Airbags. The warning light is often displayed as a stick person sitting in a seat with a circle, representing a deployed airbag, in front of them. The airbags are parts of your car you hope never to use. But, if you do need them, the airbags could make the difference between life and death – between serious injury and the possibility that you would walk away from a crash. Why would the SRS – Supplemental Restraint System – warning light com...

For some, it’s an annoyance. They don’t like the sound. They don’t like the smell. They cast a bothered glance at anyone who creates one. They just don’t see the point. For others, however, it’s almost an intravenous infusion of adrenaline. Their hearts beat faster, they start tapping their feet and they feel a little sweaty in the palms. It’s called a burnout and, for sports- and muscle-car enthusiasts, it’s the equivalent of giving a jet fighter just a touch of its afterburners. Of course, a driver can do a burnout in their car for more than the adrenaline rush. For NASCAR drivers, it’s a way to celebrate after winning a race. But, for drag racers, it’s a way to heat up the tires before racing – before the light comes down to green on the Christmas tree. Drag racers want their tires hot and sticky so that they’ll grab when it’s time to hit the gas (and let out the clutch, if they have a stick). They want to take off in a hurry and hot-sticky tires help. Ford Motor Company must ap...