Potholes and bumps in McHenry roads will knock fishbowl off the roof, and what about your shocks and struts?

An insurance company has a commercial where a driver has forgotten their fishbowl, with a goldfish, on top of the car. The suggestion of the commercial is that drivers who are fastidiously safe behind the wheel will not drop the fishbowl off the roof and will receive lower rates for their auto insurance. In reality, it doesn’t matter how you drive from your McHenry home – that fishbowl is not going to stay on the roof.

A fishbowl won’t stay on the roof of a car because, with the application of Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion, when the car comes to a stop, or pulls away from a stop sign, the fishbowl would be inclined to either slide forward or backward, respectively.

The other problem is that we don’t drive our cars on carpet-smooth roads here in McHenry and beyond, particularly after a passing winter. That fishbowl would find itself bouncing and dancing on the roof of the car until it was thrown off and to the ground where it would crash into little wet pieces with a flopping fish on the pavement.

Or course, the effects of the road will depend on the condition of the suspension. If the shocks and struts are in good condition, the fishbowl might travel a few more blocks down the road before it was launched off the roof.

The thing with shocks and struts is that they all start out in good condition. Over time, and miles of driving, they deteriorate until they’re a mere shadow of their former selves.

Shocks and struts that are in good condition absorb much of the punishment that would otherwise be felt by you and your vehicle. In terms of the latter, it’s more than a question of whether you could keep a fishbowl on the roof; it’s also a question of wear and tear on the vehicle itself.

While the road is knocking your car about, it’s also effecting the alignment of your front end and steering. Once the alignment is knocked out of whack, the effects of bumps and potholes in the road are transferred to wear and tear on your tires.

Out of alignment, your front end may wear your tires on one edge and faster than the customary wear you would usually see. Obviously, the key is to ensure that your vehicles’ front end is aligned and your suspension is in good condition.

Another suggestion would be to leave the fishbowl in your McHenry home.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog