Struts, Shocks, and the Steadiness of your Car or Truck and Wheel Bearings

Okay, so about a year ago, my car was bouncing down the road. A small flat spot had developed on my tires from an emergency braking moment and that spot kept growing. It damaged my probably already aging struts and a few months later my car was bouncing with every bump in the road. Turning on the highway slowed my car down really fast. There was so much bounce in the car, that I couldn't even coast down highway roads in neutral...I'm talking about going down hill folks.

It was bad, my car miles per gallon was of course was down to 23-27 miles per gallon. Having been double that in my best moments, I certainly tried not to think about that to prevent self-torture.

So, it was time to use the other 2 Monroe struts I'd bought 7 years ago. I had bought all 4 on a buy 3 get 1 free with rebate and it took that long for them to go bad on my front suspension, lol. Once installed the difference was positively amazing. My car got an immediate 30 miles per gallon. A long way to go back from once I came, but it was a start.

Trying to coast down hill in neutral still didn't speed up my car for my miles per gallon, but at least I could maintain speed. My wheel  bearings were still cutting into my car's miles per gallon for sure. I wanted 2 replaced and they only thought 1 needed replacing. Yes, I'll go back and get this fixed. They're an honorable shop. It's just that the Auto Technician didn't see the point without it being totally shot. They were about to close, so I didn't want to argue the point. Wheel Bearings, roughed up just a little will really hurt you. Months later it clicked. I tried greasing the old wheel bearing, but it was too late. It's like my neighbor said once they're making a little noise it's too late. (Regreasing was better on the short run, I didn't get for sure a car miles per gallon boost, but my my numbers didn't dip as much.)

Nearly 5 years later the
springs had to be replaced
too. Notice the extra coil
in the new one?

Fixing just the axle and 1 wheel bearing got me 40 car miles per gallon on a long trip (the 30 car
miles per gallon was city driving), but still I was getting like 33 or 34 car miles per gallon on the freeway before.

By the way, critical note to all. NEVER just replace an axle. They go bad because motor mounts are bad (at least check the motor mounts). $1,000 dollars later, (shop kept guaranteeing the first $400 of work for the axle which kept breaking, but they had to drop the transmission to replace the transmission mount (you can call it a motor mount, does the same thing)), the axle stopped breaking.

See Weapon R Dragon Intake Review for what I did next. :)
See what I did before: Weapon R Dragon Intake Review

2 years later I'm replacing the front and rear motor mounts, one or both of which was replaced above. The both look up as motor mounts for my engine, but the both attach to the transmission. I'm sourcing the top passenger side motor mount and that one only looks up if I use the word transmission mount. Funny right? Well, I'm replacing that and the other passenger motor mount next. You see the motor mounts are good enough, but the engine isn't as solid now with my 2 new ones as it was before at the time of this article, so it's time to finish replacing them all.

Here's part 2 embeded and as a link parts 2 and 3 (part 3 will be further edited for it's official release):

Motor Mounts Front & Back Installation Part 2 and 3 for your convenience 

by AutoBravado

Spark Plug Wires affect Car Miles Per Gallon

I'm sometimes so used to working on my car that has no spark plug wires, that when my mom suggested her 2004 Ford Taurus, with a hearty V6, might not be running smooth because of the spark plug wires, I told her she could be right, but I'd assume that she had a couple bad spark plug's first since they're so much cheaper. Besides, I told her, I can just hook up my ohm's resistance gauge and see if the wires are bad to avoid unnecessarily replacing them anyway. Her mileage had been steadily going down, but while these bad spark plug's may be the root cause, I explained that her transmission didn't smell fresh. Transmissions can waist a lot of energy if they aren't running right or have had their fluids flushed for basic maintenance.

If you'd like to learn more about spark plug wires, click on those words and check out my main website.

by AutoBravado

Saab 900 SE, V6 Turbo, or so I'm told

You ever talk to an "expert" instead of someone being the real deal? I highy suspect my fine automobile doesn't have the Turbo that it was purported to have when I first got it. According to the vin number, this vehicle doesn't have it, but that year the 4 cylinder had it.

The problem I have with that is the fact that this Saab 900 SE, kicks in lots of extra power at 4000 RPM's and I have a hard time believing that this isn't the result of a Turbo. Yes, it for sure gets a boost of power, and I'm told another higher burst of power isn't possible except at speeds unsafe off of a race track.

The problem is, the resource that says it doesn't have Turbo, was a man who knows nothing about Saab's, and especially not my 900 SE model. I know because I asked him. His only comment was based on his auto store computer, which I've proven wrong on some occasions when I was an "expert" on the question at hand!

Ah, I know I purport myself to be an expert at times, when I'm merely confident despite imperfect proof to support me, but I long ago learned that if you don't act on the best of the information that you have, then you'll be worse than not acting at all.

Apr 2014 note: known this for a long time but I hadn't been back. No Turbo, obvious when you look at the model trim on a 900 SE. (Plus, I would have found it on the exhaust with all the work I've been doing.)

by AutoBravado

Car Miles Per Gallon

I can't make this claim for every car miles per gallon (MPG), but my Saab 900 SE, for sale, has gone from 23 mpg to 33.5 mpg in the city just by upgrading to Iridium Spark Plugs. My other car's miles per gallon barely increased for adding in Iridium plugs, but it more consistently gets 44 on the freeway instead of 42, but the real difference for that car is that it has a lot more power.
Email me with interest in the Saab: autobravado.com@gmail.com


I have a few theories for why the above differences exist for the miles per gallon:

You see, the Chevy Prizm, referred to as other above, has already been modified so extensively for getting better mpg, that it is more difficult to get more out of it. I'm sad to say, that as these cars have been competing for which vehicle is faster, since the iridium spark plugs the Saab 900 SE with V6 turbo, is now the front runner. For a long time the Saab could out corner and out drive they Chevy Prizm when it was loaded with stuff because of better torque, but I'm quite excited for this car's miles per gallon boost, and hopefully I can get even more out of the Saab. Ah, one more factor, which boosted this cars miles per gallon: I got it a badly needed new battery! It runs so much better!


Common trouble for your car's miles per gallon:

I know, I know, you probably hear this all the time: don't drive drowsy, but in my recent cross state trip, the only time they Chevy Prizm did poorly - 32 mpg - is when we switched off drivers, yet the new driver who was just sleeping, was no longer awake enough. On the same road, going in the other direction in a hilly area that stayed about the same elevation, and after a night's sleep, I got 46 mpg! You see! Something else I discovered is that going 55 and popping it out of over drive increased the car's miles per gallon from the 44 to the 46 mpg. I'd still rather drive 75 when it's legal, but it was a long construction zone, and curiosity paid off. There's the all the evidence I need. It's not just about being responsible and safe, driving drowsy is expensive!

Related article:
Truck Miles Per Gallon
The article above is a come back to my original and wider ranged advice on the Truck or Car's Miles per Gallon. (Still totally applicable to any gas powered engine, especially if you're serious enough about your car miles per gallon to make some changes and do some upgrading.)

by AutoBravado