Brakes and Tires

The maintenance schedule in the owner's manual tells you exactly when and what service needs to be done.

If by "normal brakes", you mean brakes without ABS (Antilock Brake System), then what it means is that the brakes have been pressed hard enough to stop the wheel rotating, so the tires skid and make that loud skidding noise and alot of smoke. To unlock non-ABS brakes, you need to lessen the pressure on the brake pedal until the wheels start spinning again. This is called feathering the brakes. Non ABS brakes work the best when the wheel is spinning, and the brakes are applied to just before the point where the brakes lock up. This is one reason why driving a race car at the limit is such a skill, since race cars generally don't have ABS. The best race car drivers are those that can apply the brakes the hardest, i.e. just before they lock up. Having said all that, the majoirty of passenger cars on the road have ABS. This is a system that does that brake feathering for you. So for most people, "normal" brakes do have ABS. You can tell when ABS is kicking in because the brake pedal pulsates under your foot, very noticeably. ABS controlled brakes never really "lock up", since the ABS is designed to prevent that. The most important thing to do if you need to stop quickly and your ABS system kicks in is not to panic, and to keep the pressure on the brakes. Some people try to feather ABS brakes like they would old style brakes. This is very bad because the ABS system gets confused and doesn't know if you are really trying to stop wuickly or not. It is a good idea to go into an empty parking lot on a rainy day, get up to 25 mph and stomp on the brakes to see what it feels like so in an emergency, you are familiar with ABS. The final type of lock up is a mechanical failure when calipers get stuck. This typically happens if you put the prak/emergency brake on and leave the car for a long time. The brake pads/calipers can lock in place, and you won't be able to move. This requires mechnical repair, although sometimes putting the car in neutral and rocking it back and forward can help.

It can mean many things. most are ment to squeak when the lining materal is getting thin (needs to be replaced) thay do this with a piece of metal that rubs on the disk to make noise ( can cause damage if it not replace in a timely maner).

Depends on the manufacture. The correct size is written on the tire sidewall of the tires that came on the camper. Ans 2 -The correct size is almost always stamped into the inside of the rim .

The answer to that would differ a lot depending on what tire you're thinking about, and what the pressure is. Tires come in very different sizes, with very different volumes.

Cooper

The average tire size is a 24 inch tire,and 8inchs wide. Generally classified as about 17 inches by 3 wide, the curvature (profile) may result in it being wider with a shallower curvature for mor power and sporting grip on higher performance machines.

NO No...I wouldn't recommend them. Our shop sold them several years back and always had trouble balancing them and keeping them in balance. Also had fairly fast tread wear.

They make tires in Japan, United States, China, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, & Russia. Headquarters are in Japan.

There is two ways. 1. Buy new brake pads for the calipers, they may be worn. (Sometimes you can turn the pads around to be rubbed the other way, and that works...) 2. Take some 800 grit (or higher) sand paper (or emery cloth) and lightly sand the rim of the wheel, IF it feels rough only! Sanding the entire rim may CAUSE more binding. It also depends on the style of brakes. If you have a caliper type brake, many people try to fix it by tightening the front nut and that causes excessive drag. Check your nuts and make sure they're firm but not overly tight. Also, when rust or corrosion gets inside the housing that can cause drag or a binding. Disengage the housing from the frame's cable stop, then slide the housing off the cable to see if there's contamination. If there is, you can either replace it with a new cable or lubricate it with grease, slide the housing back up and then back again. You'll see dirt accumulate so wipe it off until it's relatively clean again and regrease. Also check the line of your brake cable and make sure you don't have a kink somewhere. Don't forget to also make sure your wheel is true and straight. That's often overlooked when thinking it's just the brake.

To begin, jack up the car and remove the wheel. Be certain the car is stable and will not roll off jack(s)! A lot of folks like to think this is complicated and hard without some difficult tools, but it's so easy compared to a ball joint, it's scary. Remove the brake caliber and the brake pads/rotor. Support the brake caliper with a wire connected to the Strut Tower. Remove the spindle nut on the end of the drive axle. On the opposite side of the hub bearing are 3 bolts that hold it in there. Using a short-socket 15-18mm and a breaker bar or 1/2'' ratchet, loosen each of the bolts, then once all are loosened, remove them. Believe it or not, unless the hub assembly is damaged, this thing will litterally fall out (in my case on my foot). Just take grease, (I like axle grease) and slide the new one in, aligning the holes, and getting the bolts back in the right place. Tighten them once all are in place. Put your car back together, retighten the axle nut, (with washer) and your done. They tried to tell me at various places I needed all sorts of tools, and couldn't do this myself, but on the 1998 Sable, it couldn't have been easier. Now contrast that to the Ball Joint, which is so hard, I'd have taken that to a mechanic had I had the money. REMOVE FRONT WHEEL, BRAKE CALIPER (13MM SOCKET); CALIPER MOUNTING BRACKET (15MM)AND AXLE NUT. YOU'LL THEN BE ABLE MOVE THE HUB ASSEMBLY IN A TINY BIT TO MAKE IT EASIER TO REMOVE THE 3 BOLTS THAT HOLD THE HUB ON. WHEN YOU TIGHTEN THE AXLE NUT DONT BE AFRAID TO MAKE IT EXTREMELY TIGHT 250FT LBS The answer to "How to change a wheel..." remove the wheel, and the brake caliper. unbolt the spindle nut (30mm) and the lower ball joint and push the spindle out of the bearing/hub. undo three bolts from the back side of the knuckle that are holding the wheel bearing package on. then knock off the old wheel bearing with a hammer. lube the new one and press it in, then put things back together in reverse. NOTE: Autozone now requires (March 09) free registration to access the repair guides. More than worth the extra effort for these photo/illustrated instructions. remove the wheel, and the brake caliper. unbolt the spindle nut (30mm) and the lower ball joint and push the spindle out of the bearing/hub. undo three bolts from the back side of the knuckle that are holding the wheel bearing package on. then knock off the old wheel bearing with a hammer. lube the new one and press it in, then put things back together in reverse. I have a 1997 Mercury Sable but I think it is still the same as you 99... First remove the tire, then remove brake caliper (15mm) and the wheel/axle nut (30mm). Then remove the outer tie-rod end nut (18mm) and disconnect the tie-rod end. This will allow you to turn the hub enough so that you can push the cv halfshalf out. After the axle is out of the hub or loose enough, you will have access to the 3 screws holding the hub/wheel bearing assamble from behind (15mm)... after you remove the screws you just have to pull the assembly out.. it's not easy but what I did was just hammer it out from behind. Make sure you clean the area well and perhaps even lubricate it a little bit so you can push the new hub/wheel bearing assembly in. Installation is just the opposite of removal. I purchased the new hub/wheel baring assembly from Autozone for $69. I hope this will be helpful to you...good luck! * remove the wheel, and the brake caliper. * unbolt the spindle nut (30mm) and the lower ball joint * push the spindle out of the bearing/hub. * undo three bolts from the back side of the knuckle that are holding the wheel bearing package on. * knock off the old wheel bearing with a hammer. * lube the new one and press it in, then put things back together in reverse. Is the Hub/Bearing pressed into the steering knuckle? Since at least 1996, the bearing/hub assembly has been simply bolted to the steering knuckle. This makes replacement a whole lot "easier" That is correct, the bearing is in a complete hub assembly. You do not need to press in the bearing. Bearings for a 2000 Ford Taurus (Front) can be purchased at http://mibearings.com/paypalparts/513100.html On to the repair instructions and advice... The hub bearing is purchased a whole unit. no bearung change! you can go to napa auto parts they have them I just did 2 front hubs for 97.00 cdn each. ps b 4 doing the job make sure your wheel nuts fit your new hub I experienced that my new hubs were diffrnt size See "Related Questions" below for the Autozone Chiltons repair manual section on front wheel bearing/hub replacement for the 2000-2005 Taurus / Sable NOTE: Autozone now requires free registration to access the repair guides. More than worth the extra effort for these photo/illustrated instructions.

Omni United

where is it mounted/located ? is there a large wing nut holding it in place? if so then un screw it if it is mounted under back of van then you may need the long jack handle extension tool in the van and find the round hole in the bumper and insert the handle extension in the hole and unscrew the mechanism with the tool and the wheel will starts rotating and falling from under the van

Greenball http://www.greenball.com

Just purchased a set today at America's Tire. Surprisingly, they are made in U.S.A.

it is named after the founder. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich.

Yes, but only during the winter months. Contact your local DMV or police agency to check on the dates.

Tireco is the exclusive distributor of NANKANG made products in North America. http:// www.tireco.com/Product_Detail.asp?CateID=68&LineID=39&ProductID=434

You must know the answer is NO. Not necessarily true, we're talking about width I assume, the section width of the tire 10" in this case is measured at the widest part of the tire. The bead, the part of the tire that sits on the wheel, is significantly narrower. Just as an example P245/55R20, which is a 10" wide tire lists the apporved rim width as 7.0"-9.0", so depending on the exact size it is very possible that your 10" wide tire could go on a 7" wide rim.

Can you? Yes. Should you? Absolutely not. You will have a tire that is a whopping 11.39% or (10.32 Inches) larger in diameter. Your speedometer will be 12.84% or (7 mph) too slow at 60 mph. Want to go with a 70 series tire then you will have to go with a 155/70-17 which would look horrible on your car if you can even find that size. Stick with the OEM size.

For off road that is the rock bottom minimum. 12 wide would be recommended if your truck is to see the highway. Wheels that are too narrow make the tire crown in the middle of the tread. This causes only the center of the tire to contact the pavement. Which causes tires to wear out down the center, making tire replacement even sooner. Not the mention, not be able to hold the truck in the road. Most people think, okay I'll just let the air pressure down in my tires so they will get a flatter footprint. Yes, maybe, but you'll have to drop them so low that the pressure that you arrive at won't be safe nor applicable for highway or street travel. If a tire shop mounts your 14.5"s on your 10 wide wheels, make sure they don't rip the beads. These tires must be compressed pretty far down when mounting the top bead. Make sure the shop is qualified or express to the manager if they rip a bead, they bought the tire. BEFORE MOUNTING! Good Luck!

the axle or trans-axle

Why a Car Would Turn Over But Not Start Lay answer: in addition to the battery voltage to "turn the engine over"...ignition requires spark and gas. I'm having the same problem with our 86 Volvo. The mechanic says the spark plugs are providing the spark...but fuel isn't getting to the cyliders. It's probably a blown fuse to the fuel pump or a bad fuel pump...or more remotely a poor connection between the fuse and the fuse clips...or a leak in the fuel line. Our car has two fuel pumps and since our problem has been intermittant, like yours, and we've checked fuses and connections, we're betting it's one of the fuel pumps pooped out. Here are more opinions and answers from other FAQ Farmers: If I remember right I think compression is the 3rd element to an engine running. timing belt or timing chain? You need to eliminate each one(fuel,spark or compression)first and then continue narrowing down from there. I have seen dampness cause ignition wires to fail among a multitude of others. Have a real tech troubleshoot it, other wise your gonna replace good parts guessing. It is one of three things. It isn't getting proper spark, proper fuel, or proper compression. Use the process of deduction and find out. If the engine turns over the starter isn't bad. Well it depends on the car but it could be that you don't have spark, you could have a big vacuum leak, timing might be off. But don't flood your motor if your in a hurry! There are several possibilities: lack of fuel, sprk or compression, these are possible Maintenence items among many other possiblities: spark plugs (worn), ignition wire (Worn), distributor cap (worn), distributor rotor (worn), fuel filter (too dirty), air filter (no air getting in) and timing belt (timing is off). It is worthwile to check for spark from the coil before considering the distributor, spark plug wires or sparkplugs. Assuming that lack of spark is the problem. Another thing it could be is that your car is flooded , requiring possibly 3 hours for plugs to dry. I had a problem on a 1994 ranger that turned out to be a motion switch that had been tripped when the car was bumped. It caused the electric fuel pump not to turn on. If the car is a Chrysler product and just cranks but won't fire, it could be the fusible link. On Ford and GM cars the car will not even crank if it is bad but on Chryslers it will just crank. I don't know about imports. Other possible sources of fuel related problems are a collapsed fuel line(depending on how old the car is) or plugged filter. Before you drive yourself nuts trying to locate the fuel shut off that the fellow described on the ranger.....it's been my experience that is only on ford models(you don't say anything about your make or yr)in the trunk in cars. Good luck Correction: It's primarily fuel, spark, and timing. Timing problem of course can lead to lack of compression. Clarification: The comment on the '94 Ranger is correct. Many Fords have what is called an "inertia switch" which will cut off the fuel pump. This is designed to benefit the occupants in the case of a severe accident. I don't believe any other domestic maker uses this, but some imports do such as Jaguar. A GASOLINE internal combustion engine needs 3 things to function properly: 1) fuel, preferrably delivered at the right mixture, but generally if it's there and the other two components are met, the engine will at least run. 2) ignition, often referred to as a spark or fire, ignition timing must be within a couple degrees of factory settings otherwise the engine may not run at all. Ignition spark strength must also be high enough to be adequate for the air/fuel mixture to ignite, but generally it is an all or nothing situation in the newer, electronic ignition systems. 3) compression, if the compression is up, the cylinders, valves and camshaft are functioning adequately and the timing chain/belt/gear is timed properly. If all three of the above conditions are met, the engine will start when it is cranked. To find out why it won't start, you have to find out which of the above conditions isn't being met. Rather than approach the problem in a "shotgun" manner, it's best to be methodical in your approach. First, spray some starting fluid into the air intake while a friend tries to start the engine. If the engine runs briefly while you are spraying starting fluid, you have good reason to believe that the engine is not getting fuel... item 1 on the requirements. If the starting fluid didn't give you any clues, pull a sparkplug wire from the plug (any one will do) and connect it to a spare sparkplug. Set the sparkplug on a solid metal part of the engine and have your friend crank the engine again while you watch the sparkplug. You should see a bright spark if the ignition is working properly. And finally, if the above two tests didn't give you any information, run a compression test. Since all valves and all cylinders don't generally fail at the same time, you'll only be testing the timing of the camshaft, but that's pretty important. Mark the location of each sparkplug wire. I generally use a piece of masking tape with the cylinder number, then wrap the tape around the sparkplug wire, making a little flag or tab. This part is important, since you don't want to finish the job and wonder where the wires go. Next, pull the sparkplugs and carefully observe the condition of each plug. Look for oil fouling, wet plugs, WHITE plug insulators, worn plugs and damaged plugs. If the center insulator (the part that goes INSIDE the cylinder) is too white, it's an indication that the engine is running too lean and you could be causing damage to valves or pistons. If the plug is black and oily, it indicates that the cylinder is worn and oil is leaking past the rings or valve stem seals. If the sparkplug is wet with fuel, it's an indicator that the cylinder is FLOODED, meaning that somehow there is too much fuel being delivered, and a wet sparkplug cannot properly ignite the fuel in the cylinder. If the plugs all check out ok, use a compression gauge while your friend again tries to start the engine. Since there are no plugs in the cylinders, the engine won't start, but you're measuring the pressure that is built up in the cylinders. Generally, it should be around 90 PSI, but that number may be different for different engines. Generally, the number should be withing 5 to 10 PSI for each cylinder. A variance of more than 15 PSI indicates burned valves or worn rings. If ALL cylinders are low, (below 70 PSI) it's a good indication that the camshaft is no longer timed properly. That is caused by a slipped timing belt or timing chain. THE 'KEY' COULD BE THE ANSWER. Well... some recent cars/vans have a immobilizer embedded. Such a car/van can only be started with an original key i.e. a key which comes with the cars and which has a electronic chip. So if you have recently cut a key from any roadside key-cutter and your car turns using this key but the engine fails to fire it could be the immobilising safety device in your car that's preventing it from starting. This is a good safety feature! Another ting to try is removing the spark plugs (make sure you re- cord which wires go where) and pro vidind that the engine isn't flooded spray some starting fluid(avalible at auto parts stores) in the hol where the spark plug was and put the spark plugs back in and try to start it if it begins to start but then shuts off your problem is proboly fuel delivery, but if the engine is flooded take out the plugs and let it sitt for a while to dry out. There is a little sprocket in your strarter looks like a cog with teeth on in, but the teeth can chip or break if the metal is cheap which in most cars now days it is. So the starter is turning but the missing teeth are not connecting to make a spark keep turning it samething happened to my Buick but i didnt gte is fixed rite away because if you keep cranking evetually the teeth will catch and ignite a motor needs fuel/ spark / air / compression all at the correct time check sources of all from major parts to minor (id start with anything electrical) you should find the problem - One other thing that could possibly have gone bad is the main relay, its a $50 part that gives the fuel pump power when the key is on, so bad relay, no power to pump, no gas, no start. -you need, spark, compression and a proper fuel mixture for your car to start. Generally, the compression gives way over time, so it is the last thing you should suspect if this problem appeared overnight. First thing you should try is to turn the key to the "on" position (not the crank start position). You should hear an electronic hum coming from the fuel tank. If you don't hear the hum, check the fuel pump relay or fuse. If those are fine, the fuel pump is suspect. If you do hear the hum, your fuel pump is working fine. Check for fuel pressure in the fuel line. It should look like a valve like the one you might find on a bicycle tire. If fuel sprays out, your fuel pressure is fine, which means you can suspect the spark. The battery is not the culprit (it turned the starter remember). Check for spark as noted above. If you don't get spark, check spark from the coil. Depending on the model and technology of your car, you can then suspect the ignition control module (esp. if it was a hot day) , as well as the distributor and all its components like the rotor and distributor cap. By the way, most, if not all new cars have an inertia trip switch. Mine is under the dash. .

Simply put, friction. If your brakes are overheating then you may have a caliber or wheel cylinder sticking. Replace the part that is sticking and replace all the brake fluid as it is more than likely contaminated with moisture which cause the parts to rust.

Yes.