Doing a post update about the effects salt and 2 dissimilar metals. Aluminum and steel are our 2 most common found metals on automobiles. Unfortunately they do not agree when put next to each other with salt added in. The bolts that were supposed to hold these truck running boards on came out due to the bolts being steel with aluminum boards. You can see in the picture below how the aluminum corroded away around the bolts. New hardware and repositioning the boards allowed us to save the boards so the customer did not have to buy new ones. This same issue also happens on other parts of a car. The most common is on exhaust heat shields, causing rattles as the shields contact the pipes.

Now that the weather has gotten cold and the salt is laid out on the roads we are seeing more corrosion issues. The most common are aluminum rims that are leaking air from the bead area. Salt corrodes the rim and causes an uneven surface eventually leading to air coming out of the rim. Most of these leaks do not go flat over night but over the course of several days. I have attached a picture of a rim leak from today. We use soapy water and let the bubbles show us where the air is escaping from.

In order to resolve this issue we dismount the tire. Clean and remove the corrosion from the rim. Next we apply a rim sealant and allow it to cure. After the sealant has cured, we mount the tire back on and computer balance it to insure no vibration. This job usually takes about 30 minutes to complete.

If you think you have a rim leak, then please give us a call to set up an appointment for us to check.

Hello Everyone, Clint Ferrel here, I wanted to take the time to wish everyone a great 2019. The shop is excited to continue on another year.

As many of you know I became a father last year. Little myles will be turning 1 soon. He does make it to the shop! Unfortunately, it is usually when he is sick; however, you may see him down here and get to meet his wonderful personality and see his dimple. He always brings joy and makes everyone's day when he is with us.

We will be making some changes here at the shop this year. Last year Paul updated the office with a new floor, counter and cabinets. I will keep everyone posted as we continue to make changes through out the year.

In case you missed it, below is the Synthetic VS Regular Oil story Channel 8 ran last night, which we were fortunate to be featured in. Changing your car's oil is it's life blood. Love your car and it'll love you back for a long time.

​www.rochesterfirst.com/video?videoId=733546611&carousel=1&index=9

Hi everyone! We just wanted to let you know that Cooper is running this sweet promotion until the end of the month. In short, you get a $100 Visa prepaid card when you purchase a qualifying set of four tires. If your wheels need some new rubber, give us a call and see how we can outfit your vehicle with a set of tires that are right for you!

Good morning to everyone,

We wanted to let everyone know Monroe is running a promotion on their shocks and struts until April 30th, 2017! This is a great rebate if you are in need of new struts and shocks.

We are pleased to announce the new Kendall Oil promotion. Kendall Oil is doing a $10 rebate on our synthetic blend oil changes and $15 rebate on full synthetic oil changes for our GT1 oils.

The GT1 synthetic blend is our standard oil that we use for our oil change, filter and lube service.

Unfortunately this promotion excludes commercial, business, groups government agencies and other organizations. This promotion is for households.

When you drive your vehicle do you feel that the ride is tired, bouncy and loud? Maybe your vehicle does not feel like it is handling like it used to when she was new?

Here at Ferrel's Garage we hear about how our customers feel that their vehicle just does not ride like it used to. Their vehicle is lacking the firm ride and handling it used to have. The handling and ride quality is even more noticeable after comparing to a ride in a newer vehicle with less then 40,000 miles on it. These comments tend to always refer to tired, weak and/or leaking struts and shocks. 

I have complied a small list of information on struts and shocks and their importance to a vehicle and ride quality. 

• Struts

Help control body and tire movement: vehicle bounce, roll and sway.

• Struts help maintain consistent handling and braking by keeping the tire firm to the road.
• Struts also help reduce uneven tire wear and premature failure of suspension joints and bushings.

I have attached a picture of a shock from a customer's vehicle that had a noise over bumps complaint. This vehicle had roughly 80,000 miles on it. After road testing the vehicle, duplicating the customer's complaint, lifting the vehicle and performing a visual inspection, we found the rear shocks leaking and able to be compressed with minimal effort. The rear shocks compressed so easily because there was not much fluid left inside.  With the customer's approval we installed new rear shocks. After installing the new rear shocks the noise was eliminated and the ride quality from the back of the vehicle was greatly  improved. 

The most comments I hear about a new vehicle is how much firmer, better handling and how it takes bumps when compared to an older car. These comments are the same that I receive after new struts and shocks are installed.  coincidence?

Although new struts and shocks can be a costly adventure, they are a wonderful investment to make in a vehicle if you plan on keeping your vehicle for many years. 

Winter has finally come to Rochester. Snow, slush, salt and ice cover our roads. If you have tires that are low on tread, then you more than likely have already experienced poor traction due to the winter road conditions. Tires need to have good tread in order to gain traction by pushing away water, snow and slush.

I would like to say that although some all season tires say they are all season,  they are just not designed to handle all of winter's road conditions. I say this because we have replaced several almost brand new sets of tires because customers could not get around town and up their driveway with good traction,  confidence and peace of mind.

A tire that is an "all-season plus" traditionally has the mountain and snow flake symbol which designates that the tire is designed to handle winter conditions. I have attached a picture of the symbol. 

If your slipping, sliding and want your tires checked, then stop by the garage.  We would be happy to check your tires for you.

Hello everyone,  writing  this post because I feel the need to show the effects of corrosion from dissimilar metals.  At the shop here we are finding many corrosion issues causing vehicle failures.  This issue is going to become allot more common as vehicles are being made from lighter metals such as aluminum followed by components of different metals that are attached. Attached here is a picture of a fuel pump driver module that has failed from corrosion.  The module failed because of corrosion due to salt and aluminum mounted to a steel frame.  Unfortunately many vehicles are being produced this way.