Inspection Changes in NJ & Saftey Tips

I would hope that most of you will be aware of the sweeping changes in the way NJ inspects Our Cars.

As of July 1020 Our cars,trucks,Bikes need only to pass the federaly mandated emissions inspection. While this matter is intended to save the state some millions of dollars it does in fact have its drawbacks.

Most of the People that Used to Inspect our cars are now looking for work.

A really loose inspection means that the people who needed a strong state inspection to keep thier cars safe no longer have that incentive.

I personaly try to keep my car in the best shape I can but I have also seen the times where money was tight and it had to be worked out. So on the onset this looks good but you can expect a steady decline in the condition of many of the motor vehicles in the state and to the point where many cars just wont be safe to operate.

Expect the Rates for insurance to spike and expect the police (state and local) to become much more agressive in giving out tickets.

How may I avoid tickets?

1) Police pay a great deal of attention to the way you drive. So be careful!

2) Check your light's and other aspects of you cars exterior. Sothing as simple as a plate light out can get you ticketed.

3) Really this in part of 2) but I cant stress enough that you need to self inspect your car at least once a weak. Lights burn out all the time and we may not notice until someone lets us know.

Some quick tips:

Tires

Make sure these are evenly worn and try to rotate front and back at least every ten thousand miles. Front wheel drive cars tend to wear front tires out rapidly. As a rule of thumb if you can place a penny in the thread (upside down) and you can see lincoln's head you nead tires. Realisticly well before then. If you have belts showing or the edges are worn you will at least need tires and maybe some mechanical work.

Lights

On the average I see 3 or 4 cars a day with only one headlight or even a car with all its tail lights out. You cant always tell and some people are going to be afraid to tell you. Check those lights! Your local parts store will be more then happy to help and while its true that a new light may cost 2$ or 10$ its far better then what you can expect to pay if ticketed.

Why do my front wheels rattle? Or my Steering wheel Shake?

Generaly if the tires are good there are 2 major causes here.

Front brakes worn or rotor warped. In some cases this may also indicate that the rear brakes need to be adjusted or replaced.

Less common are worn outter tie rod ends. These can be easy to check. Have someone turn the steering wheel back and force and start feeling for vibration at the wheel's. Most likly this will be the place you first feel a problem. A mechanic or someone out to make cash may jump in an say you need new wheel bearings.... but this may not be the case.

If you dont feel anything at either front wheel then I would start with the brakes. However if one side or the other side can be felt to shake then we continue diagnosis. Just inside of the wheel you will find the tie rod end. On most cars its part of a rack n pinion but on some trucks or suv's you have have a draglink and a pittman arm. The outter tie rod end can be at either the front or the rear of the inner part of the hub. It looks sort of like a pole with a pointer that extends either up or down. Using a bit of car you can place a finger on the joint near the hub as someone moves your wheel. Please dont get Under the Wheel. If you feel any kind of play right at the joint then its likly shot. Both sides tend to be changes at one time and if your very careful you may not need to get your front end realigned.

The trick to chaning an outter tierod end is:

Do one side at a time....

Loosen the locking nut just as little as you can. Say for example 1/4 turn. after removing the cotter pin and the nut off the top of the tie rod end take a ball joint tool to gently part this from the hub. You can use a hammer but in the end having the right tool is easier.

Some ball joints end in a rod and some twist onto a rod... bearing in mind where the lock nut came loose you can mark or count thread and be pretty close. A bit of fore thought and focus will help here and if the new unit has a zirk fitting , dont forget the grease.

More Later.

Robert