Performance Unlimited takes auto repair to another level with Lambo door installation
%07-%02-%2013, %Rauto repair, auto repair northern Illinois, dodge challenger, high performance, lambo doors, Performance modificationPermalink
There are fast lube shops where they do oil changes and a few other mechanical odds and ends. There are also auto repair shops where they can handle tune-ups, the aforementioned oil changes, alignments, and most of the other customary repairs. Where, however, do you go if you want something out of the ordinary for your car?
What if you’re tired of your car doors bumping into other cars in parking lots? What if you simply like the idea that your car doors will open up instead of out? For that kind of work, you need an auto repair shop with capabilities beyond quality auto repair of the first order. You need an auto repair shop where they’re qualified to handle absolutely any project involving your car.
Performance Unlimited is that kind of auto repair shop. Recently, they demonstrated their superior ability to go beyond auto repair and into the realm of automobile modification when they installed Lambo doors on a late model Dodge Challenger.
Modifying the hinges on a door to swing up instead of out requires precise workmanship. When completed, the doors need to close and lock appropriately. The windows need to operate as efficiently as they did before the modification (if they don’t operate smoothly before the modification, a quality auto repair shop can fix that, too.). Additionally, the doors need to seal as they did before.
“Technically, the doors still swing out,” said Denny Norton, owner of Performance Unlimited. “They need to swing out a short distance before they swing up.”
Norton said a project such of this requires removing the vehicle’s front clip – the fenders, hood, and front fascia. Then, the doors come off so they can install the hinges.
“Obviously, with the way the door hinges, you have to change the wiring, too,” he said. “We install a gas charged cylinder, like the one holding up your hood, so that the door opens smoothly and doesn’t simply fall back down. We can adjust the tension so it doesn’t go up too fast or so that it’s not difficult to bring back down.”
When properly adjusted, the door will lift effortlessly – a one-finger operation – and will come back down just as easily. As Norton put it, the doors almost go up automatically.
Norton said a Lambo door kit doesn’t add any appreciable weight to the car. He said they also make Lambo kits for four door vehicles.
“In some cases, it makes it easier to get in and out, but it’s really the visual impact people are usually after,” he said. “The key with installing Lambo doors is that you really have to be careful about the geometry of how the door works.”
As Norton explained, when someone opens their car door, they’ll notice that the door opens a short distance before it comes to a detent – a pin that the hinge roller goes over. That operation needs to work the same way with or without Lambo doors.
For more information about Performance Unlimited, call 815-728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
What if you’re tired of your car doors bumping into other cars in parking lots? What if you simply like the idea that your car doors will open up instead of out? For that kind of work, you need an auto repair shop with capabilities beyond quality auto repair of the first order. You need an auto repair shop where they’re qualified to handle absolutely any project involving your car.
Performance Unlimited is that kind of auto repair shop. Recently, they demonstrated their superior ability to go beyond auto repair and into the realm of automobile modification when they installed Lambo doors on a late model Dodge Challenger.
Modifying the hinges on a door to swing up instead of out requires precise workmanship. When completed, the doors need to close and lock appropriately. The windows need to operate as efficiently as they did before the modification (if they don’t operate smoothly before the modification, a quality auto repair shop can fix that, too.). Additionally, the doors need to seal as they did before.
“Technically, the doors still swing out,” said Denny Norton, owner of Performance Unlimited. “They need to swing out a short distance before they swing up.”
Norton said a project such of this requires removing the vehicle’s front clip – the fenders, hood, and front fascia. Then, the doors come off so they can install the hinges.
“Obviously, with the way the door hinges, you have to change the wiring, too,” he said. “We install a gas charged cylinder, like the one holding up your hood, so that the door opens smoothly and doesn’t simply fall back down. We can adjust the tension so it doesn’t go up too fast or so that it’s not difficult to bring back down.”
When properly adjusted, the door will lift effortlessly – a one-finger operation – and will come back down just as easily. As Norton put it, the doors almost go up automatically.
Norton said a Lambo door kit doesn’t add any appreciable weight to the car. He said they also make Lambo kits for four door vehicles.
“In some cases, it makes it easier to get in and out, but it’s really the visual impact people are usually after,” he said. “The key with installing Lambo doors is that you really have to be careful about the geometry of how the door works.”
As Norton explained, when someone opens their car door, they’ll notice that the door opens a short distance before it comes to a detent – a pin that the hinge roller goes over. That operation needs to work the same way with or without Lambo doors.
For more information about Performance Unlimited, call 815-728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
Comments
Performance Unlimited driving tip: beware of 4-wheel drive in the winter – what gets you going may not help you stop
%30-%01-%2013, %R4 wheel drive, 4-wheel drive, auto maintenance, four-wheel drive, safe driving, winter drivingPermalink
In previous articles on this blog site, we’ve discussed the
hazards of winter driving here in the Midwest (this certainly applies anywhere
that roads are covered with ice or snow). In those articles, we’ve expounded on
the importance of good tires, properly filled with air and balanced. We’ve also
spoken of the vital importance of good brakes, a firm suspension and solid
steering and chassis.
The latter also refers to proper alignment. Driving down an
icy road is no time to discover your car seriously pulls to the right or, worse
yet, to the left.
We’ve also discussed, though briefly, the nuances of driving
on an icy road with a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. While 4-wheel drive odes a
remarkable job of providing traction for winter driving, there are considerations
that deserve a more in-depth discussion.
First and foremost, the additional traction offered by
4-wheel drive will help you get going but offers little or no benefits when
it’s time to stop.
Ever notice how many 4-wheel-drive vehicles you seem to see
spun out in a ditch or the meridian of the road? Denny Norton, the owner of Performance Unlimited has a
theory about this.
“I think the traction offered by a 4-wheel-drive vehicle
plays a game with a driver’s perception,” Norton said. “It feels as though
their car, SUV or truck will plow through almost anything. There’s a sense that
their vehicle has Super Glue on the tires. So, when something happens, they
have a sense that extra traction will help them stop.”
Maybe someone with 4-wheel drive is following too closely
when someone stops in front of them. Maybe they’re going too fast when a deer
darts across the road. Or maybe they think they can make it when they almost
miss their turn. Whatever the case, 4-wheel-drive operators get in trouble when
they expect more from their tires than they can really offer.
“It’s essential when driving, under any conditions, that the
driver has a firm understanding of their car’s limitations,” Norton said. “If
you don’t, you’ll find that you’ve overdriven the vehicle’s capabilities and,
by that time, it may be too late.”
Of course, there are other considerations when driving a
4-wheel-drive vehicle. One recommendation is to avoid using cruise control when
operating in 4-wheel drive. Cruise control doesn’t feel the road the way a
driver can. Where a driver may notice the tires coming loose from the pavement
and slow down, the cruise control is intent on achieving a certain speed based
on how fast the tires are spinning, with or without traction.
Another good idea is to avoid using your vehicle’s 4-wheel
drive in the lower range when driving at higher speeds. This can damage the
transfer case and leave you with a costly repair bill.
As with any car, if you have anti-lock brakes (most cars
today do), apply steady pressure when braking. If you don’t have anti-lock
brakes, you may need to pump the brakes to avoid losing control. If you don’t
know if you have anti-lock brakes, otherwise known as ABS, it’s a good idea to
find out before you need to use them on a slippery road in a panic situation.
For more information about 4-wheel drive and ABS systems,
call Performance Unlimited at 815-728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
Road salt does more than melt the ice, it also eats through your car’s finish
%24-%01-%2013, %Rauto maintenance, auto maintenance Illinois, road salt, winter driving, winterize your carPermalink
With that fresh blanket of snow on the ground, your car is
slipping and sliding as you cautiously apply the accelerator. Then, once you
get up to a safe rate of speed, you notice a squirrel running into the road.
You hit the brake but, hopefully, not too hard. Too much brake, too fast, and
you can lose all control; that squirrel can send you spinning into a ditch.
“Where the heck is that snowplow,” you ask yourself. But,
what you’re really asking for is the traction-improving road salt the snowplow
spreads in its wake.
Road salt is a lifesaver on slippery highways.
Unfortunately, it has the residual effect of harming your car’s finish and
undercarriage. Simply put, road salt is a corrosive. Its ability to melt ice
and snow is, to a lesser degree, mirrored by its ability to eat through a car’s
paint and into the metal parts in the car’s undercarriage.
The good news is that car manufacturers have improved the
finish of vehicles with corrosion-resistant coatings. The paint on your newer
car is less susceptible to the corrosive effects of road salt than of an older
model. And yet, the salt is still eating away at your finish. After a few
years, you may notice that your car has lost some of its luster, as well as
some of its resale value.
Under the car, in the chassis, parts are often not protected
by paint at all. The parts are thicker than the metal body of your car but the
salt is still working away eating at the surfaces of suspension, steering,
braking and chassis components. If nothing else, road salt will speed the
deterioration of your car’s undercarriage.
Road salt also has a corrosive effect on the highways it
deices. Here, the cost is shared in intermodal taxes. At the same time,
designers of roads have improved materials to reduce the corrosive effects of
road salt (Si
– Salt Institute).
“While there isn’t much you can do about the effects of road
salt on the pavement, you can do something about the effects of road salt on
your car,” said Denny Norton, the owner of auto repair specialty shop Performance Unlimited in
Ringwood. “The solution is fairly obvious – if you remove the road salt from your
vehicle it can’t eat through your body. A protective coat of wax doesn’t hurt
either.”
In other words, it makes sense to run your car through the
carwash occasionally during the winter months. There’s another solution that’s
equally obvious – move south: move where the winters are mild and the roads are
salt free, if not ice and snow free. Of course, most of us aren’t going to move
south just to get away from road salt. But, in the winter months, it’s nice to
think about.
For more information about protecting your car in the
winter, call Performance Unlimited at 815-728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
You don’t need to wax your car every week – but a couple times each year won’t hurt
%22-%01-%2013, %Rauto maintenance, auto maintenance northern Illinois, car wash, wash carPermalink
An old friend used to wash and wax his car every weekend
when the weather was reasonably warm. He used a two-step Blue Coral brand of
wax that essentially required waxing the car twice – a pre-wax and the actual
wax. Today, Blue Coral even offers a combination wash and wax but not then.
Most of my friend’s Saturdays were filled with washing and
waxing his car – a red 1973 Plymouth Duster. I don’t think he had any idea how
much time he was wasting.
A 2008 Car Care Council booklet titled, “Car Care Guide: Maintaining
Your Vehicle for Safety, Dependability and Value” has a section on
“Appearance.” According to the booklet’s description of “Typical Service,”
washing once a week is frequent. Waxing “once every 6 months” is also
considered frequent.
The point is that the wax helps to protect the finish of
your car; it extends the life of the body of the car barring any accidents.
As the booklet explains, “Keeping your vehicle consistently
clean prevents the buildup of damaging chemicals and dirt that may attack your
car’s finish … frequent washing can reduce the corrosive effects of salt that
cause body rust-through.”
In other words, keeping your car clean has more than a
purely aesthetic purpose. That still doesn’t explain my friend’s decision to
wax his car every relatively warm weekend. The only explanation for his rabid
attention to the appearance of his car was the immense sense of pride he took
in the car. For instance, he used to park the car as far away from the doors of
shopping malls so that other cars wouldn’t park next to him. In this way, he
hoped they wouldn’t bang their doors against his car’s pristine finish.
The booklet also makes a point about using the proper kind
of soap when washing a car. Your best bet is to use a soap designed for washing
cars. A common mistake is to use dish soap. Bad idea: the dish soap strips away
the wax. In other words, if you use dish soap each week, you’ll have a good
excuse for waxing the car, too.
In the winter, it’s probably a good idea to run the car
through a car wash from time to time. But, as Denny Norton of Ringwood based Performance Unlimited put it, even
here, you have choices.
There are different styles of car washes – some with hanging
towels that run over the car, others with large brush wheels that roll front to
back and back again. The best, however, is the touchless car wash. The others
can leave scratches and marks on the car’s finish.
With a touchless car wash, the only things that touch the
car are soap, pressurized water, spot-free rinse and, if it’s time and you pay
extra, wax.
As for my friend, he’s older and a little wiser now. At
least, that’s what I tell him mornings when I see him in the mirror.
Don’t lose sleep over auto maintenance but don’t neglect it either. A trusted auto repair shop can help
%17-%01-%2013, %Rauto maintenance, auto maintenance Illinois, auto maintenance northern Illinois, auto repairPermalink
Have you ever seen someone who just seems a little carried
away when it comes to maintaining their vehicle? Year after year, day after
day, you see them doting over their car as if it’s the only thing they worry
about, as if it’s their second biggest investment or something. Of course,
chances are, it is their second biggest investment.
Still, maybe there is a point where someone takes auto
maintenance too far.
Boss: “Just a reminder, Linda. We have an important meeting
tomorrow at 9 a.m. with one of our top clients.”
Linda: “I’m sorry, boss. I won’t be able to make it. I have
that time scheduled for checking all the fluids on my car.”
Yes, there probably is such a thing as going too far with
auto maintenance.
“The problem is most people don’t go far enough,” said Denny
Norton, owner of Ringwood based auto repair shop Performance Unlimited.
Few of us wake in the middle of the night wondering, “Did I
miss changing the car’s air filter on schedule?” before rushing to check our
maintenance log. No, most of us rely on a gut feeling that the car may be due
for an oil change. Most other maintenance, the car provides the reminder.
For instance, the car will remind us to check the air
pressure in our tires when the steering feels a little funny and we discover
one or more tires are low. The car will remind us to check the charging system
when the battery is dead one winter day. We’ll know it’s time for a tune up
when the idle is rough or the car dies at each stoplight.
The problem with vehicle induced reminders is they are
usually inconvenient, at best, and costly at worst. For instance, by the time
you notice the car needs a tune up, you may have wasted good money on less than
optimal gas mileage and other costly complications could result.
Your Owner’s Manual provides a full list of required
maintenance for the vehicle. Most Owner’s Manuals include a maintenance log. If
not, you should start one of your own. But you don’t need to ponder over it
nightly, lose sleep thinking about it or put maintenance ahead of picking the
children up from school. The only way maintenance usually interferes with your
personal life is when it’s neglected.
Instead, think of your car’s maintenance log as the
equivalent of the records the doctor looks at when you go in for a checkup. To
know how you are now, the doctor needs to know what conditions you’ve had in
the past, what treatments you’ve had.
When they sell a new car, the manufacturers provide a
maintenance schedule. You might say the schedule is designed to cover their
tails. If anything goes wrong, they can always say, “Well, did you follow the
maintenance schedule?” If not, warranty wise, they may be off the hook. But the
maintenance schedule is good for more than just alibi.
A maintenance schedule will ensure that the vehicle is
maintained at its peak performance and value.
If you’re not sure about this, ask at your trusted auto
repair shop. Any repair shop worth its salt will gladly talk about proper
maintenance and where your vehicle stands.
To speak with someone at Performance Unlimited, call
815-728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
Tips on winter driving without the spin
%09-%01-%2013, %Ricy roads, slick conditions, slippery roads, winter drivingPermalink
The other day, an SUV was westbound on Route 120 approaching
the light at Wonder Lake Road. Though the vehicle wasn’t moving very fast,
apparently due to a dusting of snow on the road, the vehicle suddenly spin around
until it came to a stop facing backwards in the right-turn lane.
Fortunately, no one was approaching the turn intending to
turn north on Wonder Lake Road. Even more fortunately, the SUV didn’t spin into
the approaching lane of traffic as someone was beating the light eastbound on
120.
The point is that, when the roads are slick, there’s an
entirely different nuance to the art of driving. Safe driving in the winter
starts with increased attention to the road. An extra dose or two of caution is
a good thing, too. There is, however, more than you should do if you want to
come through the season with you and your loved ones intact and your vehicle
unscathed.
One of the first things to do is to check your tires. Proper
inflation (see your owner’s manual) is imperative. But, there’s more to it than that.
“You need to look at your tires and check the tread,” said
Denny Norton, owner of Ringwood based Performance Unlimited auto
repair shop. “Having healthy tread on your tires is crucial in the winter.”
Norton said he has clients who store a set of winter tires
in the spring, summer and fall. When the weather begins to turn, they come in
to change out from summer to winter tires.
“There’s no small difference that tires make when driving on
slippery roads,” he said. “Even if you don’t have a special set of tires for
the winter, in these parts, you’ll probably want to make sure you have a good
set of all-season tires on the car.”
Another important factor to consider is your vision. Avoid
the temptation to drive with windows that are only partially cleared. This may
mean you’ll have to leave the house a little earlier so you have time to clean
the windows properly but it’s well worth the effort. Reaction times are
challenged when roads are slick and the ability to see what’s going on around
you is more important than ever.
Good wiper blades, plenty of washer solvent and an effective
defroster in the dashboard are also critical. Even if the windows are clear when
you pull out of the driveway they can frost up without heat from the
defrosters. Snow, slush and salt will conspire as a nasty combination on your
windshield that will seriously reduce your vision.
Norton also offered a warning for those who operate 4-wheel-drive
vehicles.
“4-wheel drive will help you get going in snowy conditions,”
he said. “It doesn’t have an appreciable benefit when you try to stop on a
slippery road, though.”
Everyone at Performance Unlimited wishes you a safe winter
driving season. For more information, call Performance Unlimited at
815-728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
How about a New Year’s resolution to keep your car fit, too
%03-%01-%2013, %Rauto maintenance, car maintenance, fitness, new year's resolution, resolution, weight lossPermalink
New Year’s is a time for resolutions. The most popular
resolution is to hit the gym and get fit, maybe take off a few pounds. Gyms and
fitness centers will see an influx of new members. Unfortunately, within a
month or so, the resolve that brought the new members in will dissolve and the
‘regulars’ will have unfettered access to the fitness equipment.
For those who fear their motivation may wane, Total-U-Fitness offers a solution. Owners
Tony and Michelle Myatt are personal trainers who work closely with their
clients. Their total approach to fitness includes addressing the mental and
emotional aspects that get in the way of success for many.
While making a commitment to improve your physical condition
is a worthy use of a resolution, if you’re in good shape already, or if you
believe more than one resolution is allowed, you might want to make a similar
resolution to keep your car in shape.
The Myatts will be the first to recommend someone you can
trust as a personal trainer. They feel the same way about taking care of their
vehicles. When they look for someone they trust they don’t even need to leave
the confines of Ringwood; they look to Performance Unlimited.
“Your car will take care of you if you take care of your
car,” said Denny Norton, owner of Performance Unlimited. “Preventative
maintenance is low-cost insurance to avoid the kind of road-side breakdowns
that only just start with a costly tow.”
Norton said that, more than just helping to avoid costly
problems, maintenance also helps to maintain the value of the vehicle.
“I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said, ‘An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure,’” Norton said. “He could just as easily
have been talking about cars.”
Norton said proper maintenance starts with timely oil
changes. He described oil as the lifeblood of an engine. There are different
types of oils and manufacturers have different recommendations about when to
change the oil. Norton suggests car owners check their owner’s manual or call
their trusted repair shop for answers.
Of course, maintenance goes beyond changing the oil. Brakes,
suspensions, steering, electrical, the engine: all these and more are integral
parts of a vehicle. Well maintained, they’re more likely to offer uninterrupted
service. Without proper maintenance, it’s a roll of the dice every time an
owner takes the car out for a ride.
Norton said he hopes people stick with their fitness
resolutions. If they also make a resolution to maintain their vehicles in 2013,
he said a quality auto repair shop can help.
For more information about Total-U-Fitness, call 800-559-UFIT
(8348) or visit www.totalufit.com. For
more information about Performance Unlimited, call 815-728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
Do New Year's in style with a limo ride and skip the DUI
%29-%12-%2012, %Rauto accident, auto repair, drunk driving, DUI, limo, limousine, new year's evePermalink
The evening started great for Bob and Linda, and for Bill
and Cindy. Both couples left the kids with trusted babysitters and headed out
to New Year’s parties where they would spend their time with good friends
welcoming in 2013 while bidding 2012 goodbye.
Bob and Linda hired McHenry Limousine Service to ride
to the party in style, picking up some friends along the way. Bill and Cindy
saved their money and drove themselves. In the early hours of Jan. 1, 2013, while
the limo delivered Bob and Linda back home after a delightful evening, Bill took
a ride in the back of a squad car while Cindy took a ride in the back of an
ambulance.
Of course, New Year’s Eve 2012 hasn’t passed into history
books yet. But, the story above is more than likely. It will happen. The names
may be different but, somewhere in Illinois, a Bill or a Cindy or someone by
some other name will spoil the holiday with a DUI. Someone else will experience
the, hopefully, life-saving talents of paramedics at an accident scene. Someone
else won’t be so lucky.
Sergeant Dennis Leard, of the Woodstock Police Department,
said accidents are on the rise. In fact, over the course of last year’s
Christmas and New Year’s holiday, 21 people died on the roads in Illinois.
During last year’s New Year’s holiday, 502 people were injured on roads in the
state.
“If you’re in a crash where someone is killed or seriously
injured, that’s something you never get over,” Sergeant Leard said. “You’ll
carry that with you the rest of your life.”
If someone isn’t drinking and driving, the odds are negligible
that they’ll receive a DUI or cause an alcohol-related accident. All they have
to do is watch out for the people on the road who aren’t so careful. The more someone
drinks, if they do drive, the higher the odds go. Of course, the numbers above
speak to accident related deaths and injuries.
In 2010, law enforcement officers recorded 41,900 DUI
arrests (according
to 2010 Illinois DUI Facts). Drunk driving is based on a driver having .08
percent alcohol in their blood. Getting to that point depends on the weight of
the driver and how much alcohol they had to drink in a given period of time.
DUIs are costly, even when they don’t result in
accident-related civil cases. Sergeant Leard said a straight DUI will cost
upwards of $15,000 these days. That cost doesn’t even begin to consider the
inconvenience of losing a driver’s license.
While the odds of receiving a DUI are hardly worth the cost
on any given night, the odds are much worse over the New Year’s Eve holiday.
Sergeant Leard said that Woodstock, as with other communities in the state, has
received grant money from the state to increase the police presence on the road
that night.
“It’s a sustained traffic enforcement grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation,”
Sergeant Leard said.
While the grant will help to ensure that more drunk drivers
are taken off the road before someone gets hurt, Sergeant Leard said the goal
of the grant is also to encourage people to avoid driving drunk.
“If people know that we’ll be out patrolling the streets in
force, maybe they’ll think twice before they drive drunk,” he said.
Thankfully, many do. As Marty Robb, the owner of McHenry
Limousine Service put it, “New Year’s is always gangbusters. People are just
having a good-old time. That’s why they call us – so they can have fun, get
crazy and not worry.”
As busy as it gets, Robb recommends calling ahead to reserve
a ride. However, he said they’ll also pick people up on the fly, though there
may be a little wait.
Denny Norton, of Ringwood based auto repair service
Performance Unlimited, said he highly recommends McHenry Limousine Service.
They’re prompt, courteous and really add some savoir-faire to an event.
However, Norton added that any limo or cab ride is a good bargain over driving
drunk.
McHenry Limousine Service has 6-passenger and
10-passenger-stretch limos. To schedule a ride, call (815) 344-4466 or visit www.mchenrylimousine.com.
This public service notice is sponsored by Performance
Unlimited, wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year. For more information
about Performance Unlimited, call (815) 728-0343 or visit www.4performanceunlimited.com.
Comments (1)
The holiday commute is no time for thinking about auto maintenance or auto repair
%23-%12-%2012, %Rauto maintenance northern Illinois, auto mechanic, auto repair, winterize, winterize your car, winterizingPermalink
Are you planning a trip for the holiday? Maybe you’ve opted
to skip the groping and full-body scan at the airport; you’ve decided to drive.
Good choice – you’ll save money and avoid the embarrassment.
Of course, you’ll want to drive smart. In other words, you want to make sure
you arrive in time for the opening of presents and the Christmas feast. There’s
never a good time to find yourself stuck on the side of the road. Christmas Eve
and Christmas, however, are particularly bad days for such an event.
First of all, you’re usually going somewhere special on a
day such as that. Any other day, you might be late for work or miss an episode
of Dancing With The Stars. But holidays, such as Christmas, only come once each
year.
Second of all, though we’ve had a mild winter so far, the
weather can turn. There’s word that the weather may have snowy plans for us
already. Dangerous wind chills and deep snow drifts can make mechanical
failures an adventure and, potentially, hazardous.
The third reason you don’t want to breakdown on a holiday
is, just as you have holiday plans, the folks who work on cars, vans, SUVs and
trucks, like to kickback with friends and enjoy the season, too. Finding an
auto repair shop that can work on your car Christmas Day is unlikely, at best.
Even finding a tow truck is problematic on a holiday.
The best answer is proper maintenance. If you take care of
your vehicle, it’s more likely to take care of you, too. That’s not an absolute
guarantee you won’t have a car problem but it does shift the odds strongly in
your favor.
When a car has a breakdown, most of us assume it’s an
unexpected event. Truth is, as with anything mechanical, if it’s not properly
cared for, breakdowns are normal. A factory has a maintenance staff to look
after its equipment because management knows machines will break. A
non-functional machine is a liability for the company. No one is making money
on the machine when it’s idle.
A vehicle is a machine that provides transportation. When a
punch press at a factory breaks, no one has to call a tow truck and no one is
stuck on the side of the road. When your car breaks, there’s a good chance your
away from home and you will need a tow.
Denny Norton, the owner of Ringwood based Performance Unlimited, wishes
you a happy and safe holiday season.
Every day driving or performance driving – Ringwood’s Performance Unlimited has the answers
%20-%12-%2012, %Rauto maintenance, auto maintenance Illinois, auto maintenance northern Illinois, safe drivingPermalink
Performance Unlimited is well known as the place to go for
superior auto repair services. However, as their name implies, Performance
Unlimited is also the top performer in McHenry County for folks who want their
rides to go a bit faster, a bit quicker and with a bit more torque.
A walk through the shop at Performance Unlimited reveals
some of the evidence that the mechanics in here know their way around a family
car engine as well as a high performance power plant. Sometimes the classic
Chevy Corvette over there, or the ’57 Chevy Nomad here, the 1970 Plymouth
Roadrunner on the lift: these all stand as testimony to the superior knowledge
and skill the mechanics at Performance Unlimited bring to the table.
But performance isn’t merely limited to the horses under the
hood; performance starts where the rubber meets the asphalt. Classic car
collectors frequently turn to Performance Unlimited for complete restorations
because they know that, when Performance Unlimited is done with the project,
the car will roll out of the show as pristine as the day it rolled off the
assembly line.
Last year, Performance Unlimited offered a suspension and
steering tech workshop for area racers and enthusiasts. As owner Denny Norton
said at the time, “Your suspension and steering are at least as important as
what you have under the hood. True racers consider all aspects of their
racecars and look for every trick that can give them an edge.”
Of course, for those who only want their vehicles to bring
them safely to and from work, the grocery store, picking up children from
school and other travels of life, Performance Unlimited is equally adept at
providing peak performance, from optimal gas mileage, to reliability and the
long life of their cars, for every day drivers.
So, whether you’re looking to cut your lap time at the track
or you just want to make sure the car is ready for taking the family on
vacation this summer, Performance Unlimited is the answer.
To learn more about Performance Unlimited, call
815-728-0343 or visit: http://www.4performanceunlimited.com.