North Kansas City Auto Repair

Taking care of our tires is a vital part of car care for North Kansas City drivers. We know they have to be replaced when they wear out, but tires also require some essential preventive maintenance. This maintenance will improve fuel efficiency and extend the life of the tires, so it’s well worth the effort and expense for North Kansas City car owners to get it done. Tire maintenance includes keeping tires properly inflated, rotating tires and balancing wheels. The recommended tire pressure for a vehicle’s tires is printed on a sticker on the inside of the driver’s side doorjamb. A lot of engineering goes into calculating the correct pressure, so it’s an important number for North Kansas City motorists to know. Not following this recommendation can throw off the suspension system and can lead to expensive tire damage. Underinflated tires wear out more quickly than properly inflated tires. Vehicles also get better traction, handling and fuel economy on properly in ... read more

When we shop for shoes, most of us know that we can get two pairs of cheap shoes or one good pair for about the same price. And since the two cheap pairs wear out in about the same time as the good pair, there really is no difference in cost. If you like having a closet full of shoes to match your moods and outfits, then cheap shoes can be what you want. But if you spend a lot of time on your feet, you probably know that cheap shoes can come with an added cost of sore feet and other foot ailments. When you add in the benefits of comfort and protection, the more expensive shoes are actually the better value. Buying tires at Northtown Auto Clinic in North Kansas City is a lot like buying shoes, except that North Kansas City drivers’ vehicles don’t have changeable apparel and don’t need a closet full of tires to match. Vehicles spend a lot of time on their tires—all the time, in fact—so they need tires that can stand up to t ... read more

Remember snow tires? They were basically just regular tires with big, knobby lugs to get them through deep snow. They were loud and rode hard, and North Kansas City drivers couldn’t wait to get them off the car. Then along came television advertisements for “all-season” radials. Missouri motorists ran out and bought some and we thought we were done with snow tires forever. Tires have come a long way since then. Modern winter tires sold in the Kansas City area are much better designed for the wide range of dangerous conditions that come with Missouri winter weather. They are made with a rubber compound that helps them stay flexible in cold weather. Regular tires become hard and stiff at North Kansas City temperatures below 45°F, which reduces their traction. That’s a critical concern in winter, especially with snowy or wet North Kansas City conditions. But it also means that North Kansas City auto owners are better off with winter tires in cold weather even when it ... read more

Today’s tires and wheels offer a lot of options for every North Kansas City driver’s style, habits and driving conditions. Tires are designed for high-performance in winter or summer and even come in a long-wearing variety for all Missouri seasons. North Kansas City off-roaders should be excited about the options available to them as well. The tread on off-road tires is designed to handle the wear from bumps and rocks. The tires’ high profile protects rims from damage. But what if you own an SUV but aren’t interested in off-roading around North Kansas City? You can change out those high-profile beasts for a lower, wider look if it suits your style. Northtown Auto Clinic tire professionals can offer great auto advice on how to choose tires that match your needs and style. The same goes for wheels. When North Kansas City motorists shop for new wheels, they can be hard-pressed to make a selection f ... read more

Most Kansas City motorists know that tires wear out and that the wear has to do with tread depth. Most of us have heard that “bald” tires are dangerous, but most of us picture a tire with no tread at all when we think of a bald tire. And when we take our vehicles in for preventive maintenance, the technician tells us they’re need to be replaced long before all the tread is worn off. Just how much tire tread wear is too much? And how can you tell? Tires are costly and their condition is important to the safe handling of a vehicle, so it’s critical for Kansas City car owners to know the answers to these questions. First of all, it’s vital to understand that there may be a legal limit to tread wear. If your tires are worn past this limit, you have to replace them to be in compliance with Missouri auto safety laws. That’s why measuring your tread wear is part of a vehicle safety inspection. In some jurisdictions, tread must ... read more

It seems like everywhere you go in the Kansas City area you see custom wheels. Big trucks, little cars, mini-vans – it doesn’t matter, motorists are expressing themselves with custom wheels. Some Missouri motorists want smaller tires and wheels – some want larger – and some want them enormous. So where do you start if you want new wheels? At Northtown Auto Clinic, we suggest you start with your budget. We know, that sounds so practical. But if the look you’re after goes beyond just new tires and wheels and enters into the world of suspension modifications, you need to be prepared for the additional cost. Let’s start with something easy – you want to give your ride a unique look and the stock wheel size is just right for you. One of the concerns you will have is that the new wheels have the same offset as your SUV factory wheels. First, what is offset? The wheel bolts onto the hub on the SUV’s axle. The distan ... read more

Welcome to the Northtown Auto Clinic automotive blog. Today, let’s talk about the effect of tire tread depth on braking. When talking about stopping power, most North Kansas City and Parkville drivers tend to focus on our brakes. But our tires are where the rubber meets the road. So having good brakes isn’t enough. Safe Parkville drivers need to have tires with enough traction to translate braking power into stopping power. Let’s focus on stopping in wet Parkville conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can’t move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water. That’s called hydroplaning. If it’s really bad, Parkville car owners can actually spin out of control – endangering themselves and the other drivers around them. At best, you won’t stop as fast ... read more

A lot of people get custom wheels in North Kansas City. When you do this yourself (over the internet . . .) you could run into trouble if you’re not careful. Sometimes, once they’re mounted, they just don’t fit right. The tires rub in turns or on bumps. You don’t want that. Consulting your Northtown Auto Clinic tire professional can ensure you get the right fit. First he’ll ask you a series of questions about your North Kansas City driving needs and what you want in your new wheels. Now, not every wheel can go on every car. Care must be taken so that tires and wheels are not too large or that the wheel is centered too far towards the outside or the inside so the tires rub. If you don’t want to make any modifications to your SUV, you would need to focus on the wheels that would fit. With trucks, some North Kansas City people like much bigger tires so they need a sus ... read more

A lot of us North Kansas City motorists like our vehicles to reflect our personalities. We’re picky about color and body style. We’ll customize anything from floor mats to window tints to license plates. One popular way for Missouri auto owners to customize a vehicle is to get new wheels. Wheels come in thousands of designs. Custom wheels can add personality, style or sass to a vehicle. Many of these customizations involve getting a bigger wheel. Fifteen or sixteen-inch wheels used to be the factory standard, But today, because a lot of North Kansas City drivers like the look of larger wheels, many vehicles are available with seventeen or eighteen-inch wheels. Optional wheel packages of twenty inches or more are also available in North Kansas City. If you want to upsize the wheels on your current vehicle, however, you should know it’s not a do-it-yourself project. There are important factors involved in ensuring your wheel change doesn’t jeop ... read more

Our vehicles are not massage chairs. While we may enjoy a good vibration in an overstuffed recliner, us North Kansas City car owners generally want as smooth a ride as possible in our vehicles. One way to achieve this is to keep a vehicle’s wheels in balance. When a tire is mounted onto a wheel, it is usually out of balance. This means that as the wheel spins, there is a slight wobble to the path of the tire. For best handling performance and safety on the road, North Kansas City drivers want to minimize this wobble as much as possible. So we balance our tires. To balance a tire, your friendly Northtown Auto Clinic technician spins it on a machine or drum to determine where it is off-balance. He then attaches weights that counter-balance the uneven weight. Most North Kansas City motorists are surprised at how much balancing improves the smoothness of their ride. High-quality tires generally hold their balance well. But over time, wear ... read more