Posts Tagged body

The Importance of Vehicle Safety Inspections After a Collision

Posted on April 21, 2011 | Automotive Repair.

Navigating the auto collision repair process can be bewildering and frustrating, especially for car owners who don’t know much about automotive repair. Not only do insurance claims need to be filed and negotiated, but the vehicle’s repairs and overall safety need to be addressed. There are many issues which may influence a car’s safety after it’s been in a collision, and it’s important that these issues not be overlooked during the repair process. To ensure your car’s collision repairs are comprehensive and thorough, it’s a good idea to have a post-repair vehicle safety inspection performed by a professional vehicle safety specialist.

Hidden Collision Damages

When a car is in a collision, the worst damage is often the unseen damage which happens to the car’s frame and internal components. These components are often more difficult – and costly – to fix, and if the insurance company’s repair appraisal is too low, some of these problems may get overlooked. Internal car damage may not be visible, but it can compromise a vehicle’s safety significantly.

Vehicle frame damage is one of the most commonly overlooked collision repair issues, especially when the vehicle was in a moderate to severe accident. A crumpled, bent or fractured frame compromises the strength of the whole vehicle, diminishing the car’s ability to safely withstand a second accident. Similarly, internal components such as frame rails are often damaged during a collision, but may be overlooked during fast, low estimate repairs. To restore the vehicle to its pre-collision safety, these internal damages need to be fixed.

Not All Collision Repair Shops Are Equal

Most collision repair shops offer the same set of services, but the quality and thoroughness of these services can vary widely from shop to shop. Some auto body shops work to complete repairs as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible. While this tends to make car owners and insurance companies happy initially, quick, shoddy repairs can lead to more severe problems down the road – compromised vehicle safety not the least.

Auto body shops which perform thorough, high quality collision repair are more likely to dig below the surface to address damages which might have gone unnoticed. These types of shops can often be distinguished from other, lower quality collision shops by their accreditations. NAPA AutoCare Collision Center, A.A.A. Approved Collision Center and Accredited Better Business Bureau certifications are good indicators that an auto body shop will keep your and your family’s personal safety as their highest priority.

Post-Collision Safety Inspection Checklist

Before taking your car home from the collision repair shop, it’s important to make sure all your vehicle’s key safety features are working properly. Ask your collision repair shop to perform a 15 point vehicle safety inspection which covers the following:

  • Fluid levels – need to be topped off and checked for leaks.
  • Tire pressure – needs to be equal and at appropriate levels.
  • Tire wear condition – excessively or unevenly worn tires are unsafe during inclement weather.
  • Suspension – needs to be structurally sound, without any bent, fractured or missing parts.
  • Belts – check to make sure these are all still flexible, properly placed and working.
  • Engine coolant hoses – need to be secure and leak-free.
  • Car battery – check for dirty connection or old battery in need of replacement.
  • Windshield wipers – make sure these are not cracked or worn, to ensure good visibility during nighttime and inclement weather.

Toyota Hilux Surf Engines

Posted on April 15, 2011 | Automotive Repair.

The Hilux Surf line of vehicles made by Toyota is predominantly classed as off road transportation. First introduced in 1984 into Toyota’s line up, they decided to not build the vehicle from the ground up as an entirely new model but rather took an existing model, the Hilux, and made modifications to it.

First generation of the model produced from 1984-1989
This first incarnation of the model was mechanically identical to the Toyota Hilux pickup. Toyota simply added a removable fibreglass top to it to change it into a Hilux Surf. All models had two doors and were identical from the dashboard forward to the Hilux. Almost all of the changes to make it a Hilux Surf were done to the rear half of the vehicle. Rear springs were downgraded from the Hilux pickup model and contained one less leaf. This resulted in problems later as with the addition of rear seats and the fibreglass top the rear leafs tended to sag over time.

1986 saw the model undergo some serious front suspension design changes. The solid front axle previously used was changed over to an independent front suspension setup. This allowed the model to be more driveable at highway speeds and also created more room in the engine bay allowing the use of larger engines in future models. While this change did have an impact on the off road capabilities of the vehicle the solid front axle was retained on the Hilux pickup models.

In 1989 Toyota released the second generation of the model, this model ran from 1989 – 1995, the vehicle was redesigned but kept its reliance based on the Hilux puckup. The newer generation still looked similar to the Hilux pickup but they also included a full steel integrated body instead of the bolt on fibreglass cap. This generation also saw the use of rear coil spring suspension system which in time would be known for having the same sagging issues as the leaf spring design did. Most second generation Hilux Surf’s are five door models. While most other manufacturers were making offroad vehicles as pickups with tailgates that folded down the Hilux Surf also had a window in the tailgate which had to be lowered before the tailgate could be opened.

In 1995 Toyota released its third generation of the model, this model would run from 1995-2002. Key changes for this generation were the exterior. It received an all new body shell on an all new chassis. In this generation the model shared practically nothing with the Hilux pickup. It began to have more in common with a Land Cruiser than it did with the vehicle it was originally based on. The body was made to be longer, more interior space was available, the inclusion of dual air bags, four wheel coil spring suspension, ABS brakes, and a rack and pinion steering system were a standard now where they had not been in the past.

In 2002 Toyota released its fourth generation of the model, this run lasted from 2002-2009. The chassis and body were once again changed significantly. The vehicle was now targeted at people looking for a medium sized semi luxury off road vehicle. Most of the chassis continued to be shared with the Land Cruiser of the same years.

2009 saw the launch of the present fifth generation of the Toyota Hilux Surf. This vehicle is still in production now and is in high demand across the world. Gaining popularity over the years in both off road markets and also for the normal commuter markets as well. This if a robust line of vehicles that ticks many of the boxes people are looking for when purchasing an off road vehicle.