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Wheel Alignment
Wheel alignment, which is sometimes referred to as breaking or tracking, is part of standard automobile maintenance that consists of adjusting the angles of wheels to the car manufacturer specifications. The purpose of these adjustments is to reduce tire wear and to ensure that vehicle travel is straight and true (without "pulling" to one side). Alignment angles can also be altered beyond the maker's specifications to obtain a specific handling characteristic. Motorsport and off-road applications may call for angles to be adjusted well beyond normal, for a variety of reasons. Primary angles The primary angles are the basic angle alignment of the wheels relative to each other and to the car body. These adjustments are the camber, caster and toe. On some cars, not all of these can be adjusted on every wheel. These three parameters can be further categorized into front and rear (with no caster on the rear, typically not being steered wheels). In summary, the parameters are: * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Focus
The Ford Focus is a compact car (C-segment in Europe) manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1998 until 2025. It was created under Alexander Trotman's Ford 2000 plan, which aimed to globalize model development and sell one compact vehicle worldwide. The original Focus was primarily designed by Ford of Europe's German and British teams. Production of the fourth generation Focus began in 2018 in Germany and China. In 2025, Ford announced that the Focus will no longer be built, in line with an announcement made in 2022. Naming The decision to name the new car the "Ford Focus" was made in early 1998, as Ford's senior management had been planning to keep the "Escort" nameplate for its new generation of small family cars. A last-minute problem arose in July 1998 when a Cologne court, responding to a case brought by the publisher Burda, ordered Ford to avoid the name "Focus" for the cars in the German market since the name was already taken by one of its magazines. This eleventh-ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automobile
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, people rather than cargo. There are around one billion cars in use worldwide. The French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first steam-powered road vehicle in 1769, while the Swiss inventor François Isaac de Rivaz designed and constructed the first internal combustion-powered automobile in 1808. The modern car—a practical, marketable automobile for everyday use—was invented in 1886, when the German inventor Carl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Commercial cars became widely available during the 20th century. The 1901 Oldsmobile Curved Dash and the 1908 Ford Model T, both American cars, are widely considered the first mass-produced and mass-affordable cars, respectively. Cars were rapidly adopted in the US, where they replac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tire
A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, designed to match the vehicle's weight and the bearing on the surface that it rolls over by exerting a pressure that will avoid deforming the surface. The materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric, and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tire tread, tread and a body. The tread provides Traction (engineering), traction while the body provides containment for a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camber Angle
Camber angle is one of the angles made by the wheels of a vehicle; specifically, it is the angle between the vertical axis of a wheel and the vertical axis of the vehicle when viewed from the front or rear. It is used in the creation of steering and suspension (vehicle), suspension. If the top of the wheel is further out than the bottom (that is, tilted away from the axle), it is called positive camber; if the bottom of the wheel is further out than the top, it is called negative camber. Effect on handling Camber angle alters the Automobile handling, handling qualities of some suspension designs; in particular, negative camber improves grip in corners especially with a Double wishbone suspension#Short long arms suspension, short long arms suspension. This is because it places the tire at a better angle to the road, transmitting the Centrifugal force#Examples, centrifugal forces through the vertical plane of the tire rather than through a Shear strength, shear force across i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caster Angle
250px, θ is the caster angle, the red line is the pivot line, and the grey area is the tire. 250px, Front suspension of a race carthe caster angle is formed by the line between upper and lower ball joint The caster angle or castor angle is the angular displacement of the steering axis from the vertical axis of a steered wheel in a car, motorcycle, bicycle, other vehicle or a vessel, as seen from the side of the vehicle. The steering axis in a car with dual ball joint suspension is an imaginary line that runs through the center of the upper ball joint to the center of the lower ball joint, or through the center of the kingpin for vehicles having a kingpin. Caster causes a wheel to align with the direction of travel, and can be accomplished either by caster displacement or caster angle. Caster displacement moves the steering axis ahead of the axis of wheel rotation, as with the front wheels of a shopping cart. Caster angle moves the steering axis from vertical. In automobi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toe (automotive)
In automotive engineering, toe, also known as tracking, is the symmetric angle that each wheel makes with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, as a function of static geometry, and kinematic and compliant effects. This can be contrasted with steer, which is the antisymmetric angle, i.e. both wheels point to the left or right, in parallel (roughly). Negative toe, or toe out, is the front of the wheel pointing away from the centreline of the vehicle. Positive toe, or toe in, is the front of the wheel pointing towards the centreline of the vehicle. Historically, and still commonly in the United States, toe was specified as the linear difference (either inches or millimeters) of the distance between the two front-facing and rear-facing tire centerlines at the outer diameter and axle-height; since the toe angle in that case depends on the tire diameter, the linear dimension toe specification for a particular vehicle is for specified tires. Description In a rear-wheel drive vehicl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrub Radius
In an automobile's suspension system, the scrub radius is the distance in front view between the king pin axis and the center of the contact patch of the wheel, where both would theoretically touch the road. It can be positive, negative or zero. The kingpin axis also known as steering inclination is the line between the upper and lower pivot points of the steering knuckle. If the kingpin axis intersection point is outboard of the center of the contact patch, it is negative; if inside the contact patch, it is positive. The term scrub radius derives from the fact that either in the positive or negative mode, the tire does not turn on its centerline (it scrubs the road in a turn) and due to the increased friction, more effort is needed to turn the wheel. Large positive values of scrub radius, 4 inches/100 mm or so, were used in cars for many years. The advantage of this is that the tire rolls as the wheel is steered, which reduces the effort when parking, provided you'r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front) axle and the centerpoint of the driving axle group. In the case of a tri-axle truck, the wheelbase would be the distance between the steering axle and a point midway between the two rear axles. Vehicles The wheelbase of a vehicle equals the distance between its front and rear wheels. At equilibrium, the total torque of the forces acting on a vehicle is zero. Therefore, the wheelbase is related to the force on each pair of tires by the following formula: :F_f = mg :F_r = mg where F_f is the force on the front tires, F_r is the force on the rear tires, L is the wheelbase, d_r is the distance from the center of mass (CM) to the rear wheels, d_f is the distance from the center of mass to the front wheels (d_f + d_r = L), m is the mass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auto Mechanic
An auto mechanic is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more List of car brands, automobile brands or sometimes working with any brand. In fixing cars, their main role is to Diagnosis, diagnose and repair the problem accuratelSeasoned auto repair shops start with a (Digital) Inspection to determine the vehicle conditions, independent of the customers concern. Based on the concern, the inspection results and preventative maintenance needs, the mechanic/technician returns the findings to the service advisor who then gets approval for any or all of the proposed work. The approved work will be assigned to the mechanic on a work order. Their work may involve the repair of a specific part or the replacement of one or more parts as assemblies. Basic Service (motor vehicle), vehicle maintenance is a fundamental part of a mechanic's work in modern industrialized countries, while in others they are only consulted when a vehicle is already show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automotive Service Excellence
The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is a professional certification group that certifies professionals and shops in the automotive repair and service industry in the United States and parts of Canada. It is an independent, non-profit organization created in 1972 in response to consumers needing to distinguish between potentially incompetent and competent automotive technicians. The organization aims to improve the quality of vehicle repair and service through the testing and certification of repair and service professionals. ASE Certification ASE offers certification tests for automotive professionals through Prometric Test Centers. These involve several exams, the passing of which, added with two years of relevant hands-on work experience, will merit certification. The required experience can be substituted by one year of on-the-job training and a two-year training degree. A recertification track is also offered for those who have had previous cer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Car Handling
Automobile handling and vehicle handling are descriptions of the way a wheeled vehicle responds and reacts to the inputs of a driver, as well as how it moves along a track or road. It is commonly judged by how a vehicle performs particularly during cornering, acceleration, and braking as well as on the vehicle's directional stability when moving in steady state condition. In the automotive industry, handling and braking are the major components of a vehicle's "active" safety. They also affect its ability to perform in auto racing. The maximum lateral acceleration is, along with braking, regarded as a vehicle’s ''road holding'' ability. Automobiles driven on public roads whose engineering requirements emphasize handling over comfort and passenger space are called sports cars. Design factors that affect automobile handling Weight distribution Centre of mass height The centre of mass height, also known as the centre of gravity height, or CGZ, relative to the track, de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
