East Lansing Auto Repair

Brakes are one of the most important parts of your car. Without a gas pedal you wouldn’t get anywhere, and without a brake pedal, you wouldn’t get there in one piece. So, what are they? Whether you’re braking on a bicycle, motorcycle, or car, you’re always using friction. On cars this is accomplished either through disc brakes or drum brakes. Disc brakes work by having brake pads ‘pinch’ a brake disc (often referred to as a rotor) attached to the wheel. Drum brakes involve a ‘drum’ attached to, or as a part of a vehicle's wheel assembly that houses the mechanical parts of the brake. Two shoes, similar in effect to brake pads, inside the drum push against the wall of the drum to slow the vehicle. Disc brakes are what you’ll find on most cars today, though some vehicles are made with disc brakes on the front wheels and drum brakes on the rear wheels. Disc brakes are much easier to maintain and replace than drum brakes, and c ... read more

Americans use nearly 300 million tires every year. They help keep us on the road and in Michigan, they try to keep us going over potholes, snow and ice throughout the year. On the face of it tires are pretty simple, they’re made of rubber and filled with air. The most commonly referenced parts of a tire are the tread, sidewall, shoulder, and bead. The tread is the part of the tire that contacts the road. Treads come in different designs for different purposes, accounting for weather, noise and environment. Winter tread has larger gaps in it to compress snow and increase control. While your average every-day tire will have minimal gaps and a basic design to increase friction and reduce costs. Lower than recommended PSI means more of your tire is contacting the road, increasing friction. However if tire pressure is low enough it can cause the tread of the tire to bend inward, creating a concave contact point. This means that the center part of the tire is no longer in contact with ... read more

H&H Mobil offers a variety of maintenance services for your vehicle, things like, checking your tires, brakes, and yes, oil changes. Changing your vehicle's oil is one of the best ways to extend the life of your vehicle and while trying to fit in an oil change during a busy week can be difficult, H&H Mobil offers rides to and from your work or home to make it a bit more manageable. So, what does oil do, and why do you need to change it so often? Engine oil acts as a lubricant, coating moving parts in your vehicle's engine to reduce friction and prevent rusting. The movement of oil through the vehicle also helps to cool the engine. Making the vehicle as a whole operate more efficiently, save fuel and as previously mentioned, extend the vehicle's life. Oil grades are broken down into two parts, put simply, cold and hot viscosity. For a typical oil, say 5W-30, the ‘W’ stands for winter and the ‘5’ rates how resistant the oil is to thickening ... read more