Our Blog - Pellon Tyres And Auto Centre Halifax

BUYING TYRES ONLINE-BE CAREFUL ?

18th June 2019/2 Comments/in All Tyre Articles /by Eric

Know what you want before buying tyres online

More and more motorists are buying tyres online. This is a growing trend as it is with most consumer products. I as a tyre dealer for 40 years have no problem with this, as long as the person buying the tyres knows exactly what they are looking for, and buy the correct tyres for their car.

I speak from experience when I say this because of the problems that have occurred when they have bought the tyres from the internet. The tyre market can be a mine field of different

Blackcircles now have a tie with Tesco to obtain Tesco club-card points when buying tyres online from Blackcircles

sizes, types and products and buying the wrong product can lead to safety issues. So it is very important to get all your facts and details correctly from your old ones, before proceeding buying your tyres online.

In the past few years there have been a few different methods for buying tyres online. The first method of buying your tyres and have them fitted at a designated fitting station in your area. Here in Halifax we are a premier fitting station for Blackcircles, probably one of the oldest web based suppliers of tyres. This method is a good method provided you buy your tyres from a reputable web site. I say this because it is important to find out where your tyres will be fitted at. Blackcircles have sourced out the cream of the tyre fitting stations here in the UK, but some websites will direct you to some so called back street garages, with very little tyre experience to fall back on. Halifax Online.

I say this because we get online customers with all sorts of problems, such as wrong sizes ordered, wrong speed and load ratings that have been ordered incorrectly and one of the worse is customers who turn up without their locking wheel nut removal tool. These problems will be overcome and corrected at a reputable fitting station, but I am not sure at some of the newer tyre spots that I have seen opening up in recent years.

Another type of online store to open in recent years has been a site such as ASDA tyres. The tyres are bought on the Asda Online Shopping web site, but you pay the chosen retailer in your area for the tyres that you have bought. The customer pays for the tyres online and gets a printed e-mail at the same time as the retailer does. The customer then arranges to have the tyres fitted at a time that is convenient to both parties. As a tyre retailer I find this the one of the best methods, because we get the actual sale of the tyres. Because we supply and fit the tyres, we are responsible for the whole operation and if there are any warranty problems or the wheels need re-balancing a couple of weeks later then we are the ones to correct and sort out the customers problems.

Local tyre dealers now have websites for buying tyres online

The latest online trend is for the tyre retailer to have their own website, selling their tyres to local people online. In the past we have not been able to afford the large fees to set these online shops up and because of this we were left a bit behind by these massive supermarkets and other online giants, but now the small tyre retailer can compete. This in our case was due to a tyre wholesaler by the name of Micheldever, and there are many tyre companies that are thankful for their help in setting up an online tyre shop.

To sum up buying tyres online is becoming more popular, but please make sure that you have all the correct information that is on your old tyres,(some have different tyre sizes on the front and rear) check out where the company is sending you for your tyres fitting, I would not like to turn up in my nice BMW to some of these tyre shops to have my tyres fitted. The most important advice is that if you are not sure what you are buying, just go down to your local tyre centre for advice, many tyre centre will now compete with the large companies on price and you know that when you get a problem, you will have someone to turn to and not just a load of e-mails passing backwards and forwards trying to fob you off. Also an established tyre company is likely to carry the correct insurance and have good customer facilities while they are waiting for their tyres to be fitted such as a TV lounge and warm drinks in winter.

Look for the Point-s sign

If you do not know of a tyre centre in your area look on line for www.point-s tyres.co.uk, you will be directed to your nearest approved centre, and you can even buy your tyres from their website.

As a latest update;Michelin have now purchased BlackCircles and are expected to put most of their fitting jobs through ATS tyres a subsidiary of Michelin.

Article written by Eric Roberts… www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Leisure Battery Suppliers UK, All types of 12 volt Leisure Batteries- Online to most UK Areas.

17th June 2019/1 Comment/in All Battery Information /by Eric

Leisure Battery Suppliers

As a result, we sell all types of 12 volt Leisure Batteries and Deep Cycle Batteries Online.Hence, with UK Free Delivery. Leisure Batteries, Deep Cycle Batteries 12 Volt. Including Caravan Batteries, Motorhome Batteries, …

eric roberts‘s insight:

Leisure battery

BatteriesOnTheWeb offer great choice and quality at excellent prices

One of the most up and coming Leisure Battery Suppliers to trade on the internet are Batteries On The Web . The company have now been trading online

for five years. Of course,and are rapidly building up a reputation. Thus, for their service and an excellent range of battery products.

The owner has actually been in business selling Batteries for 35 years . Consequently, in his battery store located in Halifax West Yorkshire UK. Because of their success they decided to start selling on line using the web name of www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk . The company have now gone from strength to strength; selling many different types of Caravan Leisure Batteries, such as for golf, UPS systems, trucks, tractors even for kids ride on toys and many more applications.

The online store are one of the countries largest Leisure Battery Suppliers and also offers other top name batteries, most of who are made by Johnson controls, the World’s biggest battery makers or made by Yuasa batteries. Some of our

Johnson Controls Leisure Battery Suppliers a snowy winter scene

names include Varta, FirstPower, Trojan batteries, Lucas batteries, Numax leisure batteries and much more.

They also sell other products such as Ring Electrical battery chargers and C-Tech battery chargers, along with Poorboy’s car cleaning products. Altogether a good selection for the online customer to browse through.

The companies motto is “We offer old fashion Values, using modern day technology”

Eric Roberts member of POINT-S

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years.

See on misha88.skyrock.com

Car Tyres Repairs from Repair Specialists

17th June 2019/0 Comments/in All Tyre Articles /by Eric

Car Tyres Repairs from Repair Specialists

We can now repair your tyres with a nail in the shoulder or sidewall ?

Car Tyres Repairs from Repair Specialists

So a little bit of history ! As a life long tyre guy then specialists tyre repairs have always been around. Of course I can now go back to the very beginning when the radial car tyres were introduced. Firstly many of these tyres were fitted with inner tubes. Especially the Michelin tyre brand on the early French imported cars. Including Renault and Citroen. So, car tyres containing Inner tubes were very common. Also relatively easy to repair. When the tubes were removed they were either repairable or ripped to pieces ! Due them being run on when deflated.

Then came the “tubeless tyres”

Very early in my tyre career, we were introduced to the “tubeless tyres”. These are still the norm in today’s tyre market. Remembering that my manager at the time said they would “never catch on” !

Consequently, we were given some primitive training on how to mend these tyres when they had a puncture. All sorts of ne products were introduced and shown to us by different tyre repair sales men. So, one guy tried to sell us what was a ball of string soaked in vulcanised rubber. A piece was cut off the ball and pushed through the hole in the tyres tread ! Where the nail had penetrated the tyre. This I will never forget ! Because his demonstration tyre had about 500 of these pieces of string pushed into holes ! While the tyre was still inflated.

So it resembled a large hedgehog ! Very strange ! However this never took off and a sort of mushroom repair patch became the standard. The repair area was buffed and cleaned of any dirt. Probable cause would be a nail or screw. As a result the object was removed and the hole drilled to take one of the mushroom repair patches.

These were to be the answer for years to come. The stem of the mushroom would fill the hole caused by the nail and the inside had a vulcanised patch covering the internal damaged area ! perfect !

Repairing a large SUV tyre

Bigger holes required a different repair method

Moving on a few years, then I got a job working for a tyre repair specialists in Leeds. So, the coal and steel industry in the UK was at full swing. Consequently, there was a need to repair the giant tyre that were fitted to the giant earth-moving machines. Significantly larger than the car tyres that I was used to repairing and a new challenge.

Believe it or not the systems for repairing were much the same except of course the difference in size. In fact you could get inside most of these large tyre to repair them. So, in the next five years I was able to learn a great deal about different tyre repairing methods. Of course this was to help me in the coming years of owning my own tyre business.

So, to bring us up to date we have now installed a “hot vulcanised car tyre repair machine“. Car tyre have become much larger in recent years. Of course mainly due to the advent of the SUV type of vehicles and large motorhomes. Tyre damage to the shoulder area can be repaired by using our specialist equipment. Although good profit for us , then it can also save the customer a small fortune ? naturally by not having to buy a new tyre.

All round tyre service

As a tyre centre owner for over forty years now, then it has always been my aim to be an all round tyre service facility for my customers in the Halifax area. So the addition of such equipment including an alloy wheel straightening machine . Including a new “four wheel alignment centre” has brought us very close to achieving this goal.

Eric Roberts

Could Driverless Cars Empty Cities?Autonomous cars could see Brits escape to suburbs – Car Keys

17th June 2019/in All Car Manufacturer Articles /by Eric

Could Driverless Cars Empty Cities

It comes as no surprise that the first autonomous systems. Able to control steering, braking, and accelerating. So, have already started appearing in cars. Automobile giants like Ford, GM, Toyota, Nissan, Volvo, and Audi have all shown off cars that can drive themselves. As a result, they have all declared that within a decade. They plan to sell some form of advanced automated cars.

Thus, taking over driving on highways or to be able to park themselves in a garage. Google, meanwhile, is investing millions in autonomous driving software. Subsequently, its driverless cars have become a familiar sight. Especially, on the highways around Silicon Valley. Hence, over the last several years.

The first autonomous systems, which are able to control most of the cars systems. Therefore, have already started appearing in cars. The big car manufactures, have all shown off cars that can drive themselves. I must confess that this is something that I cant get my head round? The thought of all these cars bobbing about town scares the pants off me.

Especially in small towns with Victorian infrastructure such as in Halifax here in the UK. So it may be OK in Silicon valley, but not many other places. I realise that If we think about it, we humans actually make terrible drivers. Not to mention, reckless drivers. People who fiddle with their phones, maps or GPS while driving are responsible for significant number of accidents.

The software that self-driving cars uses is smart enough to detect the wait time at traffic signals and also on road stops which would reduce unnecessary traffic congestion on busy streets. I do agree though with the people who took part in this survey. if I lived in a town or city then I would move to the country side. Escape would be the only way. However I do not think it will happen in my lifetime?

Eric Roberts

What the survey says about the autonomous cars-

Autonomous cars could see Brits escape to suburbs – Car Keys

Car Care Month October-Autumn CAR CARE Month-Check Your Car Before the On-set of Winter

16th June 2019/in All Car Repair Articles /by Eric

Car Care Month-October

October is Fall Car Care Month

YNN

Uneven wear indicates the need for a wheel alignment. Tires should also be checked for bulges and bald spots. Check the tire pressure and tread depth once a month.

eric roberts‘s insight:

Car care all ties up with the UK tyre safe Month

As October Car Care Month nears the end and the really cold and bad weather approaches, we all still have time to have a real good look at your car tyres. It is important to have the correct tyre pressures, which is essential for your family’s safety when driving on our busy roads. The last thing that a driver wants is to have a tyre blow out on them while driving down a busy Motorway, or in rush hour traffic, so take the first step and please check yourTyre Pressures.

Another point about under inflated tyres is that they will not last as long, they wear at a quicker rate, without the Correct Pressures. Also you will use

Car Care Month;check your light bulbs

less fuel if your tyres are not at the correct pressures and the car will not handle as good and could cause you to lose control of your car when cornering and braking.

This month, October Car Care Month is the time to start the habit of checking your tyre Air Pressure and then you can get into the habit of checking your tyres on a monthly basis, if you are not sure of how to do this, or some people may not want to get dirty, you can call into your local Tyre Car Care Centre and you will be able to get a FREE tyre check, it is well worth the ten minutes of your time and could save you money on your fuel consumption.

If you are struggling to find a good tyre dealer in Car Care Month, you can do so by looking online to find a member of POINT-S Tyres.

Thanks Eric Roberts a member of TYRESAFE.ORG

See on rochester.ynn.com

New Tyres Fitted-WHERE DO YOU FIT THEM ON YOUR CAR ?

16th June 2019/3 Comments/in All Tyre Articles /by Eric

When you have some New Tyres Fitted which way should you choose to fit them on to your car?

The best advice when you have New Tyres Fitted would be to fit them onto the front. This is of course if you are buying two tyres. If you were buying four then there would be no problem, they would simply go straight onto the four wheels of the car.

Before front wheel drive cars came along, we would have your New Tyres Fitted onto the rear drive wheels. This was to give more traction to the car, but in some cases could cause over steering and other handling problems, especially on a fast powerful car, as the good tyres on the rear were constantly pushing the car along and sometimes on a wet road the car would not go where you want it to go.

This is similar to the problem of buying just a single new tyre? You are mixing a new tyre with an old tyre and in some cases the two do not mix, and the tyres will fight against each other causing irregular wear and premature tyre wear. I would recommend that you have two New Tyres Fitted and buy them in pairs, make sure that they are of the same construction, (see the next paragraph for more information) and they should be fitted to the front, because this controls your steering and handling of the car. Please also ask for the wheel alignment checking, most tyre centres will check your Laser Wheel Alignment for free while your car is up on the ramp.

Try not to mix you new tyres ?

Modern car makers have got together with tyre manufacturers to develop new types of lighter and more fuel efficient . This has brought into play different designs. We have all heard of

B F Goodrich directional tyre clearly showing the chevron design

but now we have another type called the asymmetric tyres, such as the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric. These look like normal tread patterns but if you look closely the tread pattern is different across the width of the tyre. These have a special way that the New Tyres Fitted should be positioned onto the car. On one side of the tyre it will say inner and the other outer. These should be fitted the right way round and preferably in sets of four. On directional tyres the tread has a chevron style tread pattern the New Tyres Fitted should only be placed with the arrows on the sidewall pointing in a foreword direction.

One of the problems that we find when cars come to us for advice, is that they have bought part worn tyres and the companies who sell them do not have a clue about tyres such as What Is Asymmetrical and do not care which type of tyre they fit onto your car, they can be a specific science and they now come in many different shapes and sizes, so my advice is to seek the advice of the experts.

If you do not know of any local retailers in your area it would be wise to look your nearest Point-S Tyre experts and you can even buy yours online at superb prices.

Thanks Eric Roberts member of POINT-S TYRES

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Cheap Online Battery business now for 40 years. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Goodyear Airless tyre technology-New Concept tyre from Goodyear to debut in early 2018

15th June 2019/in All Goodyear Tyres Stuff /by Eric

Goodyear Airless tyre technology

Michelin and Goodyear tyres are both involved with airless tyre technology . Of course, Michelin’s effort is called the Tweel. So this is an airless tyre that has been invented by Michelin. It is designed to be used in place of traditional tyres. Subsequently, there are several features which make them an improvement on traditional tyres.

Although car tyres may be their ultimate aim. Then the plant industry looks to be the first to use these tyres.

Of course, the big advantage, will be the fact the they are puncture proof. Punctures are a big contributory factor of down time due to punctures. Both Goodyear and Michelin have been trialing plant machinery as a step towards a type of car tyre.

Other researchers have come up with an ‘adaptive’ tyre. Which can adapt itself to different weather and road conditions. No need to change your summer tyres to winter tyres. So, the concept tyres will actually adjust their tread automatically. Of course, to suit the colder conditions.

Whether you are driving on a smooth motorway, a rough gravel road. Or in sunny, snowy or wet weather. Then the tyre will recognise the conditions and elastic components. Hence, within the tread physically change the tread. In both the longitudinal and cross-rib directions.

Goodyear Airless tyre technology

Instead of tyre pressures to worry about. You have the tension between the sheer band and the spokes. Including, the strength of the spokes themselves. Different handling characteristics can be introduced. By choosing a concept tyre with different spoke tensions.

Tyre design and manufacturing is a thriving industry. Companies are always coming out with new ideas. Researchers are always working to come up with the next big thing in tyres. With inventions such as the Goodyear tyre. Punctures will be a thing of the past. So,the adaptive tyre means the same tyre is suitable for different weathers. Including off/road and different terrains. So all that remains is to conquer tread wear!

It will be interesting to see how these concept tyres evolve in the near future. However I am still not convinced as to their suitability for use on cars?

Eric Roberts

Attached article explains about the Goodyear Airless tyres

Goodyear Airless tyre technology to debut in early 2018 – Overdrive

Van Battery Care-Your Car is at Risk! – Reasons for your Car Battery to Fail?

15th June 2019/in All Battery Information /by Eric

Corroded battery terminals require cleaning

Frequent battery failure can cost you thousands of dollars for repairs. You can avoid Van Battery Care problems by following regular maintenance. To reduce chances of van battery failures, it’s critical to understand its causes.

eric roberts‘s insight:

Give your car battery a winter check

As we all know winter is just around the corner here in the Northern hemisphere. The weather is turning colder at night and this will affect the performance of your car battery. To keep you car battery lasting longer there are one or two things that you can do.

If your van battery has the old type screw tops, then you can inspect the level of the acid in your battery, with Van Battery Care, this can be checked and remedied. If this is something that you have to do at often intervals then it means that the battery is boiling and could have a faulty alternator. You should top the battery up with distilled water and recheck it a few days after, to see if the level has dropped again. If the level has dropped then you should get your alternator checked at a good garage.

If are reading this in the UK and you do not know of a good garage, then look up the nearest Unipart Car Care Centre(UCCC) in your area, they have safeguards to protect you the

A simple voltmeter can tell you lots about your battery

customer and a fair price policy, but more than that they can be trusted.

Also another Van Battery Care tip is to look out for white coloured powder on the top of the battery, this indicates a leak around the terminals, the white powder is dried battery acid. You can clean it off using a cup full of warm water, but if it is a recurring problem it means that the battery is on its way out and needs replacing before it lets you down, on your deliveries. It is a good idea to always keep a Car Battery Charger and a 12V Voltmeter,to hand as it may just keep you going for a few more winter days, until you can buy Cheap Car batteries Online.

This is about the limit that you can go to check over your battery and look after it, after all has I have said the last thing you want is for the battery to let you down, when you

Your car battery could end up in the scrap pile

least expect it and having to be towed to the nearest garage to have it seen to, and paying over the odds because you are stranded. That is if they have a battery to fit your car, you may have to wait another day if they have to order a new battery.

More reading…”If you often see leaks under your car, it’s about time to check your van battery. Extreme weather condition can cause the battery to crack and leak. Van batteries sometimes leak a highly corrosive acid, which is harmful to your van and to you as well, good Van Battery Care, will ensure this does not happen?. Cleaning up a battery leak is easy, but you should observe the utmost caution when dealing with battery acid to prevent injury”… http://carfs.net/2013/10/your-car-is-at-risk-reasons-car-batteries-fail/

Eric Roberts … member of MotorCodes.org

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Air Filters-How they Work-Chevy High Performance Magazine

14th June 2019/in All Car Servicing /by Eric

Air Filters

How Air Filters Work

Chevy High Performance Magazine

For performance air filter manufacturers like Airaid, determining the ideal filter design for each vehicle application is a balancing act between optimal flow and packaging constraints.

eric roberts‘s insight:

What do CAR AIR FILTERS DO?

Air filters are very important parts of your cars performance system. They help your engine breathe easily by filtering out the dirt and dust that enters your car engine. The car engine sucks in tremendous amounts of air, and this air must be perfectly clean.

It is amazing what the engine will suck in, in summer time it sucks in millions of insects and dust particles and in autumn and winter apart from dirt and grime, the engine sucks in leaves and even water from the winter rains. All these things can end up in the engine compartment and eventually would be sucked into the inlet ports, but your air filter stops all this happening.

The air filter is most often encased in a plastic holder, or older cars could be made of metal. This casing is a secondary filter safeguard and is sometimes they are shaped like

kitchen pans, with the air intake looking like the pan handle, but the more modern cars have them shaped to fit in with the engine compartment. The plastic box has its own filter

Dirty air filter ready for changing

slits which helps trap larger objects such as leaves.

Air Filters

It is therefore very important to have your car serviced at regular intervals and to make sure that the garage changes the oil and air filter by asking them to see the old ones when you pick the car up. If you do not change the air filter it will slowly clog up with dirt and starve your engine from oxygen.

This will hamper the performance of your car. The biggest problem is in Fuel-injected cars, because a dirty oil filter will hamper the performance of your car. It is great when a customer has just had his car serviced and notices the difference in the cars performance, this is usually because of the new air and oil filters.

Air filters are manufactured by many different companies, but here in Halifax UK we use Unipart filters because of the quality of the parts and we are a Unipart Car Care Centre.

Thanks Eric Roberts member of… MotorCodes.co.uk

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years . Working for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days. Hence, before starting my first business. Now own a garage and MOT testing centre.Here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. Blogging about anything to do with cars and their related products. Of course, that will help my business. Members of Point-S and Motor-Codes. So, also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Infinity Tyres-Receives UK TAFF Award – Tire Review

14th June 2019/in All Tyre Articles /by Eric

Infinity Tyres Receives UK TAFF Award

Tire Review

“On behalf of everyone at Infinity Tyres, we are delighted and honored to receive this award,” said Harjeev Kandhari, executive director of the global Al Dobowi Group.

Eric Roberts‘s insight:

Infinity tyres trying to become a mid-range tyre?

Of course,Infinity tyres are definitely going places. Following in the footsteps of other mid-range tyre companies. Such as Kumho and Hankook by taking part in motorsports events. In my opinion the Infinity Tyres product is a good tyre. But they are still sold as a cheap tyre. In other words a budget tyre.

Tyre companies historically would own a second brand. So that would be sold as budget tyre. Subsequently, with the advent of the Eastern tyre companies from China and South Korea. The competition has become tougher for the main tyre brands and names such as Kumho and Hankook are coming to the forefront due to money spent on promotions and the backing of motorsport to promote there tyres, which is now paying off and companies such as Infinity tyres are improving their products and are pushing the big tyre companies for market share.

We are Infinity tyre dealers in the Halifax area of the UK

Indeed Infinity tyres are an excellent product. This tyre brand are imported into the UK by Bond International. Of course, who have done a great marketing job at promoting the Infinity product.

Written by Eric Roberts… member of Point-S

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. Working in the Garage and tyre and Battery business now for 40 years. Including having worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days. Of course, before starting my first business.Now owning a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK . Called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre. A keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products. Consequently, that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Trading Standards.Finally we are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Eric Roberts