0 What Grille Guards Can Do for Your Truck

by: Kay Zetkin

Isn’t it an appealing thought to make your truck look better while still protecting it? You can actually accomplish this through several ways. However, few ways are as dramatic as installing grill guards to your truck.

Are you familiar with truck grill guards? You may say you are, on sight at least. However, are you aware that these devices offer tremendous advantages for your truck, especially if you are using it for off road riding and job sites? Probably not. Very few actually know about this.

Most models of truck grill guards are formed by tubular steel. The front end of your beloved truck is very much protected by having this device installed there. Aside from the usual protection it offers to the grille, itself, grill guards also protect the radiator that is typically behind the grille. You can have truck grill guards based on your preferred finish. There are several kinds of finishes available, as most truck accessories usually do. You can match your grill guard to your other truck accessories to give it a certain complete look.

When looking for a grill guard for your truck, you have to remember a few important things:

1. Remember that you have to purchase the grill guards designed to fit the specific make and brand of your vehicle. By doing this, the possibility of having to drill new holes in your truck’s underside in order to provide a perfect fit for your new grill guard is eliminated. Several companies actually offer custom designed truck grill guards for many truck makes or brand.

2. It is also important that you purchase an entire truck grill guard package, complete with skid plate and/or skid plate and other component pieces.

3. Lastly, make sure that you consider the gauge of steel that your choice of guard is constructed with. Thicker is better since it would guarantee more protection. However, your grill guard will be heavier and would involve more pounds of gasoline to load your truck.

If you have already decided on all these items, next thing you have to decide is the finish you prefer. Many companies offer stainless steel, chrome and powder coated black truck grill guards. As far as longevity and looks are concerned, each of these types of finish has something different to offer. Remember to check with your grill guard retailer and find out the length of warranty that they apply to each type of finish.

Then, next is the issue of style. This option depends on the appearance of steel it is made with. Finally, you must decide on the installation of your new grill guard. Some brands can be easily installed on their own by you while just having to bolt it in place. Meanwhile in installing other brands, like the OEM options, you need a skilled mechanic’s assistance. You can actually choose a few options according to your mechanical abilities.

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0 Want to make your car sound turbocharged? Get the Turbo Whistler!

by Drew Phillips

Have you ever wanted your car to sound turbocharged without having any of the functional benefits? Yeah, neither have we, but apparently someone thought it was a good idea to make such a product. Knowing some of the things people put on their cars, we have no doubt it will find a few buyers too. Named the Turbo Whistler, this aluminum device clamps onto your tailpipe (no welding or drilling necessary!) and emits a sound similar (a term used very loosely in this case) to the whistle of a turbocharger under throttle. The company's web site claims that it will trick all of your friends into thinking your vehicle is benefiting from forced induction. Our guess is that if they don't know the difference, they will also believe you when you tell them your Honda Accord is also a "10-second car." Watch the Turbo Whistler in action in the video after the jump.

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0 Mosley drops two-tier system, Ferrari takes FIA to court

by Noah Joseph

With the May 29 deadline for registering for the 2010 Formula 1 season fast approaching and the bulk of the current teams threatening to walk out of the series, FIA chief Max Mosley and F1 commercial director Bernie Ecclestone met in London on Friday with the heads of each Formula One team to iron out a deal that would allow the sport to accelerate past the standoff and into the next season. How that meeting went, however, depends on who you ask.


First of all, both Mosley and Ecclestone confirmed that the proposed two-tier system that would have forced teams to choose between either severe aerodynamic penalties or restrictive budget caps has been scrapped. That was the major sticking point that the Formula One Teams Association and its members (i.e., all the teams currently on the grid) objected to. However, the meeting's conclusion was still described as a stalemate, given that the teams are still threatening to leave and that a substitute for the two-tier system approved by the FIA's World Motorsport Council has not been agreed upon. Mosley proposes a drastic £40 million ($60 million) budget cap to be imposed on all the teams, large or small, veteran or newcomer. While the teams in general agree that a budget cap is logical, they have yet to agree on the amount, while some of the teams are suggesting that other solutions be sought instead.

The parties are set to meet again this coming Friday in Monte Carlo, ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, to resume discussions. But Ferrari, for one, is hedging its bets. With Mosley insisting that the sport could do without its longest-standing team, the Scuderia has filed a court injunction against the FIA's regulations. Ferrari is believed to have been given veto power over any substantive regulation changes, a clause that the team says has not been respected. Mosley, in turn, insists that one team cannot dictate the rules of the entire sport. Other Italian sporting bodies have stepped up to back Ferrari, as organizers of Rome's proposed grand prix threaten to cancel the project in the absence of their home team, while the Italian Olympic Committee throws its weight behind Ferrari as well. Maranello's injunction will be heard in court on Tuesday, when we'll find out if the Scuderia has legal backing to its objections.

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