September 4, 2022
Today's Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Lockport post focuses on using coolant.
If you pour in the wrong kind, it won't protect the cooling system and may even void the warranty. Check your vehicle owner's manual. Of course, your Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Lockport service advisor will know the proper coolant for your vehicle.
Brake fluid is confusing for some Lockport drivers. Back when we opened Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Lockport, most vehicles used Dot 3 brake fluid. Now we have Dot 4 and Dot 5. Some Lockport residents mistakenly think the higher numbers are an upgrade. You know, if 3 is good then 4 must be better. That's not how it works. They are different formulations to meet the demands of differences in brake systems. Only one of them is designed for your vehicle.
Ditto for transmission fluid. For decades there were two basic types of tranny fluid used at Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Lockport: friction modified or not. With the tremendous engineering advances in vehicle automatic transmissions, there have been several new types of fluids developed to protect and lubricate them.
Nowhere are the advances in automotive fluids more evident to Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Lockport professionals than in motor oil. Many new weights and formulations have been created to meet the demands of today's high-tech vehicle engine design. Modern engines have more parts and much tighter tolerances.
That's where the new grades of engine oil come in. They have to be formulated to lubricate, protect and clean all of those vehicle engine parts, big and little. The oil has to be thin enough to get into little passages, yet resistant to vaporization.
At Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Lockport in Lockport, we believe that in some ways modern automotive fluids are just as impressive as the new engines. Because weights of oil and types of coolant and transmission fluid are so carefully matched to the vehicle, make sure you always use the proper fluid if you are topping off at home.
Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Lockport
600 E 9th Street
Lockport, Illinois 60441
815-838-3700

November 30, 2025
Think about this the next time youre driving. Your front wheels can steer your vehicle and, at the same time, the wheels can move, even with all the irregularities in the road moving them up, down and in different directions. Pretty amazing engineering, wouldnt you say? What allows that are part... More

November 23, 2025
If youve ever driven a bicycle with hand brakes, youll probably understand how the brake pads on your vehicle work. Bicycle brakes use a system that squeezes the bike wheels rim with a pair of cushioned pads activated by your hand squeezing the hand brakes on your handlebars. The friction of tho... More

November 16, 2025
If you drive a newer vehicle, chances are it has disc brakes, and one of the components of that type of brake is called a brake caliper. The caliper allows the pressure from your foot on the brake pedal to eventually move brake pads against discs in your wheels, which then slow and stop your veh... More