Automotive News & Information - R.C. Bratcher, Inc

mechanic working on ball joints on a vehicle

If you own or operate a fleet of vehicles or a commercial truck, chances are you’ve encountered a bad ball joint or two. How do you catch one before it breaks, and why is it important? R.C. Bratcher, Inc in Owensboro, KY has the answers.

Tires may be the only part of a vehicle that physically meets the road, but your shock absorbers are next in line. Working with the suspension springs, they absorb shocks from bumps and cracks in the road, while simultaneously controlling bounce and body roll.

At R.C. Bratcher, Inc in Owensboro, KY, our goal is to help you understand your transmission a little better and keep your car, truck, or SUV reliably on the road. If you ever hit the key and your engine fails to turn over, whether it’s once a month, once a week, or every day, you’ve got the beginnings of an issue worth dealing with.

technician holding a clean and dirty air filter comparison in the front seat of a car

When driving around town, your vehicle's engine needs clean air to burn the fuel – and it needs a lot. In fact, a typical vehicle needs about 216,000 gallons of air for every tank of gas. All that air passes through a filter that catches the dust and dirt. Eventually, the filter gets completely full, and because the filter can only hold so much, dirt starts getting through. At R.C. Bratcher, Inc in Owensboro, we want to help you get the best air quality in your vehicle, but first, we want to explain the process of where this dirty air is going.

When you get in your car, truck, SUV, or minivan to drive and the A/C does not work what could be wrong? Here at R.C. Bratcher, Inc, we have some simple answers to help you understand how your vehicle A/C system works. The first question we are asked is "Why isn't my air conditioner blowing cold air?" Let's talk about what could be happening.

At R.C. Bratcher, Inc in Owensboro, reliable trucking is our main concern. From oil changes to engine rebuilds, our expert mechanics have the knowledge, equipment, and ability necessary to keep your rig on the road, and performing its best. We also believe that driver knowledge is key to achieving this goal; in pursuit of that, here’s some information on a simple but important part of your truck, the tie rod.

These days, it seems like the oil options for your oil changes are limitless - full synthetic, blends, conventional, high mileage, and the list goes on and on. We are frequently asked if it's okay to switch between oils, and how you know what is okay to use? At R.C. Bratcher, Inc in Owensboro, KY we're here to help you answer that question. When it comes to engine oil, the answer to this question can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be!

Unless you are confident in your abilities as an automotive mechanic, there is really only one rule when purchasing a flood-damaged vehicle: don’t do it. Unfortunately, sometimes sellers aren’t particularly straight-forward with their used cars. Many will try to hide the fact that it’s been damaged by floodwaters at all or try to convince potential buyers that the car is in fact fine. “It has gone months with no issues” or “technically it is flood-damaged but” are two red flags, and while it isn’t impossible for a flood car to be fine, it’s altogether a good idea to stay away.