OPINION

CAR TALK

DEAR CAR TALK: I bought a barely-used 2009 Nissan Frontier Pro4X Crew Cab in 2010. It was the best money I ever spent. It now has 77K miles, and I plan to keep it until I can't drive anymore.

My question: Is there anything I can do to make the ride softer, yet still keep the towing capacity at a little over 6,000 pounds?

-- Carl

DEAR READER: I used to drive a pickup truck, and I also used to smoke a pipe. And I can sympathize with you, because I bit the stem off a few pipe stems going over bumps in that thing. Unfortunately, there's not a heck of a lot you can do.

In order to have a towing capacity of some 6,000 pounds, the truck has to have heavy-duty springs. And those springs are what give your truck that Conestoga wagon ride that you've come to know and not really love. If you want to spend $60,000 for a pickup, you can get both a soft ride and towing capacity. But at the 2009 Frontier's price point, it's one or the other.

The only possible area for improvement is your tires. First, make sure they're not overinflated. Overinflated tires will definitely add more bounce to the ride, and that's the last thing you want. Don't underinflate them either but go to the low end of the recommended pressure range, especially when you're not towing anything.

And when it's time for new tires, shop with comfort in mind. Because so many "off road" vehicles never go farther off road than the Wendy's parking lot, tire makers have started making off-road tires that are really on-road tires.

They call them -- are you ready for this, Carl? -- On/Off Road All-Terrain tires. But they function like on-road tires, recognizing that for most people, off-road ability is more fashion than function. These hybrid tires are designed for people who buy an off-road truck because it looks cool, and then realize they hate every minute of driving it because it rides like an off-road truck.

So you might look at something like the Continental Terrain Contact A/T, for instance, which gets a pretty good rating for comfort, along with everything else. And that won't reduce your towing capacity, as long as the tires carry the ratings your truck requires. But don't expect a miracle, Carl. Less off-road-y tires will help, but you'll still want to wear that mouth guard when driving.

DEAR CAR TALK: You recently had a column about roadside emission test stations. I live in an area where our cars are required to be tested every two years to renew license plates. The testing stations here are mostly along interstate highways, and I drive by them frequently. I seriously doubt with thousands of cars going by and with the wind blowing that they are able to test emissions and somehow determine which car the exhaust came from.

I recently received my notice and am required to take my car to a testing facility and pay $25 for the privilege. The whole deal is nothing more than a revenue source for the state and does nothing to take polluters off the road.

-- Ed

DEAR READER: As I would often say to my brother when he said something off the wall, "Au contraire, piston puss." I can tell you're a skeptic, Ed. But I think your information is a little bit out of date.

You're thinking of the old days when your emissions were checked by sticking a probe up the tailpipe. Kind of like taking a kid's temperature. The mechanic would insert a metal probe with a hose on it in the tailpipe, and it would suck exhaust gasses into the analyzer. That would tell us how much carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons you were putting out.

But that's not how it's done anymore. Now, the vast majority of emissions tests are done by tapping into the car's computer directly. We have a device that we plug into the car's diagnostic port, and it gives us readings from the car's own internal sensors. It tells us, for instance, the composition of the exhaust before it goes through your catalytic converter, and after it goes through. And from that, we can tell whether the converter is doing its job.

We can also tell if, for instance, there are too many unburned hydrocarbons going into your converter, which means the problem is in the engine, not the emissions equipment. And because it's all measured deep inside the exhaust system, nothing nearby will affect the reading, not a car idling in the next bay, not a passing FedEx truck, not even my brother puffing on one of his 25-cent stogies.

Now, there may still be places in the country where they use a probe. Emissions testing requirements are determined by the states, in order to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's clean air rules and collect their fair share of federal highway funds. But since the computer diagnostic method is quicker, easier, more accurate and provides more useful diagnostic information, I'd be surprised if there are many emissions probes still being used out there.

So we can accurately determine whether individual cars are polluting more than they should. That means we can require that those cars be fixed. Sometimes, those fixes are covered by warranty, since the feds mandate that certain emissions equipment is guaranteed for eight years or 80,000 miles. California requirements are even more pro-consumer.

And fixing those cars really does make the air cleaner for us all to breathe. That means less asthma, less lung disease and less soot despoiling your pristine vinyl siding. And sure, it also means an extra $25 for the repair shop in your area. But we don't make any money on those emissions inspections, Ed. It's those new catalytic converters we clean up on.

Ray Magliozzi dispenses advice about cars in Car Talk every Saturday. Email him by visiting

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