So, I had a thought this morning- I am willing to wager that
you and your family have planned a vacation for the summer. Perhaps you have already gone…perhaps you
haven’t! I know a lot of folks fly to
their destination, but others (myself included) prefer traveling by car.
Here are a few tips to ensure a car that is ready to hit the
road!
Take the time to clean the inside of the windshield before
your trip. Sometimes at night the glare
of a dirty windshield is about blinding and can make traveling downright
dangerous. This only takes a few moments
and is easy to do.
Be sure to refill your windshield washer fluid and keep a
bottle in the trunk. Bugs, mud, rain
spray from the road, and heaven knows what else pelt your windshield. To keep your visibility up, be sure to fill
up the reserve tank before you go!
Check tire pressure.
Okay, so I know cars after 2008 or 2009 or something like that all have
to have tire pressure monitors in the vehicle, but for those of you who are
driving an older vehicle, take the time to run over to the gas station and make
sure your tires are pumped up. You can
buy a tire gauge at any auto parts store, Walmart, and probably even places
like Dollar General. Just unscrew the
cap on the valve stem and stick it on there.
Your tire pressure will read on the stick. Then inflate/deflate as necessary. There’s
actually a sticker on the inside of the door that tells you the best pressure
to fill the tires to. You really don’t
want to over or under inflate them. Gas
mileage will go down and excessive tire wear will happen. No one wants to buy tires more often than
they have to…or fill up the tank, for that matter.
Check fluids. Pull
out the oil dipstick, wipe it down, stick it back in there, and pull it out
again. Make sure that the oil level is
where it should be. Do the same for
brake fluid, transmission fluid, and power steering fluid. If you are unsure, you can always take your
car to a mechanic for a quick “check-up” to make sure it’s ready to hit the
road, but it’s really easy to do any of these items. You, your hubby, probably even your kids
could do any of them.
Check life of oil. Do
you need an oil change? If you do, take
it into the shop, or go buy yourself a filter and some oil. My car lists what type of oil is best for the
engine right on the engine cover. Check
your owner’s manual if you don’t know.
Most vehicles take 5W-30 or 10W-30, but I know our older vans used to
take straight 30W, so it’s best to check.
You don’t want to risk ruining your engine. (Of course, if you take it to the Jiffy Lube,
they’ll know what type of oil you need anyway, so you won’t have to worry about
it at all!)
This isn’t a safety tip as much as it is just a nicety, but
clean out your vehicle before a long trip.
Take a bag out with you and get rid of any soda bottles, wrappers,
leftover cheerios, used tissues, etc.
Wipe off the dash with a dust rag.
Finally, use common sense.
If you have a vehicle that isn’t up for the trip, don’t take it. If the transmission slips, it leaks oil like
a sieve, if it overheats daily on your trip to the office…you should probably
think about either renting a vehicle or just not going. It’s not going to be worth the headache of
making it halfway and having the engine blow or the transmission completely
fail.
Well, that’s about it.
I hope you’re enjoying your summer and I hope that someone is actually
helped by some of these steps. Most are
just common sense things, but a refresher never hurts.
We are planning on driving up to the Adirondacks in 2 weeks
for our vacation, so I know we will be doing some of these things to our
truck. Hopefully we’ll be in for a
hassle-free trip.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!
Feel free to comment below!
(You should be able to do it now without having to sign into the most
confusing thing I’ve ever encountered- just choose anonymous from the drop down menu.)
God bless you!
