Summer is just around the corner. Is Your Vehicle Ready? Many people are planning their summer driving trips to the cottage, to theme parks, camping sites and visits to the family. The summertime is harder on tires than other times of the year. This is due to the higher temperatures and often heavier loads due to more people and luggage in their cars. Is Your Vehicle Ready for summer vacation travel?
Is Your Vehicle Ready – Check Your Car Before Travel
Before you go on any trip with your car and also on a weekly basis, have your car fully checked out to avoid any nasty surprises. Tires are the most important element of your car. check for proper tire pressure and that the tire lug nuts are on tight. Also, check that there is sufficient tread on the tires to be safe in all kinds of conditions. However, we also recommend that you check
- All Fluid levels including
- Power steering,
- Engine oil,
- Transmission oil and
- Brake fluid levels
- Antifreeze in the radiator
- Check the windshield cleaner
- Check your tires inflation levels
- Have your car’s alignment checked
- Check your tires balance
Follow your car’s instructions for checking all of these items in a safe manner or take your car to an auto mechanic or your dealer for a complete checkup.
Tire Pressure
Have your mechanic check your tires next time you go in for an oil change. If one is not due, it is easy to check the tire pressure yourself with a tire pressure gauge. Top up the air pressure to the vehicle specs if you find that the tires have low tire pressure.
If your car has a tire pressure monitor on it, don’t rely on this for optimum tire pressure. The alarm in your dash will turn on if your tire is losing air and drops several pounds of pressure. If your tire is down 2 or 3 pounds it will not show up on the dash of your car.
Recently some of the newer cars are more accurate and will even tell you when the car’s tires are over-inflated which can be just as dangerous as an underinflated tire. Both situations can decrease stability and cause the tire to overheat which may cause it to blow out. At high speeds, a serious accident can easily take place.
Tire Alignment
If your car is out of alignment, you will notice uneven wear on your cars tires. This is dangerous and can lead to the car pulling on one direction or the other and your tires wearing out much more quickly. Have your alignment checked before you go on any further trips.
Tire Balance
Unbalanced tires or tires that have lost their balancing weights, will vibrate at various speeds. You can feel this vibration in the steering wheel. The tires will also wear unevenly making the situation even worse. In fact, if you wait to long, you will not be able to balance the tires properly and will need to purchase new tires to fix the problem.
Preventive maintenance that we have discussed above will ensure that your car runs well, gets great gas mileage and that your family should have a successful trip. Why avoid or delay when the failure of one of your tires could cause an accident and ruin your trip. For more information about tire safety and tire performance, click here.