How To Do – How to prepare your Car for a long Road Trip

Last Updated: October 16, 2021By Tags: , , ,

How Do You Prepare Your Car For A Long Trip

Before you leave home, there are several simple steps you can take to protect your vehicle, your trip and your loves ones;

Change oil and filter
Begin your trip with a clean car, both inside and out. It will help you find your map when you need it, etc.
Try not to put luggage over the car. It creates air friction and slows you down – bringing more gas. If it is unavoidable, cover with strong sheet and tie them very well.
Keep a small garbage bag inside the car.
Change air filter.
Check cabin air filter because you don’t want a musty odor coming from your vents.
Cover headlights and front of the car with a protective sheet to prevent bug clogs or other damage.
Get an extra set of car belts.
Change spark plugs.
Make certain your tire iron and jack are in the car.
Check your spare tire.
Pack a fire extinguisher.
Bring towels for cleaning dirty windshields, spills, etc.
Get a spare key for the car and keep it in your wallet or elsewhere on your person in case you lock your keys in the car.
Fix sun protectors for side windows and front windshield.
Make sure you have your podcast downloaded (You may lose service), music library up to date. Or your favorite CD’s if you’re old fashioned.
Don’t forget any of those necessary cables; Car charger for your phone, auxiliary cable if applicable, USB cables, camera chargers, Go Pro chargers, drone chargers, etc.
If you’re taking photographs or videos, don’t forget those tiny, yet vitally important memory cards
Sunglasses
Bring a plastic funnel to add water or other fluids. Bring a water bucket in case you need to use a river or lake for emergency coolant.
Always fill your gas tank when it is half full. Don’t wait too long.
Make sure your owner’s manual is handy.

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In addition, you should make a checklist of items to pack in a car survival kit. These can include:

A chain or thick towing rope
Electric charger wire
Flashlight
Screw drivers and wrenches of different sizes
Bungee cords
Pliers
Hammer

Before packing up, make one final check of the following:

Tires condition.
Check tires tread and look for signs of strain, bulges, or other damage.
Tire pressure, don’t over inflate.
Wipers and wiper fluid. When the rain falls, you don’t want to discover your wipers are useless. In addition, bug hits can really mess a windshield, so you’ll need a full fluid reservoir.
Coolant.
Flush radiator, if you haven’t done so in a while.
Fuses and Horn.
High and low beam headlights.
Oil, power steering, and brake fluid.
Loose cables heater and air conditioner, if making a seasonal trip.

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New additions because of the Covid-19 pandemic we are currently living in:

Hand sanitizer
Disposable gloves
Your handy dandy mask
Clorox wipes

Additional tip for safe driving on open road:

Stay away from trucks on the open road. Truck drivers hate having anyone follow them. When you are behind a truck, you become a liability to them. Never tailgate. Instead of paying attention to the road, a trucker will start worrying about the people on their tailgate. After that, it doesn’t take much for disaster to follow.

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