A new season is just a few months away. Apart from organising your holiday plans, a truck owner-operator like you should also consider getting your truck ready for the season. The changing temperature can create various problems for vehicles, especially for the engine, cooling system, and battery. It can also cause minor issues for your tires if you’re not careful.
Apart from upgrading your off-road truck, you should also prioritise maintaining it. Here are different ways you can get your vehicle ready for the season.
Check Your Tires
Your tires are one of the most critical parts to check every season. They’re responsible for ensuring your vehicle has enough traction to move forward and grip to stop. Malfunctioning tires can cause a truck to handle poorly, or worse, crash. Give your wheels a proper inspection using the following methods:
- Inspect the treads — Tread depth is one of the most important indicators of your tire’s condition. One way to check this is to look at your tire’s wear bar indicator. That is located in-between the grooves. If it’s flush with the treads, this means that you should replace your tires. If your treads don’t have one, you could use a ruler to check how deep the grooves are. If it’s below two millimetres, you should get a fresh set of tires.
- Check the pressure — According to the tire manufacturing brand Goodyear, higher temperatures can cause your tire pressure to increase. Too much pressure can deform the shape of your tire, leading to decreased traction, and ultimately poor manoeuvring. It can also cause your wheels to wear out faster, as the tire often bulges at the centre when it has too much pressure. Keep your tire pressure to the manufacturer’s specified PSI by deflating or inflating your tires.
Maintain Your Cooling System
Engine downtime is often caused by a problem in its cooling system. If it malfunctions, the engine overheats and stops working, possibly damaging important components like:
- Deteriorated seals and gaskets — Rubber seals and gaskets in your engine are made of high-grade materials, but extreme heat can make them melt and crack. When this happens, oil and other liquids in the engine may end up leaking and cause a misfire.
- Destroyed head gasket — Head gaskets seal the engine’s combustion process and prevent oil and coolant from mixing. Heat can cause these to crack and leak out liquids and stop the engine plugs from combusting.
- Damaged cylinders — Cylinder heads are essential to controlling airflow in and out of the engine. They contain many moving parts. Overheating may lead to this component warping out of place and cause the whole engine to fail.
Inspect your cooling system’s filter first to check if there is any debris stuck to its fins. If it’s filthy and clogged, have it replaced with a fresh one. Inspect the coolant for any impurities or rust mixed into it. If you find any, get it flushed and replaced. Check the radiator as well for any corrosion. If you do find rust, send it over to a mechanic for servicing.
Inspect Your Battery
Batteries are known to give car owners everywhere headaches when they break down. Unfortunately, the hot summer temperatures can harm this component. The heat can cause the essential liquids in the battery to evaporate, weakening its charge. Battery failure exhibits symptoms like:
- Corroded posts — Your car’s battery posts connect the power source to the rest of the car’s components. Leaked liquids can corrode it and impair the battery’s ability to provide power.
- Dim lights — If your headlights and cabin lights are starting to dim, your battery may be losing most of its power.
- Swollen case — A swollen battery case may signify that the components inside are emitting gases due to damage. When this happens, the case could burst, spreading harmful gas and liquid in your trunk. That may damage other components in your car.
If you notice even just one of these symptoms, your battery is due for a replacement. It’s also a good rule of thumb to get a new battery every three years or so.
Keep Your Trailer in Good Shape
Your truck’s trailer is just as important as the vehicle that pulls it along. It’s the part that carries precious cargo, after all. If you’ve been using it for a few years now, it may develop some wear and even rust. If corrosion is starting to thin out, a transport engineering company like Bison Equipment can help you design and fabricate a new one.
The changing weather and temperature can create a variety of problems for your trailer truck. If you want to avoid breakdowns in the open road, keep it maintained with these suggestions. You’ll thank yourself when you get a smooth drive all season long.
