A road trip can always be a good idea to escape from a polluted city. You can easily drive on to your favorite holiday destination like a hill station or a beach which is located outside of your city.
Yes, you obviously need to book your hotel room, arrange all things, and pack your bags as designed in your itinerary. However, you should not forget that you have to prepare your car first as this is the prime thing required for your road trip.
Although these days cars are designed to function in a reliable way as a traveler, you always have to be a little more conscious before your departure.
We all know that vehicles play an important role in our day to day life where we travel every day to our office, driving our children to schools or for some weekend short trip.
And the car lovers who always consider their vehicle as a family member take good care of it with regular service checks. It is important to check your car through a professional technician but you also need to keep certain tips in mind to keep your car in the best condition.
So in this article, we have shared some useful tips which you need to follow before you head over to a road trip with your car:
Car Preparation Checklist for Long Road Trip
Check Engine Oil as well as fluid levels
First and foremost which you have to point in your to-do list is checking your car’s engine oil. But here you will be getting four different things to check on your vehicle tarmac such as coolant, engine oil, brake fluid as well as washer fluid for the windscreen. Now for checking the engine oil, you need to park your car on a leveled surface.
Next, you have to warm up as well as stop the car engine. Once all the above-mentioned process is done, you need to wait for a minute for allowing the engine oil to stay in the oil pan. Now pull the dipstick out and wipe it to clean and then insert it again.
If the engine oil appears dark in color, you have to change the oil. On the other hand, if your car is consuming too much oil, then we would advise you to carry an extra bottle of engine oil.
You also have to check various other fluid levels like brake fluid, coolant, as well as wiper washer fluid and these, are very easy to check. This is because they are stored in translucent bottles.
The process is extremely simple, all you need to do is just take a look at the level and make sure that the level of all the above-mentioned fluids is between high and low-level mark. In case any fluid is below the low-level bar, you have to add more fluid. On the other hand, when it comes to coolant, you need to add extra water.
Air Filter
Each and every company has their own type set up for air filter. However, it is not that difficult to take out of the housing. All you need to do is just have a look at the owner’s manual if you want to change it on your own.
If you know that it has been quite long that you have not changed the air filter, then it is the right time to change it.
Battery
The duration of any battery is about three to five years. Here you have to proceed with a visual check for acid leaks. You also need to check whether the terminals are tight.
It is extremely difficult to predict when the car’s battery will die. Sometimes you may even notice that your car’s battery has died without giving any signal, unexpectedly. However, whenever you are starting your car’s engine if you notice that cran is extremely slow, it’s time to go for a new battery.
Lights as well as electrical equipment
You always don’t have to open up the wiring system of your car while checking the electrical equipment. All you need to do is just confirm whether the wipers, all the lights, and the horn are functioning properly.
Here we would advise you to carry a few spare bulbs such as taillight as well as a headlight. You need to ensure that both the cooling, as well as heating system (air conditioner), functions properly. Apart from this make sure to check the pollen filter or the cabin which may cause a problem during the airflow. Here you need to replace it.
Tires
Tires are one of the most important parts of any vehicle which help in connecting the machine to the surface. First and foremost you need to check the present condition of your vehicle’s tire.
You have to ensure that the tires are inflated with a specific pressure which will offer perfect stability as well as gripping to your car. The pressure of the tire is normally mentioned on the door post or on the side door edge.
One more thing that we would like to advise is that if you notice any increase of speed along with vibration then it’s time to get your tire balanced from the mechanic. Additionally, ensure to have a look at the tire pressure of the spare wheel.
You can instantly notice the changes on the sidewall of your car’s tire. Some cars such as Innova contains the tire situated underneath. So you have checked the mechanism to ensure its condition.
Windshield wipers
You can replace the wiper blades if they are unable tp clean the windshield. Apart from this you also need to check if the windshield washer jets are functioning well and are not clogged. You can also carry windshield washer fluid while you are on your trip for safety.
Whenever you are on your road trip you have to carry certain items in your car such as wheel wrench, jack, jumper wires, flashlight, emergency stop sign, a basic tool kit. In case you face in health emergency situation, you should not forget to carry a First Aid box with you. Additionally never ever forget to carry important documents like driving license, insurance, registration as well as pollution certificate
So these are some of the most useful tips that you need to follow while preparing your car for a road trip. We hope that this article was useful to you. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.