Triangle Auto Service, Inc
4060 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
North Americans love their cars. And nothing goes with cars better than
the road trip. Freedom from daily schedules, new sights and the open
road – it’s great! But there’s nothing like car trouble to bring the fun
to a grinding halt.
Now you can’t always avoid problems, but you can
take steps to reduce the probability of getting sidelined on your trip.
The first step is to look at your trip plan from your vehicle’s
perspective. What kind of roads will you be traveling – winding byways
or super-highways? Mountains or plains? What weather conditions are you
likely to encounter? How many miles will you travel? How much weight
will you be hauling – passengers and luggage? Lugging a trailer or roof
top carrier? Will it be dusty?
Armed with the answers to these
questions, you can start a trip inspection to help you prepare your
Chicago vehicle for your big adventure. A lot of our Chicago customers
prefer to go through this exercise with an automotive service advisor at
Triangle Auto Service to get their input and make sure they haven’t
left anything out.
A great place to start is with the tires. Inspect
them for tread wear and proper inflation. Is it time to rotate your
tires? Replace them? Are they up to the job – you wouldn’t want to drive
regular highway tires on a muddy off-road adventure.
Shocks and
struts play a major role in both driving comfort and safety. If they
need to be replaced, you’ll really be glad you did once you hit the
road. Is it time for a wheel alignment? Fighting a car that’s pulling to
one side all day can be tiring and dangerous.
And don’t forget your
brakes. Any strange noises, grabbing, soft or hard peddle feel? If there
is any doubt, get a brake inspection before you leave.
Moving under
the hood, have your belts and hoses inspected. If something is
excessively worn or near failure, the stress of a long road trip might
just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Your engine air
filter will be important. For every gallon of gas you burn, your car
will filter and use 12,000 gallons of air. If the filter needs to be
changed, you’ll notice the fuel savings on your trip.
How close are
you to your next oil change? Will you be able to complete your trip
before it’s due? If not, just get it taken care of before you go so that
you don’t need to interrupt your trip. In fact, a full service oil
change is a great idea because they will top off all your fluids and
check to see if any other maintenance items are due, such as
transmission or cooling system service.
Do you notice any unusual
odors in your vehicle? If so, it could as harmless as a dirty cabin air
filter. But if it’s an exhaust leak it could be fatal on a long trip. Of
course you’ll want to be comfortable, so get an air conditioning
service if you aren’t getting the cold air you used to.
Are you wiper
blades still working well? If not, that is quick and inexpensive to
fix. Headlamps are often overlooked when planning for a trip. If you
haven’t changed the bulb in six months or so, replacement bulbs will
really light up the night on your trip.
All the items mentioned are
part of any good vehicle maintenance plan. These are things that you
want to take care of anyway, but they all come into focus as you plan
for your trip.
They will always save you money in the long run and
may prevent inconvenient delays on your trip. After all, you wouldn’t
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