With winter coming, it’s time to winterize your car. Driving in the winter can be very dangerous. It’s super important to take the steps to ensure your vehicle is ready for the driving conditions and able to get you from point A to point B safely.
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What To Do Before Winter Hits
Before the bad weather comes, you need to do a few things to ensure your car will be okay over the winter months:
- Have a mechanic service your car. Have them check your battery, cooling system, brakes, cabin air filter, belts, hoses, spark plugs, wires, cables, and fluid levels. Also, have them check on your AWD/4WD system if you have either.
- Get your winter tires put on. Not all-season tires, winter tires. Make sure they have a decent amount of traction too.
- Install winter wipers. Super easy to do on your own. Please just YouTube it and save yourself a bit of money.
- If you have carpet floor mats, change them out to all-weather floor mats. I have these ones and I absolutely love them.
Must-Have’s For Your Car
- Window Washer Fluid. Keep an extra bottle of window washer fluid in your trunk.
- Snow Brush and Ice Scraper. I have multiple types of snow brushers as it depends on which vehicle I’m using and how much snow I’m clearing off. I also prefer to have a separate ice scraper as I don’t like using the ones on the end of snow brushes.
- Portable Air Compressor. I don’t keep this in my car, but we have one in the garage. It’s inevitable one of our tires will run dangerously low when we experience a severe temperature drop.
- Safety Kit. I have this emergency kit that I keep in my car year-round. It has jumper cables, a tow strap, a triangle reflector, a flashlight, and an LED road flare. I added a tire pressure gauge, a tire patch kit, matches, and a better flashlight.
- First Aid Kit. Again, I have this first aid kit that I keep in my car year-round. I strongly recommend everyone keeps a first aid kit in their vehicle at all times.
- Winter Kit: I put together an additional winter kit that I keep in my car for the winter months only. It has this portable shovel, traction pads, waterproof gloves, thick socks, a toque, a throw blanket, and a phone charger.
Tips For MaintainingYour Car In The Winter
- Regularly check your tire pressure. I’ve been told that if the temperature decreases by 10 degrees (Celsius) your tire pressure will drop 1-2 psi. So check your tire pressure often.
- Keep the washer fluid full. Make sure it’s the winter washer fluid.
- Keep your gas tank half full. I was told to never let my gas tank go under the halfway mark in the winter as it can cause condensation to form in the tank which will lead to corrosion. I’ve also been told it can lead to your fuel lines freezing. And if that isn’t enough reason, then there’s the whole if you’re stranded you’re going to want as much gas In your tank as possible reason.
If you have any tips, tricks, or absolute must-haves for winterizing your car, I would love to hear about them in the comment section.
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