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This writing will provide you seven simple steps to prepare your car well in the harsh winter days
Prepare Your Car For Winter Days
If you live in the area where there are significant differences in the summer and winter, preparing well for your winter driving becomes a need. Winter could be detrimental to your car because it is easy for your car to be stuck in the snowy and icy roads. Even worse, if you don’t prepare well, it may lead to life-threatening dangers when driving.
Given these points, this harsh type of weather requires us to take care of the car’s minor details, whether you are going on a short or long trip. Among there are many ways to prepare your car ahead of winter days, this writing will focus on providing seven main ways that you need to care how to drive safely in this harsh weather.
1. Check your tire pressure.
One of the first steps to care about your car is checking your tire pressure. Although it’s a regular task, it is especially important in the winter days. Driving on snowy roads may leave debris, ices, and rocks harmful to your tires; therefore, you need to make sure your car’s tires have enough pressure to avoid those.
Furthermore, making sure your car’s tires have enough traction is also a need. Losing traction while driving will be dangerous; thus, you can think of bringing some abrasive material, such as a bag of sand or kitty litter in your trunk to enhance traction. Other than that, buying snow tires for your car could be a good investment as they have deeper and more flexible treads for driving in the snow and icy road.
2. Make sure the windshield wiper working.
Another critical step is to inspect the windshield wiper and ensure it is in the right conditions. The winter may require you to check the wiper blade to prevent ice and snow build-up on the windshield and replace it when needed. Additionally, consider replacing antifreeze wiper fluid if needed so you can clear snow on the windshield quickly.
Furthermore, you can consider a little tip to wear socks on the wipers if you park the car outside in the snowy weather. While snow may leave harmful debris, ices or rock on your car, this could prevent your windshield wiper more or less away from the snow.
3. Protect your car with a cover or add a coat of wax
As important as the two tips mentioned above, protecting your car is especially essential to avoid snow and ice build-up on your car in winter weather. It would be ideal for putting your car in the shelter like a garage. Otherwise, you can buy a car cover, which helps save you from freezing fluids and protect your car paint and prevent the windshield from salt and snow.
Besides, adding a coat of wax to your car might be a good trick before winter. The shining and smooth paint will save your car better from ice and salt, which is likely to be used on the street and might harm your car.
4. Check your car’s electrical system.
In addition to the tips above, checking your car’s electrical system is also essential when driving in the winter. The electrical system requires more care when the temperature goes down in the winter. The driver needs to check the battery and charging conditions, especially driving in the winter, demanding more energy.
Furthermore, unusual weather conditions make things difficult to predict what would come up. Drivers need to make sure the heating system, car blower works appropriately, and the window defroster operates in the right conditions when the temperature goes down.
5. Inspect headlights and brake lights
Headlights and brake lights in the right conditions are essential for cars when driving at night in both summer and winter weather. Especially when you are driving in a heavily snowy winter, the things ahead of you should be seen to avoid the crash and stranded in a big hole on the road.
6. Keep your gas tank at least half full.
More importantly, keeping your gas tank at least half full will prevent less space in the tank absorbing water, thereby leaving less chance to get freezing in the tank. If you do not keep the gas tank fuller, the possible icy blockage in the fuel line might cause difficulties for your car to start the engine.
7. Prepare an emergency kit in your trunk.
Apart from some tips mentioned above, bringing an emergency kit kept in your trunk prevents possible breakdown along driving in snowy weather.
What should bring in the emergency kit includes a spare tire with air in it, tire chain, tire changing equipment, tire gauge will be useful in case there is a tire-related breakdown on a snowy road.
Furthermore, bring spare batteries for flashlights if you are running out of car’s electrics in the middle of the road. A camping shovel and ice scraper may be useful for moving the snow outside of the roads.
Other than that, there must be a tool kit, first aid kit, a bag of sand, salt, kitty litter to provide more traction to car’s tires in the snow that you can consider to put it in the emergency kit.
Last Words
To sum up, winter is harsh for driving, and it is crucial to prepare well to avoid life-threatening accidents while driving your car in the winter.
There are many ways to get your car ready for the winter seasons, including checking tire pressure, windshield wipers, your car’s electrical system, headlights, and brake lights, protecting your car with a cover, keep your gas tank more full, prepare an emergency kit and so on. By doing so, you will be more ready in driving for the coming harsh winter.
This writing, hopefully, has brought about some useful tips so you can mind when driving. If you have any other tips, please share to contribute to a safer driving life.
