May is the time when the weather begins giving clues that the season of outdoor living is upon us. The days, and the to-do lists, are getting longer. Which means that you won’t have a lot of time to tinker with your truck. It also means that it will be very inconvenient if something goes wrong. So here’s a short list of a few things you can do and check in case you don’t have a competent honest mechanic who cares about your truck.
- Give it a bath
This might seem unimportant, but depending on where you live, the salt and brine that are used on the road are not good for your truck and needs to be washed off. Plus it gives you a clean starting point to inspect other parts of the powertrain and chassis
- Visual inspection
This is a good practice almost anytime but taking a half-hour to just look at every part of your truck can give you some great clues as to potential problems that could be lerking around the corner. Problems that will hold off from breaking until the most inopportune time. If your not sure what to look for, that’s ok. Book an appointment with your dedicated Truck Triage Technician and they will do the inspection with you to make sure you don’t miss anything.
- Fluid checks
This builds off the vehicle inspection because that might give you fluids you don’t want to miss if you see some leaks. Check every fluid on the truck. Engine, transmission, front differential, transfer case, rear differential, coolant reservoir (primary and secondary if you have multiple systems), power steering, washer, brakes, clutch, blinker fluid.
- Maintenance schedule
Building off 1-3, this is an important part of your truck ownership journey. For current members of Truck Triage, you already know this but for new members, it’s important to have a customized maintenance schedule that was carefully made with your needs and usage in mind. Fords, GMC, Chevy, Dodge/Ram, they all need different things focused on. It will go a long way in reducing costly repairs and help maintain the value of your truck.
- Tires and brakes
I put these in their own category because safety is obviously our number one priority at Truck Triage. Saving time and money is our next biggest goal as long as we aren’t cutting corners in the safety department. Summer usually means we put more miles on our truck then during the winter months. It’s also a time when the rain starts to really pick up. Hydroplaning is a huge problem and can occur at speeds as low as 30mph. So check your tire tread, there is no shortage of resources on the internet as to what that should look like but if your not sure, send pictures to your Truck Triage Technician and they can review it and give you honest feedback to help you make a wise decision on what to do. As far as brakes go, it’s a similar process. It’s a good idea to make a note of pad depth before you start a busy summer season so you can determine how soon you’ll need to be getting those replaced.
Summary
Summer is the time you should be outside spending time with your family. If you have kids, they will be out of school and some of their fondest memories will come from those times. So you don’t want to be spending a lot of time worrying about your truck. If you need a little extra peace of mind, we have team of experts who are dedicated to making sure you don’t need to worry about your truck so you can focus on what really matters.
