If you consider yourself a frequent traveler by road, there is a pretty good chance that you can find all sorts of handy things in the trunk of your car–from flashlights and emergency blankets to tire plugging kits and portable battery boosters. When your travels often lead you to hours-long highway trips, it really can take a toll on your vehicle and you never really know what could give you problems, fail, or die somewhere along your journey. To keep your motor running your wheels moving, and your trip on track, there is a short list of things every constant traveler by four wheels should keep in the trunk of their car.
1. Fuses - Headlights, blinkers, air conditioner, wipers, radio–all of these are examples of things that your car requires fuses for to keep functioning and occasionally, theses fuses do blow. It is always a good idea to keep a spare set of fuses tucked away in your glove box just in case a fuse goes bad mid-trip.
2. Spark Plugs - Your car's engine has a variant amount of spark plugs depending on how many cylinders it has. If just one spark plug goes bad, which does tend to occur during high-stress traveling situations, your car can miss, spit and sputter, and lose fuel efficiency. Spark plugs are fairly easy to replace on the fly; you just need to ensure you have a set tucked away in your trunk for just the situation.
3. Radiator Cap - In the event your car overheats, it is not uncommon for the radiator cap to blow off to relieve some of the pressure inside. The only problem with this is, if the cap blows off, the pressure can be so great that you can't find it. Stick a spare radiator cap in your toolbox and if your car does overheat and pop the cap, you won't be left stranded.
4. Windshield Wiper Blades - Your blades can be perfect and new when you leave on a long trip and after days of traveling through sandy winds, salty air, or even ice and snow, they will be almost useless. Every prepared road traveler should have a spare set of wiper blades on hand specifically for this reason.
5. Stash of Nuts, Bolts, Washers, and Screws - The vibration of a running engine can be enough to jar some things loose on a long trip. So having a few nuts, bolts, and screws on hand is always a good measure. Just throw together a container full of fasteners of different sizes and stick them in your toolbox.
For more information, talk to a professional like Dean's Auto Repair Inc.
Share1 December 2016
I drove small compact cars for over a decade. After I got married and had children, I began to realize that we could use more room than we had in my small car. I was considering buying an SUV or a small van, but I hesitated on making the change for quite a while due to thinking that it would be very difficult for me to learn to drive a new automobile style! Finally, I got up the nerve to test drive an SUV at a local dealership, and I was shocked at how easy it was to drive! I felt a little higher in the air, and that was the only difference. I decided to start a blog to share my story with other people afraid to switch vehicle styles and share other auto tips I have learned! I hope I can help you!
