How to Prepare Your Car for a Road Trip

Whether you're headed for the mountains or the beach, it's crucial that your auto be in good working order. There's nothing worse than having a vacation ruined by car trouble.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Car Manuals
• Car Accessories
• Car Parts
• Auto Emergency Kits
• Rooftop Packs

1. Make an appointment with your mechanic at least a few weeks before your road trip to do a pretrip inspection. Bring a checklist of things to ask your mechanic to review.

2. Check all fluids.

3. Check belts and hoses.

4. Look for any leaks.

5. Check and fill all tires, including the spare tire, and make sure they're in good condition.

6. Perform a four-wheel brake check (if not done in the last six months).

7. Check the condition of the exhaust system.

8. Flush the cooling system (if not done in the last year).

9. Pressure-check the cooling system to inspect for leaks.

10. Load-test the battery to test its ability to hold a charge.

11. Check the alternator output to make sure that the charging system is working well.

12. Replace the spark plug wires if they are more than two years old.

Tips & Warnings

• These steps are in addition to routine maintenance (see Related eHows).

• Don't wait until the day before you plan to leave to make any big repairs or get a tune-up.

• Some garages sell a pretrip inspection service. Find out exactly what they check, or just give them this list, so you get your money's worth. A pretrip inspection like the one suggested here should take no more than 1 to 1 1 /2 hours.

• More than half the cars that get towed into shops are there for repairs that could have been prevented by regular maintenance.