How to Prepare For Your Summer Road Trips?

One of the most popular methods of travel in the last 5 years has been road trips. With the increase of VanLife participants and the increased price of flights and other means of travel – the best method of travel has become driving. Millions of people have taken to the open road to explore new locations, visit family, or do something different. It doesn’t matter if you are taking a short weekend break or heading out for a couple of months – your car will need some TLC ahead of a long journey.

Much of the initial checks and car preparation can be done by you or someone comfortable doing them, and for others, it is better to take the car to a garage instead as it is better to be safe than sorry.

As a minimum, you’ll be checking the fluid levels and topping up the following:

• Transmission fluid
• Engine Oil
• Brake fluid
• Power steering fluid
• Radiator Coolant
• Windscreen wash
• Gas
• Antifreeze

For most of this list, it is cost-effective and relatively easy to do it yourself by using your car’s handbook and some guidance from YouTube. This is easy to find and you can also look into guidance tutorials for problems you may come into whilst on the road.

Tips For Summer Road Trip

Lights

With your car in park and someone to help, test all the lights in the car. Check the indicators, brake lights, fog lights, and all the lights inside the car. Once they have all been checked, ensure that you have a range of spare bulbs in the glove compartment – and that you know how to change them should you need to.

Remember that once you are on the road trip, to not keep your radio and lights off while the car is not running as you could drain the battery. This is why it will be important to pack spark plugs in case you need a jump start.

Tires

Long journeys put a lot of wear on your tires, and if yours are older, it is often better to replace them entirely and buy Goodyear tires tires. Make sure that the tires you choose are built to last and the correct type of tire for the journey you are doing, whether its all-season tires or summer tires. You have to take the altering weather conditions into account.

Your tires are hugging the road the whole time you are driving, but there are only a few inches of rubber at any moment. Checking the following will mean that no matter which part of the tire is in contact with the road, it is doing its job.

• Tread
• Tire pressure

Continue to check for any nails, cuts, or damage to your tire, and check to see if a spare tire is in good condition and ready to use. This is important beforehand and during the summer trip.

Brakes

Any brakes that feel spongy, slow, or not right should be prioritized. If you aren’t certain if there is or is not an issue, then head to your local mechanics to have them tested. Regarding brakes and tires, it is almost more important to be safe and have them checked over.

Wipers

When driving on familiar roads, you will be quite comfortable even if there is a slight smear or smudge on your windscreen (although this isn’t the safest option). However, when it comes to roads that you haven’t driven on before, you should ensure that your windscreen is always clear.

Windscreen wipers in poor condition can spread and smear grime or dirt across the windscreen, which can cause a lack of visibility. Before going on a road trip, consider getting some new windscreen wipers or fitting them yourself.

Clean

Having your car cleaned before a road trip might seem counterintuitive, but taking your car to get detailed will mean that there will be no grit, grime, dirt, or anything else that might impact your visibility with driving. It will also mean that the inside of the car is clean and comfortable for the driver – who might be putting in a lot of hours. Ensuring that your car is clean can also uncover any hidden damage like rust and cuts, you may have to address before the long trip.

Extras

Once the mechanical and cosmetic aspects of the car have been taken care of, you’ll need to make sure the inside of the car is ready for a long trip. Here are some suggestions for items to pack into the car:

• Fit a front and back dash cam so that if anything happens, you are covered.
• A journey map in case you encounter roads without GPS for your SatNav or good signage.
• Spare bulbs, fuses, and spark plugs
• A first-aid kit
• Battery charging pack for your mobile phones, and one for the car battery, too (make sure to charge it before you leave).
• Bottles of water are also an essential necessity and in case you want to be more environmentally friendly you can pack metal water flasks that are refillable.

Another asset you could purchase beforehand for your car, is a tent that can attach to your car. This can be essential asset to have if you find yourself tired on the road and you have no-where to sleep. It is cost effective and it can ensure you don’t continue driving when tired.

It would be a good idea to also include little activity packs within the car. This can be useful if you are stuck in traffic or are settling in somewhere for the night. Some examples are:

• A football/ tennis ball
• Portable screen for films (you could also make sure to download some films to watch without Wi-Fi)
• Game boards
• Crossword/ puzzles

These examples can be also useful in case you have a rainy day on the road, and you have no activities planned. It is also an advantage if you think of activities you can do whilst driving such as: I spy, the quiet game, the number plate game etc.

Road trips can be incredible, and they don’t take long to plan – just make sure your car is just as ready for the adventure as you are.