If you use your truck for business operations, it probably means that your vehicle is always on the road. Therefore, developing a proper maintenance routine is crucial to increasing the automobile’s life span. Although most of the servicing has to be done by professional auto technicians, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that your truck is always in the best shape.
If you are wondering how to perform maintenance on your truck, here are a few tips.
How To Maintain Your Truck
Monthly Tire Check-Ups
You should check your truck’s tires on a monthly basis. The whole truck rides on the tires. Thus, routinely check whether they are correctly inflated to avoid a blowout while in transit.
Once in a while, you should also rotate the truck’s tires to ensure that tread wear is even. This trick helps to improve mileage. Also, it prolongs the life of your tires and reduces vibrations, hence securing suspension components.
Routine Fluids Inspection
Engine oil can easily get contaminated by debris and dust that find their way to the engine. Dirty motor oil will prevent your truck’s engine from getting efficiently lubricated and protected. Consequently, the proper functioning of your engine is inhibited. Also, dirty oil diminishes the life span of the engine. Thus, it is important to routinely check and change the engine oil. As a rule of thumb, always change the engine oils after every 7,500 miles or every six months.
The motor oil is not the only fluid that runs your truck. You will also need to check the transmission fluid level using a dipstick. Brake fluid, coolant, and windshield washer liquid can be checked by removing their respective covers and checking the fill line.
Listening for Brake Issues
One of the common indicators for problems in your truck is brake sounds. The most common brake sounds are squealing, rattling, and grinding. Squealing indicates worn-out brake pads rubbing against the rotor, thus you need to replace the brake pads.
On the other hand, rattling is an indication that the rotors need to be changed since they are either worn out or warped. Lastly, grinding, although rare, can happen if rust has formed in the brake rotors. The grinding sound is merely the rust getting scrapped off the rotors. The formation of rust is attributed to high humidity, rain, or snow. You can easily solve this issue by parking your truck inside a garage where the humidity is lower and external elements such as rain and snow cannot easily cause moisture leaks to the brake rotors.
Lubricate the Necessary Parts
Some of your truck’s parts are likely to experience issues with increased friction. Therefore, you must always lubricate your hinges, latches, gear, steering, and suspension parts. Lubricating your doors’ handles is also essential in preventing rust as doors get exposed to moisture.
Wrapping Up
Truck maintenance doesn’t have to always be left in the hands of professional vehicle technicians. The above ways to maintain your truck can increase its longevity and reduce the occurrence of mechanical issues. However, you will still need to visit your auto service shop for routine maintenance, repairs, and replacements.