airjames
10-25-2003, 10:38 PM
Spring and Summer are gone unfortunately, I will miss them as I"m sure I"m not alone when I say this. Winter is hard on our vehicles, they take a pretty harsh beating with the salt in the road and therefore in order to keep our vehicles looking good when the spring sun hits it, we must keep some sort of sealant or wax on it. Alot of us like Zaino, SG, #20, PUPP or BF2. Alot of modern cars today are front wheel and 4wheel drives. Front wheel drives kick butt in the snow for traction. The only thing I don`t like about them is you have to put them in reverse to do a donut, lol j/k
Change the oil and filter. What I don`t like is say your traveling for the holidays. You have to drive out of town which most of us in my family do. The interstate is busy, crowded with last minute people, people going to see there families etc.... The last thing alot of people think about is there cars finish. When traveling @ 70mph, your car is taking a pretty harsh beating from the salt rocks and say you get up behind a salt truck or a semi, those big *** tires on there are gonna kick up some stuff and wing at your car, which can result in chips, sctraches, or dents. I`m writing this thread to help out some people out there keep there cars top shape in the winter months. Such as tires, battery, and other things to keep your car running through the winter months. Now if you got a 4x4, break that out because it will help you and possibly others. Some tips to help your car in the winter run. IMO, I like synthetics over regular oils. They are quite more expensive but your engine will thank you for it. If you want to run synthetic oil but your car always used regular oil before, the wesbite is website (www.auto-rx.com) This product will help clean out your engine free of carbon deposits and will allow your engine to run on synthetic oil without any problems. The choice brand of synthetic oil you want to run is totally up to you. I personally like Amsoil motor oil. www.amsoil.com Go to auto rx website, follow there instructions how to use it. I`ve had good luck with the product. A lower viscosity oil helps out as well. 5w30 and or Amsoil`s Series 2000 0w30 oil. Both work well in winter start up protection.
Tires Make sure your tires have good bite to them. A trick to see if your tires need replacing or not is take a penny. Face the penny with Abe Lincoln`s head towards you. If Lincoln`s head fully sticks out, you need new tires. If you are only almost sure you can make it through the winter with your current tires, don`t risk it. Replace your tires with good quality name brands such as Michelin, BFGoodrich, Goodyear etc... Be sure to keep proper pressure in them for maximum even tread wear, and durablilty. Some people will deflate there tires on purpose to between 30 & 32psi. Reason for this is alittle bit better bite on the tires but also the cold makes the air in the tires go up to proper psi. I think that`s the theory, correct me if I`m wrong. Before and after winter I will clean the inside and outside of each tires and dress then with a good tire dressing to keep from cracking and turning brown.
Undercarriage Every now and then I like to go the car wash, use there rinse feature and spray it down to keep the salt from doing any harm to components. This will help reduce the corrosion and eating away metal process. What I like to do is bring my APC and squirt everything, let it dwell for a minute and give the undercarriage another good drench until fully rinsed. I wish my truck was ziebarted but unfortunately it`s already rusted to the point where you have to grind it off.
General clean-ups This is where your APC will come in handy. TO clean up the interior, and exterior and or engine to keep the salt off. What I like to do is occasionally take my 1z cockpit premium and MF towel, go to work on the dash, and other vinyl areas. Wipe these areas down occasionally to keep clean and protected. Apply a good protectant to keep the cold from affecting these areas. The carpet takes another good size beating from the winter. Slush, salt, and snow get up in there and can stain for your carpet if not well kept up with. Frequently vaccum, your APC to clean up the stains. To protect the carpet use a good product to protect the carpet. I hear alot of good reviews about Stochguard. I like Pro`s Pro-Gard. Liquids bead water from your carpet but it still leaves the carpet looking matte and natural.
Wheels Before & after winter is I go concours style here. Clean the wheels inside and out and protect them with a sealant. You`ll need a brush, wheel cleaner and some car wash solution. Take the wheels off, if they are heavily caked with brake dust you may want to consider a mild acid wheel cleaner. A&Z I do believe is acidic. Spray the inside of the wheel. Take the your brush, spray it with wheel cleaner or dip it in the car wash and go to work. Once you have the wheel cleaned up inside and out, apply a coat of your fav sealant or wax. I would suggest sealant because the wheel when braking, gets very dirty and hot at times.
Engine Flush the cooling system before winter if necessary. Some modern day anitfreezes can run along time before needing changing. Dex cool is the popular anitfreeze in modern cars and trucks today. It`s orangish in color. I don`t know what the advantage over dex cool is vs the green antifreezes. Do not, I repeat do not use dex cool anitfreezes in systems designed to use green anitfreezes. This will cause some serious problems. I like to use Antifreezes that are proplyene glycol based. They help protect your system better from corrosion. The only 2 antifreezes that are propolyene glycol based is Amsoil`s anitfreeze and Sierra Antifreeze. Usually a 50/50 mixture of Antifreeze and distilled water works fine. But you may upgrade to either a 60/40 mix or the max 70/30 mix.
Make sure your belts, hoses, and electrical wiring are in good shape. These items can crack, split and cause a bad connection hence something will not work properly or not work at all. Make sure these are in good condition, inspect for damage if you see signs of a bad connection, replace the wire, hose or belt. The belt system must be good working order as well. A bad belt can cause your accessories to not work right or the water to not pump enough water and anitfreeze throughout the engine to provide for proper protection. A bad belt will squeak too, especially when using the defrost because this uses the A/C compressor to remove the humidity. I hate squeaking belts. Not to mention there embarrasing if they squeak loudly. Goodyear makes a nice belt called the gatorback belt. I`ve never tried it but I`ve heard good reviews on it.
Now let`s talk about the brains of the car, you, your in control of 3000lb autombile. The car is no smarter than the person behind the wheel. If the car breaks down in the winter time, it`s important to have safety and comfort items in your trunk, a cell phone is really handy too.
Some items to keep in your trunk or backseat whatever you prefer are
1. General warmth items such as - gloves, hat, boots, and blanket. For when your car breaks down and can`t get it to start for heat until help arrives
2. Flat wood running boards - if you can`t get any traction but are on a reasonably flat surface, chock these under the drive wheels. This will give the wheels something flat and dry to grip on.
Shovel - For digging your way out of trouble. If there`s too much snow surrounding the car, get rid of some of that snow and get out. This is where running boards might come in handy too once the snow is clear from the vehicle.
Washer fluid - I like that Prestone De Icer stuff, it won`t freeze and does a great job of cleaning your windshield. Or, keep a bottle of P21S Washer booster. Couple ounces of this stuff and your windshield is brand new again. This stuff rocks!!! I don`t have any but mu grandma uses it in her car. Salt, mud, and road grime just clean up like nothing. If you happen to run out of washer fluid, until you get some more, clean snow works well too. Grab a hand full and smear it all over your windsheild. The clean snow will help to clean the grime off temporarily.
I don`t know everything about cars but I do believe if you follow some of the tips in this thread you and your car will be ok throughout the winter,,,,,,,91
Change the oil and filter. What I don`t like is say your traveling for the holidays. You have to drive out of town which most of us in my family do. The interstate is busy, crowded with last minute people, people going to see there families etc.... The last thing alot of people think about is there cars finish. When traveling @ 70mph, your car is taking a pretty harsh beating from the salt rocks and say you get up behind a salt truck or a semi, those big *** tires on there are gonna kick up some stuff and wing at your car, which can result in chips, sctraches, or dents. I`m writing this thread to help out some people out there keep there cars top shape in the winter months. Such as tires, battery, and other things to keep your car running through the winter months. Now if you got a 4x4, break that out because it will help you and possibly others. Some tips to help your car in the winter run. IMO, I like synthetics over regular oils. They are quite more expensive but your engine will thank you for it. If you want to run synthetic oil but your car always used regular oil before, the wesbite is website (www.auto-rx.com) This product will help clean out your engine free of carbon deposits and will allow your engine to run on synthetic oil without any problems. The choice brand of synthetic oil you want to run is totally up to you. I personally like Amsoil motor oil. www.amsoil.com Go to auto rx website, follow there instructions how to use it. I`ve had good luck with the product. A lower viscosity oil helps out as well. 5w30 and or Amsoil`s Series 2000 0w30 oil. Both work well in winter start up protection.
Tires Make sure your tires have good bite to them. A trick to see if your tires need replacing or not is take a penny. Face the penny with Abe Lincoln`s head towards you. If Lincoln`s head fully sticks out, you need new tires. If you are only almost sure you can make it through the winter with your current tires, don`t risk it. Replace your tires with good quality name brands such as Michelin, BFGoodrich, Goodyear etc... Be sure to keep proper pressure in them for maximum even tread wear, and durablilty. Some people will deflate there tires on purpose to between 30 & 32psi. Reason for this is alittle bit better bite on the tires but also the cold makes the air in the tires go up to proper psi. I think that`s the theory, correct me if I`m wrong. Before and after winter I will clean the inside and outside of each tires and dress then with a good tire dressing to keep from cracking and turning brown.
Undercarriage Every now and then I like to go the car wash, use there rinse feature and spray it down to keep the salt from doing any harm to components. This will help reduce the corrosion and eating away metal process. What I like to do is bring my APC and squirt everything, let it dwell for a minute and give the undercarriage another good drench until fully rinsed. I wish my truck was ziebarted but unfortunately it`s already rusted to the point where you have to grind it off.
General clean-ups This is where your APC will come in handy. TO clean up the interior, and exterior and or engine to keep the salt off. What I like to do is occasionally take my 1z cockpit premium and MF towel, go to work on the dash, and other vinyl areas. Wipe these areas down occasionally to keep clean and protected. Apply a good protectant to keep the cold from affecting these areas. The carpet takes another good size beating from the winter. Slush, salt, and snow get up in there and can stain for your carpet if not well kept up with. Frequently vaccum, your APC to clean up the stains. To protect the carpet use a good product to protect the carpet. I hear alot of good reviews about Stochguard. I like Pro`s Pro-Gard. Liquids bead water from your carpet but it still leaves the carpet looking matte and natural.
Wheels Before & after winter is I go concours style here. Clean the wheels inside and out and protect them with a sealant. You`ll need a brush, wheel cleaner and some car wash solution. Take the wheels off, if they are heavily caked with brake dust you may want to consider a mild acid wheel cleaner. A&Z I do believe is acidic. Spray the inside of the wheel. Take the your brush, spray it with wheel cleaner or dip it in the car wash and go to work. Once you have the wheel cleaned up inside and out, apply a coat of your fav sealant or wax. I would suggest sealant because the wheel when braking, gets very dirty and hot at times.
Engine Flush the cooling system before winter if necessary. Some modern day anitfreezes can run along time before needing changing. Dex cool is the popular anitfreeze in modern cars and trucks today. It`s orangish in color. I don`t know what the advantage over dex cool is vs the green antifreezes. Do not, I repeat do not use dex cool anitfreezes in systems designed to use green anitfreezes. This will cause some serious problems. I like to use Antifreezes that are proplyene glycol based. They help protect your system better from corrosion. The only 2 antifreezes that are propolyene glycol based is Amsoil`s anitfreeze and Sierra Antifreeze. Usually a 50/50 mixture of Antifreeze and distilled water works fine. But you may upgrade to either a 60/40 mix or the max 70/30 mix.
Make sure your belts, hoses, and electrical wiring are in good shape. These items can crack, split and cause a bad connection hence something will not work properly or not work at all. Make sure these are in good condition, inspect for damage if you see signs of a bad connection, replace the wire, hose or belt. The belt system must be good working order as well. A bad belt can cause your accessories to not work right or the water to not pump enough water and anitfreeze throughout the engine to provide for proper protection. A bad belt will squeak too, especially when using the defrost because this uses the A/C compressor to remove the humidity. I hate squeaking belts. Not to mention there embarrasing if they squeak loudly. Goodyear makes a nice belt called the gatorback belt. I`ve never tried it but I`ve heard good reviews on it.
Now let`s talk about the brains of the car, you, your in control of 3000lb autombile. The car is no smarter than the person behind the wheel. If the car breaks down in the winter time, it`s important to have safety and comfort items in your trunk, a cell phone is really handy too.
Some items to keep in your trunk or backseat whatever you prefer are
1. General warmth items such as - gloves, hat, boots, and blanket. For when your car breaks down and can`t get it to start for heat until help arrives
2. Flat wood running boards - if you can`t get any traction but are on a reasonably flat surface, chock these under the drive wheels. This will give the wheels something flat and dry to grip on.
Shovel - For digging your way out of trouble. If there`s too much snow surrounding the car, get rid of some of that snow and get out. This is where running boards might come in handy too once the snow is clear from the vehicle.
Washer fluid - I like that Prestone De Icer stuff, it won`t freeze and does a great job of cleaning your windshield. Or, keep a bottle of P21S Washer booster. Couple ounces of this stuff and your windshield is brand new again. This stuff rocks!!! I don`t have any but mu grandma uses it in her car. Salt, mud, and road grime just clean up like nothing. If you happen to run out of washer fluid, until you get some more, clean snow works well too. Grab a hand full and smear it all over your windsheild. The clean snow will help to clean the grime off temporarily.
I don`t know everything about cars but I do believe if you follow some of the tips in this thread you and your car will be ok throughout the winter,,,,,,,91