5 “Must Do’s” to Ensure You’re Ready for Winter.

With the cold weather comes new challenges to both your comfort and safety. Make sure your’re prepared with 5 simple and cost effective “Must Do’s” to ensure you’re ready for the winter months.

1. Fight the Salt

Road salt wreaks havoc on car parts, including brakes, coils and exhaust systems. Be sure to wash your car from time to time, particularly after periods where the road crews have laid down a lot of salt. Over time, this salt build up will start to corrode and ultimately ruin vital components of your car. Most car washes have an undercarriage option that will help to get some of that salt out from under your car.

2. Consider Snow Tires

Most people discount snow tires in our area and opt for standard all-season tires. There are many reasons to consider snow tires for your vehicle. The most obvious of them is traction. If you do a lot of driving, and frequent hilly or winding roads, increased traction will give you much greater piece of mind in winter conditions.

While all-season tires suggests that they are good for all seasons, they are mainly built for even wear, quiet driving and long life. Winter traction simply doesn’t fall very high on that list. The rubber can get hard, and therefore lose their ability to grip the road. Winter tires are made specifically for cold temperatures and winter conditions.

It’s worth noting that technologies in cars such as traction control or ABS does not offer more traction in; they merely stop people from accelerating or braking too hard in slippery conditions.

(Need tires? BBack Car Care is a trusted supplier of brand name tires at great prices. Learn More.)

3. Wiper Blades, Scrapers and Fluids

This sounds like an obvious one, but many people put off replacing/refilling them until they need them. To start, wiper blades are vitally important to keeping your line of sight clear during the winter. Invest in a good set of blades and be sure to protect them during the cold months by scrapping your car thoroughly with a good ice scraper. Simply turning on your blades in the morning or after snow fall can easily damage your wiper blades as ice chews up the rubber blades. Even worse, bad wiper blades can start to damage your windshield and leave permanent streaks.

Lastly, check your wiper fluid levels regularly. Again, you don’t want to run out when you need them the most. It’s surprising how much you can go through spraying that salt spray off your windshield. Most gas stations have it in stock, so there’s little excuse!

4. Get Your Battery Checked

I think we can all think back to our middle school chemistry days when we learned that batteries lose power in colder temperatures. At the same time, cars need more energy to start because fluids don’t move around as well during the winter months. So, what worked for you while it was 50 degrees out simply might not when the thermometer dips below 20.

Have your mechanic test your battery and inspect the connections to ensure that you are not stranded during the next cold snap.

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