Driving
in the winter in the United Kingdom is never easy. Luckily, you can
choose to winterise your car before the blinding snowfall starts.
Winterising a vehicle is an easy way to take care of it, add years to
its life, and have better safety over years of use.
Here
are 5 steps to winterise your car easily!
Step
1:
Keep
an Emergency Kit Handy
It
might seem like a stretch, but a basic emergency kit is of enormous
importance. It may consist of such essentials like a flash light with
spare batteries, a freshly charged mobile phone battery, a pair of
jumper cables, some gloves and a blanket, and bottles of engine oil,
coolant, and washer fluid.
Winters
are notorious for depositing extremely high amounts of snow over a
few hours. In that case, consider keeping an ice scraper inside your
kit.
Step
2:
Check
Your 4-Wheel Drive Before Winter
Winterising
a vehicle also means that you inspect every aspect of it. Generally,
even if you own an SUV, chances are you do not use the 4-WD feature
in summer and the fall, unless you are a keen sports car enthusiast.
Thus, the feature sits idle for many months on end. So, before winter
starts, check if the 4-wheel drive feature is working properly.
Ice and snow make for very poor roads, and driving is difficult.
Thus, a 4WD vehicle is often a necessity. If it is not working
properly, contact a service garage. If you live and drive in and
around Alfreton, you can contact garages like Colemans Garage for a
new set of 4x4 tyres. They can also help you with wheel alignment
services as well as your next MOT.
Step
3:
Check
the Battery
Modern-day
batteries are maintenance-free units. However, make sure that you
carry out a visual check. Is any part of the cell leaking? Has there
been a bulge of the external surface? Are the terminals rust-free?
These are some of the areas which need your attention.
Alternatively,
you can let experts do your work. The next time you go to purchase
something routine like Summer Tyres in Alfreton or someplace
close, let the technicians decide if your battery is okay.
Step
4:
Change
Tyres
Summer
or all-season tyres will be of no use in winter. Only winter tyres
with the standard M+S/MS markings are acceptable. ‘M’ stands for
mud and ‘S’ denoted snow. These markings indicate that such a
tyre can deal with muddy and snowy conditions. Some of the best 4x4 Tyres Alfreton and similar small cities are winter models.
Replace
all 4 tyres simultaneously.
Step
5:
Inspect
Your Windshield Wipers
Winters
play havoc with road visibility conditions. Often, it gets as dark
even in daytime. In such inclement weather conditions, wind-shield
wipers often malfunction. The rubber cracks and starts to break,
while the wiper itself may not cover the full expanse of the
wind-shield. It is thus necessary to check the status of these wipers
beforehand.
Contact
your local service point if you have any doubts.
Winterising, as you can see, does not take much time or money, but is
worth every minute you spend behind it. In the end, it will be your
safety quotient which will see an upswing.
