Today I am pleased to offer a guest post by Walt Brinker of North Carolina, who has adapted advice from his book Roadside Survival into a post for parents of teen drivers:
Here is some priceless advice for parents of teen drivers to empower them to prevent and contend with vehicle breakdowns. Based on personal experience from making well over 2,000 free-of-charge roadside assists as a hobby, my book, “Roadside Survival: Low-Tech Solutions to Automobile Breakdowns”, lists my “Top 10 Roadside Survival Tips”. Since 75% of those assists involved tire-related issues, so do the first 6 from that list:
- Prevent tire failures by having tires inspected and balanced by tire professionals every 5,000 miles. Replace tires worn out, damaged, or older than six years.
- Prevent tire failures by frequent checks of tire air pressures, especially before long trips, using a tire pressure gauge (the only accurate method); then ensure correct pressure.
- Do not drive around without a serviceable spare tire (maximum six years old), designed for your vehicle (spare tire rims are designed for specific vehicles) – fully inflated, or with means to inflate-such as a 12-volt compressor.
- Do not drive around without jack and tire changing tools which actually work on your vehicle and its wheels (you need to verify that they all fit and work).
- Practice, before the flat tire occurs, removing the spare tire from stowage and mounting it on a vehicle wheel using the vehicle’s jack and tire changing tools. Check: lug nuts too tight?; jack functions OK?; know correct vehicle lift points; have key to locking wheel lug nuts; have key to security lock for spare tire.
- If towing a trailer, pay special attention: tire age not over six years; have jack, lumber for jack support, and proper size wrench for lug nuts; have at least one spare tire (none older than six years) with means to inflate if needed; ensure spare tire can be removed from trailer for use (sticking due to rust is a common problem). Tools for changing motor vehicle tires often will not work on trailer tires.
Tip Number 10 is too good to not list here: Listen/pay attention to your vehicle; it will “tell” you when it is about to fail: wheel vibration/pulling to the side/mushy handling; weak engine starts; dim lights; engine temperature gauge reads hot; warning lights; unusual noises from brakes, wheels, transmission or engine; funny odors; excess or white exhaust; fluid leaks. Your job is to “listen”; then, fix problems before they become failures on the road.
Want more? Visit my website: http://roadsidesurvival.com/vignettes-of-actual-roadside-assists
Walt Brinker
Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel
Vietnam War Veteran
Eastover, NC
