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Preventative Truck Maintenance: 10 Tips for Peace of Mind
Truck owners must keep their vehicles in excellent shape. Maintenance becomes crucial to keep themselves and the drivers around them safe. Luckily, it’s not very time consuming.
As a truck driver, you can always purchase commercial Automann parts if you need replacements. You should also keep the following safety tips in mind.
Be Mindful of Your Fifth-Wheel Platform
Your fifth-wheel platform needs to be functioning correctly at all times. If it isn’t, you can’t safely hook up your trailer. Inspect the platform regularly and grease it when necessary.
Check Your Fluid Levels
You should also check your truck’s fluid levels periodically. See whether your power steering, brake, transmission, coolant, and engine oil levels are correct whenever you do routine maintenance on your truck.
Check Your Truck’s Exterior Lighting
Your exterior lighting needs to function correctly if you’re going to be safe in your truck. Walk around the vehicle’s exterior and look for any burned-out bulbs before you hit the road.
Change Your Fluids
Changing your fluids regularly is required. How often you do it will depend on factors like the kind of driving you do, how many miles you’re putting on your truck, and the weight of the loads you usually have in the vehicle as well.
Inspect Your Clutch and Gearbox
Inspection of your clutch and gearbox should also be something you do regularly. Heavy loads and high-torque engines mean these truck components are working hard. If the gearbox or clutch ceases working properly when you’re on the road, that can be dangerous, so don’t neglect these areas.
Check Tire Pressure
This is crucial to do with any vehicle, but it becomes even more critical if you’re driving a large truck loaded down with freight. A blown tire can endanger you and everyone on the road around you, so make sure each of your tires has the correct PSI before you start a trip.
Electrical System Verification
Electrical system verification should happen once per year with trucks, at a minimum. You can also check to make sure your battery and alternator are functioning correctly at the same time.
Check Your Tire Wear
You should check to make sure that the wear on your tires looks even. If the wear looks uneven, that could mean there is a problem with either your suspension or alignment.
Check Your Truck’s Air Filters
If your air filter is clean, that means your engine will run more smoothly, and you won’t consume fuel any faster than necessary. When you inspect your air filter, make sure it’s not clogged. If it is, it’s time to switch it out.
Do a Brake Inspection
You should also inspect your brakes. If they have reached a condition where they’re not stopping the truck as smoothly as they should, you need to pay for new ones. Your truck stopping when it needs to is not something you can leave to chance.
Doing all of these things often will keep you safe and keep your truck on the road longer.
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