You prepare for the things in life such as natural disasters, fire, job loss even medical issues. You do your best to prepare your spouse, kids, even your pets by being debt free, having savings, storing food, possibly having an alternate form of power. Let me ask you, do you prep your vehicle?
By prep I don’t just mean keeping it maintained by changing the oil, making sure the tires are properly inflated and have good tread? Do you make sure you have things stored up for your vehicle maintenance in case you don’t have access to a mechanic? Have you considered stocking up on some simple things like motor oil, oil filters, air filters, even cabin filters? What about tire repair kits?
You see it is just as important to stock up on items for your car as it is to stock up on items for the household and family. For me, I always have 20 quarts of oil on hand, specifically I like Mobile One Extended Performance, I like that because I can run a good 15k miles and it is full synthetic. I do change it well before the 15k mile mark, but could run it up to that in a worse case scenario. On average an unopened bottle of oil has a shelf life of around five years, so I am always rotating through the oil, but ensuring I always have extra on hand.
On top of that, I also have eight extra oil filters on hand as well, again I stick with Mobile One, personally, I have had very good luck with these filters. The reason I have that many extra filters is because I can change out my oil filter without having to change your oil. So, mid-way through my oil usage, I change out the filter, and top off the oil. It just helps the oil stay cleaner and last a bit longer.
Some may say that they can’t change their own oil, I am here to say you can. I actually use what I call an Oil Boy, at least that is what it was called when I bought it, it is actually call a Mityvac 7400 Fluid Evaluator. It allows me to change my oil from the top rather than the bottom and without having take out the drain plug. I actually pump the oil out from the dip stick tube. It pumps it right into the oil boy container. Once I have change the filter, pumped out all the old oil, refill with new fresh oil, I pour the old oil in the the bottle the new oil came in and take it to any auto parts store for disposal. They take the oil in for free. Never ever pour oil out into the environment, always dispose of it properly. Anyway, changing my oil this way does seem easier for me than having to drain it out from the bottom into a large pan which to me, is harder to deal with when pouring it from that drain pan into the old oil bottle.
In addition to those simple little preps for my car, I also put K&N air filters in under the hood, they last around 50k miles, I have an extra one for each car as well as a charging kit so I also have a spare clean air filter. As well as some additional cabin filters, not a huge necessity, but it is a cheap prep to keep your cabin air clean while you are out and about in maybe conditions that are not clean, say in times of fire, or volcanic ash floating around.
The point here is not only to stock up on some extras for your vehicle, but make sure what you stock up on has long usage life to it.
Some may ask why I didn’t mention that I have some gas stored. Well, I don’t. Yes, I know without gas the car and oil isn’t worth much, but for me, I just don’t think having gas around in large quantities is the safest thing so I only have about three gallons on hand at any time and I actually use that for the lawn mower.
Now I am sure I have missed some things, and I hope you will comment and add them below it will help everyone. Thanks for reading.
18 May 2015
0 CommentsTips For Prepping Your Vehicle
By prep I don’t just mean keeping it maintained by changing the oil, making sure the tires are properly inflated and have good tread? Do you make sure you have things stored up for your vehicle maintenance in case you don’t have access to a mechanic? Have you considered stocking up on some simple things like motor oil, oil filters, air filters, even cabin filters? What about tire repair kits?
You see it is just as important to stock up on items for your car as it is to stock up on items for the household and family. For me, I always have 20 quarts of oil on hand, specifically I like Mobile One Extended Performance, I like that because I can run a good 15k miles and it is full synthetic. I do change it well before the 15k mile mark, but could run it up to that in a worse case scenario. On average an unopened bottle of oil has a shelf life of around five years, so I am always rotating through the oil, but ensuring I always have extra on hand.
On top of that, I also have eight extra oil filters on hand as well, again I stick with Mobile One, personally, I have had very good luck with these filters. The reason I have that many extra filters is because I can change out my oil filter without having to change your oil. So, mid-way through my oil usage, I change out the filter, and top off the oil. It just helps the oil stay cleaner and last a bit longer.
Some may say that they can’t change their own oil, I am here to say you can. I actually use what I call an Oil Boy, at least that is what it was called when I bought it, it is actually call a Mityvac 7400 Fluid Evaluator. It allows me to change my oil from the top rather than the bottom and without having take out the drain plug. I actually pump the oil out from the dip stick tube. It pumps it right into the oil boy container. Once I have change the filter, pumped out all the old oil, refill with new fresh oil, I pour the old oil in the the bottle the new oil came in and take it to any auto parts store for disposal. They take the oil in for free. Never ever pour oil out into the environment, always dispose of it properly. Anyway, changing my oil this way does seem easier for me than having to drain it out from the bottom into a large pan which to me, is harder to deal with when pouring it from that drain pan into the old oil bottle.
In addition to those simple little preps for my car, I also put K&N air filters in under the hood, they last around 50k miles, I have an extra one for each car as well as a charging kit so I also have a spare clean air filter. As well as some additional cabin filters, not a huge necessity, but it is a cheap prep to keep your cabin air clean while you are out and about in maybe conditions that are not clean, say in times of fire, or volcanic ash floating around.
The point here is not only to stock up on some extras for your vehicle, but make sure what you stock up on has long usage life to it.
Some may ask why I didn’t mention that I have some gas stored. Well, I don’t. Yes, I know without gas the car and oil isn’t worth much, but for me, I just don’t think having gas around in large quantities is the safest thing so I only have about three gallons on hand at any time and I actually use that for the lawn mower.
Now I am sure I have missed some things, and I hope you will comment and add them below it will help everyone. Thanks for reading.