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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. 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.
  6. 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

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