If you are curious about the state of your commercial truck, there are some quick ways that you can do a quick visual check and fluid levels check to make sure that your rig is operating at tip-top shape. The truth is that a few minutes each month will likely help you save a lot of time and energy when it comes to putting off small repairs until they turn into bigger ones!
Another important thing to remember is that a little care here and there will help you improve your fuel economy now and, in the future, which puts less pressure on the environment and helps you save money at the same time.
While some repairs will definitely necessitate you to take your truck to the truck repair shop, there are others that you can take care of on your own. Making sure that you finalize a repair checklist is a great way to stay on top of your truck maintenance.
Truck repair checklist
The simple truth is that regular truck maintenance is necessary for you to make sure that your vehicle remains safe, reliable, drivable and comfortable for those long hauls. Completing a monthly preventative maintenance checklist will allow you to identify any fixable problems before it is too late.
It is good to remember that the actual schedule that you keep for your maintenance checks depends on how much you are driving, the driving conditions and your behaviors as a diver. Here are all of the factors that you should keep in mind:
- Number of trips and the distance of each trip per day
- Extreme hold or cold conditions that you’ve driven in
- Mountainous, dusty or de-iced roads
- Heavy stop-and-go traffics vs. long-distance cruising
- Towing a trailer or other heavy load
The monthly preventative maintenance checklist (which has been created by veteran service technicians) recommends a maintenance schedule that is heavily based on your driving schedule. That means that if you are driving a month’s worth of time in three weeks, then there is no reason to delay an extra week.
With that being said, here are the common car maintenance tasks to remember:
- check or flush transmission fluid
- check or flush power steering fluid
- check and flush engine coolant
- inspect or replace spark plugs
- inspect or replace an air filter
- inspect or replace timing belt and other belts
- lubricate locks, latches, hinges
- check all lights
- tighten chassis nuts and bolts
- check if rubber boots are cracked and need replacement
- test electronics, e.g., Anti-lock braking system or ABS
- read fault codes from the Engine control unit
- car wash
- check/replace the engine oil and replace oil filters
- check/replace fuel filters
- inspect or replace windshield wipers
- check or refill windshield washer fluid
- inspect tires for pressure and wear
- Tire balancing
- Tire rotation
- Wheel alignment
- check, clean or replace battery terminals and top up battery fluid
- inspect or replace brake pads
- check or flush brake fluid
Following this basic truck maintenance checklist will help you stay on the road and out of the repair shop. If that’s not enough of a reason to take your maintenance checklist seriously, then we don’t know what is!
