Preparation: Vehicle Once-Over

Off-roading has to be one of the roughest if not the worse on abuse of your vehicle. The amount of abuse that we put our vehicles through in the dirt is unlike any other type of motorsport.

With that in mind, preparation before heading out on the trail or out to the desert it is always a good thing to do a once-over of your vehicle. Making sure that it is operating correctly and everything on the vehicle is in good working condition.

The items that should be check are items that should be checked if you were to go on a long trip. The first item that should be checked is your vehicle fluids. This includes oil, power steering, transmission, antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, and brake fluid.

Top off any fluids that are low, and bring extra of all the fluids if possible. This goes hand-in-hand with being prepared and off-roading the smart way, making sure that you are prepared for whatever happens on the trail.

Maintenance on the vehicle should also be up to date. If it have been 10,000 miles since the last oil change, it is probably not the best idea to go wheeling. Brakes, shocks, and lights should also been test to make sure they are all in good operating condition.

Every off-road knows their vehicle, if something is not right or does not feel how it is supposed to be, make sure it gets checked out before kicking the dust up.

One item on the vehicle that is usually over looked are the hoses. Hoses are hard to inspect or check because the damage is being done on the inside. To correctly check a hose for cracks you would have to take the whole hose and turn it inside out.

They are hard enough to stretch to get on the fitting let alone trying to flip them inside out.

We had first hand experience with the hose as our Project Redneck experienced a broken hose in the parking lot. Luckily the vehicle was not out on the trail, and a new hose was purchased and installed.

One easy way to check if a hose is going bad is to feel it. Wait until the engine temperature has cooled down and you are able to touch the hose. If the hose feels soft, or crunchy it may be time to replace the hose. Make sure to check all the hoses.

Tires should also be looked over. Bald and worn out tires will not provide the traction that is needed on the trail. Damage to the tire should also be noted. Minor cuts and tire damage will occur from going off-road but major items, should be looked at.

The biggest thing when preparing to go off-road is the use of common sense. Common sense is not so common as many people know, but thinking about the worse case scenario on every trip will have you heading in the right direction.