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Summer’s on its way and that means road trips with your family! Make sure your car’s ready before you load it up and get going. Here are some things you will definitely want to check out:

Tires: Nothing’s more important to your safety on the road than your tires, but at the same time nothing is easier to take for granted. Get a good look at all the tires and check for uneven wear, cracks, bulges or damage. Check the tread depth as well, using a penny…stick the penny into the tread grooves, Lincoln head down. Does the tread reach the top of Abe’s head? That’s a tread depth of 2/32”, the minimum allowable by state law. Try the same test with a quarter; if the tread can reach the top of Washington’s head, your tread depth is 4/32”. One more time with the penny; if the tread reaches the Lincoln Memorial, your tread depth is 6/32”.

Oil change: Your motor oil is what prevents premature wear on your engine’s moving parts, but it’s imperative to keep clean oil in the crankcase. If you can’t remember your last oil change, just pull the dipstick and have a look. Clean motor oil should be honey-colored and translucent. Is your oil darker, but still translucent? It can go for a little longer. Motor oil that’s the color of black coffee and has an acrid smell, however, should be changed right away.

Cooling system maintenance: Coolant is a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water, and contains anticorrosion agents to prevent the buildup of scale in the radiator, water pump, and heater core. Have your antifreeze tested and flushed/replaced if necessary.

Air conditioning: Your car’s A/C can lose refrigerant over the course of a year. If you notice weak A/C performance, a “dirty socks” smell or a regular metallic clicking noise while the A/C is running, you may want to have A/C service performed.

At Master Auto and Tire, we want you to have a safe and comfortable road trip this summer. Make an appointment with us before you load up the kids and hit the road!