greg334
Veteran Expediter
...to winterizing your truck.
I went through mine a few weeks ago and still I ended up with an electrical problem that put me on the side of the road. Nothing I could have done to really prevent it, the mechanic told me that there was really one problem but he replaced all the battery connectors and cable ends as a precaution.
Nevertheless, this year I went through my stash of parts first, knowing that I should have at least one if not two fuel filters on hand, afew gallons of coolant and oil. I made sure that I had the right belts, bulbs, extra little parts and went through the tool box to make sure my tools were still there - ended up missing my 3/4 impact socket which is now replaced. I also changed the grease in my grease gun seeing I was low on grease.
This year I made of list of parts, belts, hoses, filters, Reefer parts and so on so I know what I have on board so I don't have to buy truck stop parts at double the price.
So with the parts check completed, I checked the truck, gave it a super pre-trip inspection from top to bottom.
This year I went through the brakes and made sure everything was ready, no more surprises for me. I also made sure I had an extra brake hose with me, something I could cut to length if I needed to.
I did an overhead, then changed the coolant, gave the engine and radiator a hard flush with bicarb as recommended by Cummins, changed the charge cartridge and then after I finished topping it up, I checked for leaks when the engine got warm.
I changed the fuel filters and drained and flushed my tanks. I didn't install the fuel heater yet, I have to have three pairs of hands for that and it seems near impossible to find them when no one is hanging around, unless you count paws.
This year I received several different fuel heaters made by Artic Fox, three pretty nice in-tank heaters. They are easy to install if you have more than one person with you, they come with a thermostat and hook up to the coolant system - temps are regulated to about 80 F. I also got from them two other types of heaters, one actually goes inside the fuel line and the other is a coolant heat exchange with a 12 volt heater built in.
The only thing I didn't do is change the fan belt, got to get to that but it is something that will take a few minutes and I am done.
I unloaded the sleeper and gave everything a good wash down with warm soap and water. Got all the extra summer stuff out of it, get rid of some of the box food and re-arranged it for the long winter on the road.
I also worked on the lift gate and winterized it and reefer unit which I have to actually do more work to and install a DPF to it but those are being written about for my blog.
So what are you truck owners doing to winterize your truck?
I went through mine a few weeks ago and still I ended up with an electrical problem that put me on the side of the road. Nothing I could have done to really prevent it, the mechanic told me that there was really one problem but he replaced all the battery connectors and cable ends as a precaution.
Nevertheless, this year I went through my stash of parts first, knowing that I should have at least one if not two fuel filters on hand, afew gallons of coolant and oil. I made sure that I had the right belts, bulbs, extra little parts and went through the tool box to make sure my tools were still there - ended up missing my 3/4 impact socket which is now replaced. I also changed the grease in my grease gun seeing I was low on grease.
This year I made of list of parts, belts, hoses, filters, Reefer parts and so on so I know what I have on board so I don't have to buy truck stop parts at double the price.
So with the parts check completed, I checked the truck, gave it a super pre-trip inspection from top to bottom.
This year I went through the brakes and made sure everything was ready, no more surprises for me. I also made sure I had an extra brake hose with me, something I could cut to length if I needed to.
I did an overhead, then changed the coolant, gave the engine and radiator a hard flush with bicarb as recommended by Cummins, changed the charge cartridge and then after I finished topping it up, I checked for leaks when the engine got warm.
I changed the fuel filters and drained and flushed my tanks. I didn't install the fuel heater yet, I have to have three pairs of hands for that and it seems near impossible to find them when no one is hanging around, unless you count paws.
This year I received several different fuel heaters made by Artic Fox, three pretty nice in-tank heaters. They are easy to install if you have more than one person with you, they come with a thermostat and hook up to the coolant system - temps are regulated to about 80 F. I also got from them two other types of heaters, one actually goes inside the fuel line and the other is a coolant heat exchange with a 12 volt heater built in.
The only thing I didn't do is change the fan belt, got to get to that but it is something that will take a few minutes and I am done.
I unloaded the sleeper and gave everything a good wash down with warm soap and water. Got all the extra summer stuff out of it, get rid of some of the box food and re-arranged it for the long winter on the road.
I also worked on the lift gate and winterized it and reefer unit which I have to actually do more work to and install a DPF to it but those are being written about for my blog.
So what are you truck owners doing to winterize your truck?
