Simple vehicle maintenance as the seasons change: get right, or get left.
Phil at Vulgar Curmudgeon nails it.
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"I like a good story, well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself." - Mark Twain
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Only thing to add is that I also keep a jump pack in my truck and have yet to need to dig out the jumper cables since I've started carrying one. I prefer to use it when possible as:
1. I don't have to maneuver my vehicle to a possibility dangerous location (like the middle of a heavily traveled street as one moron wanted me to do when managed to kill his truck in the middle of the street)
2. My packs have a power switch so no juice flowing until the cables are clamped in the right spots and I can verify polarity
3. Protects my engine and vehicle computer
4. Can be used to run my amateur radio or charge cell phones if needed.
Just remember to check it regularly and replace it when the battery quits holding a good charge (I've found you can usually buy a new unit for the price of replacement batteries.) Old units go into reserve at the ham radio shack or for use around the house during power outages.
And with a bit of effort, you can hook up a dashboard trickle charger to the jump pack to keep it constantly topped off.
(The only flaw with the old Chevy Astro vans was they ate alternators.)
One of my projects for the Beast is a solar panel over the cab, tied in with both a deep cycle battery for various toys, and a spare 12V vehicle replacement batt, for "just in case".
AESOP,
I use Odyssey batteries in all of my equipment (automotive, tractors, generators, ATV, etc). They are sealed AGM (absorbed glass mat), they possess the qualities of both starting and deep cycle, and they are positional agnostic: no issues or leaks regardless of position.
You will pay more but they have never failed me in triple digit positive and double digit below zero negative temps.
I use battery terminal anti-corrosion rings, and Napa Auto spray terminal protectant (seems to be a type of spray lacquer) for all batteries. No issues.
Hey thanks for the link love AESOP!
Since I work Swingshift I didn't get to see this until I got home and started surfing my usual haunts.
Yours is one of them.
Phil
You're welcome. It was a great post.
I'd add in a little self-maintenance too, learning how to do basic things like jump start, change a tire, change bulbs, etc. My wife works with people who bring their car back to the dealer to replace a brake-light-bulb.
There's a TV commercial about some insurance company that offers roadside assistance, and it features a woman with her 20-something son who says something like "They came to help when he got stranded at midnight with a flat tire". Every time I see that commercial I want to scream "Shame on you for raising a young man whose only possible response to a flat tire is to wait for someone else to change it for him!"
I have AAA, I've used it a few times for towing when something died that I couldn't fix (like when the ignition switch, of all things, broke). I have it mostly for my wife's sake, or those rare occasions where I'm not in a hurry to get someplace and the weather sucks bad enough that I'd rather someone else did the job.
Mark D
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