Pickup trucks are useful to transport supplies, but their ability to work depends on how often you maintain them. In order to keep your ride in good shape, read this guide for tips on how to maintain your pickup truck.
Perform Regular Inspections
One major part of pickup truck maintenance is to inspect your vehicle for damages. Make sure that your engine and lights work properly. Check that there is no fuel leakage and that no wires are out of place. Check your tires to see if they have enough air pressure. If your tires show signs of damage, excessive wear, or punctures, they need to be replaced immediately.
When you inspect the inside of your pickup truck, you need to make sure that every piece of equipment abides by safety standards. For instance, all seats need working seatbelts. The steering wheel should turn smoothly. The gas gauge and speedometer need to work properly.
Keep Your Pickup Truck Clean
Since pickup trucks have large wheels, they can pick up more dirt than smaller vehicles. As tires accumulate dirt over time, they may not function properly or provide a smooth, even ride. This can cause damage to your truck and increase your chances of getting into an accident. Here are some ways to keep every part of the truck clean.
Exterior
To keep your truck running and to keep yourself safe, it is important to clean the entire body of the truck. Rinse the truck’s body with water. Then wash it with a dedicated car-wash product and use a fender brush to clean around the wheel wells, tires, and fenders. Finally, rinse the exterior and dry it with a microfiber cloth, chamois, or leaf blower. For extra protection and to keep your truck looking new, apply car wax and then buff.
Interior
After you finish washing the exterior of your truck, water will probably seep into the inner panels. So you should clean and wipe down every panel with a microfiber towel. To clean the windows, use a suede towel. In addition to wiping down the inner panels and windows, clean debris off the interior surfaces and vacuum the floor. This will not only prevent injuries but will also reduce your chances of getting sick. After you finish cleaning the interior of your truck, you can add seat covers to keep your seats clean for a long time.
Truck Bed
Cleaning the truck bed is simple but important because you will store many supplies back there. Empty the truck bed of all supplies and rinse the surface down. Then sweep all debris from every area. Clean the truck bed with a car-wash product and a car-wash mitt. After that, rinse the surface again. Dry the surface with a chamois.
Keep These Supplies in Your Truck
One last way to maintain your truck is to keep first-aid items as well as extra supplies in your truck bed. Some essential items include the following.
- Spare tire
- Tools
- Cleaning supplies
- Adhesive bandages
- Eye protection
- CPR devices
As you can see, pickup truck maintenance involves many steps for safety. We hope this guide cleared up any confusion about how to maintain your pickup truck.