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Thread: Quick tip for vehicle prep

  1. #1
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    Quick tip for vehicle prep

    1. Know how far your car can go on a tank of gas. It sounds really dumb and simple but I am amazed at how many people simply don't know.

    This is very useful if you have to leave an area because of an impending (insert disaster here). If you know you can go 400 miles on a full tank, and you need to go RIGHT NOW but only have 3/4 a tank, then you know you can go 300 miles and can plan accordingly. It also allows you to accurately compute your MPG.

    2. A follow up is keep your vehicle topped off at all times, or as much as is practical (try for at least when it gets half empty). Trying to evacuate and getting in your car to find a low fuel light on would be a bad experience. Also, gas might not be available or priced too high, or lines may be hours long, or rationed out.

    3. If your car does not have a locking gas door, buy a locking gas cap. It prevents people from siphoning or putting crap in your tank.

    4. Try and keep a 5 gallon container in your garage. Every month pour it into your tank and replace the gas to keep it fresh. If you did #1, you know how far those 5 gallons will get you if you need them.

    5. Keep a bottle of coolant, oil, washer fluid, etc with your gas in the garage.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gentoo View Post
    5. Keep a bottle of coolant, oil, washer fluid, etc with your gas in the garage.
    or, even better, in your trunk/bed of your truck...along with a set of tools, some basic spare parts (radiator hoses, belts, spark plugs, etc.) at least, tire plug kit, cigarette lighter powered air compressor, etc.

  3. #3
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    Here is a big thing... tire changing drills. When was the last time you looked at your nuts? . It is a good idea to take em off and clean them, and put some lube on em so that they are easier to get off quickly. It sucks to have a stuck wheel nut at 0300 at night with zombies slowly approaching.

    Two people should be able to change a flat within 5 minutes, 2 is better.
    ParadigmSRP.com

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    Also ensure you have a bugout box with oil, oil filters (and a wrench!), air filters, and other consumables ready to go...
    Keep your powder dry.

    M4Carbine required notice/disclaimer: I am a tactical marketing professional. PM for details.

  5. #5
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    Lightbulb

    Quote Originally Posted by Iraq Ninja View Post
    ...Here is a big thing... tire changing drills...

    Agreed. The number of people who rely upon AAA or some other auto service to change a flat tire/perform basic auto service is amazing. Everyone who drives should at least know the basics of their own vehicle and how to check the oil, change a flat, etc, etc.


    Also, a little bit of antiseize (available at auto parts stores) on your lugnuts will go a long ways - especially if your vehicle is prone to "rust" conditions (road salt, driven year round in foul weather, near ocean water, etc). It makes it so much eaiser to break the nut free from the stud if you are removing the wheel for a flat, rotating tires, etc.

    Apply a small drop of antiseize on the inside of the lugnut prior to installing, then thread it onto the wheelstud. Just don't use too much antiseize; like Elmer's glue, a little dab will do.

    Keep a four-way tire iron in your trunk too; if you have a "stuck" lugnut, those are far easier to use when you need to break loose a stubborn lugnut compared to the regular "straight" irons. The 4-way provides extra leverage IMHO.

  6. #6
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    Four way spinners are good. We put a piece of tape around the spoke of that fits the nut. That way, we don't waste time getting the right one. We also made a handle out of a metal tube for leverage in cracking the hard nuts. The repair shop had used an airgun and got the nuts on too tight to break em by hand...
    ParadigmSRP.com

  7. #7
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    Tire Damage

    Not trying to hijack your thread.

    https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=26930

    The link above will lead to a thread I posted a few weeks ago after a small tornado took the duplex I lived in back on Feb 10, 2009. In the aftermath of this storm I somehow managed to avoid picking up any nails in vehicle tires, however the U-Haul truck we rented ended up with 2-roofing nails in one of the front tires when I returned it a few days later.
    Everytime I returned to the house in my vehicle I constantly feared picking up another nail in a tire.
    Has anyone used products like "Tire Slime"? http://www.slime.com/index.php

    I know Wal-Mart and other discount stores sell this for ATV useage, but after this little incident I just had...It got me to thinking about using something like this in my Bug Out Vehicle...might give some peace of mind....Anyone have an opinion on it? Cheaper than (Run flat) tires if it works that is.
    "Get yourself a Glock, Lose that Nickle plated sissy pistol." Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones)

    Ignorance is Defensible, Stupidity is Not!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by rat31465 View Post
    Everytime I returned to the house in my vehicle I constantly feared picking up another nail in a tire.
    Has anyone used products like "Tire Slime"? http://www.slime.com/index.php
    my buddy who owns a tire shop hates that stuff and says it makes the tire unpatchable. so, you are using a temporary fix that makes a permanent fix (which is to take the tire off the rim and patch it from the inside) impossible.

    a better option is a tire plug kit and a cigarette lighter powered air compressor. that is a semi-permanent fix that does not make the permanent fix impossible.

    (get a tire plug kit that has T-handled tools, rather than screwdriver handled tools...they are much easier to use.)

    tire plugs are quite easy to use. and, although they are supposedly only temporary, i have run for years and tens of thousands of miles on them without them leaking. (though i have also had some start to leak slowly after a couple years...at which time you can just drill out the old plug and put in a new one--or take the tire off the rim and fix it properly.)

    something like this:

    http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...6644_200326644

    but, you can pick them up at walmart or any auto parts store.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Iraq Ninja View Post
    Here is a big thing... tire changing drills. When was the last time you looked at your nuts? . It is a good idea to take em off and clean them, and put some lube on em so that they are easier to get off quickly. It sucks to have a stuck wheel nut at 0300 at night with zombies slowly approaching.

    Two people should be able to change a flat within 5 minutes, 2 is better.
    I have to put a huge +1 out to this. Especially if you were not the last one to change the tire out. Shops with impact/air driven wrenches can tork them down to to point where you need a 2ft section of pipe added to the end of you wrench to get it off (ask me how I know). I have gone to a "X" handle lug wrench in place of the typical "L" type wrenchs that come with most of todays cars. I also have a hydraulic floor type jack in my vehicles , that have the room, in place of the bottle type jacks that are in most cars. The floor type allow for better positioning without having to crawl totally under it.

  10. #10
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    Another plus on an x tire wrench. I live on a farm so changing tires is a routine thing. I used an L wrench to change a tire on my pickup, man did that suck. I got an x wrench for that truck as soon as possible.

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