From Tyres to Suspension: Essential Car Checks for Sunshine Drivers

Driving across Victoria when the summer sun is blazing is practically a rite of passage. But let's be honest, that brutal heat turns bitumen into a furnace and takes a nasty toll on your vehicle. Before you pack the boot and hit the West Gate Freeway, getting a trusted mechanic in Sunshine to give your ride a proper once-over can save you from a world of financial pain and keep you safe on the highway.

Tyres: Your First Line of Defence Against Sizzling Roads

Rubber and hot asphalt don't mix well. When the mercury climbs, your tyres take the brunt of it:

• Pressure spikes out of nowhere: With every 5.5°C increase in temperature, the air inside your tyres should increase in pressure by about 1-2 PSI. Ignore the trend, and you'll likely develop uneven tread wear, or get a dramatic blowout while cruising at 110kph.
  
• Sticky bitumen softens rubber: Hot roads make tyre rubber squishy. This means less grip when you throw a tight corner or two and longer braking distances when you stick on the anchors.
  
• Always check them cold: Check the pressure of your tyres with a gauge right away when you wake up, before the sun has a chance to melt the asphalt. The tread of your tyre must also be above the minimum of 1.6mm.
  

Wheel Maintenance and Safety

Some preventative maintenance will help you immensely with this one:

• Stick to a rotation schedule: Swap your tyres front-to-back every 8,000 to 12,000 kilometres. It spreads the wear evenly so you aren't replacing two tyres prematurely.
  
• Get your tracking sorted: Many Australian car owners fail to realise the importance of wheel alignment for vehicle safety, but misalignment will affect your car’s fuel efficiency, tyre efficiency, and even the centring of your steering wheel.
  
• Don't forget the spare: Make sure that your spare tyre is always in good shape, in terms of tyre pressure and puncture. Remember, you don’t want to get stuck in a situation wherein you need a spare tyre and it’s flat too.
  

Suspension: Protecting Ride Comfort and Stability

In addition to being responsible for maintaining your comfort while driving, the suspension system is also responsible for keeping your tires planted on the road during tight turns and sudden stops.

• Heat makes metal expand: Due to the increased temperatures during summer months, many components such as ball joints, control arms and bushes expand and increase their sizes
  
• Hydraulic fluid breaks down: Shocks and struts run on somewhat specialised hydraulic fluid. When the outside heat starts boiling it, that oil breaks down and you end up with loose feeling handling and a lot of body roll.
  
• Give it a captain's cook: Remove the wheels and examine the suspension components for evidence of accumulations of dirt and grease; if in doubt, a leak will confirm that this part of your car's suspension is nearing the end of its life.
  

Under the Bonnet: Essential Fluids and Battery Health

When summer heat hits hard, your engine works double-time. Don't let your car overheat when you're miles from anywhere:

• Check the oil dipstick: The heat in a car engine bay breaks down engine oil films. Visually check the dipstick once a month for a low level of clean oil and absence of a black ropy deposit.
  
• Keep coolant levels healthy: Always make sure that the coolant levels are optimal and are always between maximum and minimum.
  
• Batteries hate extreme heat: Very hot weather can cause quick evaporation of the solution in the battery, plus terminal corrosion: Clean the white crusty powder from on top of battery terminals and look out for the expanded batteries case.
  
• Fresh wiper blades: The standard issue rubber ones will just bake and crack in the Aussie sun. Replace them so that the washer fluid will actually clean dirt and insects off the glass rather than smear them.
  

Emergency Prep and Professional Servicing

Throwing a proper roadside kit in the boot gives you total peace of mind on long highway stretches. Make sure you pack:

• A sturdy jack and wheel spanner
  
• Working jumper cables and a bright torch
  
• A well-stocked first-aid kit and plenty of fresh drinking water
  

Conclusion:

Get your vehicle checked out before you head off. Although a quick look over your car is simple enough to do at home, it pays to arrange for a thorough check by a mechanic before you go. Having your car service in Sunshine completed by a trained auto technician, who'll check the state of your brake pads, the drive belts and radiator fans, and your underbody linkages, helps you enjoy a trouble-free trip.