As a jeep user, you may be aware of the harsh conditioners your 4×4 or off-roader has to endure, which calls for extra care and maintenance on your part. To run efficiently, all cars require regular maintenance and your jeep is no different. If you participate in regular maintenance, you could maintain the resale value of your jeep and ensure that it runs without any hiccups for many years to come. However, failing to do so could cause your ride to break down in the middle of the road and cost you expensive repairs. Hence, maintenance should be your number one priority when it comes to your jeep, and given below are six maintenance tips that all jeepers must know about:
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1. You should be changing its oil regularly
An oil change is possibly the most basic and essential maintenance task that every vehicle needs, let alone your jeep. You can perform an oil change from the comfort of your home garage and need not visit the mechanic for every scheduled oil change. When looking to perform an oil change, the first thing you should do is locate the drain plug for your oil bin and place a basin underneath it to catch the old oil once you remove the drain plug. Once all the old oil has drained, remove the oil filter, fill it with new oil and reinstall the drain plug. Since jeeps are already heightened, you may not even need a jack stand to perform an oil change, and would be done in a matter of minutes.
2. You should in fact change all fluids
In addition to an oil change, your jeep may require multiple other fluid changes which may include the transmission fluid and radiator fluid. If your jeep has power steering, you may have to change the power steering fluid as well. In addition to changing these fluids, you should make sure that they are present in your vehicle in appropriate quantities and may have to consult your vehicle’s user manual to determine them. For instance, similar to how this dodge shop manual contains all details about the pertaining fluids and their respective quantities, your jeep’s manual will also contain pertaining details. If you frequently indulge in off-roading, you may have to check fluid levels more frequently than an average vehicle.
3. You should rotate the jeep’s tires
To get the most miles out of your expensive jeep tires, you must rotate them based on a schedule. For instance, the front two tires of your jeep are likely to deteriorate and wear much quicker than the two rear tires since the former endure more pressure on their rims. Hence, by rotating your tires you can ensure that all tires wear together. This would make sure that you get the most bang out for your buck, and you should be rotating your jeep’s tires every 7000 miles or every six months. If you engage in off-roading, this measure should come earlier at four months. Jeeps usually come with really expensive tires, which makes it even more important for you to engage in this measure.
4. You should frequently replace air filters
To keep your jeep running smoothly, and for you to be able to sit in it comfortably, you must regularly check and replace its air filters. Once again, this is more important if you regularly engage in off-roading as moving on off-road trails can cause a lot of dust and gunk to enter your jeep’s filters. This would shorten the already short lifespan of your air filters and hence you must check them more regularly than you would for an average vehicle. For the HVAC system of your jeep to function and run smoothly, your air filters should be clean and remain free of any clogging. For regular jeeps, you should change your air filters every 20,000 miles and if your jeep has done a bit of off-roading recently you should be changing its air filter every 9000 miles.
5. You should get them aligned and check for pressure
Owning a jeep would mean that you would often take it for off-roading during its life. While you may be showing off your vehicle’s amazing off-roading capabilities, you should also pay attention to its wheel alignment. Off-roading often causes your wheels to become misaligned due to changing terrain and conditions, and if not fixed, this can be very dangerous and hamper your jeep’s steering capabilities. If you actively engage in off-roading, Offshore precision alignment. you should be taking your jeep for wheel alignment to the mechanic every six months. While you are there, you should also make it a point to check your vehicle’s tire pressure as too high or too low tire pressure can cause wear and tear in your tires much earlier than it should, and hence you would be left to incur costs of tire replacement.
6. You should replace brake pads and brake fluids
The brake pads in your jeep are likely to wear over time which can be a serious safety concern. Not being able to work your brakes could lead to dangerous accidents and hamper your safety in addition to that of bypassers. Typically, you should be changing your brake pads every 40,000 miles, however, the exact number may be higher or lower depending on your usage. You should also change the brake fluid every 20,000 miles or so, and both of these measures combined are crucial for the health of your jeep’s braking systems. Not engaging in this measure would seriously harm your and the general public’s safety.
Conclusion
Maintaining your jeep, or any vehicle for that matter has no downsides at all. Investing time and money into the maintenance of your jeep would save you the embarrassment of a malfunctioning vehicle and would save you immense amounts in repair costs. By abiding by simple basics of jeep maintenance such as oil changes, changing air filters, getting wheels aligned, changing fluids, and adjusting tire pressure, you could prolong the use of your favorite ride by a decade.
