02 Apr Know the Truth behind Summer Truck Driving Myths
Now that the summer is here, you need to make changes to the way you drive your commercial truck. You need to take the rising temperatures outside into consideration to ensure that your truck is working at full capacity. You can find plenty of information online providing you tips to extend the life of your truck during the summer and avoid wear and tear. But, not all of them are true as many are just myths. These can cause much harm to your truck and should be avoided at all cost.
Here are some of the myths that you might have heard and know if they are true or false –
You should turn the heat on to cool the engine
It is true. When you turn on your heater in the truck, the excessive heat will be transferred to the core of the heater and will help bring the temperature of the coolant down. But, there will also be some side effects. The inside of your truck will heat up quite fast too. Thus, if you continuously use your heater to cool the coolant, there might be something seriously wrong with the cooling system, or you might have overloaded your truck.
Medium trucks need thick oil during summers
This too might be true, but not for all trucks. You should go through your owner’s manual to know the oil viscosity recommended by the company. It is best to avoid too thick oil for your truck as it might take much longer to flow inside the engine if it is not warm enough. Thin oil will create less friction and increase your fuel economy.
You should use water instead of coolant during summer
This is a myth. If you just use water instead of coolant during summers, your truck will not have any anticorrosion as well as antiwear additives in its cooling system. It might create a problem for your cooling system. It is best to use a mix of 50 percent coolant and 50 percent water.
You should buy gasoline in the morning
It is a myth. Many people think that buying gasoline in the morning during summer is good as during that time the fuel will be cooler. They believe that later in the day, the gas warms up and you will not get value for your money. The truth is that fuel is stored in underground fuel tanks that are unaffected by the changing temperature outside and remains the same.
All truck parts are the same, and it doesn’t matter where you purchase them from
This is false too. Not all truck parts are the same and you should be careful when purchasing parts from any store. Purchasing from the company itself can be costly as they keep on changing their inventory and you might get what you need. But, there are several online stores that sell high-quality truck parts at low cost.
Make sure that you use the above tips to keep your truck in top condition during the summer time.