Get Your Car Ready for Summer Road Trips in Colorado

Summer in Colorado is road trip season. Rocky Mountain National Park, Telluride, the San Juans, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes. The problem is that altitude, heat, and long mountain descents will find every weak point on a car. The pre-trip checklist below is what we run on every customer car heading out for a summer adventure.

Cooling system, first priority

A long climb up Berthoud Pass at 95 degrees is the worst test you will ever give your cooling system. Coolant level, hose condition, radiator cap pressure rating, fan operation, and thermostat function all need to be right. A weak cooling system will fail under exactly the conditions where failure is the most expensive.

Brakes for the descent

Coming down Independence Pass, your brakes do more work in 30 minutes than they do in a typical month. Pad thickness, rotor condition, and brake fluid moisture content all matter. We especially watch fluid moisture above 3 percent (it boils sooner under heat).

Tires for the long haul

Hot pavement, fully loaded vehicle, sustained high speed. Check pressures cold, look at tread depth and wear pattern, inspect sidewalls for bulges or cracks, and check the date code. Old tires fail in heat first. We see it every July.

A/C performance

A weak A/C system makes a long drive miserable and dangerous (heat exhaustion is real). If your A/C was marginal in May, it will be useless in July. We check refrigerant charge, compressor function, and vent temperature.

Fluids, all of them

• Engine oil at the right level and not over the change interval
• Transmission fluid (the most-skipped fluid, also the most expensive when ignored)
• Brake fluid clear, not dark
• Power steering (if hydraulic)
• Coolant fresh
• Differential and transfer case on AWD/4WD

Belts and hoses

Heat ages rubber faster than anything else. Cracked, swollen, or glazed belts and hoses need to be replaced before the trip, not during it. A belt failure 50 miles past Cortez is the start of a long bad day.

The trip kit

• Spare tire and jack, both verified to actually work
• Jumper cables or jump pack
• Tire inflator and a plug kit
• Quart of oil that matches your spec
• Gallon of water (for you and the cooling system)
• First aid kit
• Paper map (cell coverage dies fast off the interstate)

Driving the trip well

Three habits that save your car on long Colorado drives:

• Use lower gears on long descents. Engine braking saves your friction brakes from overheating.
• Watch the temp gauge on long climbs. If it starts climbing past normal, ease off the throttle and turn the A/C off. If it keeps climbing, pull over.
• Take real breaks. Every two hours, get out, walk around, look at the tires, check under the car for new leaks. It is also good for you.

Drop in a week before you leave. A free inspection takes 30 minutes. Anything we find can usually be handled in time without changing your travel dates. Have a great trip.