As the weather gets warmer, it’s a suitable time to do a thorough run-through of everything in your truck that the change in weather might affect. If you live in an area with frigid winters and scorching summers, your truck is at a greater risk of damage and degradation because of the weather. This risk is especially present if you drive often or leave the pickup outside when not in use. One common part of a vehicle that can go overlooked if you’re not careful is the suspension system, specifically your shocks and struts.
Like most metallic parts of your vehicle, these parts react to the weather and conditions surrounding them. Coming off a particularly brutal winter or short spring, your shocks and struts may not be prepared for the heat that they’ll endure throughout the summer season. Ensuring that your truck is safe to drive and ready for anything involves taking a close look at your shocks and struts and preparing them for the change in seasons. Read on to learn about how to take care of your shocks and struts in warm weather so that nothing catches you by surprise.
There’s a solid chance that you perform your own inspections on your truck if you’re reading this. However, if you aren’t as proficient in suspension systems, shocks, or struts, it’s a smart idea to hire someone who knows what they’re looking at to inspect them for you.
Whether your vehicle didn’t see much use throughout the previous months or you drove it every day through harsh conditions, your shocks and struts likely took a beating one way or the other. Before the sweltering heat starts to become the norm, you should know where your shocks and struts currently stand so you can determine if you need to replace or adjust them.
What does your tire pressure measurement have to do with your truck’s shocks and struts? The connection comes from how your tires meet the road and how your shocks and struts adjust the rest of your car based on that contact.
Summer heat can make the air inside your tires expand. This change means that your tires can sometimes overinflate. Even a little bit of this kind of overinflation can mean that your tires will wear down unevenly. Uneven tires are much harder on your shocks and struts because there is far more movement they need to compensate for. Keep a close eye on your tire pressure to stay safer on the road while also protecting your shocks and struts.
An important part of taking care of your shocks and struts in warm weather is knowing how that weather affects the road itself. When the weather gets warmer, roads can expand and shift because of the extra heat. This expansion often causes large cracks and potholes to form in roads with imperfect sealing.
When summer starts to rear its head, you can be sure that potholes will start popping up in places you’ve never seen them before. Harshly dipping into a pothole because of inattention can do serious damage to your shocks and struts. When possible, safely move to avoid potholes you see ahead of you—you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches when it comes time to fix your suspension system.
This step is worth keeping in mind every time the weather starts to change because it applies to both colder and warmer weather. The salt and melting chemicals road maintenance workers use to clear snow and ice can easily stick to your vehicle’s undercarriage. You should thoroughly wash your vehicle’s underside once these chemicals are no longer necessary.
Meanwhile, many truck owners enjoy longer drives and off-roading excursions when the weather is warmer. Both activities expose your vehicle’s underside to corrosive elements that can wear down your struts and shocks. If you’re washing your own pickup, give its undercarriage a careful inspection and cleaning to remove these elements before they can set in and do some real damage.
The stop-and-go traffic of the summer is no one’s favorite aspect of the warmer months, but it’s often something drivers need to deal with. If you have a slightly longer route to your destination that avoids heavy stop-and-go traffic, you should consider choosing that route as a means to protect your shocks and struts. With more vehicles on the road when the warmer weather hits, you’re more likely to run into this kind of traffic, which is well-known to wear down brakes and suspension systems significantly faster than continuous, smooth driving.
If you can’t avoid the stop-and-go traffic for one reason or another, or you habitually accelerate and stop very quickly, you can still protect your shocks and struts by adjusting the way you drive. Heavy acceleration followed by harsh braking is a very inefficient and harmful way to drive. Beyond wearing down your brake pads quicker, it can also damage your shocks and struts as they work harder to keep everything smooth throughout a turbulent ride. Smoother acceleration and more gradual braking can keep your struts and shocks in better condition for a longer period.
The best way to ensure that your pickup can handle the changing seasons and the summer heat is to go beyond the standard parts your truck came with. Upgrading your shocks and struts can play a huge role in extending your truck’s lifespan and reducing maintenance costs. The last thing you want is to keep paying upkeep costs on parts that weren’t up to par. Investing in higher quality parts keeps your truck running smoother for much longer.
When you’re looking for the best Duramax steering parts and suspension upgrades, Norcal Diesel Performance has a fantastic selection of improvements for your truck. Look through our store page to find exactly what you need to prepare your truck for whatever challenges you take it through.
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