Like what seems to be most of SurvivalBlog readers, I am stuck near a city by the need to work. I have an exit plan (a.k.a. Bug-Out plan) that we are following. I decided to share some aspects of our actions. If you do the suggested vehicle maintenance and repair work then this will assist you to avoid being broken down along the road during your Bug Out exit. These checks and corrections will also benefit by eliminating typical defects that arise in normal use.
The beginning part of each check is an inspection of your Bug-Out Vehicle (BOV). I will guide you on what to examine. You then have the options:
1. Do any corrective work yourself for lowest cost and probably higher quality, or
2. Have the work done by someone else.
If you aren’t sure that you have correctly identified a potential concern then please have someone that you trust review your discovery. Right now–in relatively “normal” times–you have the option to repair immediately or plan to take action soon. But if you wait until much “later” then the time or parts may not be available.
The Vehicle Interior:
Begin by cleaning all glass surfaces. This enables you/all to see further. The improvement in vision after looking through dust or other junk may seem to be major. I typically do this cleaning every six months. I am always amazed at the vision improvement. The clean vision may give you enough extra reaction time to avoid problems.
Adjust all mirrors for comfortable vision of what is behind you. Did you clean the mirror surface? Please do so now.
The Exterior
Let’s move to the vehicle exterior from front to back:
First, clean all parts of all headlight glass. Please replace any damaged lens ASAP if the glass has been chipped. While on level ground, point the front of the vehicle toward a vertical wall, after dark. Turn the headlights on. Visually check that both the high and low beam filaments in all bulbs are working. Are both of the high beams orientated correctly both left/right and up/down?
Reminder: When you load the rear of a vehicle it tends to squat down. This rear squat causes the light from the headlights to be directed higher. Oncoming traffic sees this light as aimed toward their eyes. The easy and inexpensive solution is to use low beams if oncoming traffic is near.Continue reading“Vehicle Preparation – Part 1, by Traveling Mechanic”