It's a good idea to get a pretrip inspection before Memorial Day, summer road trips

Memorial Day is the start of summer road trip season, and after a long winter, your vehicle needs some TLC before heading out. Here are some ideas for getting your car ready for the road.

• Pack an emergency kit. No matter how new your car or how well you take care of it, sometimes bad stuff happens. Some of the basics you should have are a flashlight; a first-aid kit; a warning light, hazard triangle or flares; spare fuses; $20 in small bills and change; and a jack and lug wrench. This Consumer Reports article offers a full list of items you should have in your car in case of emergency.

• Check your lights and signals. Walk around the vehicle and make sure your headlights and turn signals work. Have someone help you check the brake lights, too. You don’t want to get pulled over on vacation for having non-working lights!

• Check out your tires. There’s three parts to this one. First, check your tire pressure. If your tire pressure is off, it will affect your safety and fuel economy, and negatively impact the life of your tires. Second, check the tire tread to make sure your tires have enough life in them. If you see any uneven wear, get them checked out before your trip. Also make sure the tread depth is appropriate. Legally, you must have 2/32 inch tread on the tires, which you can check with a penny. Place a penny into several tread grooves across the tire. If part of Lincoln’s head is always covered by the tread, you have more than 2/32 inch of tread depth remaining. But a new study shows that it’s safer to conduct the same test with a quarter instead, which provides 4/32 inch tread depth. Third, check your spare tire to make sure it has the right amount of air and is in good shape.

• Inspect your wiper blades. Make sure they are not cracked or rough and that they actually clean your windshield. If they are old and not doing that great a job, that can be a huge safety issue. You need to be able to see where you are going and what’s up ahead.

• Make sure you have an oil change if needed. Bring your vehicle in and we’ll also check all your fluid levels and top them off if needed, so you can scratch that job off the list!

• Get your records together. Make sure you have your license, insurance and registration (and check that they won’t expire while you are gone.) And make sure you have the number of your roadside-assistance plan handy in case you need help.

Brian Blohm is the Service Manager and Managing Partner - Operations for CARS of America in Glenview. He is an ASE-Certified Automotive Service Technician and ASE-Certified Service Advisor with more than 25 years of automotive experience. A graduate of Triton College with an associate's degree in Automotive Technology, he has continued his training and education with the Automotive Training Institute and RL O'Connor. You can reach Brian via email at brianb@carsofamericainc.com or by phone at (847) 961-4363.