It’s August. Archery hunters are already putting animals in the freezer, but those of us rifle hunters and bird hunters need to wait at least another month before we can hit the field in earnest. It’s a great time to brush up on all of that deferred maintenance you’ve been avoiding to make sure you can make the most of the season without issues. I’m not a trained mechanic, but I did attend the school of hard knocks and do all of the work my vehicles myself, so allow me to present: Vehicle Maintenance For Hunters, Preseason Edition.
Change Your Fluids
At the very least, you should change your oil. I do 5,000 mile oil changes and that is usually enough to last from September-February. Depending on your budget, you may also wish to change your differential and transmission fluids as well (I try to do these every two years for the daily driver 4Runner). There is absolutely no downside to changing your fluids and filter as often as you can. If you’re changing a lot of oil, it can be a real pain to juggle it all into used oil containers; a good upgrade if you have the space is a 20-gallon oil drain.
Check your coolant too while you’re in there, and top off your wiper-fluid with something rated for well below freezing.
Replace Worn Suspension Components
You probably do a lot of offroading, so you’ll go through suspension bushings much quicker than civilians. As they fail, I’d recommend replacing them with polyurethane bushings from Whiteline or Energy Suspension; these do not wear out like the rubber bushings do… and believe me, I’ve tried. You’ll need a hydraulic press for get these out if you don’t have one already (I’ve broken a 12-ton press, so I’d recommend biting the bullet and getting a relatively inexpensive 20-ton from either Harbor Freight or Vevor). A set of press sleeves also make this much easier than trying to get these things out with a random socket, as I’ve been guilty of doing, and definitely don’t be afraid of using a propane or MAPP gas on really stubborn bushings.
Also, check your front end ball joints for wear, play, or torn boots. Ball joints can be critical suspension components, so any that look unserviceable should be replaced before you start beating on your rig again. You can rent ball joint separators from any auto parts store, or just buy a set on Amazon like I did, since this is a never-ending project. Make sure you have a torque wrench on hand, and always use new cotter keys for any castle nuts.
Anytime you change suspension components, you should plan to get an alignment. Call your alignment shop and ask how far out they are, so you can plan this job around your alignment. You don’t want to be up the creek without a paddle in the world of alignments.
Lube Your Driveshafts
You should also take this time to lube the grease fittings/zerks on all of your driveshafts. You’ll find them on your driveshafts and U-joint/double cardan joints. Don’t forget about your transfer case, too.
Make sure you use a grease that meets or exceeds the specifications in the manual for your vehicle. I personally have used synthetic grey Valvoline moly-fortified grease on all of my vehicles for the last five years and have never had any problems.
While you have the grease gun out, look over your front suspension components for zerks that need lubing. Even on the same vehicle, different manufacturers will vary on if they include grease fittings or not. One example is Sankei 777 ball joints vs. OEM Toyota ball joints; the 777s are user-serviceable and the OEM are not.
Rotate Your Tires
When’s the last time you rotated your tires? …Yeah, I thought so. It’s a good idea to do this at every oil change.
Check Your Emergency Tools & Gear
Now is a good time to do a once-over of all of your tools and gear you keep in case of an emergency. I try to keep at least this stuff in the vehicle at all times in a Plano trunk, and will augment this with specialty stuff depending where I’m going:
- 3/8″ metric socket set
- crescent wrench
- screwdriver set
- slip-joint, needle nose, and water pump pliers
- impact wrench with appropriate socket for tire changes
- hi-lift bottle jack
- tire slime
- patch kit
- electrical tape
- complement of flash lights, lanterns, etc
- jump pack (you’ll definitely be using this)
- jumper cables
- non-perishable food in case you get caught out
Give everything a good check, specifically battery levels and expiration dates on tire slime.
Final Thoughts
I’m pretty sure that covers all of the vehicle maintenance I do on the truck to get it ready for months of abuse. While I do beat the crap out my rig, I also try to keep it maintained as best I can, since there’s nothing worse than missing a weekend of bird season to fix something that’s broken.
While you’re planning your pre-season vehicle maintenance, you should also be giving the rest of your gear a tune-up, but that’s an article for a different day…
