All posts tagged roadside assistance

Roadside Assistance: How to Safely Handle a Car Breakdown

by Carsurfer Admin on 2018/10/05 in Auto Repair with Comments Off on Roadside Assistance: How to Safely Handle a Car Breakdown
roadside assistance

When properly maintained, the odds of your car failing to start or stopping suddenly on the highway are relatively low. However, there is always a chance that an emergency situation could occur while on the road. Therefore, it is important that you know how to handle it in a calm and safe manner.

Draw Attention to Your Situation

Ideally, you will be able to get your vehicle to the side of the road. After pulling over, you should put up flares or take other actions to alert others to your distress. If you can’t get your vehicle to the side of the road, make sure that your emergency flashers are on. This will tell other drivers to pay attention because your car is disabled.

Call for Help

The first thing that you should do after your car has come to a stop is to call for help. This could mean placing a call to a local towing service, to your parents or to anyone else who can provide assistance. If there are others on the road when the breakdown occurs, they may be able to stop and help.

What If No One Is Around?

It is possible that you find yourself stranded in a rural area or in an area that doesn’t see a lot of traffic at night. In such a scenario, you should put a flag on your vehicle to indicate that it has broken down in case someone drives by while you are sleeping or away from the vehicle. Hopefully, you will have packed an emergency kit that has a blanket, food and water. If not, it may be necessary to walk to a gas station or another location to make a phone call.

You Don’t Have to Stay with the Car

If you suspect that gas or other fluids are leaking, you should get as far away from the car as possible. The same is true if you smell gas or anything else that doesn’t seem right. Depending on the weather conditions, it may be a good idea to seek shelter in a wooded area or anywhere else where you will be safe until help arrives.

There are few feelings worse than your car not working properly. However, panicking is not going to make the situation better. By staying calm and only worrying about events as they unfold, you are more likely to get through the situation with your health and sanity intact.

Roadside Fixes to Get You Back on Your Way

by Anica Oaks on 2014/12/12 in Auto Maintenance with Comments Off on Roadside Fixes to Get You Back on Your Way

It’s inevitable. Cars break down. And when they do, it’s usually at the worst possible moment. While many breakdowns will require a tow truck and can only be repaired at a qualified shop, some can be remedied with a small repair on the roadside if you are equipped to do so.

Flat-Fixin

First, familiarize yourself with your vehicle before it breaks down. Know where the spare is, how to get the jack and tire iron out and how to use them. If you have wheel locks, know where the wheel lock key is. Changing a flat tire is one of the most fundamental repairs that one can do to get back rolling. Even if your vehicle has large oversized tires, replacing a flat tire with a spare can be done safely if precautions are taken. Make sure your vehicle is parked on flat level ground before getting the jack under it. When jacking the vehicle up, don’t lift it higher than you need to. You will have to lift it high enough to get the flat tire out, and the full spare under it. Going higher than that could make the vehicle shift and unstable. Make sure to tighten the lug nuts in a star pattern in order to get a consistent tightness on the wheel assembly.

Breaking Murphy’s Law

Some basic hand tools in a repair kit kept in the trunk of your vehicle may get you back on the road quickly so you can get your vehicle serviced on your schedule, not at the mercy of Murphy’s Law. Even quick roadside repairs are inevitably dirty, so it’s a good idea to have some gloves or other protective coverings on hand in the event your vehicle would break down.

Toolin’ Around

In your hand tools, a Leatherman or multi-tool is a great tool to have. Most of them have needle hose pliers, at least one knife blade, screwdrivers and other useful tools to get you back on the road. Some breakdowns are caused by something as simple as a loose connection, clamp or fitting. By identifying the problem and using some hand tools to tighten the offending part, you could remedy the problem yourself with the spin of one tool.

Call a Tow Truck

Sometimes it’s best to recognize when you are in over your head and call a tow company. Some services will bring you fuel or do minor fixes, and others will come to your location nearly regardless of conditions outside. For getting your 4×4 out of that gutter, consider a company like Mike’s Auto and Towing that specializes in difficult recoveries.

Release Your Inner MacGyver

For those old enough to remember MacGyver, he had a fix for everything—and most of it involved duct tape. There’s a good reason for that. It’s durable, flexible, and under the right conditions, can make a near water-tight seal. A blown radiator hose once cleaned up a bit and allowed to cool can be fixed temporarily with a couple rounds of duct tape just to get you to a shop for a permanent repair. If the hose is broken close to the clamp, it may be possible to remove the clamp, cut off the damaged portion and put the hose back on with the clamp moved further up the hose. This only works if there hose has enough length. Again, this is a temporary fix.

 

Sometimes, the repair is just too much to do on the side of the road. Times like these, sometimes the best tool to have in your toolbox is a cell phone and the number to a reputable towing service.