Inspecting Your Vehicle for a Road Trip
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- *Sponsored Post*
My friend Gale was going to take her vehicle on a road trip. She asked me to point out some of the things to look for on her vehicle before she left.
This video shows several of the things I recommended she check on her vehicle before her trip. If you don't think you're up to the task, I recommend you take your vehicle to a professional to have it looked over before your trip. That way you'll have the piece of mind knowing your vehicle is ready for the road.
This post is brought to you by AutoZone; the opinions are all mine.
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Camera: Brian Kast
Talent: Gail Porter
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ETCG
Due to factors beyond the control of EricTheCarGuy, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modifications of this information, or improper use of this information. EricTheCarGuy assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. EricTheCarGuy recommends safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of EricTheCarGuy, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not EricTheCarGuy.
1-kick tire
2-hop in
James May must hate you (:
I like it. Simple, yet effective.
Sounds good.
This looks like the beginning of a TERRIBLE porno. lol
Lmao!
😂done
my thoughts exactly
(moist and dripping)
And it keeps looking that way. I was waiting for Eric to inspect Gale's body.
I would also suggest checking the belt(s) and hoses. Also, if the car is overdue on a timing belt change, I would get that taken care of too.
.
This. Balance of cheese to content is perfect, keeps your viewer engaged without badgering with promotions.
Also check the neglected spare tire pressure and throw some booster cables in the trunk
Nice suggestion.
But that's another video...... :)
All tires should be checked for proper air pressure.
good tip , you would be surprised how many cars don't have a spare .
+commodore665 Far too many. A lot of brand new cars don't have spares. Its crazy
Wow in this prono the car actually gets fixed.
If Eric wasn't so fat that car wouldn't be fixed
@@ObamaoZedong jesses crist
I really like that you're upfront about when you have sponsored content. It really shows your integrity that you don't want to lie to viewers when you are endorsing things for money. We all know that you need compensation to be able to keep this channel alive and I hope that your informative videos keep coming now and into the future.
I've been through state safety inspections that weren't that thorough! Nice work, Eric! Also, the cheesiness was a nice touch. I appreciate the comedy. :D
This felt like an episode of This Old House, but with cars.
That is exactly what it seemed like... Love it!
i miss that show
You can still watch it on UA-cam, they have an official channel they upload to :)
EricTheCarGuy presents, This Old Car, Ask This Old Car? Id watch it! lol
+stixxs it's on pbs here
every autozone I have ever been too, it seems everyone there hates their job and doesn't want to help. I was at one once and a lady needed a new battery terminal, the manager wouldn't even help her find the one she needed, so I did and changed it on the parking lot. I prefer advanced discount auto parts, their always helpful and nice
Damn man that sucks, where i live one the autozone workers are the ones who look the most cheerful 😂
Autozone near me is the same way, they don't know a wheel bearing from an air filter
JeepGCOverland47 literally went into autozone looking for a tap and dye set.....they took me to their paint section. I laughed and walked out the door
Macdonalds of car parts
I'd rather go to O'Reilly or dealer for Ford/Motorcraft parts. Auto Zone is after market only...maybe air fresheners are good there.
This was great, I just watched a load of brake replacement videos this weekend, something new to me was using silicone paste on that caliper guide pin. Now I've seen one issue it can cause if not done. So much better to see why we have to do something, rather than 'just because'. Thanks.
Cringy.. But informative
Looks like it's supposed to be cringy.
It is, Eric is known to make his sponsored videos as cheesy/cringey as he can without going overboard
Samuel Allaire
Yup, just look at the thumbnail...says it all.
Thumbs up though
I'm going on a rewd trip.
Also, don't forget to check tire pressures-including spare (if your car has one). Inflate to pressures indicated on sticker of driver door jam. Spare pressure is usually higher and will be indicated on tire itself.
Check the tire pressure and don't forget the spare tire.
I could have sworn I covered tire psi but I guess I didn't. I put this video together sometime ago and there's been a lot of editing since then.
I follow your channel for years, and you are natural talent. Job well done.
Don't forget to check tire pressures as well, including the spare. Proper inflation pressure(s) are listed on sticker on drivers side door jamb.
Gotta love AutoZone! just drove 2000 miles L.A to Chicago and wasn't too bad other than some slight overheating on my 2003 Passat 2.8. I'm thinking water pump. FML
Best mechanic vids on tube. Hands down.
ehh...
Agreed!
glad to see you mention carrying extra fluids in the trunk, I don't know how many people I've seen stuck paying crazy prices at a gas station for fluids, I have a tall tote with a cover that I have in the trunk for storing all my extra fluids, funnels, large measuring cup, zip lock bag of clean rags, even some basic tools never know when you may need it. that tote never leaves the trunk.
Keeping the old belt and a hose as standby in case needed on the road, is a good idea.
Tire pressure. Tire pressure. Tire pressure. Unless he said it and I missed it, that is. Getting 2 MPG less and additional wear from under inflated tires adds up fast on long distance trips.
lol the beginning reminded me of a porno hahahaha. sorry eric
omg laughing my ass off
Are things poking out of the hole? Lol
Yeah, and what happened next will only be available for premium members!
Lol dead I just laughed so hard i’m tearing up.
💀💀💀
Thank you Eric for posting this video on Inspecting your Vehicle for a Road Trip. It has been very helpful. I appreciate it.
Some of us may be bored by this or may have criticism. But this video will help TONS of folks who have no idea what they're doing. Thanks Eric
What about the blinker fluid? Shouldn't that be checked too? I noticed that her blinkers flashed a little on the slow side.
HAHA:)
leave the fluid alone. just replace the bulbs with led's without the load resister. done! ;^/
And the carburetor belt.
and the muffler bearings?
and lower control arm gaskets?
- GALE/GAIL -
Rain X - all season washer fluid has Bug & Tar remover in it.
+ a bit of rain x - type hydrophobic stuff for the windshield.
Highly Recommend RainX windshield washer fluid (unless you drive a VW)
and a Hand application of RainX to the windshield and put some on the wiper blade itself.
Excellent job Eric. Very informative! Your timing on this video is perfect as my family and I will be taking a quick road trip in two weeks. I'll be sure to follow your advice before I leave. Thank you.
Great ad for AutoZone!
All I can say is Eric makes it look easy.
When it comes to long trips is best to have a shop do it for you.
Just for the peace of mind & guarantee of workmanship etc.
Its so easy to make small mistakes, example forget to tighten wheel nuts and small mistakes can cause you thousands of dollars or your life.
If you don't care about your life think of others .
Your car is a weapon .
alot of veehicalls don't need to be hot to check trans fluid, unless the dip stick doesn't say full cold. Good tips.... I forgot to lube the guide pins on my brake calipers. Easy to take off with out taking off the tires, thanks Eric.
Something to consider also is checking hoses, coolant and oil hoses, belt and belt tensioner. On some cars you can also replace oil filter without replacing the oil too
ETCG is so sly, he gets Gale to fix her own car without even knowing it :D
I felt strange watching this, but still a great video none the less
brandon paul?
+Josh See damn dude, fancy seeing you here! what a small world 😂
I think we all noticed that there was a little sexual tension in this episode. There are rumours going around saying that they will be getting married in season two of this series. I can't wait!
+Tommy Oz whaaat??
+Tommy Oz lol
Aux belt worth checking also and the freshly lubricated rear brake will for sure spin freely, you should first step a few times on the brakes and then recheck it.
i usually carry my toolkit,oil,jumper cables and water.. in case of emergency or help people on the road....between nice video covered most of the main points..
I know her tires where knew, but you should check tire pressure :)
My father always changed the oil before a trip regardless.
just did this before my 800 mile trip (plus fresh oil change) had no problems on the journey with my good ol Ranger logging miles.. now up to around 223,000
Here’s a tip: Get rid of Kumho Tires before you go on a roadtrip. Spend the extra money and actually get a quality tire
If brake fluid level is low then it need to check brake pads............. Grt information.
This is such a great video I love how Eric has her do some of the work it’s just freaking brilliant just a fantastic video I don’t think it could get any better than this
Avoid carrying all the gas mileage ruining weight in fluids in your car. Just buy the fluids as needed from Autozone during the trip. Also, check fluids everyday before you start the morning drive. Also, check tire air pressures every day. Nice video
This is one of the best videos on pre-trip inspections. Don't forget to check the engine belts, hoses, and tire pressure. For highway driving, I like to add 10% to the factory recommended tire pressure.
Why?
Because he likes to risk blowing a tire with the overpressure caused by the heat?
+DIego AG because he likes decreased handling and safety.
*sigh*.........
+clive ramsbotty
It will get you slightly better MPGs because the tire has less rolling resistance from being over-inflated. The shoulders of the tread won't be in as much contact with the road.
As far as blowouts go from being overinflated, that's pretty much BS. A 10% difference won't blow out your tire considering most passenger tires have a max psi that's about 30% higher than the car's recommended psi.
Though reduced handling is a side effect since the tire won't be in full contact with the road. The ride will also suffer as overinflated tires won't have as much bounce or give over bumps.
It's not a good idea. Just keep tire pressure at the recommended psi.
dude, can't say enough how much I love your videos. keep it up. yeah I'm drunk on a Tuesday morning, so what, but you tha man.
Me too as I was on vacation. ;)
She was a good sport! Awesome to see girls like that who like to work on stuff! You all should get into it!
I like that Gale used the Pneumatic wrench, nice touch!
"..next we are gonna check the battery, buuut we are gonna do this in another video...tataaaa!" lol. Oh man, i laughed when you two turned to the camera and did the thing, it was funny!
Extended road trip 'other' ....tire pressure....check universals if rear wheel drive. Grease anything grease-able - ball joints, etc. if the diff/Trans/engine oils are near their service interval, go ahead and replace. Same for coolants. Drive off into the sunset....
You're Awesome Eric!
And the Oscar goes to....
Donald duck
Make that money!!! Great videos by the way. You've definitely taught me a few things, and in turn saved me alot of money on my cars. Thanks.
Transmission fluid is also a substitute for power steering fluid basic hydraulics
Check the tread and preasure of the spare tire and spare kit (jack, wrench, gloves, etc)
Reminds me of my dad, rarely did inspections, he just made sure to go out with a bottle of motor oil.
We had a C10, that thing just didn't break. lol
Should be checking tyre pressures as well, I think. Nice video Eric, as always.
My biggest concerns are tires, brakes, belts, hoses, fluid levels and most importantly fluid conditions. The levels could be full but I would take a road trip with fresh high quality oil, cherry red atf and fresh coolant for maximum protection because the engine can run for hours and hours and heat and steep hills can really take a toll on an engine and transmission.
Another well done great vid, one thing I would add is to check the tire pressure when the tires are cold.
always check your drivebelts too...great video Eric.
Depending on when you're leaving and where you're passing through - if your cooling system is at all sketchy or marginal - don't do it. Going thru the desert in July with a cooling system that has a leak is asking for trouble.
Also important, check your TIRE PRESSURES on all four tires. A very crusial thing to inspect before going on a road trip. If you are unsure about the correct tire pressure for your vehicle, it is usually stated in your owners manual and sometimes even on a little sticker in the driver side door sill. And most of the times, there are different recomended tire pressures for when the car is fully loaded or not, so take that into account. Drive safe
Also should mention a bound up brakes on the rear could also be the parking break cable binding up.
Good video..on older cars is best to just replace radiator hoses specially when traveling through hills and mountains since they get more preassure than when driving on flat level roads
That was a nice video. More women should take an interest in their vehicles and how they work. If they did, they wouldn't get robbed so often when they go to the garage. Next time Gale will be able to do most of the checks her self and not have to come to you......... or maybe she will want to come anyway. At any rate, it is an inspiration for women who own vehicles to want to learn more about them, and thanks to videos like this they can.
These videos are excellent, because it encourages people that knows nothing about cars to at least check the basics or fix simple problems. Specially for women since they have become common victims of unscrupulous mechanics. These videos build your self confidence and removes fear of working on your car
Great video Eric. Too bad you don't live closer, I've got a perfect vehicle for a video on practically anything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Automatic transmission not shifting properly, numerous leaks, engine starting & operating issues, random ABS light, etc.
important that when you too off brake fluid, not to fill it to the max line on worn brakes. when brakes are replaced and pistons pushed back. it can make a mess and leak out of resivor. Brake fluid can damage the paint. best to top off brake fluid AFTER you had new brakes installed.
it's best to pinch of the brake Line and open the bleed valve on the caliper when pushing caliper pistons back in. you can damage some vehicles ABS module by reversing fluid flow, it also prevents any chance of the above mentioned issue along with making replacement of brake fluid quicker and more thorough.
If brake fluid comes out of the reservoir I usually just pour a bit of water down were it went
A good mechanic would check the master cylinder level as they push the pistons back.
+John Matthews Usually that'd just be a normal thing to do ;)
+John Matthews not as easy to do when you are doing rear disk. Also sucking fluid out is always risky to drip on pain. just not worth the chance. better off checking level when all caliper pistons are back. then top off.
Great vid Eric - if all commercials were like this, TV would be SOOO much less annoying. ;)
Awesome one I use to do that all the time to make sure everything goes well
You forgot the pre road trip turbo V8 swap???
Bowtie Performance that a how you get arrested quicker
*I dig Chicks with **_safety_** glasses*
For a mature lady, Gail looks sexier when she guns the wheel nuts up!
When he said "And yours is looking really good" at 3:29 I was thinking the same thing. LOL Chris
chicks in general
Ready for a facial...
Gail did a great job and this was a helpful video.
I usually zip tie the fender liners to the fender, especially on long 85+ mph trips. I hate it when the stupid small plastic retainers fall off and the liners get torn apart in the middle of the road.
Good job Eric, I have a Mazda myself. It's good to see a video on these. Great cars, hope to see more in the future, thanks
Good stuff Eric! Too bad this wasn't posted before I took a trip the other week :/ still good info!
one thing to add to the video since i am what erick would call a torque natzi i guess..........when putting the tires back on the car or any other i do a 2 steps torque so the rotors and etc do not get warped down the road or right then. run them all down on low if are using an air wrench or slow with an electric, DO NOT JUST HAMMER DOWN. then go back for a final run of full torque power in your pattern. for the super torque natzi they will even use a torque wrench after the car is lowered. i usually run 100 fps across all autos since a lot of how one drives determines what torque is needed over stock specs and i have seen many of customers leave then the lug nuts be loose off of stock specs. its just my opinion from my over 20 years as a mechanic/tech, a debate over those words is another story all together
I know before I embark for a trip I ALWAYS use my personal Bendpak two-post lift to check for exhaust leaks :P
Where is airbags check ? "Instruction take biggest hammer you have punch front bumper and check what happend"
Eric checked Gail's airbags off camera.
+John Matthews lol
+John Matthews what good john i didnt know you watch these video's.
Hi Eric
although it says "Power steering Fluid" it's actually atf they refere to on the Mazda.
Try looking into that.
As someone that does pre-trips on commercial trucks, you left out one of the most critical things, checking tire pressure!
It's weird because I could have sworn I covered that in the video. Please understand this was shot and edited months ago and there's been a lot of other videos edited since then.
have the same light from matco, awesome light highly recommend.
Oil level was perfect. At least I always try to aim for 3/4 - 7/8 full. The risk of overfilling can cause foaming.
Considering I don't have a lift at home it's going to be a pain in the ass to thoroughly check the underside of the car.
I'm sure an auto shop who'd check for you would find all kinds of things wrong
Nah the car is serviced, all I'm saying is it's not something people can easily do at home before a road trip.
+Nick if you have a jack and 2 jack stands you can easily do this and you can get them pretty cheaply at AutoZone.
If you're planning on doing any auto repairs they're a fantastic investment.
It's not that easy for some of us to get down on (or back up from) our hands and knees.
Anan O'moose
You're right there's a lot of that working on the ground like that. I've seen people use knee pads to help with that, but if you can't you could always find a local mechanic that can inspect your vehicle for a relativity cheap price and with this information you know what they should be looking for and understand the problems.
another great video Eric well done
Funny and very informative content, thanks, you really helped me
Blinker fluid is always worth a peek =)
of course the tire is going to spin freely after you decompress the piston in the caliper, but what about after you press the brake pedal and do a road trip and reset the piston in the caliper?
Forgot some critical things. Tire pressure, spare tire and its condition and tool check of tools needed to change tires.
Blinker fluid...You didn't check the Blinker fluid! Do you know how many people do not check this????
Many people commented about checking the belts, and you might as well check the plugs while you're at it.
You forgot some things, checking hoses, belts, A/C and heat and when stuff was last replaced (or preventative maintenance checkups). Don't want to go 500 miles into your road trip and then find out your oil needs replacing or needs a 90,000 mile checkup.
One other thing, check your spare and have a portable air compressor, some tools so you can work on your car, if you happen to come across a problem and some other needed things like jumper cables, a blanket, first aid kit.
Radiator hoses? Informative video. Would be interesting to prioritize things to check based on what typically goes bad on road trips. I would imagine radiator hoses, fan belts, and tires are right at the top.
great video you should call this type of check a vehicle safety check
i didn't do a road trip check and had a loose oil filter so i lost oil and had to add some every stop for gas.got to where i was going but blew the motor 3 months after a full rebuild because of it
Eric you should read the owners manual on the power steering fluid. Even though it may say power steering fluid on the cap, it's a good possibility that it takes atf. I know for a fact ford's take atf for power steering fluid. wrong stuff can do some massive damage. seals swell and I've seen rubber lines swell due to wrong fluid put in. by the way great video. Get that Fairmont running Please. the more videos the better. thanks Brian skinner
With the car in the air it's a good opportunity to check the tires for any nails/screws.
its almost impossible to get a mechanic like Eric here in DR dammit, nice video Eric, very informative. still hungry for more videos of the Fairmont project though lol
Loving the vids! I hate doing this to my cars, I always end up with a massive list that makes me afraid to drive the car... Ignorance is bliss I guess...
Cool video! It's nice to change things up a bit.
eric you forgot to check the belts also
that's on another video
+kosta16auto hahahahha
the belt looked okay. probably should've been black and not brown, (to match her shirt) but oh well.
belts last forever on those mazdas
That's racist. Triggered.
This is my first Eric the car guy video, I normally watch ETCG1 but Eric went on a rant about the comments about this video so I thought I would give one a watch, nice tactic to get me to watch more of your videos Eric, wink, wink. Now I don't know if it was because this was a repair video or because of the cheesiness of this video, but I liked. T he ads where not overdone, and if I wanted to be pissed out about them I would have nobody else to blame but myself with that warning at the beginning. Hey Eric maybe you can do some consulting in Hollywood and teach the about warning messages since they are doing so many product placements in movies these days. Although it is a fun game to find the products in the movies, especially when you blow $15 on a movie that sucks. Nice touch with the ads though, keep em coming or it too many people complain start a 3rd channel Eric the Ad car guy.
Look at the fan, once i got into a big trouble after the fan is not working the engine heated, had to look for a person to repair , kept me nearly 7 hours on the road
My local Autozone rarely has what I want in stock. Common things like air filters, cabin filters, LED's, for very common cars like Chevy Cruze or Cadillac ATS. I will no longer use Autozone for my parts.