100 Things Every Driver Should Know and Keep in the Truck

Your spare is flat. You don't know it yet, because nobody checks the spare, and the one under your bed has been hanging on a rusted winch cable since the truck left the lot. Go look. Then look at the lug wrench, which on a lot of trucks with aftermarket wheels doesn't fit the lug nuts anymore.

That's the whole idea behind this list. Not fear, not doomsday. Just the quiet confidence of a man who can fix his own flat in the rain and still make it to his daughter's game.

What lives in the truck

1. A spare that holds air. Check the pressure every spring and fall.
2. A lug wrench that actually fits your lug nuts. Test it in the driveway, not on the shoulder.
3. A 4-way wrench or a breaker bar. The stamped factory tool rounds off nuts.
4. Your jack, plus a scrap of 2x8 to set it on so it doesn't sink into gravel.
5. Jumper cables, 4-gauge, 20 feet. Thin ones from the gas station won't turn over a cold diesel.
6. Better yet, a lithium jump pack. Charge it twice a year or it's a paperweight.
7. A tire plug kit with fresh plugs and rubber cement.
8. A 12-volt compressor that clamps to the battery. The lighter-socket ones overheat.
9. A dial or digital pressure gauge. Pencil gauges drift.
10. Gloves. Mechanic's for grip, leather for hot or sharp.
11. A headlamp. Flashlights are fine until you need both hands.
12. Three reflective triangles. Flares expire and set grass on fire.
13. A 2.5-pound ABC extinguisher, mounted. Loose extinguishers become projectiles.
14. A first aid kit you've opened at least once, so you know where the gauze is.
15. A rated recovery strap with sewn loops. Never a chain, never a ball hitch.
16. A 3/8 socket set, metric and SAE.
17. Channel locks, needle nose, a small adjustable wrench, screwdrivers, a utility knife.
18. Duct tape, electrical tape, zip ties, and a coil of mechanic's wire.
19. A quart of your oil, a jug of premixed coolant, and a funnel.
20. Spare fuses, a test light, forty bucks in cash, and a paper map of your state.

Tires

1. Your correct pressure is on the door jamb sticker. The number on the sidewall is the tire's maximum, not your target.
2. Check them cold, before you drive.
3. Pressure drops roughly one PSI for every ten degrees the temperature falls. That's why the light comes on the first cold morning.
4. Tread below 4/32 is done for rain, no matter what the penny says about 2/32.
5. Rotate at every oil change. It's free at most shops if you bought the tires there.
6. The DOT code ends in four digits: week and year. Rubber ages out around six to ten years even with good tread.
7. Plugs go in the tread. Never the sidewall, never the shoulder.
8. A plug is a repair, not a lifetime fix. Get it patched from the inside.
9. Break the lug nuts loose before you jack the truck up.
10. Tighten in a star pattern, and re-torque after 50 miles.
11. Know your wheel lock key and where it lives. Usually the glovebox, usually missing.
12. In a blowout, hold the wheel straight, ease off the gas, and let it slow down. Stomping the brake is how you end up in the ditch.
13. A donut spare means 50 miles at 50 miles an hour. Not a road trip.

Under the hood

1. Check oil on level ground, five minutes after shutdown.
2. Know your oil weight and capacity without looking it up.
3. Never open a hot radiator cap. Use the overflow tank.
4. Brake fluid should look like weak tea. Black means it's overdue.
5. Transmission fluid that smells burnt is a conversation with a shop, not a top-off.
6. Winter washer fluid in winter. Summer fluid turns to slush and cracks the bottle.
7. A serpentine belt with cracks across the ribs is a tow truck waiting for a date.
8. Clean corroded battery terminals with baking soda and water, then grease them.
9. Batteries last three to five years. There's a date sticker on top.
10. Hold your air filter up to the sun. If light won't pass, replace it.
11. Know your battery group size before you're standing in the parts aisle at 9 p.m.
12. New noise? Radio off, windows down, 30 miles an hour, listen. Then describe it to the mechanic honestly.

When it quits

1. Get off the pavement, as far right as you can, wheels turned away from traffic.
2. Exit through the passenger door.
3. Hazards on. One triangle at the bumper, one about 100 feet back.
4. On a busy interstate with no guardrail to get behind, stay belted inside and call for help.
5. Jump start order: red to dead, red to donor, black to donor, black to bare metal on the dead vehicle. Not the dead battery's post.
6. Remove in reverse order.
7. Rapid clicking is a dead battery. One loud clunk and nothing is usually the starter.
8. Cranks but won't fire means fuel or spark. Cranks slow means electrical.
9. Temp gauge climbing in traffic? Heater on full hot. It's a second radiator.
10. If it overheats, shut it off. Ten minutes of driving hot is a head gasket.
11. Soft brake pedal: pump it, downshift, and use the parking brake gradually.
12. Stuck throttle: shift to neutral first, then brake, then shut it down. Don't turn the key to lock while rolling.
13. Flooded road? Turn around. A foot of moving water floats most vehicles.

Actually driving

1. Set the seat so your wrist rests on top of the wheel with your shoulder against the seat.
2. Hands at 9 and 3, thumbs outside the spokes. Airbags break thumbs.
3. Set your mirrors so you can't see your own fenders. That's where the blind spot went.
4. Three seconds of following distance. Six in the rain.
5. Look where you want the truck to go. It follows your eyes.
6. Brake before the corner, accelerate through it.
7. Cover the brake at every intersection, green light or not.
8. The left lane is for passing. Pass, then move over.
9. Headlights on in rain. Daytime running lights don't light your taillights.
10. When a semi lets you in, flash your lights once. It costs nothing and it means something.
11. If you can't see the truck driver's mirrors, he can't see you. Don't camp there.
12. On gravel, every input gets slower and smoother.
13. In a skid, get off the brake and steer where you want to go.
14. Deer travel in groups. Brake hard and straight. Swerving is how the tree gets involved.
15. The phone goes in the console, face down, before you shift into drive.
16. Nobody has ever regretted leaving fifteen minutes earlier.

Weather

1. Winter kit: wool blanket, hat, gloves, and boots you can walk a mile in.
2. Water and calories. Jerky and peanut butter crackers live in the door.
3. Keep the tank above half from November to March.
4. Clear the snow off your roof, not just a porthole in the windshield.
5. Stuck in snow? Rock it gently between drive and reverse. Spinning the tires just polishes ice.
6. Four-wheel drive helps you go. It does nothing to help you stop.
7. Bridges ice first. So do shaded curves.
8. Check the back seat every single time you park in summer. Every time.
9. Keep a gallon of water for the radiator and for you.

Towing and hauling

1. Your payload is on the yellow sticker in the door, not in the brochure.
2. Tongue weight should be 10 to 15 percent of the trailer's weight. Too little and it sways.
3. Cross the safety chains under the coupler so they cradle it if it drops.
4. Walk around before every pull: pin, latch, lights, straps.
5. Air up the trailer tires too. They're the ones that blow.
6. At every fuel stop, put a hand near each trailer hub. Hot means a bearing is dying.
7. Backing up: hand at the bottom of the wheel, move it the way you want the trailer to go.

Paper, money, and manners

1. Current registration and insurance in the glovebox. Check the dates.
2. Photos of both on your phone as backup.
3. At a traffic stop, dome light on at night, window down, hands on the wheel, and say what you're reaching for before you reach.
4. Know your VIN, plate, and insurance number, or have a picture of them.
5. Know who your roadside coverage is and what the number is. Many credit cards include it.
6. The little arrow by the fuel gauge points to your gas cap. Yes, really.

The kind of driver to be

1. Stop for a stranded car in daylight if you've got the tools. If you don't, call it in and tell them somebody's coming.
2. Let people merge. It costs you two seconds and it lowers the temperature of the whole road.
3. Teach your kid to change a tire before you hand over the keys. Make them do it twice, once in the dark.
4. Say a prayer before a long drive. Then drive like the people waiting at home are the point, because they're.

Now go check the spare.