With our weekend trip to Lake Guntersville approaching, thought i would revive an old blog about a Pre Tournament Checklist.
Whether is a day trip to a local pond or a destination trip out with the club, the last thing you want is to have a breakdown on the road. Big Shanty member Larry Giddeons, former owner of Giddeons Automotive repair, provides some helpful tips to check before you head out.
The one thing you want to do is check your tow vehicle out for problems at least a week to 2 weeks ahead of your trip if you can. This way if you spot a problem, you have time to schedule with your mechanic and get the issue resolved as opposed to a last-minute scramble and possibly delaying your trip.
TOW VEHICLE
Starting on the outside of the tow vehicle, check your lights, turn signals, brake lights, headlights. Make sure they are all in working order. Check your owner’s manual for fuse locations and what amp fuse and type of fuse you would need should you need to replace one. Stop by your local O’Reilly’s Auto parts store or another auto parts store and pick up an assortment of fuses and keep them in the glove box of your tow vehicle. While we are outside, check your wiper blades.
I left on a trip once and got caught in a rainstorm and my passenger side wiper blade had dry rotted and the rubber had come apart from the blade, thankfully it wasn’t the driver side.
TIRES
Check your tire pressure when your tires are COLD, meaning you haven’t driven for a while as the pressure will build as the tire warms up from being driven. A “hot tire” pressure using regular air will rise by as much as 5 psi giving you a false reading. The recommended pressure can be found on your door sticker and on the tire itself and is given as a cold reading. If you use Nitrogen to fill your tires the reading will be much more stable than regular air and won’t vary as much between a cold reading and a hot reading.
UNDER THE HOOD
First and most obvious, Check your oil level.
Top off if needed with the recommended oil weight and viscosity that can be found in your owner’s manual. If you are a little low, top off and monitor, if you are really low and I’m talking a quart or more, you have an issue that probably needs addressing. Carry a couple of spare quarts with you to keep on hand. Check the level at every fuel stop and top off if needed.
COOLANT
Check your coolant level and if needed top off and give the vehicle a good once over looking for leaks. Typically, if you are low on coolant, there is a leak somewhere, it could be a simple hose that needs replacing or if you can’t spot the issue then we suggest to have the system pressurized and a visual inspection to find the leak. Keep a gallon of coolant in your vehicle as well. They have them now already premixed with water and get the correct coolant for your vehicle at O’Reillys. Some manufactures specify a particular type of coolant now with some being the “High Mileage” type, and mixing could spell trouble with your cooling system.
TRANSMISSION FLUID
Some newer vehicles have done away with a transmission dip stick and it is no longer checked but If you still have a transmission dip stick, check that fluid as well with the vehicle in park, running, and on a level surface. There will be 2 markings, cold and hot. If the vehicle hasn’t been driven and is cold as in first thing in the morning, the fluid level should be at the Cold level. If you have driven and the vehicle is at normal operating temperature, then it should be at the Hot level. Should you need to add, remember, you are adding COLD FLUID. If the Vehicle is cold only add enough to reach the cold marking, if the Vehicle is hot, only add a little at a time as you don’t want to overfill the transmission. And again, if it’s low, look for an obvious leak although some can leak internally and there won’t be an external leak.
BRAKE FLUID
Check and top off with fluid as needed. BE CAREFUL ADDING FLUID. Brake fluid is very corrosive and if spilled on a painted surface, can eat the paint. There are a few different types of brake fluid with the most common being DOT3. Here, if you need to add fluid, YOU HAVE A LEAK PERIOD! and need to have the vehicle inspected and repaired.
BELTS AND HOSES-
Give your belts and hoses a good visual inspection and if needed, replace. Carry some spare hoses /belts and clamps for that “Just in case moment”.
Boat & Trailer
Lets start with the trailer, as with our tow vehicle, we want to check the tire pressure. Don’t forget the spare. Trailer tires, as opposed to passenger/light truck tires, are constructed differently and have a stiffer sidewall to handle the constant bouncing the trailer takes from being towed. For the most part the tire pressure on a trailer tire is 50 psi, again a cold reading. While you are there airing up, a couple of things to check- Look for the birthdate of the tire, If they are over 10 years old, give good thought to replacing the tires. Also look for abnormal wear. If the inside or outside of the tire is worn down, then this may be a indication of a bent axel and needs to be checked out by a reputable trailer repair facility.
TRAILER WHEEL BEARINGS
Look at the bearing caps, is there any evidence of seal leakage? If you have rims that have a center cap, remove it to inspect the bearing protector. We recently had a club member, while on a trip, come in from prefishing and one of us noticed the center cap was missing from his rim. Upon further inspection, his entire hub protector had apparently spun off from the hub and thus blew the center cap off. There was no way he was going to make it home. Luckily enough, there was a marina dealer fairly close to where we were staying and even though he missed the first few morning hours of the tournament, he was able to get it repaired for the trip home. Most of the new trailers are now coming with the Vault or Vortex grease systems which use's a hybrid type of grease, and they say these do not need servicing for 10 years, unless there is leakage. My old Triton had the oil bath hubs and I changed the oil in them about every 3-4 years. The old standard wheel bearing grease hubs are still around and depending on usage, these probably need to be repacked about every 2 years.
BRAKES
If your trailer has surge brakes, check the fluid level and top off if needed with DOT 3. If you have to top off, there is a leak somewhere. Give it a good once over.
LIGHTS
Hook up to your tow vehicle and make sure all the trailer lights are working properly. Most of the lights these days are sealed so you can’t replace just the bulb but the whole assembly must be replaced.
BOAT
BATTERIES
Charge the batteries. If you have lead acid batteries, check the water level and top off with distilled water only. Tap water contains other minerals/ additives that will shorten the life span of your battery. Summer time can be killer on these batteries. Don’t be surprised if you have to top off after a hot summer outing. After charging, if you have a multi meter, check the resting voltage, You should be in the high 12’s or close to 13 volts. Anything lower than 12.4 and you need to have the battery load tested. Trolling motor batteries will probably last 3-4 years of normal use and shorter if you are out there almost every weekend. AGM batteries are great in that you don’t have to worry about adding water but again their voltage needs to be checked regularly. Another option that is gaining popularity is Lithium batteries. They will keep a continuous voltage of 12-13 volts up until they are totally discharged and the lifespan is much more than that of a traditional lead acid or AGM battery, but the cost currently is about $700-$900 per 12 volt battery depending on what Amper hour you chose for your application, however the cost per year will pretty much negate the upfront cost.
PUMPS
Check operation of your Livewell and Bilge pumps and if they are not operating properly or not operating at all, check them out. Could be a simple blown fuse or the pump may need replacing.
LIGHTS
Make sure your Navigation lights are working and working correctly. Typically, if there is a problem here, it’s more than likely a blown bulb that can be replaced. If a bulb replacement doesn’t solve the issue, then there is likely a wiring or switch issue.
SAFETY
Make sure you have all safety gear on board and in good shape- bet you didn’t know that there was a recent change in Boating Laws/ Regulations that puts an expiration date on your FIRE EXTINGUISHER!! They now have a 10-year expiration period so if yours is older than 10 years, replace it. Don’t forget that throwable (Yeah that seat cushion you see on the side of the road leading from the ramp that blew out of someone boat). Some states require that a certain length of rope be tied to it. Carry some heavy duty rope in case you need to be towed in (Better yet check out a TowBoatUS Membership if you don’t already have one) give Madison, Caleb or Luke a call at TowBoatUS Lake Allatoona for membership information, and be sure to tell them Big Shanty sent you- https://www.towboatuslakeallatoona.com/
WHAT TO CARRY
This is by far not a complete list but are some items that if you don't have, you might want to consider throwing into your tow vehicle:
4 way Lug Nut Wrench (Helpful tip Take your Lug nuts off and put some anti-seize on the threads)
12V Mini Air Pump
Tire Chalks
Bottle jack
Couple of Pieces of scrap 2x6 (or 2x8 ) No more then a couple of feet long
Extension cord for charging batteries (Don’t skimp here get a good heavy duty cord)
Tire plug kit or a bottle of fix a flat
Spare Trailer Hub and bearings(Purchase a Hub , bearings, races and Seals, Go ahead and preassemble and keep on the ready)
Good quality set of jumper cables or a portable Battery Jump Pack such as the Noco brand of Jump starters.
Theses are nice in that you can get one and transfer it from Tow Vehicle to boat with ease and if in a pinch can at least charge your cell phone/tablet if you have a home power outage.
First Aid Kit
Get a good first aid kit- there are many portable kits available and once you have one, keep the contents fresh. I was able to supplement mine with a Hook removal kit from Bass Pro. It came in handy at Lanier one trip. Just ask Chris Brummitt.
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