Is your car, truck or SUV ready for another McHenry school year?

It’s almost back-to-school time here in McHenry. Are you ready? Is your car, truck or SUV ready?

Getting the kids ready for the opening of another McHenry school year is fairly straightforward. You’ll need the standard school supplies, which you can find by looking up the school supply list for your child or children. You’ll find the appropriate list, for each child, by going to their school district’s website, looking up school supply list and clicking on the correct school. The results are then broken down by the grade and the applicable subject.

Of course, you realize that this isn’t the entire list; this isn’t all you need to prepare your child, or children for school. You’ll also need to make an excursion or two, or three, to peruse the latest fashions, making purchases that will allow them to attend school in the peak of … how do the cool kids put it these days? They’ll be so ‘swag’ when they go back to school this year.

They’ll also need supplies for all those ‘other’ activities. You know what I mean by ‘other’ activities, don’t you? Is your child in sports this fall? They will probably need the proper footwear, uniform and other equipment. Or, maybe your child is in dance or theater or, well, this list can go on and on. Whatever the activity, there are almost certainly supplies you’ll need to buy.

Taking the children to the store to get these supplies (they’ll, at least, want to go with you to the store for the fashions), you’ll need to load them in the car, truck or SUV. What if everybody gets in and the car, truck or SUV won’t start? What if it starts when you drive to the store but won’t start when you want to come home?

Worse than a car, truck or SUV that won’t start, what if the turn signal doesn’t work and you get a ticket? Even worse than that, what if the brakes fail?

You’re going to probably be chauffeuring the children around McHenry from August until next June; they may get on your nerves, from time to time, but they are still your most precious cargo. You want to make sure they’ll arrive for games, events and performances on time. You want to make sure they arrive safely.

If you haven’t done so yet, this is an excellent time to make sure the car, truck or SUV is ready for the school year ahead. Make sure that the battery and charging system will start the car all through the year. Have the cooling system checked, the lights and signals, the wheels, tires and alignment. Inspect the steering, suspension, shocks and struts. Look at the exhaust system. Inspect the wipers and make sure you have enough windshield washer solvent in the reservoir. And, change the oil, while you’re at it.

Of course, if you’re too busy to do this yourself, or it’s not your forte, bring your car, truck or SUV into a qualified McHenry area auto repair shop you can trust. Have them change the oil and give your vehicle a thorough inspection. If they find something that needs attention, you may think that’s bad news. But, it’s not nearly as bad as when something on your car, truck or SUV let’s you know it needs attention while you’re on your way to soccer practice with your child.

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Timely maintenance is even more important with your Johnsburg Electric Vehicle

Even if you have an electric vehicle in your Johnsburg driveway, maintenance is still critical. You pull out of your Johnsburg driveway and you watch the gas stations go by as you smile from behind the wheel of your EV – Electric Vehicle. Of course, at some point, you will have to stop and charge the battery but you still take some comfort that you’re not standing next to your car as the fuel pumps into your tank. One of the true comforts you take with your EV is that the mechanics of your vehicle are simplified. You don’t have to worry about the engine breaking down anymore, and we all know how costly that can be. But there’s more to your EV vehicle than you may have considered when you first parked it in your Johnsburg driveway. Many of the parts found on gasoline-driven vehicles are also present on your EV. These require the same maintenance as your gasoline-powered vehicle. For instance, you EV still has: Tires and Wheels Brakes Steering and Suspension Windshield Wipers and So...

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