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[USA] Moving to a colder climate soon (Denver or Minneapolis-ish), how do I prepare my car? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by acetanilide@lemmy.world to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.ca

31 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Update 2024-10-27: Made it to my new home! Thanks to everyone for your input. Winter is closing in and I think we are well prepared!

Hello,

I have never lived in a snowy place. Where I am now we usually get enough ice to make it slick and it shuts the region down. We live in the center of the country so depending where exactly we end up we probably won't have an entire mountain to drive over...probably.

I am moving to be either in Denver area or Minneapolis area. What do I do with our cars?

I have a small 4WD SUV (I don't know how to drive in areas that actually require 4WD). Our other car is a slightly larger SUV. Both have pretty low clearance.

We currently have all season tires. Do we need to get special tires or chains? How do I learn to drive with the chains? Also, does everyone just have 2 sets of tires laying around?

What about vehicle fluids? IIRC viscosity is different in different climates, is that just oil I'd need to worry about?

And are you supposed to heat your car or whatever? I know they do that in super cold places but not sure about Minneapolis.

The areas we are looking at are in and around the major cities, although if we end up in Minnesota there's a chance we will be in a more rural area or in a place where we need to drive a long distance because housing is expensive.

If anyone knows how much longer we have to get there before the roads become treacherous this winter that would be helpful. I think we have til end of September to be safe, is that usually true?

Any other tips are much welcomed and appreciated. I don't really have anyone I can ask and the internet is pretty full of AI BS now.

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[–] Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Completely drain your windshield washer fluid before winter, it WILL freeze if you use a non-winterized solution.

Wash your car (undercarriage at minimum) regularly during winter or salt will eat your car.

Oil as I understand it only really changes significantly if you're in an EXTREME cold climate, not midwest lake-effect cold.

[–] acetanilide@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Oh wow. Ok, I will have to look at how to do that. (It sounds easy enough but if I'd have to pull the car apart then definitely going to have to have someone else do it)

(Just remembered the time I was going to replace my friends battery only to discover it was housed in the wheel well)

[–] Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Easiest way is to probably just to blast windshield wiper spray for several minutes 😅

I had family traveling not long ago who refilled it in Oklahoma and came back home... where it was a good deal colder than what they bought in Oklahoma was rated for!!

[–] acetanilide@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Lol! Didn't even think of that. Smarter not harder!