"Winter Travel Safety: Build the Ultimate Emergency Kit Before You Hit The Road"
Car Connection Workshop
"Winter Travel Safety: Build the Ultimate Emergency Kit Before You Hit The Road"
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31:34
Part
battery
A battery is what powers your car when you start it. If it's weak, your car might not start, especially in cold weather.
Term
electronic testing
Electronic testing means using special tools to check how well your car's battery is working. It helps find problems before they cause issues like a dead battery.
Term
preventative maintenance
Preventative maintenance means doing regular checks and services on your car to keep it running well and to avoid big problems later. It's like taking care of your health to stay fit.
Car
Toyota Fj
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a tough SUV designed for off-road driving. It's known for its unique look and can last a long time if taken care of properly.
Car
Ford Excursion
The Ford Excursion is a really big SUV that can carry a lot of people and stuff. It's great for road trips or towing things, which is why it's often mentioned when talking about big vehicles.
Term
tire pressures
Tire pressure is how much air is inside your car's tires. Keeping the right amount of air helps your car drive better and saves gas.
Car
Dodge Charger
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's popular because it has a lot of room inside and is fun to drive, which is why people often talk about it.
Term
all wheel drive
All wheel drive means that all four wheels of a car get power from the engine, which helps the car grip the road better, especially in bad weather.
Term
front wheel drive
Front wheel drive means that the front wheels of the car are the ones that get power from the engine, which can help with fuel economy and make more room inside the car.
Term
rear wheel drive
Rear wheel drive means that the back wheels of the car get the power from the engine, which can make the car handle better, especially in sporty situations.
Term
four wheel drive
Four wheel drive means that all four wheels of the car can get power from the engine, which helps when driving on rough terrain or in bad weather.
Term
traction control
Traction control helps your car maintain grip on the road by stopping the wheels from spinning too fast. It works automatically when the car detects slippery conditions, like snow or ice.
Term
sideways skid
A sideways skid is when your car starts sliding sideways instead of going straight. This can happen if the road is slippery or if you turn too quickly.
Car
Jeep Wrangler
The Jeep Wrangler is a tough, boxy car that can go anywhere, especially on rough trails. People love it for its ability to handle outdoor adventures and its cool, unique look.
LIVE
Good morning Niagara and friends you're tuned to car connection where the
coffee's hot, the tools are ready, and the talk is always tuned up. I'm your
host, Niall Motormouth Jenkins, come to you straight from the car connection
workshop where we mix a little humor, a little know-how, and a whole lot of
horsepower. Here it's not just about fixing cars, it's about keeping you
rolling, saving you money, and giving you the confidence to understand what's
under that hood. From the classics to the commuters, the weird noises to the
what the heck moments, we've got you covered. So grab your coffee, lock it
down in your cup holder if you're driving, sit back, watch out for the other
guy, you know what I mean, and join the crew because this is car connection.
Your Saturday morning pit stop for stories, smarts, and a few laughs. I'm
your motormouth Jenkins and we're shifting into drive right here in the
car connection workshop. So get yourself ready, get a crayon or two, and a brown
paper bag to take some notes down, and we will get right into things this
morning. Wow, we are moving along and we've made it to the weekend. Thanks for
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that's exactly it. Especially when the coffee's hot and it's actually, it's
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morning beverage is. Keep your eyes on the road, take a good look before you have
a swiggy. We'll count it down on three, two, one, and let's have that morning
coffee together. Three, two, one.
That's so good, it should be illegal. I should probably hide it. Yeah. All right,
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hope and changing lives one at a time in the Niagara region. They have after
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You want to be a part of something that will change the life of small humans to
big humans and everything in between. Single moms as well. No one is
discluded. Visit them on our website. City Auto Sales and Leasing, GTA's
premier pre-owned auto store with Louise and Earl Grant. Fantastic people to
deal with. That's who you'll be dealing with is the owners for 25 plus years
selling low mileage, top quality vehicles at fair prices. They sell no junk. I
will tell you that right now. That's the only reason why they're part of car
connection as a car lot because as you know, I know the same thing. Car lots
can be a creepy place to buy a car and I'm grateful that pigs don't fly if you
know what I'm saying. Yeah, the lies are flying. Yeah, so City Auto Sales and
Leasing, it doesn't matter if you got to drive 90 minutes to be able to buy with
confidence and be treated with nothing less than honesty and integrity. They
also do in-house financing so whether you have good credit, bad credit or no
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out there and Spotify. So thanks for stopping by. Let's get our Saturday
morning going together. Let's kick it off with a motormouth winter tech tip. Yeah,
another one. I'm trying to help you. That's what it's all about is I'm trying to
help you. I've been licensed, a license out of tech and heavy-duty truck and
equipment since 1988. It's been a while and I am up to date as well with my
licenses. So I'm here to try and help you get a better understanding of your
automobile and with some tips, maybe prevent you from having a bad day. So
let's make it a great day, a great Saturday. Well, cold mornings and weak
batteries go together like pumpkin spice and regret. So if your car cranks slower
than a teenager getting out of bed, check that battery before you're
stranded sipping coffee in the driveway. Yeah, it only takes a few minutes for
your tech to put the electronic tool on there to check your battery thoroughly
and verify its state of condition. And if it shows weak, I'm going to tell you
this, first cold snap, that battery is going to fail. So if it tests weak,
change it before that happens and leaves you stranded. Nothing worse than, you
know, the days are short and it's dark before you know it in the early
evening and in the winter when it's freezing, stinking cold and blowing and
whatever else weather conditions coming at you and you get to the car and it's
click, click, click or you can't even unlock it with your remote, that sucks
with a K and a capital T s. Absolutely. So that doesn't need to happen. So get
your battery electronically tested. We can print it, do a printout, show you
exactly what's going on within your vehicle's battery to give you that
warning. So sound that warning bell and say it's on the edge. Yeah, you don't
want to cross that Rubicon. So get the battery change because it will fail. It's
takes you out and you're in a hurry and the kids got to get to school and you
got nothing. Yeah, it's not good. Not good at all. Well, what I wanted to talk
with you today about and if there's any time, a topic that you would like for
me to cover, you can go into our website, carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com. I
know it's a long title, but I got it short as much as I could 31 years. This
is the shortest we could get CC B us is in Sam bus net net.com. There is a
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and operated businesses. Great people. It is a great community and my pops has
lived there for 42 years. So I love hanging out there. It's just a great
place to go and support local. We also have our Instagram link there, Facebook
and our merch store. We have winter merch goodies coming. We have knitted knitted
winter hats. I like to call them toks and because I'm Canadian. That's right. We
drive bobsleds or is that dog sleds in the winter and we're frozen mucklucks.
Some people really believe that we live in igloos. Just saying. Yeah, we should
enlighten them. Hockey's our sport, right? Yeah, exactly. Alright, let's dive
into it. So any way you want to choose, you can connect with me. And if you
haven't liked and subscribed to our YouTube channel, no matter what age you
are, male, female, single, widowed on your own, trying to keep the car going. All
our YouTube videos cover five things. What it is, where it is, how it works, why
it matters. And what could you have learned as a takeaway to have prevented
the damage from happening? That's the key. That is the purpose of our YouTube
channel is to reach and teach so that the more you know about your automobile,
the less chance you're going to get ripped off out there. And there's a lot of
that going on. I don't want to harp on it too much, but it's ugly. So the more
you can learn, ladies and gents, and even the youth, you know, I know they're
busy on their phones all the time and friends and whatnot. But if they have a
car, they need to learn how to take care of it and moms and dads and grandparents.
That's your job to teach them to take care of it to be a great caregiver. And
if you've given your kids a car, that's not a good idea. I've seen it for for
decades running my own automotive shop. If the kids don't have any skin in the
game, they treat the car like they stole it. And they abuse it big time. So I'm
just saying we'll do a show on that and I can share some stories with you that
will curl your toes back. Do not give your kids a car. They need to have some
skin in the game so that they can be the caregiver of that car, not just drive
it like they stole it, hand you the keys when it's broken and you pay the bill.
They need to play a part in that role of vehicle ownership. And if you don't
start that at a young age, they'll treat every car they own like a piece of junk
and they'll be car broke forever, forever. I keep my vehicles as long as I
can. I do annual rust proofing, regular maintenance, preventative maintenance,
and I can put 400,000 K. In fact, the old seven Toyota FJ Cruiser is
approaching 400,000 K. Doesn't happen just because. So that's what you need to
teach your kids. So enough said on that, I will do a program on that just for
parents and the youth that get the car keys. And if it's your car, it's being
treated like that when you're not watching. The little angels have black
wings if you know what I'm saying. All right, let's jump in. You know what I
wanted to talk about today, something really important, heading into the some
of the what can be some of the roughest weather and road conditions in the
months ahead and I hope they go really fast because I am looking forward to
spring. You know, the summer to me felt kind of short at both ends. If you
know what I mean, let's talk about the winter travel package. That's right. I
like to call it the winter roadside assistance package because we never
know what we're going to get into on the roadways. So number one is when
traveling and you know, in just a few weeks, people be hitting the road,
visiting family, people you've not seen for quite some time and get having a
family gathering, and you're going to be driving into different areas. Yes,
demographics. That's what we're going to talk about. Be prepared. Weather
reports, check weather reports to where you're going, the arrival place. What
are the roads like? What's the weather like? Because it can change from place
to place to place. Check out weather reports, accurate weather reports. Yeah,
like today's weather report with rain coming in late in the afternoon. I'm
up at five o'clock in the morning. It's pouring cats and dogs. That's what I'm
saying. Yeah. So I had plans for the Saturday morning and that kind of got
washed out. No pun intended. Change of schedule. So weather reports, accurate
weather reports and check up to date up to the moment you're leaving the
driveway and road conditions. What are you going to be dealing with out there?
Ice, snow, slush, winter events, accumulation, visibility. You need to
know all of that before you head out and it's always best just like with
you know, I'm a voter and if you're going on an excursion, you need to have a
plan. It needs to be recorded and you need to leave it with someone at the
dock that you're departing. It needs to be with someone who knows where you left
from, what route you're taking on the water to get to your final destination.
Same with flying airplanes. Same thing. You've got a travel report. Where
you're going, where you're leaving from, what airports you're going to be
touching down to check the aircraft and refuel and stretch your legs and grab
a cup of Joe or whatever and off you go. You need to know for sure. People
need to know for sure. Hey, we're just leaving the driveway. Okay, Sally, we'll
see you. Our expected time of arrival is this and you know what that does two
things. Number one, you've made contact. Number two, you've checked the weather
and road conditions in the area and you've let them know where and how
you'll be traveling. So share your travel route with those that are at the
other end expecting you. So should something happen, someone knows where
you possibly could be. And if you're late, or looking like you're going to be
late, call the people at the other end at your arrival spot, just to put them at
ease because you know what we are like people, we turn shrubs into trees,
right? Worry warts, deeply concerned. Oh, they're 10 minutes late. Oh, they're an
hour late. Oh, no. Hey, you're running behind. We're still on route. Here's where
we are and look forward to seeing you. So that's a proper way to travel and to
make sure that you're in good shape. Now let's talk about the emergency roadside
kit for winter. But before we do that, one other thing. Yep. Check your tire
pressures. Once a month in the winter, the molecules of air in the tires, they
shrink and they pass right through the sidewall. Did you know that tires leak
normally without anything in the tread running over something nasty, like a
fork or a 716 bolt or a wire something or other that looks like a spoke? Yeah. Some
of the weirdest things I've pulled out of tires. So check your tire pressures
once a month. They normally lose air through the sidewall because that's the
weakest point on the tire and the molecules escape. They go to your
neighbor's tires. No, not really. So check your tire pressures before you head
out on your travel and check the fluids. Let's make sure everything's good. Look
under the hood. If anything looks abnormal, then there's probably something
going on that needs to be checked before you leave the driveway and drive
according to the road conditions. Slow down. Be safe. Safer to arrive late than
not. So be safe out there. Check your fluids, including the washer fluid and
make sure you have a full jug of washer fluid unopened in the car all season.
Have a full one in each car that's hitting the road.
And what else have I got for you? Yeah, more. There's more. I knew you'd ask. So
you can create your own winter emergency roadside assistance kit and add in or
take something out. But here's some suggestion. Cell phone charger, not just
one pack another one and a cable to make sure you can charge your battery and
make sure all cell phones are charged that are in the car as well. Because if
there's only one cell phone that goes down, you can't run the engine. How are
you going to charge it? Cell charger doesn't. It's not going to help you at
that point. Not at all. Here's a couple of ideas for a winter travel kit that
could save your life or someone else. Blankets, warmies. That means multiple
pairs of dry socks. You can Ziploc bag this stuff too. Be creative. I know
some people they vacuum pack everything. Yeah, that's good as long as you got
something to cut the vacuum pack up with to get it open. Not your teeth won't
work well. So multiple warmies, gloves, mittens, hats, socks, blankets, boots.
So if you're traveling in Peter Pan getaway shoes and you get into snow,
that isn't going to work. So make sure you've got good, dry, solid snow boots in
the vehicle. A candle, something to hold it in so that and some matches some form
to light that candle. If you're stuck in the snow or in a drift waiting for
roadside assistance or somebody to come along and help you. Kitty litter can
make a good rescue. If you're stuck on ice, you can throw that on the wheel.
Even a blanket can get you out of a bind as well. Believe it or not, it creates a
fair amount of grip. Booster cables. Make sure you pack water the morning of
leaving, not overnight. Otherwise you have a bottle popsicle. That's not going
to be helpful. Also, some kind of food stuff. Nothing with sugar in it. So if
you're doing a trail mix, mom's no chocolate in there, just a trail mix.
Something that can tide you over and sustain life till you get there. Again,
you can add some other things. You know, it's not cast in stone, what you put in
your winter travel kit, just that you have one. I use a clear tote so that I
can see everything in there. And I leave that totter in my vehicle so that you
know if the two legged mice come looking for something in my vehicle, they'll
see it's a totter and there's really nothing in there. Flashlight with
battery or USB port, something, not a dead battery flashlight. Yeah, most
flashlights that take batteries are just storage spots for dead batteries. So we
need some, we need something that we can see with so you can sort that out
amongst yourselves. What else do I have here? Just remember this, here's
another tip for you. All wheel drive, front wheel drive, sometime rear wheel
drive, four wheel drive traction control does not save you from poor driving
habits. Doesn't make you infallible out there. None of it. Even in my 2007 FJ
Cruiser, it's got every traction control thing, thingy me Bob, known to mankind.
But let me tell you, I have gone into a total sideways skid. It's helped me, but
I went into a total sideways skid in a snow, it was a white out section on the
road and I wasn't aware of it and all of a sudden, bam, I went from really good
visual to zero and the truck went completely sideways and I didn't know if
something was coming or something was stuck in front of me, but it was a white
out condition on the road and it was thick and it was heavy and thank goodness
nobody was coming. I pedaled it and pedaled it and pedaled it sideways and
then I could hear the traction control clicking away, locking and releasing
wheels and then all of a sudden I went straight. Boom. So I didn't panic, I just
kind of thought, well, I'm sliding sideways. If there's something there, I'm
definitely going to meet it and thank goodness there wasn't. So, you know, be
prepared that all wheel drive, front wheel drive, four wheel drive traction
control does not save your bacon if you're driving like an idiot. Adjust your
driving habits to the road conditions and let's also be mindful of the road
clearing crews. Give them some space. They're doing their job. They're not,
they're, you know, annoying you or purposely making you late to get to your
destination. They're trying to keep us safe. So let's be grateful for them.
It's not a job that we can all do ourselves and they're trying to keep us
safe on safer road conditions in some what can be some really ugly weather
sometimes. It can get gruesome out there. So pack your winter travel kit. Put
everything in there and then some if you think you should put something in.
Here's what I've discovered for my own person. If I'm thinking of something, I
go and get it and put it right in the toter so I don't forget. Get it in the
toter. That's your best friend to help someone else that may be stuck on the
side of the road that has absolutely nothing, not a blanket, not a warmie for
their hands or their feet and maybe stuck for hours and they haven't eaten.
They're, you know, you can got to remember you can also dehydrate
because a lack of liquid. So put your toter together, snowbrush, ice scraper,
a small collapsible shovel that fits. It actually fits perfect in the toter
because the blade folds over. It's not very long until you unfold it and it
fits really, really good. These are just things that I think of and you know, you
can also ask chat or AI of some type. What are some of the best things to
keep when you're trying to create a winter travel kit? So it could save your
life from the life of someone else. I hope you got something out of this
podcast this morning. Thanks for stopping by on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Well, it's supposed to be. We'll hang on to that thought. Afterwards, we can
report on it to be true or not. Like, share, follow, subscribe, ring the bell,
be part of our YouTube community. There's we're heading now for 200 YouTube
videos. We put three new videos up every week to on Tuesday, one every
Friday. And it's always new information. We do have our mascot. That's what
it's turned out to be. I call it our 1997 Jeep TJ Wrangler rescue because we
rescued it from a junkyard and it's coming back to life. And you can watch
all the episodes as we do so. And at the same time, learn about all the aspects
of a vehicle. Because as I've said already, there's lots of years, makes
and models of vehicles. But the basics when it comes to mechanicals and
electrical have never changed. They've never changed. The basics never
changed. So till next time. Have fun. Keep it under 100. Thanks for tuning in.
Let your family and friends and neighbors and coworkers know car
connection on iHeart radio and all the major platforms. We're on tons of
platforms. If you want to find us, just type car connection workshop in the
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under 100 and put that coffee on. We're on our way to your house.
About this episode
Prepare for winter travel with essential tips on building the ultimate emergency kit. Niall Motormouth Jenkins emphasizes the importance of checking weather conditions, tire pressures, and vehicle fluids before hitting the road. He shares practical advice for creating a roadside assistance kit, including items like blankets, food, and a flashlight. The episode is packed with humor and personal anecdotes, making it both informative and entertaining for anyone planning winter trips. Don't miss the insights on safe driving habits in challenging weather conditions.
Original notes
In this Saturday Edition of Car Connection Workshop, Nile Break Down the Winter travel essentials every driver needs before the snow , ice wind, and cold settle in. Whether you're heading out of town, commuting to work, or just picking up the groceries, winter can turn dangerous fast - and being prepared can save your life. Today, we cover the Winter emergency Travel Kit every driver should keep in their vehicle:
1) Checking weather and road - condition reports
2) Tire Pressure, fluids, wipers, and battery health
3) Fully charged cell phones plus TWO back up power banks
4) Flashlights, blankets, water, snacks, and emergency tools
5) Driving according to conditions - slow down and stay alert
6) Showing patience and respect for the road crews working to keep us safe
This episode is about common sense, preparation, and protecting the people you love. Winter doesn't forgive, and one simple habit can be the difference between getting home safe or getting stuck. Car Connection isn't about taking - it's about giving. Every bit of help, every tip, every piece of merch sold makes a difference in someone's life. A slice of every merch purchase supports Total Freedom Addiction Campuses in Darien Center , New York, and Sydney, Manitoba - helping men and women who can't afford to get the help they need.
We're here to give back. We're here to make a difference. And yes...we're also here to keep the coffee - and - donuts fund alive - keeping it real.
CALL TO ACTION - JOIN THE MOTORMOUTH CREW: Like , subscribe, comment your thoughts below, and ring the bell to get notified of new videos & live streams. Like & follow us on Facebook @ nile motormouth jenkins for reels and videos you won't find anywhere else. Catch us locally on StevensvilleOnTheWeb.ca - click on the Businesses tab for exclusive outtakes and bloopers. Don't forget to grab your Car Connection merch - every purchase helps support Total Freedom Addiction Campuses in Darien Center , NY and Sydney Manitoba. We'll see you in the next one! Happy Motoring Friends & Thank You for your support, you are appreciated! NMJ
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