{"id":31447,"date":"2019-11-26T13:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=31447"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:23:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:23:53","slug":"hibernation-preparation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/how-to\/2019\/11\/hibernation-preparation.html","title":{"rendered":"Hibernation Preparation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We have a saying here in the great north:\n\u201cWinter is coming\u201d, but maybe instead, we should be saying, \u201cwinter is here\u201d,\nbecause by the beginning of November, half the country already had flakes on the\nground. People across the nation rejoice in the magical bliss of waking to a\nworld blanketed in soft white snow, but us gear-heads groan in dread as, to us,\nthat snow means only one thing: putting your muscle car away for winter\nhibernation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one wants to stop driving their car for\nwhat feels like half the year, but it\u2019s a critical part of being a responsible\nowner. Unfortunately, getting ready for winter requires a little more effort\nthan simply parking your ride under a shelter and walking away. If your Mopar\u00ae<\/sub>\nmuscle car (whether it\u2019s new or old) is getting parked for the winter, take\nthese precautions to ensure it stays safe, secure and ready to rumble come\nspring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exterior<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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First and foremost, before your car goes into storage, you\u2019ve gotta give it a thorough bath. Odds are it\u2019s going to be sitting untouched for a long time, so it\u2019s essential you remove any corrosive debris that could be clinging to your paint and causing decay. After a detailed wash (and maybe even a wax if you\u2019re fancy), make sure you give some extra attention to your wheels and scrub off all that gnarly brake dust that eats away at delicate finishes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interior<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The cabin of your car is your sanctuary, it\u2019s your dojo, and it\u2019s important to protect it. Pesky rodents will often seek shelter from the cold in your car, usually choosing the dash or engine bay as their winter hiding spot where they can wreak havoc on wiring harnesses. I\u2019ve tried all the tricks: dryer sheets, rodent repellents, even Irish Spring soap. Truly, the best way to keep the mice away is good old-fashioned traps placed around and underneath your car. I know, it\u2019s never fun to deal with these pests, but returning to your car to find a mouse nest and chewed up wiring is far more unpleasant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Perhaps the most imperative aspect of prepping\na car for storage is to ensure your engine is ready for what old man winter has\nahead. It may seem obvious, but let this serve as a reminder; before you blow\nout a freeze plug (or worse), make sure your radiator is balanced with 50-50\nantifreeze and water. Allow a fresh mixture to cycle through your block before\nyou walk away from it and you\u2019ll come back to a happy, healthy motor instead of\na massive headache. While you\u2019re at it, be sure you\u2019re protecting the two key\ncomponents that make your engine run, spark and fuel. Gasoline can begin to\nvarnish in as quick as 30 days, so treat your baby to a quality fill-up and mix in\na fuel stabilizer just to be safe. You\u2019ll thank me come spring when you have a\nfull tank of gas at the ready! Failure to complete this last step has resulted\nin way too many fires, fried cars and sad owners; so please be sure to\ndisconnect your battery. Most classic Mopar vehicles are equipped with factory\ninstruments that will always draw power (even when the car is off), so\ndisconnecting your battery is the best way to ensure there are no stray sparks\ncausing a battery drain or a fire hazard. If you are anticipating sub-zero\ntemps, you may even want to bring your battery to a climate-controlled\nenvironment, as they are prone to cracking and leaking when kept in freezing\ntemperatures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ain\u2019t No Rest for the Wicked<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Okay, I know that I said putting your car away for winter is the responsible choice, but have I ever actually encouraged responsibility? Owning a muscle car is all about enjoying the thrill of being alive, I don\u2019t know about you, but I have trouble depriving myself from that thrill for a whole winter. The following images may cause some to burst out in tears or boil with rage, so if you are on the uptight side, you may want to avert your eyes and stop reading, because what I\u2019m about to say might straight-up blow your mind: snow doesn\u2019t actually cause rust. That\u2019s right, it\u2019s not the fluffy white stuff to blame for the crust that consumes our cars after a long winter season, but the road salt that comes with it. Road salt is a necessary evil that both helps and hurts our cars: yes, it melts slippery ice, helping to keep you between the ditches, but it\u2019s also a horribly corrosive substance that straight-up destroys cars. So why do we have to hide our cars the second a few flakes hit the ground? Truth is, as long as the road isn\u2019t icy and the streets are clean, it’s not going to hurt anything to break your baby out for an occasional winter cruise. Scope out the roads, make sure they\u2019re dry, and just for good measure, give her a nice wash before she\u2019s tucked back into the garage. If you\u2019re still worried about your car\u2019s body corroding into a rusty crust, try out a preventive neutralizer to help cancel out the harmful effects of the road salt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One week down \u2026 only 20 more to go. Are you storing your car this winter or throwing on a set of chains and driving like you stole it? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have a saying here in the great north: \u201cWinter is coming\u201d, but maybe instead, we should be saying, \u201cwinter is here\u201d, because by the beginning of November, half the country already had flakes on the ground. People across the nation rejoice in the magical bliss of waking to a world blanketed in soft white snow, but us gear-heads groan in dread as, to us, that snow means only one thing: putting your muscle car away for winter hibernation. No one wants to stop driving their car for what feels […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":31469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[639],"tags":[1778],"class_list":["post-31447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-maintenance"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hibernationpreperationfeature.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31447"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31634,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31447\/revisions\/31634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}