Looking after your vehicle ensures it will look after you. This can take a variety of forms. Plenty of us aren’t lucky enough to have extensive mechanical knowledge, so that stuff can be best left to the experts. Focusing on the little things will see us enjoy the time we spend in our vehicles more, and potentially even prolong the life of our vehicles.

Dust is a nuisance, and we all know it. You don’t have to get too far away from the big smoke to have it start building up in your vehicle, either. Keeping on top of the dust in your vehicle by vacuuming and wiping it out after each trip will help you see your instruments easier, and prolong the life of many of your dials. Adventure Kings make deep dish rubber floor mats that catch the dust effectively and these are a great investment. It saves a lot of time in vacuuming as you can just pick the mat up and tip the dust outside. I like to do it every day when I pull up at camp. You’ll be amazed how much red dirt can build up in a vehicle after spending all day on corrugated roads!

The Adventure Kings deep dish rubber floor mats aren’t just great for outback trips where the red dust is a problem; they’re great for beach trips as well. Consider how much easier your life will be when you have these on the floor of the back seat after your kids come in after having a swim and a run back up the beach to hop in the car! The tidy up is a pain, but the grit can become a real problem when not tended to in reasonable time.

The upholstery on seats is always a spot that needs attention in a vehicle; especially when it starts to get a bit older. Wear and tear on seats makes them uncomfortable and a vehicle doesn’t present well on the used market if they’re buggered. Adventure Kings make a couple of different seat covers that you should definitely consider looking at. Not only do they keep your seats in good nick, but they make them more comfortable, and are a breeze to clean as well. Keeping your seat covers clean helps minimise the amount of dust floating around the cab.

Gear rolling around the back of a vehicle can cause some issues such as spills and dings. It doesn’t take much to ruin some carpet. Adventure Kings sell a variety of storage boxes that make packing a vehicle an easy task, and they keep all of your gear in one spot so it doesn’t float around and become hard to find. Another good solution for some of these problems is to put some Adventure Kings car seat organisers on the front seats. Having gear floating around the cab can actually be a safety concern when driving in steep country as it can fly backwards or forwards quickly and cause some real damage to either your windscreen, or the occupants of the vehicle.

Taking care of the little things doesn’t just have to refer to the inside of your vehicle. Our spare wheels are usually out in the elements getting covered in dust and mud. This doesn’t present a problem most of the time, but if you do need to change a wheel over, grit in the holes where the studs go can sometimes wear out threads. The Adventure Kings spare wheel cover is a cheap way of covering up your wheel and preventing this from happening. They look great, too!

For those of you who want a bit more piece of mind about your body work, a VMS reverse camera available from 4wdsupacentre is an easy to install gadget that makes it much easier for you to see where you are backing up. Plenty of us have gear stacked high in the back of our vehicles so it can be hard to have confidence when reversing in both tight shopping centre carparks, or bush tracks to try a new line on a slippery ascent.

Lastly, keeping an eye on our engines is one of the most important precautions we can take with our vehicles. Noticing problems early could be the difference between finishing a trip and not, or a small fix it job and a massive repair bill. 4wdsupacentre sell affordable EDS computer scan tools, and you shouldn’t leave for a big trip without one.

Don’t become intimidated by the little things we can do to look after our vehicles. Work through each step one at a time. Keeping on top of little issues is far better than letting them become big issues.