How Our Custom Pickup Bumpers can Help Your Truck from Overheating

Your pickup truck is ready to go anywhere with you. Well...maybe not anywhere, but you get what we mean. Whether you use your vehicle for your work or you need it for lots of jobs around your home and in your personal life, you count on your vehicle for all your transport needs, even when it’s something as simple as driving to the store.

However, the summer poses new problems for you and your vehicle, which is why we here at Truck Defender Bumpers have provided some tips for handling the heat and avoiding some of the biggest risks associated with it. Check them out and then contact us about how you can get some of our lightweight aluminum bumpers to lighten the load on your pickup.

A Little Bit of Maintenance Goes a Long Way

Something as simple as ensuring your engine is working properly can help you avoid overheating your truck. Overworking your engine on top of a hot day can spell disaster, which is why ensuring everything is in peak working condition is even more important during the summer. 

Make sure all your engine fluids are fresh and properly filled, especially your coolant. Keep up to speed on your regular maintenance checks with the professional so you can get the radiator flushed and, if your car battery is older than three years, you might want to consider replacing it to get full power.

Weight and Our Bumpers

Another way to overwork your engine is to add too much weight. Obviously, you never want to overload your truck, no matter what the weather’s like. But even if you can avoid adding on weight you don’t necessarily need, you can help prevent overheating your truck. This may mean cleaning out some of the clutter in your cab or asking a buddy to help you transport some of your gear.

You also don’t want some of your essential upgrades to weigh you down, which is where a Truck Defender bumper can come in handy. Our unique aluminum bumpers are lightweight, so they don’t add the kind of baggage that other add-on bumpers would. This can free up your pickup to be lighter or allow you to add more cargo without overloading it. 

What to Do if Your Truck Overheats

Even if you’re working to prevent your vehicle from overheating, it’s a good idea to have a backup plan just in case something goes wrong. The most important tip we can give is to keep an eye on your engine temperature gauge. Under most circumstances, you probably ignore this, but if you notice the needle starts to climb unexpectedly, pull over and let the engine cool off. 

If you don’t catch the gauge in time, your engine could let you know in other ways that it’s overheating. This can include steam coming off the hood, thumping noises, reduced engine power, and there’s even a distinct smell that comes from burning oil. Pay attention to strange changes in performance and pull over when your vehicle shows signs of overheating. 

There are a variety of reasons your engine may be overheating, but you can’t address any of these issues while the engine is still hot. Give it some time to cool off before popping the hood. 

On a hot day, the key could simply be letting your vehicle cool off for a moment. However, you never want to assume that’s the whole story. Check for signs of leaking engine fluids or other obvious sources of failure. No matter what, you’ll want to call your roadside assistance contact for further help. 

As you’re waiting, consider turning on the heat (we know no one wants to turn on the heat during the summer, but it helps). At the very least, keep the air conditioning off, as it adds additional stress to your engine.

Pro tip: If your engine starts to overheat in traffic and there’s nowhere to pull over, put your vehicle in neutral or park and rev the engine, to help draw more liquid and air through the radiator, until you can safely pull off to the side. 

These tips can be particularly important if you’re putting your pickup through the ringer on a daily basis. This can also signal that it’s time to upgrade your bumper. Contact Truck Defender Bumpers to find the right custom aluminum bumper to get the protection you need without weighing down your truck. We proudly ship all across the nation, so let us know today how we can help you!