Winter Vehicle Prep

We’ve all chosen the best vehicle brand for winter, but there’s plenty more we can do to optimise safety and reliability, says Ed Evans

Winterise your Land Rover to face the worst that cold weather can throw at you

Rumour has it that this winter won’t be a harsh one. But it takes only one moment of icy conditions to put your vehicle out of action, or to cause a collision. And since the UK winter can extend to April and even May in northern parts, there’s plenty of time for calamities to happen, unless we prepare now.

There are two aspects to surviving winter as a Land Rover driver: staying reliable, and staying safe. So we’ll take the vehicle first and see what needs to be done to keep it reliable and safe through the winter, and also to prevent winter ravages from causing ongoing trouble throughout next year.

Winterising the vehicle

Let’s first deal with two common concerns that crop up at this time every year: winter tyres and diesel fuel. Winter tyres have a slightly softer compound to give better grip on icy roads, though you may not feel any benefit unless driving in northern Europe and higher altitudes where there is more ice and less rainfall. They’re a personal choice, partly dependent on what, where, and how you drive. Fortunately, we all have four-wheel drive, and owners of later models have electronic traction and braking aids, all of which help make a standard Land Rover on standard tyres one of the safest vehicles for winter driving – so we’re in a good place to start with. As for diesel problems, fuel in the UK is already winterised to perform correctly in the lowest expected temperatures. But, of course, the tyres and the fuel need to be good.

Directional stability

Suspension, including shock absorbers and bushes, needs to be in good order to ensure the vehicle will brake and steer accurately in an emergency such as collision avoidance, and to ensure direction is maintained or at least quickly corrected when a patch of ice or snow is encountered. Electronic traction control is a great safety asset, but it relies on efficient and accurate responses from the suspension, steering and braking systems. So any defects in these need to be sorted to make the vehicle as safe as Land Rover intended. If later independent suspension vehicles with well-maintained suspension exhibit tyre wear or handling issues, the wheel alignment may need to be checked and adjusted.

Tyres

Tyres have the final say on the effectiveness of all the vehicle’s safety systems, including driver input. If they are incapable of gripping the road surface accurately and efficiently, none of the suspension, braking or traction control and stability systems can do their job to the full – no matter how clever the vehicle and the driver, nothing will work at its full potential without decent tyres. Check tyre pressures frequently and, if any are soft, have them fixed right away because one slightly soft tyre can seriously affect braking and steering accuracy, or even blow due to overheating. Frequently check the tread depth and inspect the side walls for physical damage.

Tyre composition and construction is too complex a subject to spend time on here. But when buying new, check the EU Tyre performance label, with wet grip/ braking performance in mind for winter. There’s no need to spend a fortune. Shop around: most Land Rover and 4x4 specialists are competitive on premium brand tyre prices and you can expect a good job done on fitting and balancing.

Visibility

The clever plan is to spot the ice and snow and the potential collisions before we reach them on the road. That means good wiper blades on wiper arms that have enough spring tension to hold them against the screen in high winds, and a regularly topped-up supply of screen wash of a sufficient concentration to prevent it freezing.

If you have air conditioning, make sure it’s working because it provides dry air that helps keep the screen and windows demisted and can be used in conjunction with the heater. Use the air con at least occasionally during winter to prevent bacteria forming in the air ducts, and to keep the system internally lubricated (the oil is in the refrigerant).

Ensure you are visible to other road

users. In bad weather on salt-laden roads, pull in when needed to wipe clean the headlamp and other external lamp lenses so other drivers see you sooner. It’s worth upgrading the headlamps on early vehicles and there are plenty of bulb and lamp kits available to do this. Carry a complete set of spare bulbs so you never need to drive with a lamp out, and check all lights and indicators regularly.

Reliability

A properly serviced and maintained Land Rover will shrug off anything winter can throw at it. Poorly-maintained vehicles with old thick engine oil, dodgy batteries and corroded battery connections will eventually fail to start one morning. Naturally, any running problems need attention before winter, because the last thing we need in the snow-covered middle of nowhere is a breakdown.

It’s worth looking over accessible sections of the wiring harnesses and squirting some WD40 around and into connector joints. Don’t open the joint, just put the nozzle to the join and blast it in. The fluid will work it’s way in, dissolve corrosion and leave a protective film. It also helps protect petrol ignition systems.

Vehicle protection

Don’t start wipers with snow or ice on the screen, and don’t use the wipers to remove it – either of these will strain the linkages and the wiper motor and damage the wiper blades. Always switch front and rear wipers fully off when leaving the vehicle, especially those with automatic rain-sensitive wipers. Otherwise the wipers will start up next morning when you switch the ignition on, and that’s bad if there’s ice or snow on the screen, or even a dry screen.

Modern antifreeze can last up to ten years but, if in doubt, or on early vehicles, have the solution tested or replaced, and renew any tired coolant hoses.

Road salt, dirt and water will help corrode the chassis, the underbody and bolt threads. Now is a good time to have the underside cleaned off and sprayed with wax preservative. Any corrosion repair will need to be done first, and this is timely because winter conditions will significantly advance existing corrosion. Keep the body well washed to reduce salt corrosion on aluminium panels.