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Piling into the car with your buddies and road-tripping for a week-long camping trip is awesome. The freedom of the open road and the beautiful American landscape are calling. Before you take off, though, there are preparations you should make to ensure you have fun instead of sitting on the side of the road, broken down. Use these long-distance road trip safety tips before your next trip.

Get a Tune-Up

Unless you have a brand-new car fresh off the lot, take yours in for a tune-up. As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The last thing you want on your freedom run is a stop at the mechanic’s shop for repairs. Take your vehicle to a local mechanic, and have them go over the entire thing to check the plugs, wires, oil, filters, and tires. Don’t start a thousand-mile road trip in a crappy car.

Check Your Spare

Nobody thinks about their spare tire until they need it. When the spare is necessary, who knows what condition it’s in. Make sure that your spare has good tread and the proper inflation. While you’re in the truck, check the jack. Be sure that it’s there and that all the ancillary parts for the jack are there, too. Having a flat tire sucks enough by itself; don’t compound the misery by not having a spare.

Pack an Emergency Kit

A spare tire and jack are just two of the emergency items that you should carry with you. Pack an emergency kit so that you can tackle any situation on the road. Make sure it includes jumper cables, a socket set, some hand tools, a bottle of motor oil, and some coolant. If you are traveling to a cold climate, pack some survival gear, too, like a blanket, gloves, and melting salt.

Load Apps

No doubt, your phone is loaded up with fun and useful apps. Add a few more before you hit the road. Load map and GPS-type apps for the region you are traveling to, as well as a music-streaming app. Who knows what kind of radio stations they will have in the middle of nowhere? Do this before you leave on your home Wi-Fi system so that you don’t have to pay roaming charges.

Don’t Forget the Cooler

This is probably the most important long-distance road trip safety tip—pack a cooler! Eating gas station food is horrible for you, so don’t do it. Pack some snacks, drinks, and sandwiches for the trip, and save the money and your stomach from indigestion. Now you’ll have something to nosh if you get stuck on the side of the road. RNR Tire Express is your home for wheels, service, and tires in Greenville, SC. Check out our lineup online, then come in for service.

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