Tips For Long Highway Drives in India

[Highway Ranger]

I have a tubeless tyre puncture kit, an air pump, a swiss army knife, toolkit and a roll of insulation tape.

In case of puncture, I first place the dicky floor mat near the wheel so that my pants don't get dirty

I also place the safety triangle at a safe distance to warn the traffic and turn on the hazard blinkers.

A pair of cotton gloves will be of great help to keep our hands clean, but I am yet to buy one.

I also avoid night driving as much as possible.

When I feel drowsy on long drives I drive faster for some distance and it wakes me up and makes me more alert.

 

[sethumurugan]

Here is what to do if you have a flat tyre or need to change a tyre for any reason

1. Take out your jack and wheel-nut spanner and spare tyre (or alloys) from either the boot floor, or under the hood, depending on where it is stored.
2. Find the jacking points under your car, there will be one for each wheel, and position your jack below them.
   
3. Start winding the jack until it just touches the bottom of the car, then carry on slowly and only until the car's weight is off the wheels, but not so much that the tyre is off the ground.
   
4. Remove any hub-caps if fitted. Take the spanner and loosen each nut on the wheels for 1 - 1.5 turns of the spanner. We only want to loosen them slightly, and not take them off at this point.
   
5. With the wheel nuts loosened, Jack the car up further until the wheel is clear of the ground.
   
6. Use the spanner and remove the nuts from the wheel. It is advisable to do opposite nuts, and not just go round in a circle.
   
7. Now you can remove the old wheel and put the new one back on.
   
8. Replace the nuts, with the rounded end towards the wheel, and tighten by hand as much as you can. Then use the spanner to tighten slightly more. We still want the nuts a bit loose.
   
9. Wind down the jack until the tyre is just touching the ground and can't move.
10. Tighten the nuts with the spanner as much as you can. You don't want them falling off, or the wheel will fall off as well!
    
11. Wind the jack down so that you can remove it from underneath the car and stash it away.

I have a tubeless tyre puncture kit, an air pump, a swiss army knife, toolkit and a roll of insulation tape.

In case of puncture, I first place the dicky floor mat near the wheel so that my pants don't get dirty

I also place the safety triangle at a safe distance to warn the traffic and turn on the hazard blinkers.

A pair of cotton gloves will be of great help to keep our hands clean, but I am yet to buy one.

I also avoid night driving as much as possible.

When I feel drowsy on long drives I drive faster for some distance and it wakes me up and makes me more alert.

In addtion to the above points, I would like to add a point when you got a wheel punctured on highways.

As much as possible try to park your vehicle off the road like small roads, schools, temples etc. Cos based on some news I had read are when changing the wheel some lorry or bus hit the car/van.

The same when you would like to have your own packed food on highway follow the same.

Thanks.

 

[jayesh]

In addtion to the above points, I would like to add a point when you got a wheel punctured on highways.

As much as possible try to park your vehicle off the road like small roads, schools, temples etc. Cos based on some news I had read are when changing the wheel some lorry or bus hit the car/van.

The same when you would like to have your own packed food on highway follow the same.

Thanks.

+1 on that, there are even chances of being robbed,God save if you have a flat tire at night.

 

[sethumurugan]

+1 on that, there are even chances of being robbed,God save if you have a flat tire at night.

Yes if it is night it is very dangerous. Hope most of us [ own board drivers ] prefer to travel in day time [ atleast me ].

In day time, off road means need not to go far away from highway/main road. Just find a lane kind of stuff or school/temple where there are enough space for parking our car.

 

[TSIVipul]

During long drives I take the following steps:-
1):Before leaving itself,my first work is to get my tank filled and air checked in the wheels.
2):Take report of how the weather is at my place,on the way and the place I have to go.
3):Have my tummy filled at the home itself so that I need not to stop on the way.
4):If the road in not completely good then cover as much ground as possible swiftly until the road is good,after that I switch to the traffic speed.
5):Get some new music,real juice and some biscuits in the car for the way.
6):If there is any issue like a punctured tyre then my work is to turn on the hazard lamps and drive to the nearest puncture repairer at 30-40 kph constantly and passing bad patches extremely slowly and carefully.

Game changes a lot while driving at night:-
1):I make most of my long trips in night so first step I take it to take a nap of at least 2-3 hours before leaving for drive.
2):Carry a bottle of either freezed or chilled water with me and if I feel sleepy then just stop the car and splash that water on the face.
3):Coffee..ah..I love coffee and its my compulsary companion on every night long trip.
4):Eat light and never fill your tummy completely else you are definitely going to sleep.As we say "sleeping with empty tummy is not easy".
With the speed increases your concentration on the road and with increase in concentration outgoes the drowsiness
5):In case I get a flat tyre etc,I get it repaired only at the places like filling stations,any town I mean at the places where there are some more people.I never get it repaired or replaced at the places with no signs of people.Why?Because loot and murder is a more than common incident in NCR(Especially Meerut,Muzaffarnagar,Ghaziabad etc)

And many more..

 

[Tornado]

Simple, superb, intelligent suggestions

+2 from me,
Always check the air pressure when the tyres are cold.(i.e. Before journey begins)

Always engage handbrake and gear before jacking, also all passengers should be outside the car.

Always keeps the jack and wheel spanner underneath the driver seat, can be help full in case of fire, flood when powerwindows and central unlocking goes kaput, to break the glasses of car.

 

[sethumurugan]

Simple, superb, intelligent suggestions

+2 from me,
Always check the air pressure when the tyres are cold.(i.e. Before journey begins)

Always engage handbrake and gear before jacking, also all passengers should be outside the car.

Always keeps the jack and wheel spanner underneath the driver seat, can be help full in case of fire, flood when powerwindows and central unlocking goes kaput, to break the glasses of car.

Recently in one of my visit to auto expo in chennai, i have been demonstrated with a device which has the following

• hammer to break the windows
• cutter to cut seat belt

Product Link from eBay

It seems here it is costly. The product was shown to me was around Rs.500 and odd

Another one I found was Car Emergency 9 LED Glass Hammer Belt Cutter Light Torch Escape Tool [Link from eBay]

• emergency LED Torch,
• Emergency Safety Hammer,
• Beacon light,
• Seat belt reamer
• Magnetic Bass

 

[Tornado]

Rs 500 is too much. I will prefer to keep a new shaving blade.@rs 1.

I also do not foget to carry small camphor cakes, to expell mosquitoes and flies. They can be dropped just in side ac vents and switch on the fan. mosquitoes run away immediately if windows are open.

 

[sethumurugan]

Rs 500 is too much. I will prefer to keep a new shaving blade.@rs 1.

I also do not foget to carry small camphor cakes, to expell mosquitoes and flies. They can be dropped just in side ac vents and switch on the fan. mosquitoes run away immediately if windows are open.

Second one is just Rs.300 only.

BTW, how do you drop those in AC vents. Just for info. you make it powder or break into small pieces and drop inside?

 

[Tornado]

I have android app /widget called ' flash light' similar to second one.


For camphor , I just drop the cakes or tabs , just inside the ac vent s, no need to crush or grind . It can evaporate on its own.

 

[mukeshus]

To break the windows in case of emergency, the head rest of the car serves the purpose.

But the ones in i10 and Etios these headrests are missing.

 

[amit1km]

To break the windows in case of emergency, the head rest of the car serves the purpose.

But the ones in i10 and Etios these headrests are missing.

This is something new thing I learned. Never thought that head rest can be used in this fashion .
Just to know whether this is purposefully designed by car manufacturer to use this thing in case of emergency ?

 

[Tornado]

Taking hint from mukeshus ,I have replaced the jack and spanner on its original place.

@amit 1 km, headrests are not purposely designed to break the glass, they are basically ' head restraint s `to prevent severe backward extension of head in case of accident.

 

[sethumurugan]

in case of emergency it can be used as glass breaker also sir.

 

[Tornado]

To break the windows in case of emergency, the head rest of the car serves the purpose.

But the ones in i10 and Etios these headrests are missing.

@ Sethu sir, please call me friend not sir.
After mukesus revealed that head rest can be used to break the glass , I put the jack and spanner back to its original place in the boot.


How come I10 and etios come without head rest or they are fixed ?
IMHO , they are compulsory by law atleast on front .correct me if I am wrong. Owners please clarify.