When your vehicles are out and about during the winter, one of the worst things that can happen is a dead battery.

Cold weather can take a massive toll on your vehicle’s batteries. Car engines require energy and power in the form of heat to start. As you can imagine, to compensate for the cold, much more power is required during the winter.

This requirement for extra power makes a battery work much harder and can drastically shorten its lifespan. This makes the care of all your vehicles’ batteries during the winter even more important.

If you want to ensure your battery will last the winter without letting you down, follow these tips.

Get your battery tested before it gets cold

You don’t want to be stuck on the side of the road when you realize your battery was on its last legs. Before the temperature starts really dropping and snow starts falling, be sure to get your battery checked out, especially if you know it is 3 or 4 years old.

Raben Tire can perform a battery test to check your battery’s life. If the test reveals that your battery is getting close to the end of its life, we can quickly and easily install a new one so you can hit the road with confidence when the really bad weather rolls in.

Limit additional power strains

Radio, phone chargers, GPS and other devices used in your vehicle draw their power from the battery. Normally, this isn’t much of an issue when the battery is working under normal conditions. However, during the winter, when your battery has to work harder than usual, these devices can cause additional strain.

Even with the temperature at a “balmy” 32 degrees, a car battery can be 35% weaker than normal. In the interest of taking as much burden off your battery as possible, try to limit you power usage as much as possible.

Park inside whenever possible

Keeping your battery as warm as possible when not in use will make it easier to power back on next time you jump in to hit the road.

Whenever possible, keep your vehicles parked in a garage, shed or other indoor storage areas. This is particularly important for vehicle fleets since you have to rely on all your trucks and/or cars being in tip-top shape. Having a large area or facility to house your vehicles during the winter is a wise investment.

Always keep jumper cables in your vehicle

Even if your battery is in good shape and you’ve taken all the precautions, you can never be too careful. Along with all the other essential winter driving items, always make sure you keep a set of jumper cables handy in your vehicles.

You never know when you’ll be stuck in a jam, and when you are it pays to be prepared. You also never know when you may need to play the role of the Good Samaritan and need to help someone else out who didn’t follow these precautions.

Be a safe and prepared winter driver by having all your personal and fleet vehicles inspected and taken care of by Raben Tire. Save $5 on any battery here- www.rabentire.com/Specials/5-off-any-battery