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Planning to garage my 4Runner while I am in AZ and CA from Jan to July. have read that putting new fluids in disconnecting the battery and lowering the tire pressure is recommended......advice appreciated.
Well if it's in a garage I wouldn't cover it, suggest putting more, not less air in the tires, and instead of disconnecting the battery suggest a "battery tender" or equivalent type of "smart" trickle charger (You can buy these at any motorcycle supply).
Probably most important would be an ordinary oil change, not immediately before storage but very soon before, maybe change the brake fluid so it's clean and dry, fill the gas tank up with gas including stabilizer, preferably gasoline not gasohol or "E-10", but if E 10 is all you have, spring for some "Ethanol formula" Sta-Bil and don't be stingy with it. This needs to go into the gas tank and drive the truck so it gets into the injectors and all.
Ideally you would change the oil, fill up with gas and stabilizer, go for one good 10 to 20 mile drive, park the truck while it's hot from the drive, and put it on the battery tender. But if the oil has less than 100 miles say on it that should be for all practical purposes just as good.
Battery Tender will maintain the battery at full charge, I use them all the time on any/all vehicles that I am not actually driving that day. Take a look at Competition Accessories' web site, they have a good price on them, assuming your cigarette lighter plug is "hot" with the key turned off, you can use a plug they sell to "backfeed" through it, just put the BT on the floorboard or seat and plug it into the cig lighter and mains power.
Definitely don't cover. Unless there is something wrong with it you don't need a battery tender. I leave my Toyota PU for 6-8 months garaged unheated and every winter it starts right up.
The newer the car, the greater the loads imposed on the battery while it's "off". Older cars, yeah, you can get away with maybe 6 months of dead storage, but an 07 I kind of doubt it.
One might get away with not putting the battery on a tender, but since the tender is available for only about $35, why not get one and know the battery is fully up to snuff when you come home?
Either way I would make sure the battery is topped up with distilled water, assuming it's an "open" one that you can add water to. If it's sealed forget it.
It would be good to have someone at least take a look at the truck from time to time during storage, but if you don't have that I personally have never had any problems leaving vehicles on BT for months at a time.
Like most stuff I recommend, it's not truly "necessary", more like "best engineering practice".
But I agree that, particularly in a climate that's at all damp, the cover is likely to do more harm than good.
Definitely don't cover. Unless there is something wrong with it you don't need a battery tender. I leave my Toyota PU for 6-8 months garaged unheated and every winter it starts right up.
thanks for the covering the car tip. saved me a headache. even though it will be an Alaskan winter outside the garage has a separate heater that comes on at 50 degrees.
Battery Tender will maintain the battery at full charge, I use them all the time on any/all vehicles that I am not actually driving that day. Take a look at Competition Accessories' web site, they have a good price on them, assuming your cigarette lighter plug is "hot" with the key turned off, you can use a plug they sell to "backfeed" through it, just put the BT on the floorboard or seat and plug it into the cig lighter and mains power.
I should add do things to discourage rodents, maybe some mint oil, maybe moth balls. Certainly make sure no food items remain in the truck.
Mickey and Minnie HATE "the green bar"! This has been covered in numerous hot rod and classic car mags. It also freshens the air while left in the trunk, under the seat etc.Bath Soaps and Bar Soaps | Irish Spring®
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