Is your car ready for winter?
KVAL offers some tips of how to winterize your car for the cold months ahead.
EUGENE, Ore - Is your car ready for winter weather? Here's how to tell.
The first thing you should do is check your tires.
Got a penny? You can use the penny as a tire gauge. It's called "The Penny Test."
Pinch the penny so that the top of Lincoln's head is showing. Place the penny in a tread with the head down. If the top of his head remains visible, then the tire should be replaced.
For snowy weather, there's chains.
Chains are needed for packed snow, not ice. "So if you got 2, 3, or 4 inches of snow, you definitely want to have chains installed," says Matthew Simons at Les Schwab Tires in Eugene.
If chains aren't your thing, you can opt for studded tires. Simons says these can go on any car.
"It helps with your wet weather traction and your snow traction," says Simons. "A lot of people travel over the pass around Christmas and stuff like that so we try to get people as safe as we can."
After your car is winterized on the outside, it's just as important to winterize on the inside.
Experts advise keeping things like an ice scraper, food, water, blankets, and a flashlight inside your car in case you get stuck for an extended period of time.
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