overhead platform storage Archives

Preparing Your Vehicle for Winter Driving

November 6, 2018 by Rick Scully

When it comes to winter, we want to get to our destination without mishaps. The best way to weather the cold and snowy days is to prepare the vehicle for safe winter driving. Here we’ll review a number of ways in which you can prepare for the potential mishaps of winter driving as well as things which make winter driving more pleasurable.

Red Cross "ready to go" preparedness kit

Garage Storage Solutions for Winter Driving

We should start that preparedness right at home. If you’ve had a garage renovation specialist plan out your storage space for you, you’ll have a space specifically designed to place your shovels, snow blower and road salt conveniently near the garage door where it is easily accessible.

In addition, a typical slatwall organization system would offer a place to store car or vehicle accessories such as winter grade antifreeze, winter / summer windshield wiper blades, fuel line antifreeze, WD40 and more. And, of course, a storage solution to store the change of winter or all-season tires. Tires can be stored on specialty tire rack or overhead platform which can easily handle 400 – 800 lbs worth of garage items when they have been installed properly into the walls and ceiling of a garage.

A Healthy Battery for a Dependable Start

Next, if your vehicle battery is on the older side, you might want to get it tested and make sure it is holding a strong charge. Batteries without enough CCA or cold cranking amps will not be able to turn over the engine on colder days. In the summer, a battery does not need to provide the same amount of charge to the system to start the vehicle but colder temperatures will require that higher CCA which the engine will need.

If your battery is older and may not be carrying the original CCA value, it may be time to replace this battery before that cold day of winter comes along. One thing to note is that some of the newer vehicles require the battery to run the vehicle’s computer so when the battery dies or needs to be replaced, it can affect the computer in the vehicle. Having a service professional help you out with the battery replacement should avoid any potential computer issues.

Install Winter Tires

What makes the winter tires so different from all-season tires is the rubber with which each tire is made. All season tires are made of a rubber which starts to freeze at a higher temperature than winter tires. Winter tires are made of a softer rubber and will maintain its malleability and ability to grip the road reliably even at colder temperatures.

To keep your family safe when driving everyone to school or work, install winter tires to keep your vehicle road worthy even on cold snowy days.

Winter Survival Kit

For longer trips and more rural locales, driving any distance where it may be difficult to find help quickly in case of an accident or getting stuck at the side of the road, it’s important to have a survival kit to be able to help yourself out of a situation or to be able to wait for help to arrive.

Here’s what should be part of the winter survival kit of your vehicle:

Emergency kit containing non-perishable food, blankets and first aid supplies
Windshield scraper and snow brush
Extra windshield washer fluid
Spare tire, wheel wrench and jack
Shovel and traction mat, sand or kitty litter
Fuel line antifreeze
Flares and matches or lighter
Tire chains and gloves
Flashlight and extra batteries
Battery jumper cables
Extra clothing and footwear
Sandbags for extra weight

Use Winter Windshield Washer

Windshield washer fluid for winter typically has a lower freezing mark and a few more cleaning features than the typical summer washer fluid. This helps make sure the vehicle’s windshield will maintain a clear and visible line of sight to the road and surroundings so drivers can drive safely navigate their vehicle on a snowy winter day. Switch to the winter windshield washer fluid for an improved winter drive.

Winter-Grade Engine Oil

Engine oils have a variety of viscosity. While some vehicles can operate well with a lower viscosity engine oil in the summer, the colder weather of winter means a lower viscosity oil may not be effective. It’s advisable to get a maintenance service of the vehicle before winter or at least, an oil change so that the correct engine oil is applied to your vehicle for the winter months.

Cell Phone Charging Kit

Almost all of us have a mobile phone. It’s also one of our most valuable tools for getting help when we’re having trouble. Once you have a good battery in the vehicle with a solid charge, you can use it to keep your cell phone operating to make calls or to be found by emergency search crews. If you don’t already have a cell phone charging kit in your vehicle, get one today. It will come in handy for a wide variety of emergencies including getting stuck during a heavy winter storm.

Top Up the Gas Tank

Throughout the year, it’s a good idea to always top up the gas tank when the needle hits the last quarter tank of gas so that you can maintain the engine’s lubrication. In the winter, it may be wise to top up the gas tank when the needle tips just below the half way mark. Winter storms can sometimes double or triple our travel time home. It means that we use much more gas for the same commute home or to work. Be sure to either have extra gas in a jerrycan inside the garage or keep the gas tank topped up above the half tank mark. You’ll be sure to make it home or to work without fear of running out of fuel.

Heated Seats

Many vehicles come with heated seats but a heating pad for the seat can be purchased at your local hardware store. For the longer drives home, a warm seat will keep your back from freezing up after sitting for long hours at the wheel in cold weather. It’s practical but it can also make the drive much more pleasant too, especially when the winter commutes tend to be longer and slower.

Preparing & Storing Accessories for Winter Driving

When it comes to being prepared, it also means we’ll need to store a few extra things in our garage to remain prepared. An organized and well-planned garage storage solution helps us plan for driving our vehicles throughout all four seasons of the year.

If you need help being prepared, contact one of our garage renovation specialists and we can plan a garage storage system which will meet not only the winter driving challenges but a wide variety of family lifestyle needs for the garage. And, whatever you do, drive safely this winter.

Winter vs All Weather Tires – Garage Storage

November 6, 2017 by Rick Scully

With fall under way and summer safely behind us, we start to wonder what kind of winter is ahead for us and how to prepare. Of course, when it comes to our home, it’s better to be safe than sorry. And, when it comes to our vehicles this is even more true in order to protect ourselves as well as our little ones.

When winter is really cold with a lot of snow, we have driving challenges in winter. When winter is milder with temperatures fluctuating just above 0°C or just below 0°C, we have a lot of slippery and icy driving challenges throughout winter. Regardless, it’s always a good idea to get tires to suit the winters here in Southern Ontario.

Storing Tires in the Garage

There are a variety of ways to store tires in the garage. The main goal of tire storage is not to leave the tires on the garage floor where it uses up valuable space for the vehicle or both vehicles to be able to park inside the garage.

The best way to store the tires that we’re not using on our vehicles is to have them kept up and off the floor of the garage. Overhead platforms of a variety of heights make a lot of sense. When installed properly, overhead platforms can carry up to 600 – 800lbs of whatever you want to have something tucked up and away in the storage space within your garage.

The second option is to mount a tire rack to the wall of the garage. Specifically designed for tire storage, these racks can be mounted at a variety of heights depending on your available space and height requirements. It’s a great way to ensure your investment in winter and all season tires are protected.

Winter Tires

snow-winter-tire-treads — Winter Tire Treads

Since the advent of all season tires, winter tires have become an overlooked necessity to vehicle ownership throughout Canada. In some provinces, it is law for us to have winter tires on our vehicles. In Ontario, you can get a discount on your car insurance if you use winter tires.

Depending on where you live around the GTA or Toronto, you may not experience a lot of snow. In addition, people mistakenly believe that winter tires are “snow” tires. They are actually meant for the change in temperature. In fact, that change in temperature which warrants the consideration for winter tires starts at 7°C where the typical All Season tire starts to lose it’s ability to grip the road. So, by 0°C, it’s very important that we’re using winter tires.

In Quebec, where winter tires are the law, they found that the 10% who didn’t apply winter tires were involved in 38% of the most severe vehicle accidents. It makes a difference to drive with winter tires.

All Weather Tires

These days there is a new category of tires called All Weather tires. These tires will work well under wet, slushy and snowy conditions. They work well above 7°C where winter tire rubber starts to wear down extremely quickly and loses its ability to grip the road as the temperature rises.

The All Weather tires are made with rubber designed to stay flexible whether the temperature is above 7°C or below 7°C. And, the tread is designed to push water and slush away out the sides of the tread pattern channels. On the other hand, the winter tires were designed with rubber that stays soft even in colder weather below 7°C which is why it works so well on snow and ice. And, this is the same reason it is not safe to drive on winter tires over the summer where it will easily melt on the hot asphalt and lose its integrity to grip the road.

All Weather tires are closer to a 4 season tire for those of us who live in areas of Ontario where we may experience a somewhat mild winter. For real winters like those experienced throughout Quebec and areas of Central and Northern Ontario, people who use winter tires will have a safer drive avoiding the stress and the potential of a severe accident.

All Season Tires are Really Tires for 3 Seasons

all_season_tire_treads — All Season Tire Treads

Finally, the All Season In All Season tires is a bit of a misnomer. With its ability to handle well in temperatures above 7°C, it doesn’t remain flexible enough below 7°C to grip the road. And, the tread design doesn’t lend itself to pushing slush and snow out to the side from the channels.

So, the All Season tire is great for 3 of the seasons in Ontario but not winter temperatures or the weather typical of winter including slush, ice or snow.

Tire Storage for Good Tire Habits

For peace of mind and safety, the winter tire is your best bet. When you do this, you can save on your vehicle insurance and with a garage storage solution, you can save on storage costs annually.

To find out how you can manage both, contact us for a free in-home consultation.

Cargo Boxes, Roof Racks and Storage for an Active Family

August 8, 2017 by Rick Scully

Your family enjoys experiencing the outdoors or taking scenic road trip vacations. The next thoughts are that you have more things you need to haul on the vacation than you have space in the SUV or minivan. You’ll need a vehicle rack of some kind. Will it be a roof rack, hitch rack, trunk rack or spare tire rack? And, what about a carrier for loose items? There is a choice of cargo boxes, cargo carriers and cargo bags to carry loose items and make more room available for the family inside the vehicle.

The vehicle needs more storage space for all the stuff the family needs for that next outdoor adventure. All of this is fairly straightforward to accomplish with the help of a reputable service to help you install a system. And, you’ll probably end up using a system from one of the more reputable brands in the industry such as Thule vehicle rack and cargo systems or the Yakima vehicle rack and cargo systems. All of this you can discuss with your local service provider.

What I’d like to review are the challenges of getting your garage storage spaces to work well and make packing for that adventure weekend getaway or family vacation that much easier to do. Let’s take a look at how you might want to design and strategize your garage storage to work well with vehicle storage packing needs.

Roof Racks

This is one of the go to items when looking to find a method of hauling bikes, skis & snowboards, stand-up paddle boards are more for a fun and active getaway. Many SUVs today come with half racks as a standard feature. By adding cross bars, this easily converts the half rails to a full roof rack which can now mount a wide variety of options such as cargo carriers or boxes, bikes, skis or snowboards and much more.

During the off season, storing the cross-bar accessories in the overhead platform areas of the garage makes the most sense. And, if you’re off to an adventure often throughout the year, some slatwall storage basket options are available to easily store, access and swap or switch out accessories.

If you’re using your roof rack for bikes, consider a hydraulic lift storage system bike rack to lower bikes directly onto the roof rack directly from their storage location in the garage. These overhead storage systems can also accommodate a canoe, kayak or stand up paddleboards which lower watercrafts directly onto the roof rack of the vehicle making packing quick, easy and efficient preparation for that adventure weekend away.

Trunk Racks

For those who need a more portable rack system to carry a couple of bikes, the trunk rack is fairly universal and can mount onto many types of car trunks. They’re easily removable so it can be used for a single trip from time to time. One of the drawbacks is that people can’t get into the trunk from the back of the car. They may need to use the fold down seats to reach into items stored in the trunk.

It’s easier to get a bike onto a trunk rack than a roof rack system. Between trips, use the hydraulic overhead bike rack or wall mount racks to store the bikes. In addition, a space on the overhead platform to store the trunk rack itself is the likely spot for this portable vehicle rack.

Hitch Racks

Hitch racks are attached to the hitch of the vehicle. They’re sturdier and they are typically used to transport and secure mountain bikes, skis or snowboards. Many people keep the hitch in place until the end of the season. They can carry up to 5 bikes so they are great for a family of bikes. And, the bikes can be secured or locked to the rack. When driving, the bikes don’t bump or jostle because they can be fixed into place.

Combine the hitch rack with an overhead hydraulic bike storage rack in the garage or any number of wall mounted rack systems to make it convenient to mount bikes onto the back of the vehicle before the start of any trip.

Spare-Tire Rack

Some vehicles have a spare tire mounted on the back of the vehicle. If that’s the case, the spare-tire rack works similarly to the trunk rack. It typically carries a couple of bikes, wake boards or skis and while the spare-tire rack is removable, many people keep the rack in place. These racks don’t lock the bikes in place but because they sit behind the spare tire, the vehicle is protected from moving bicycle tires or handles.

Wall mounted storage options or overhead storage racks with hydraulic lifts would both work with this type of vehicle rack.

Basket Style Cargo Carriers

With a full rail roof rack, basket style cargo carriers can be mounted to help secure a large amount of camping or other gear to the top of the vehicle. There are also hitch style basket carriers to carry bikes or wakeboards and other gear safely and securely.

Some of the hitch carriers can fold up when not in use so that they are out of the way when not carrying items. During the off season, keep it in the overhead space of the garage for re-mounting the following season. Bikes, skis, wake boards and other sporting equipment can be stored on wall-mounted racks or overhead hydraulic lifts which makes it easier to pack.

Cargo Bags

Sometimes, people combine a cargo bag with the carrier basket so smaller items are easily secured within the bag and to the vehicle. Some bags are designed for the roof rack or a carrier basket intended for the roof of the vehicle. Many others are designed for the hitch style basket carriers. These make the most sense as the soft bag doesn’t protect the belongings within from dings and dents of fast flying debris. Situated behind the vehicle, the bag is minimally exposed to flying debris and anything which might cause dings to the belongings and sports gear contained within.

As long as your gear is clean and dry after each trip, the cargo bags make for a great way to store all the sports accessories in a single space. Carve out a space on the overhead storage platform of the garage for the bag and the full gear. If you have multiple outdoor past times with just as much gear, get a separate cargo bag for each type of outdoor adventure and you’ll be pre-packed for any adventure.

If you have multiple cargo bags each packed with its own adventure, you may also find an overhead sling system helpful in lifting them up and away or easily lowering them directly onto the basket carrier making for quick packing or preparation for any vacation.

Pick the correct cargo bag to pack onto the hitch style basket carrier and you can have a different adventure every weekend of the summer.

Cargo Boxes

Personal floatation devices, paddles and even the kids’ toys are smaller items that are not secured individually to the roof rack. Instead, a cargo box for the roof of the vehicle allows everyone in the family to just throw items into it and everything can be locked inside the cargo box for safety.

When the trip is done, smelly wet gear can be removed and the whole box is easily cleaned with a garden hose and some environmentally friendly soap. Then, leave the box open to dry for a short while to dry under the sun before driving it into the garage.

The best way to store a Thule or Yakima cargo box is with an overhead storage sling operated on a pulley as a hydraulic or manual lift. So, when your cargo box is clean, dry and ready to store, drive your vehicle under the overhead sling. Strap the cargo box into the sling and unhitch it from the vehicle’s roof rack system. With the single push of a button, your hydraulic cargo box sling will be lifted up and into the overhead area of the garage.

When you’re ready for your next trip, drive your vehicle directly under the cargo box sling and use the hydraulic switch to lower the Thule or Yakima directly onto the roof rack of your vehicle. Secure the cargo box and then unhook the overhead sling mechanism. Storing and mounting a large awkwardly shaped cargo box can be a breeze with the right garage storage system.

Match Your Garage Storage System to Your Vehicle Rack & Cargo System

Make the packing and unpacking of your family’s road trip vacation a breeze. Or, get on your way to a different and exciting outdoor weekend adventure every weekend in minutes with the right garage storage system to match your vehicle rack system including carriers, cargo boxes and bags.

The right storage system can help you spend less of your time packing and more time enjoying the outdoors and time with your family or friends. Get a complimentary in-home consultation to get a strategic garage storage system custom designed for your road trip vacation and outdoor adventure lifestyles.

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