Essential Food Truck Mechanical Maintenance and Care

As a food truck owner, you’ll need to know a few things about basic upkeep.

This time of year, it’s important to inspect your car’s tires for wear and damage when the weather warms up. The tread depth, wear and tear, and tire pressure are the three most important items to look at.

You and your vehicle are able to roll down the road because of the tires. You’ll have a rough and perhaps unsafe ride if you have any severe issues with your rubber tires. Here’s a bit more information on why and how to keep your tires in peak condition:

1. The tread depth.
A tire’s tread depth is critical to its performance. In unfavorable weather conditions like rain, sleet, hail, or snow, proper tread depth helps minimize hydroplaning and provides your vehicle with a strong grip on the road. If you have a tread depth gauge, measuring the depth of your tires is quite straightforward. Verify that your tread is the proper depth by inserting a tread-depth gauge into the center of your tire’s central tread and adjusting it until it measures 32nds of an inch. Consider changing your worn tires if the depth is less than 32nds of an inch.

The depth of your tread may be measured using a penny or quarter if you don’t have a tread-depth gauge. This is a simple and effective way to ensure that your tires are properly inflated. The tread of a quarter is excessively shallow if George Washington’s head is completely visible when the coin is put upside down into the tyre.

2. Tears and Scuffs.
Driving can cause tyre wear, but some places are more susceptible to stress than others. A multitude of factors can lead to uneven wear, including but not limited to:

inflating or deflating tires improper wheel alignment cupping caused by damaged suspension feathering as a result of an incorrect toe setting causes one-sided wear (the direction the tires point in relation to the centerline of the vehicle)

Take your automobile in for servicing if you detect any of these difficulties and don’t know how to fix them. Tires that wear unevenly are going to cost you a lot of money in the long run if you don’t take care of them.

3. Pressure
Obviously, your tires need air. As we’ve previously seen, if your tires are over or under-inflated, your gas mileage and driving agility will suffer. Simply a tyre air-pressure gauge or a digital one would do the trick. Make sure your tires are filled to the manufacturer’s recommended PSI (pounds per square inch) level with the help of your gauge.

It’s a shame that tyre pressure needs to be checked frequently for those who are sluggish. Maintaining proper tyre pressure, on the other hand, will help you save money on gas and make your vehicle a safer and more comfortable vehicle to drive.

Maintaining proper tyre air pressure is an essential part of owning a truck. When travelling at high speeds, it is important to check your food truck’s tyre pressure on a regular basis to ensure that the weight of the vehicle is appropriately distributed on the tires.

4. Filters
If your automobile loses power or stalls down when you push the gas pedal, you may have a problem with your fuel filter. When it comes to checking and replacing automotive equipment, fuel filters are among the most straightforward. It gets better: most in-line gasoline filter models cost less than $10. Since a result, you will need a partner to assist you with this process, as one person will be responsible for starting the engine, and another will monitor how the fuel supply performs at various stages.

Make sure you know where your gasoline filter is located first. Typically, it will be located in the middle of the gasoline line, near the fuel tank, on most automobiles. It will resemble a little cylindrical shape. An engine compartment filter can be found in several vehicles.

2nd, if at all feasible, check the condition of the paper filter. It’s possible to see the real paper filter within some plastic gasoline filters. If it is a dark brown (not tan or golden brown), or if you can see any sediment in the gas trapped in the filter, then you need to change the filter. Others are steel cylinders that cannot be inspected.

Using a flat-head screwdriver, crank the clamp screw counter-clockwise several times to loosen the hose clamp on the gasoline line that enters the fuel filter from the gas tank. Pull the gasoline line from the fuel filter by tilting it up slightly. This prevents the gas from leaking out of the filter.

Using a glass jar, place the end of the gasoline filter over it. Put the vehicle in neutral and have your assistance apply the emergency brake. Then, instruct them to insert the ignition key and turn it to the first position. You don’t want them to start the engine only for the sake of connecting the fuel pump’s power supply. Keep an eye on the flow of gas entering the jar from the fuel line. Turn the ignition off and reconnect the gasoline line to the fuel filter with the aid of your assistant.

Step 5 Unscrew the hose clip on the fuel line that connects the fuel filter to the engine and loosen it (the same way you did in Step 3). Pull the filter out of the pipe by holding the hose at a slight upward angle. This will keep gas from leaking out of the pipe.

Take hold of the gasoline filter and have your assistant switch the ignition back to the first position. Keep an eye on how quickly the gasoline filter is releasing gas. Filters can become clogged if they are even slightly slower than the pace at which gas flows directly from the tank. Replace the filter and re-connect the gasoline line so that gas or vapours do not continue to seep out.

Battery
Concerned about the health of your battery? With a multimeter, you can do a few simple tests at home to get a sense of the condition of your vehicle battery before you go out and buy an expensive DieHard battery. How do you proceed?

Test the battery voltage

Turn off the car’s ignition and any other vehicle equipment, such as the lights or the radio.
You may adjust your multimeter to 20V DC if it doesn’t autorange.
Using a + sign or red cover, connect the red lead to the battery’s positive terminal.
Negative terminal: Connect black lead to it.
Take a look at the number. Battery charging may be necessary if the voltage is lower than 12.4 volts.

Conduct a crank test

Keeping an eye on the voltage while the engine is cranking might help determine if the battery needs to be recharged or replaced.

Seeing a negative value on your multimeter merely signifies that you’ve connected the lead wires in the wrong order. However, the number is still correct in all other respects.

Turn off the vehicle and all of its accessories, as well.
You can disable either your vehicle’s fuel or ignition systems. Because the test relies on the vehicle’s cranking but not starting, this is a need.
Positive and negative battery terminals should be plugged into a multimeter’s leads.
Watch the multimeter for no more than 15 seconds as a friend cranks up the engine. It’s a sign of a poor battery when the voltage dips below 9.6 volts.

Stop by your neighborhood parts store if you think your battery is dying. Some locations allow you to take a brief test from the comfort of your vehicle without having to get out of it.

Windshield

Keep an eye out for any cracks or pitting that may be forming in your windshield. As the temperature rises, so does the strain on the windshield. This is especially relevant for food trucks operating in hotter areas.

Wipers

Wiper blades should be replaced every six to 12 months, depending on the amount of wear and tear they have endured. Replacement of wiper blades becomes increasingly critical as winter approaches, since poor wipers may make driving in the snow risky or impossible.

So if you’re driving in a chilly region, make sure you’re using a windshield wiper fluid that contains some anti-freeze. Fill your windshield wiper fluid reservoir with the right windshield fluid, not simply water.

Fluids

Make sure to keep an eye on the levels of your food truck’s fluids on a frequent basis.

Fluids that should be checked are:

Antifreeze, Windshield Transmission of Wiper Fluid Belts and Hoses

Don’t forget to inspect your belts and hoses when you’re checking your fluid levels. For quality assurance, it is just as crucial that you keep an eye on them as you would your fluids. The sooner you replace the belt or hose, the better, if there is any sign of fraying, splitting, or leaking.

a first aid kit for an emergency

Set up a designated area in your truck for keeping the essentials that you and your vehicle may require in the event of an emergency.

The following are a few of the more important ones:

Flares on the road
An extinguisher
Triangles that reflect light.
A first-aid kit is needed for emergencies.
WaterBlanket with solar panels
a pair of extension cords
Considerations for the Season

Generators

When it comes to oil, your food truck isn’t the only item to keep an eye on. In order to extend the life of your generator, replacing the oil on a regular basis is essential. Make sure to check your vehicle manufacturer recommendations for oil changes.

Keep de-icer on hand in the winter to avoid the dreaded situation of having your locks freeze up when you have an important event committed.

In the winter, even if food trucks already have adequate tires, they should switch to snow tires. Snow tires have a design on them that helps them perform better when the road is icy.

Ensure that your vehicle is serviced on a regular basis.

A busy food truck owner has to take his or her vehicle in for frequent tune-ups, especially if it has been some time since the last one. When you bring your vehicle in for a checkup, the technician has the chance to catch any potential problems before they get out of hand.

It’s worth pondering. To avoid missing even one event because of a mechanical problem, this is a worthwhile investment.

If you have any more questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Exhaust hoods should also be cleaned, ensuring sure they are free of dust and oil.

Your light fixtures should be cleaned once a month to eliminate any dust or grime. Scrub your fridge with a stiff brush and disinfectant. Check up the coils as well because they may accumulate a lot of dust…