5 Semi Truck Spring Cleaning & Maintenance Tips for Owner-Operators

Cold winter weather can take its toll on semi truck parts. The spring season offers the perfect opportunity to clean, inspect, and review the general functionality of your semi truck. 

Here are five money-saving tips for maintaining and cleaning your semi truck in the springtime. 

#1. Replace the Windshield Wipers

It’ll soon be the rainy season.

Now is the best time to swap out worn wipers. Ice and snow tear down the rubber edges of the wiper blades. Replacing these is an easy first step towards spring cleaning your semi.

While you’re swapping out windshield wiper blades, check on the roof-mounted cab lights and marker lights for any potential moisture intrusion, and inspect the rubber weather seals around the windows for any cracks that might have appeared during winter. 

#2. Deep Clean Your Truck to Remove Chemical Additives

Deep cleaning your truck means doing more than just power-washing corrosive street salt and grime off of your body paint, undercarriage, and frame rails.

These toxic road chemicals carry plenty of contaminants like calcium chloride and magnesium chloride, and heavy metals like cadmium. They inevitably splash on the surface of the truck and seep into the system.

Harmful chemicals don’t just stay on the paint. They move deep into the truck’s electrical system, sometimes extending all the way to the front dash of the driver's seat!  

If left unchecked, major problems can arise from seemingly unrelated areas. This is because the chemicals are damaging your truck’s electrical wiring.

When this happens, you're looking at ghost symptoms popping up at seemingly random locations on the truck.

The Solution: Disconnect everything and degrease it. Then, you put it all back together. Time consuming? Yes. But it’s worth preserving the value of your rig.

Final Tip: This might be the best time to check your battery terminals and braided ground straps for any more "ghost issues" in the truck's electrical system.

#3. Full 5^th Wheel Cleaning and Inspection

It’s a dirty, greasy, and time-consuming job. When winter ends and spring begins, it’s the best time to roll up your sleeves and get it over with. 

To properly inspect the tilt, alignment, and overall adjustment of your semi-truck fifth wheel, you first need to remove the grease from the top plate. To strip it clean, you can use degreaser, steam, or a power washer. 

After all, that old packed-on residual grease sludge isn't helping the fifth wheel do its job. Every so often, no matter the season, you need to remove the old crud and add a fresh new layer of grease to it.

The alternative option: Add a No-Lube Fifth Wheel.

Once you've gone through the painstaking trouble of removing the grease, it's the best time to replace the entire top plate with a Minimizer no-lube fifth wheel plate.

By doing this, you'll never deal with grease again. It's up to you. 

#4. Maintain the PH Levels on Your Antifreeze Coolant

Spring weather is the best time to start checking your fluid levels – especially your coolant!

It’s prime time for checking your fuel separator, cabin air filter, and anti-freeze.

Testing and maintaining the pH levels of your antifreeze coolant is vital for the health of your heavy-duty diesel engine. Improper pH is a silent killer that can go unrecognized until it's too late. 

Improper pH levels and depleted inhibitors corrode and cavitate cylinder liners, causing the coolant to leak out into the combustion chamber, leading to engine failure.

This actually happened to a driver we knew. He got hydrolocked on the side of the road for 3 days. The entire motor had to be replaced for at least $25,000. That’s several weeks of downtime (AKA, not getting paid).

Yeah…

You can avoid this nightmare scenario with good preventative maintenance habits.

While a pack of pH dip test strips might cost you $50-60, it’s well worth having on hand considering the price of a worst-case-scenario situation. 

#5. Brake & Air System Check

Inspect and replace the air dryer cartridge. If you haven’t replaced the air dryer cartridge recently, now is the best time. As usual, check your tire pressure, wheel seals, and check for loose lug nuts and inspect the nut covers more missing or damaged pieces. 

Review your brake linings and brake drums. Look for cracks or “heat checking” in the brake linings that might have occurred during winter. Make sure the S-cams and slack adjusters are properly lubricated and move freely.

The Importance of Preventative Maintenance All Year Round

When it comes to trucking, the little things add up. Don’t sweat the “small” preventative maintenance expenses. Spending some dough on little things will often end up saving you enormous amounts of time, headache, and money.

Whether it’s changing your engine oil, brake fluid, testing wire connections, or getting the right psi tire pressure, good preventative maintenance protects you from encountering massive amounts of downtime and hefty repair costs.

Shop for Spring Cleaning Accessories & Gear at 4 State Trucks

Find high-quality aftermarket accessories, replacement parts, and cleaning kits to get your big rig ready for action. Shop at 4 State Trucks.