Winterizing a California vehicle for Minnesota climate

[Chris D.]

Anyone on here have any tips for what I should look into doing to my vehicle for extreme weatherization?

I'm going to be moving from California to Minnesota within the year and figured I mite want to get started now..

I asked people on my car club and they said "garage" LOL

That didn't help me much

[tasdrouille]

I'd say install a block heater, a set of snow tires and use a good 5W grade oil.

[MetroMPG]

Add to that: winter wiper blades & don't forget to buy washer fluid that's rated for extreme cold.

And as much as it's going to hurt your mileage, you may also need to add weight in the bed to improve traction at the back on ice/snow.

[GenKreton]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Add to that: winter wiper blades & don't forget to buy washer fluid that's rated for extreme cold.

And as much as it's going to hurt your mileage, you may also need to add weight in the bed to improve traction at the back on ice/snow.

This is exactly what you need to be doing. Also, depending on how extreme their weather gets you need a shovel. One can fit in your bed or they make small snow shovels and even folding snow shovels. I would go small, personally. You also want good gloves on you at all time or a spare set in the glove box. Finally, you need a snow brush with an ice scraper at it. Try to get one with the plastic scraper end opposite of the brush so you don't worry about the scraper getting in the way of brushing.

[TomO]

Don't forget to change your antifreeze concentration. In MN here, you want at least a 50/50 mix or for winter most people will run a 70/30 mix, 70% glycol, 30% water.

With you having a 2wd truck and not used to driving in snow & ice, I would heartily agree on getting the snow tires.

Just make sure that your truck is tuned up and ready. Living in MN isn't as bad as other people make it out to be. I have a friend that moved here from Cali and he has acclimated to life here in just over two years. His vehicles faired well through the transition too.

[AndrewJ]

Is there some kind of Californian mass exodus going on?

The wife and I are heading to Minneapolis in 3 weeks to scope out living arrangements.

[Frank Lee]

So that's why the traffic has gotten so bad.

You can say goodbye to your car earlier; the officials say all that salt they dump on the roads all winter won't eat your plastic car, but millions of rusted-out cars know better.

[roflwaffle]

Keep your dirty motor oil and spray it on the bottom for some cheap protection from the salt, install a block heater that's at least 600-700W+, and maybe an inline one too, and lastly go to a j-yard and get two of the newest/largest side post batteries you can and run 'em in parallel for plenty cranking on the colder days. IMO all that should keep you running and minimize any rust problems for ~$100.

[Chris D.]

I'm looking into underside coatings..
My exhaust is already SS thats fully ceramic coated..

[Chris D.]

Originally Posted by TomO

Don't forget to change your antifreeze concentration. In MN here, you want at least a 50/50 mix or for winter most people will run a 70/30 mix, 70% glycol, 30% water.

With you having a 2wd truck and not used to driving in snow & ice, I would heartily agree on getting the snow tires.

Just make sure that your truck is tuned up and ready. Living in MN isn't as bad as other people make it out to be. I have a friend that moved here from Cali and he has acclimated to life here in just over two years. His vehicles faired well through the transition too.

I'm orignally from Coon Rapids off of Hansen Blvd.

I'n my other 2wd pickups I had when there I usually kept about 300lbs in the bed for traction and all season radials and never had problems with that setup..

But that truck was prepped for winter by its previous owner..
front and rear winch, block heater, underside coating, autostart, ect..

My vehicle is virgin California sheet metal so i figure I better get a jump on things.. I've even considered having the underside bedlined lol