4WD Maintenance Tips: How to Make Your 4WD Last Longer

With endless stretches of coastline, desert and mountain ranges to explore, Australia is a fantastic place for adventure driving. Owning a 4WD gives you power to traverse it on offroad routes, providing unparalleled access to many natural wilderness areas.

As rewarding as this is, it’s important to keep in mind that some of these terrains can be rough on even the most rugged of vehicles. To ensure your offroad adventures go safely and smoothly, there are a few things you need to pay attention to regularly. Here are our top 4WD maintenance tips:

Clean up thoroughly

After driving on sand, dust or through mud, a thorough wash is essential. We’re talking a deep clean of the entire vehicle, including the undercarriage.

A high-volume water hose is ideal, as it will allow you to flush out spots that are hard to reach. Get into all the moving parts that have been exposed. If the spare wheel is mounted under the body, take it off and wash it along with the empty cavity.

Cleaning is not just for cosmetic reasons. Skipping it can compromise your safety in the long run by rusting or jamming components – not only parts of the vehicle itself, but also recovery equipment like winches and snatch straps.

Know your tyres

When you go offroading in your 4WD, tyre pressure is key. Different terrains require different pressures, so it’s important to know your way around this. Remember to inflate back to bitumen pressure when the offroad leg of a journey is complete and you’re returning to the road.

4WD tyre rotation is also important. Tyres can wear at different rates – for example, if you drive regularly on gravel roads, your rear tyres may wear down faster due to rocks flicked back from the front. Alternatively, you may have heavy equipment mounted at the front of your 4WD (e.g. bull bar, winch), which causes the front tyres to wear down faster. In any case, tyre rotation will increase their lifespan.

Prevent rust

While cleaning goes a long way in preventing rust and corrosion, you can also go a step further. Investing in rustproofing technology is a great way to prevent rust damage, reducing maintenance costs associated with rust and corrosion, and helps prevent paintwork from oxidising. All of this goes a long way to maintaining the resale value of your 4WD.

Rustproofing is especially useful if your vehicle is routinely kept outdoors in a coastal area, or you are frequently driving in exposed conditions.

Get a regular service

As with any vehicle, nothing beats regular servicing to maximise the lifespan of your 4WD, as well as its safety and performance. High-power vehicles like 4WDs have special requirements when it comes to servicing, so ensure your technician is experienced in this area.

Choosing a workshop that specialises in 4WD maintenance will also give you access to advice on modifications like ECU diesel tuning, and correctly fitting accessories like bull bars and canopies. If you’re doing heavy duty trips, these will lengthen the life of your vehicle.