09/04/2026
Long weekend, and a lot of Castle Rock is about to head into the high country. Three things are worth a look before you go, and the reasons are specific to what mountain driving actually does to a vehicle.
Tire pressure, including the spare. Here is the altitude wrinkle almost nobody thinks about: pressure moves with both temperature and elevation. Set your tires in town on a warm afternoon, drive up several thousand feet into cold air, and the number you set is not the number you have. Check them cold, before you leave, against the sticker in the door jamb. And look at the spare, because a flat spare on a mountain road is a completely different problem than a flat spare in a parking lot.
The cooling system. A sustained climb is the hardest thermal load you will ever put on an engine. Full throttle, low road speed, minimal airflow, for miles at a stretch. A cooling system that is perfectly adequate on flat ground will find its weakness on a grade. Check the level, look for hoses that have gone hard, and if it has been years, have it pressure tested.
Brakes, because coming back down is harder on the vehicle than going up. Use a lower gear on the descent and let the engine hold you back rather than riding the pedal the whole way. That is what the gear selector is for, and it is the single most effective thing you can do to keep your brakes alive.
If you are towing anything, add transmission fluid condition to that list. Towing at altitude on a grade is the hardest work a transmission ever does.
216 Malibu St. Call (303) 954-9031 if you want it looked at before you go.
