When you’re ready to make a new move in your career, it might mean literally moving to a new place. And it seems that the farther away that move is, the more challenging.

Moving to a different state is always an enormous endeavor. It takes a lot of motivation to pick up and move your entire life to a completely different place, one that you might not even be that familiar with. For many people, this is an enormously stressful experience, but it is still something that must be done for either work or family, and interstate migration is actually beneficial for our country, as a whole.

There’s a lot of things to consider during this time, but one thing that you don’t want to space when you’re arranging everything else for the move is to prepare your vehicle for the journey. Filling a car with as much as weight as you can and then taking it across the country puts a lot of wear and tear on it, and you want to make sure that it’s up for the journey. Here are some tips for getting your vehicle ready for a cross country move…

Get help from experts

First of all, don’t expect that you’re going to move everything you own to a new place by yourself. For the bulk of your things, you want to hire an experienced moving company to help you. Trying to fit everything that you can into your vehicle in going to put a lot of stress on it and you. If you bring experts in, you can take advantage of storing large items and a majority of boxes in moving truck, and also have experts help you pack your things in a way that ensures your safety, so you don’t end up with boxes full of shattered kitchenware.

Check tires

When getting your vehicle ready for the big move, one of the first things that you should do is get your tires examined. If your tires are balding or losing grip, then now is the time to get them replaced, before a big and crucial road trip puts extra stress on them. You may also need to get your tires rotated, which is important for driving on long stretches of roads with little turns. On your trip, also be sure to get the tire pressure checked, periodically, which will improve your gas mileage, as well. Also, always make sure that you have a functional spare tire or two before venturing on any long distance drive!

Check brakes

When your vehicle is full of extra weight, this is the time when you most need your brakes to be well-equipped and functional. Added weight on worn down brakes could lead to a recipe for disaster during an already stressful time. For this reason, take off your tires and make sure to check your brake pads. If the pads or the rotor are worn down, then it’s time to get some replacements. Sometimes, even if both the pads and rotor are still in good condition, certain types of vehicles may still benefit from having their brakes tightened (not all vehicles need this, though).

Change oil and other fluids

Before any long drive, you should always get an oil change, so that your vehicle can function properly. Changing the oil decreases the risks of other machinery malfunctioning, and also helps improve your gas mileage. During the trip, if you are going more than 1000 miles, you may also want to add some oil along the way. Aside from oil, it’s also a good idea to check on the level of your other fluids, such as transmission fluid, engine coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and so on. Also, one thing that many people forget is to check their windshield wiper fluid. This is important, in order to maintain visibility throughout the long trip.

Look for deals

The good news about this type of vehicle checklist is that you can skip a lot of the hard work by taking it into an auto maintenance expert. While this might sound expensive, at first, you can cut back on these costs by checking out auto maintenance websites for deals or coupons.