warming up your truck

so my whole life i've lived in a warm climate(fl) so i've never really needed to use heat lol, now i got moved to upstate ny and was wondering with a manual truck how do i warm it up in the morning? i can't sit in the car all morning with my oot on the clutch so warm air can defrost everything i need to to get my uniform on so what do i do?

 

Put it in neutral, set the E-brake, and let it warm up. Or....you can just jump in and let it warm up under load, which is better for the engine.

 

Make sure the e-brake is on and leave it in neutral. I'm a little skiddish leaving mine on a sharp incline with just the e-brake though, I've seen them fail before.

 

Hit the key, slam it in drive. I have mine in drive before the starter stops spinning and i live in cold climate too. Many discussions on this topic, You can seach this.

 

I'm assuming you are stationed at Ft. Drum. I live nearby and rarely let my Tacoma warm up for more then 15 seconds unless the temp dips below zero. I did install an engine block heater and will use it when it gets below 10 degrees (F). Keep an ice scraper and snow brush IN your house to make it easier in the mornings. Last winter was not too bad up here, very little snow after New Years.

 

yeah ft drum. thanks for the info guys it's been about 4 years sine i've drivin' a manual car or truck and in fl i never once used heat. so this whole warming your car up in a fairly new experience for me haha

 

I lived in Washington state for 24 years before i moved to hawaii. Get a Viper remote start system and get it synced with your phone. That way you can start your truck where ever you want. This way you can put on your utilities and then go out to a nice warm pickup. Just wire up the clutchless start and your good to go. SHould be less then $400 with install.

 

ah Ft drum it was my last duty station
what the others said...the ice scraper and snow brush outside of the truck is an awesome tip. I keep one of the extended brushes under my tonneau.
when the lake effect snow hits ya you'll have an avalache in your front seat when you open the door.

 

yeah i've been thru 2 winters here with 2 different cars both 2wd now after saving up for a year in afghanistan i finally wised up and bought my dream truck so i'm hoping this one holds up in the snow here bette than my other 2 cars.

 

Congrats on the dream truck
you know then why the trees are all pointing east...brrrr
Have fun with your new rig & glad your back in US.

 

no need

 

Grew up in Upstate NY, left when I turned 19 and never moved back.

Fact~ The winters are brutally cold and if the sun shines its part time at best the winters are looooooooooooooooong and depressing.

Advice- Set the parking brake, I never had one freeze up and fire it up and let it warm up. Have you considered a remote starter? Heated seats?
Make sure you don't leave it unattended, many vehicles are stolen "warming up" right out of driveways.

One other piece of advice, find a really good DIY car wash and try and keep as much salt off your truck as you can. They usually open back up when there is a break in freezing temps. Also, NY DOT uses salt more salt on there roads than McDonalds does world wide , certainly not a fact but sure seemed that way to me as a kid.

Don't mean to be Danny Downer on the NY winters, I just never looked forward to them as a kid. More sunshine would have helped.

Best of luck,

Taco4x4nc

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but...this may be illegal. I don't know if it varies by state but I looked into doing this in Virginia and nobody would do it, citing laws for this.
That doesn't mean it can't be done though.