ATV Maintenance Advice: 5 Reasons to Use an ATV Cover
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Your ATV is your key to hundreds of hours of outdoor adventures, but it needs the best care possible to prolong its lifespan. Tune-ups and maintenance seem straightforward if you’re mechanically handy, but ATVs deserve as much protection from the elements as possible. Just because your ATV gets covered in mud on outdoor expeditions doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be covered up properly when not in use. Cleaning and covering your ATV helps prevent a range of problems, from rust to pest infestation. Here are five reasons to use an ATV cover for both indoor and outdoor storage.
1. Prevent Seat Damage
Although ATV seats are highly durable, they can still sustain damage from falling tree branches, rodents, hail, and more. Even high-quality vinyl that repels water is not impervious to sharp objects or even blunt objects with enough force behind them. Indoor storage reduces the risk of damage, but scratches from other vehicles and rodent bites are still potential hazards. You can use a specialized indoor cover to help keep rodents from climbing on and into the seats while also protecting them from gouges and scratches.
2. Reduce Rust
ATVs are designed to resist wear and tear, but long-term exposure to moisture will inevitably cause rust on metal parts. To reduce this risk, cover your ATV with a water-resistant cover whenever it’s not in use. Paint helps reduce direct exposure to moisture, but scratched or unpainted areas are vulnerable. This is especially important during the wetter months of the year or months when there’s snowfall predicted. Even if you have a covered area for outdoor storage, use an indoor/outdoor cover to protect the ATV from blowing snow and rain.
Avoid using an ordinary plastic tarp as a cover, as it can trap water. Indoor/outdoor covers keep any moisture inside the cover from staying trapped directly against the ATV’s surface for too long, making them a better option for both short-term or long-term use.
Protect Your ATV with a Quality Cover
3. Protect the Paint
Your ATV’s paint is a critical barrier between its metal parts and the mud and debris that can cause rust. Like any vehicle, you need to take good care of your ATV’s paint job to protect its resale value and protect it from more serious damage to parts underneath. An ATV cover helps prevent the everyday scratches and dings that can chip away at your ATV’s paint over time. It also helps block out UV rays that can fade the paint, decreasing its resale value. Even if you’re not planning on reselling your ATV someday, it makes sense to keep it in the best condition possible in case that ever changes.
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4. Avoid Bugs
Wasp nests, spiderwebs, and other insect infestations can impact your vehicle’s appearance and performance, often requiring extensive fumigation and repairs. In unfortunate cases, you might not even discover a bug problem until you’re already out on the trails. Even if your region is not prone to insect problems, leaving an ATV outside for long periods could attract bugs, especially if you don’t clean off all the dirt.
Since covers don’t fully wrap around the bottom of your ATV, you’ll still want to double-check the undercarriage with a flashlight before setting off after a long period of storage. However, you’ll reduce the amount of cleaning and inspection that needs to be done, which frees up more time for your adventures.
5. Make Cleaning Easier
Even if you don’t usually worry about harsh weather and other external hazards, your ATV will inevitably accumulate dirt and dust while it’s not in use. Leaky ceilings, sawdust from nearby workshops, and other unexpected sources of dirt can cause grimy buildup that’s hard to clean out of handles and other detailed parts. This accumulation may increase if you store your ATV near other equipment or if it’s near a garage door that frequently opens and closes. Instead of taking a chance on having a filthy ATV at the start of the season, keep it well-protected with an indoor cover.
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Getting the Right Cover
ATV covers are a niche need that not all car cover manufacturers can produce well. Manufacturers need specialized knowledge to create a cover that’s both easy to use and provides adequate protection around as much of the ATV as possible.
CarCovers.com makes covers for a full range of specialty vehicles, including ATVs, UTVs, golf carts, snowmobiles, and more. We make semi-custom covers to help you balance your budget and protection needs. Get yourself peace of mind and enjoy your outdoor adventures by protecting your investment.
