tire pressure
My wife's car and my car both have tire pressures about 5 psi below the recommended tire pressures from the manufacturer. I find it hard to believe this is a coincidence since all of the tires have the same "under inflated" pressure.
Is this a dealer thing or is my tire guage miscalibrated? (My car's tire pressure monitoring guage turns on during cold days, so I think they are a little under inflated.)
Is this a dealer thing or is my tire guage miscalibrated? (My car's tire pressure monitoring guage turns on during cold days, so I think they are a little under inflated.)
Comments
My new question is what pressure should the tire be at when cold? (As compared to having been driven for awhile.)
Originally posted by THT
The weather has been 90 degrees in Houston for the most part. Not much different from the Summer.
My new question is what pressure should the tire be at when cold? (As compared to having been driven for awhile.)
There is a sticker in the driver door that tells you the recommended tire pressure. It sometimes seems too low so my mechanic tells me to set the pressure to 32. On the door it says 26.
My tire dealer said to never go above 32 as a guideline.
Originally posted by Scott
My understanding is that you measure the tire pressure when the tires are cold.
Yes, you do measure the tires when they are cold. Also, the pressure depends on the brand and type of tires. When I replaced my tires a few years ago, the target pressure jumped over 5 psi!
I do it 1st thing in the morning.
If the sun shines on one side of the car (& tires) for a couple of hours it will increase the pressure on that side.
Driving heats the tires & warms both the tire & air inside the tire.
It can increase the pressure reading by 2 psi or so depending how hot the tire gets.
If you have to drive to the gas station to add air make sure to write down your cold tire pressures for each tire & add however much air to get to the recomended pressure when you get to the gas station. Recheck the pressure at the gas station before adding more air & you'll see how much of an increase in pressure heat makes. The next morning recheck the pressure again to make sure you got it right.
The "stick" type pressure guages are inaccurate & can vary 5 psi from actual pressure.
Use a quality dial type pressure guage like this one for $20
<http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_d...re&dir=catalog>
You can tell if your tires have been running under inflated or over inflated by measuring the tread thickness. Overinflated tires will wear the center of the tread faster than the edges.
Under inflated tires will wear the edges faster than the center. (Be advised - Front tires wear the edges naturally from turning corners)
Here is the tool to measure tread thickness <http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_d...re&dir=catalog>
(Rotate your tires every few thousand miles to keep the wear even on all tires)
Driving underinflated tires will damage the tire's sidewalls.
This damage can lead to sidewall blow-outs & possible loss of control of the car (i.e. - Ford Explorer/Firestone)
Keep your tires properly inflated.
Tires lose pressure over time. Check your pressure (at least) monthly. Or every time you fill the tank with gas (remember those full service gas stations in the old days?) Good idea to check your oil, coolant, battery water & belts at the same time.
Temperature changes also affect tire pressure.
Hope this helps
Tire is the verb to become tired, i.e. sleepy.
Tyres are the rubber things that make contact with the road...
Edit: American spelling, never mind... m.