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How To Avoid Premature Tire
Replacement And Damage To Car Rims And Custom Wheels
Tire Pressure ... The Benefits of Keeping
it Correct
Related Topics:
Consumer Tire
Ratings
Tire
Safety
Tire
Tips
Wet
Traction And Proper Tire Pressure
How
To Buy Tires
Don't
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Tire
Construction
High quality car rims, or custom chrome wheels help to ensure maximum
performance of your tires but maintaining the proper air pressure in your tires
is also important.
The economic benefits of proper tire air pressure are probably as great as
giving your car truck or SUV an engine tune-up. Tires (like an engine) can be
expensive and if you're like most people, you want to get the maximum mileage
from them.
Imagine your beautiful custom rims or chrome
wheels getting damaged by being driven on due to a deflated tire. You may end up
with a costly repair bill to replace the tire and maybe the rim or wheel as well.
I'm currently running at 30% beyond the tire manufacturer's recommended tread
life expectancy and I believe it's because I routinely check and maintain tire pressure at the
correct level.
And at more than 200 bucks per tire and $500 per rim to replace them, you can bet I
take tire
pressure pressure seriously and make it part of my maintenance routine.
Maintaining correct air pressure in your tires allows them to wear evenly,
last longer and even save fuel. If you consider the other side of this equation:
premature wear, poor handling, poor gas mileage and even loss of control due to
uneven wear, it's not difficult to see the value in routinely checking and
maintaining proper air pressure in your wheels.
Check Air Pressure Routinely And Regularly
It only takes a couple of minutes to routinely check and add air (if
you need to). Perhaps because tires don't "seem" to need any
attention, this important task gets overlooked. But it's a fact ... tires do
lose pressure slowly and surely every day.
Generally a tire will lose 1 to 2 pounds of pressure per month in cool
weather and even more during warmer weather. Air pressure can also diminish
because of impact with curbs or rocks. And because tires are subject to flexing,
pressure will decrease.
Think of your tires like your gas tank. I keep a good quality, easy to read
tire gauge in my glove compartment and check tire pressure at least monthly (I'm
a high mileage driver). Ideally under normal circumstances the recommended interval to check your tire pressure is every other gas fill-up. Another
important time to check (and top-up) tire pressure is when you rotate your
tires. This is because most vehicles have different pressure for front tires
than for your back tires.
And don't forget about your spare tire in the truck. There's nothing worse
than needing your spare and it's too low in pressure to be of use ... yes it's
happened to me! The spare saver tire usually requires a much higher pressure
level than "regular" tires and are virtually useless at low pressure.
Tire Pressure ... Where Do You Find It?
Your car owner's manual is one source of correct pressure. But my
experience is that the manual usually refers you to a sticker either on your
glove box door or a tire placard stuck to the door edge, door post or your fuel
door. If you can't find your info, just call a near-by tire store.
The tire placard tells you the maximum vehicle load, recommended cold
tire pressure and the vehicle manufacturer's recommended tire size for your
car, truck or SUV.
Tire pressure must be checked when your tires are cold. This means with less
than 1 mile driven before checking. Pressure increases as tires warm
up from being driven and will give you an inaccurate (higher) measure than a
cold tire.
Other Influences On Tire Pressure
Tire pressure changes with the seasons ... as much as 1 psi of
pressure for every 10 degrees of temperature. But the most overlooked factor is
vehicle loading for trucks, RV's and SUV's.
These vehicles can be loaded and configured in a variety of ways and proper
inflation pressure should be determined by actual tie load. This is done by
actually weighing the vehicle which can change from load to load.
Underloading Or Overloading Can Cause Tire Failure
A slow leak in a tire is one of the most dangerous tire conditions. This can be
caused by a puncture by a small nail, screw of even a sharp stone and the object
stays in the tire and acts as an inefficient plug. Air pressure slowly drops
undetected over a period of hours or even days.
Be alert to any hard turning, pulling to one side, dull thumping or vibration
that seems unnatural. Listen for a tick-ticking sound noticeable at slow (parking
lot) speeds. If you notice any of these symptoms, get off the road immediately
and inspect the tires on the side the symptom is coming from.
These conditions can cause costly damage to your car's rims or custom chrome
wheels.
An excessively hot or bulging tire indicates a slow leak. Put on your spare
and have the damaged tire repaired. If a powdery residue shows on the inside of
the tire ... a sign of sidewall damage ... the tire should be replaced.
How To Check Tire Pressure
The proper way to accurately check tire pressure is to
use a hand held tire gauge to assess tire pressure.
 
Click the image to see an assortment of high quality tire pressure
guages.
Looking at the tire and judging by the sidewall appearance is not
the way Air meters at gas stations can be undependable due to misuse and abuse.
They'll do in a pinch but the best method is to buy a good quality tire gauge
and keep it in your glove box or trunk.
Buy a gauge that measures up to 120 psi and calibrated in 2 psi increments.
I keep a nifty little 12 volt inflation pump in my truck and use it
whenever or wherever I need to top up my tire pressures.
Remember ... check tire pressure with the tires cold ... driven less
than 1 mile because driving increases time pressure.
If you need to drive more than 1 mile to put air in your tires after checking
them, record the pressure in each tire before leaving. At the air station, take
each tire's pressure and note the difference. Then inflate the tire to the recommended
cold pressure plus the difference at the higher pressure.
Make sure after checking and/or filling your tires that each one has a valve
cap to keep out dust and moisture.
When you replace a tire it's important to fit the new tire with a new valve
assembly. This is inexpensive insurance against air loss due to a worn valve
assembly.
When it's time to
buy new
auto tires you may want to try our recommended merchant.
They've a great selection from top brand names at very competitive prices.
article descriptions and images courteousy
The Tire Rack
Related Topics:
Consumer Tire
Ratings
Tire
Safety
Tire
Tips
Wet
Traction And Proper Tire Pressure
How
To Buy Tires
Don't
Be Oversold For Tires
Tire
Construction
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