PSA: Check your tire pressure

RaysWay

RaysWay

Autopia Specialist
PSA = Public Service Announcement

If you haven`t checked in awhile, be sure to check your tire pressure! I checked mine yesterday and both of my tires were surprisingly low.

In hindsight, I should have checked them much more frequently like when I changed my oil or cleaned and lubed my chain or when I washed my bike this weekend.

Tire-Pressure-1.jpg
 
I keep mine at 30 but when they are cold in the morning it takes a little `fun time` to get them heated up to temp :)

good heads up Ray
 
Checked mine a couple weeks ago when I changed the oil. Will check again soon when I get the wheels off to clean and coat them
 
I`m pretty good at checking my tires - whenever I`m getting gas I`ll take a walk around the car and see if anything looks amiss/ needs attention. And I always make a point of checking my tires before a long drive.
 
Im so lucky my Grand Cherokee has tire sensors and shows me a screen of all 4 tire pressures anytime..
And, even though I have never had the Spare Tire down, it recently told me the Spare Tire Pressure was low - and it was !

I added air to it - I like to run 35psi all around - and like magic, the Screen Reminder went away...
And this is an old 2009 model...
Dan F
 
I used to carry a tire pressure gauge and a plug repair kit with mini air compressor anytime i`d take joy rides on bike where i knew i was going to be out for a few hours. I also walk around the car before going out to check for any low/flat tires and keep a small cigarette lighter plug-in compressor in the trunk.
 
I once drove for three weeks with my tires at 20-22 psi (rear- from the track) because I kept forgetting to air them up in the morning and I jump in my car when I`m running late to make up time on the 30min drive
 
Note that the psi that provides even wear and long tire life is seldom the psi that provides the best handling.

More critically,m when VDI was doing studies on how tire pressure effected handling during emergency maneuvers, they had to discontinue testing around ~32psi as the sidewalls were rolling over enough to threaten rim-to-pavement contact (which will flip the vehicle). And those were tires with fairly stiff sidewalls too.

The pressures I run make my tires wear unevenly and quickly (so I buy tires somewhat often), but also provide not only good handling, but also *safe* handling during those Emergent Situations that, thankfully, hardly ever happen.

Even with all the Stability Controls/etc. in today`s vehicles, roll-overs are quite common, and the cause is almost always low tire pressure.
 
Huh, stuff gets more modern all the time, I never heard of spare psi monitoring either!

Another worthwhile PSA: check the pressure in your spare regularly, and if you run different "nice" wheels make sure the lugs are compatible with the spare and that you have a lug wrench that fits (I`ve had to carry five lugs for the spare and even a second wrench/socket in some vehicles).
 
Accumulator said:
Huh, stuff gets more modern all the time, I never heard of spare psi monitoring either!

Another worthwhile PSA: check the pressure in your spare regularly, and if you run different "nice" wheels make sure the lugs are compatible with the spare and that you have a lug wrench that fits (I`ve had to carry five lugs for the spare and even a second wrench/socket in some vehicles).
Click to expand...

Yes ! Check the Spare because no one does... :)

With every Detail I do, when I get to the trunk, everything comes out, including the spare and I always check the air pressure and always have to add air...
I keep a smaller plug into 110vac air compressor just for that, in the garage..
My bigger compressor is an old Craftsman 220vac and I dont need that now..
Dan F
 
Wow checking a clients air pressure and filling their tires is an awesome courtesy service add-on I never thought of! Thanks Dan!

I was talking to a detailer recently and he told me he started off mobile detailing and he would notice most cars he detailed were due for an oil change. So he would offer an oil change package to change their oil before having the car detailed. It sounds like an amazing idea to me. I know a lot of people would LOVE the convenience of an oil change while having their car detailed in their own driveway.
 
With most cars having TPIs, checking tire pressure may be a lost art. Now some cars don`t even come with a dipstick to check your oil. Technology=something else to break.
 
My last toy car had no engine oil dipstick, you had to check it from the on board computer and it only read it at idle when it was up to temperature. Now my Toyota truck has no transmission dip stick.
 
Vega@Autopia said:
PSA = Public Service Announcement

If you haven`t checked in awhile, be sure to check your tire pressure! I checked mine yesterday and both of my tires were surprisingly low.

In hindsight, I should have checked them much more frequently like when I changed my oil or cleaned and lubed my chain or when I washed my bike this weekend.

Tire-Pressure-1.jpg
Click to expand...
I never rode my bike as a daily driver (rider). I always checked my tire pressure before each ride. In my cars I have been known to go way too long between checks. Flat or low tire in a car = inconvenience. Flat tire on a bike = bad news.
 
trashmanssd said:
My last toy car had no engine oil dipstick, you had to check it from the on board computer and it only read it at idle when it was up to temperature. Now my Toyota truck has no transmission dip stick.
Click to expand...

This is and will always be a bad idea to remove dipsticks..

Ok, I get it that they may say that the system is more air-tight to eliminate a potential source of air leaking or combustion by-products leaking back out into the atmosphere..

I am of the idea having pulled probably a thousand dipsticks over my lifetime - most working at my Dad`s gas station and other stations, and then all those from all the vehicles of my own and dozens of friends, strangers, widows, etc..., that we need them..

The best part for me anyway, to be able to have that dipstick is that I can instantly tell if the motor oil or transmission fluid or power steering fluid is bad, really bad, or much much worse than it ever should be, AND I can physically see by the level, how much is actually in that particular pan.., etc., in the engine...

I recall that when BMW first did this to their vehicles, they had a big problem for awhile because the sensors that were supposed to tell you when the levels changed for the worse did not work or worked erratically, etc...

So now, we have to just depend on something to tell us - "Oh, your expensive engine is melting down NOW, because the sensors got confused or something..
Dan F
 
I`m not liking the tire sensors on the newest car we got, the light is always on and anytime I`ve checked the pressure is fine and the tires are not flat. Such an annoyance and I`ve even read that sometimes only the dealership can reset those sensors. If mine keeps doing this I might hook my code reader on and see if it helps.
 
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