Before any travel or road trips, it's important to check your tires. Did you know that your tires can lose about one pound per square inch (psi) of air pressure each month, and another one for each ten degrees drop in temperature? Therefore, it is extremely crucial to make sure that you are checking your car's tire pressure regularly, including your spare tire, especially during the winter months.
Driving with low tire pressure can lead to some serious performance issues with your vehicle. It can adversely affect your handling and cause you to become more accident prone, as well as causing your car to be less fuel efficient.
You can check your tires easily. Here's how:
- Buy a digital tire gauge and keep it in the car (This will costs about $10). Consider buying a small notebook that you can use to record your tire pressure and, later, your increased fuel economy.
- Find the recommended tire pressure level for your car. This information is in your owner's manual or on the driver's side door jamb. Note that it might call for different pressure levels for the back tires, front tires, and spare.
- Check the pressure when the tires are cold. Tires heat up as they drive and can take a half hour to cool down. The best time check the pressure is first thing in the morning.
- Unscrew the valve cap and set it to the side or in a pocket where you won't lose it.
- Press the tire gauge onto the valve stem. There might be a slight hiss as you press down on the valve stem and again as you release it. You only need to do this for a second or two, long enough to get an accurate reading.
- Read the tire pressure on the digital gauge. You might consider writing down the pressure of the tires as you go around the car. You can refer to this when you fill up the tires.
