As we already know, keeping your tires in good shape can improve not only how well they work but also how stable they are. And since winter is coming up soon, now is the perfect time to get your car ready for the coming season. Among all the things you can do to take care of your tires, checking the pressure regularly can save you a lot of trouble during the day. So, if your TPMS light is on and you don’t know why, check your tire.
Tire pressure and temperature
Here’s a well-known fact about science. When you heat something, it gets bigger, but when the heat goes away, it gets smaller. Since tires are full of air, it makes sense that they are affected by this. Due to changing inflation, seasonal changes in temperature can and will affect how well something works. If the tire pressure is at 34°C, but the temperature goes up to 40°, that means it’s above the psi specification for the vehicle. This can turn on the warning light for the Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Even though you just had your car serviced a few days ago, a sudden change in temperature can cause all of your tires to fill or deflate at once. There are a few easy ways to tell if your tires need to be checked.
What does it do to tires when it’s cold?
For every 10 degrees that the temperature drops, the tires will lose at most 1-2 psi of pressure. To keep friction, it’s important to keep your tires’ PSI within the recommended range. So, the tire pressure will drop by about 3 psi if the air temperature outside drops by 30° since the last time the pressure was checked. In situations like this, it’s okay to change the recommended psi levels to make sure the tires last longer and work well. If you leave your tires under-inflated in freezing weather, it can be hard to steer. It can also increase friction, wear out your tires faster, and make it easy to skid on a wet road. Overall, it hurts how well the car works. But putting too much air in your tires can make the ride rougher.
Hot weather damages tires
If the tire pressure is set to be compatible with a freezing condition and the air temperature rises dramatically, the tires will begin to overinflate. However, unlike a reduction in tire pressure, the TPMS system alerts for overinflation. Tire overinflation can have an impact on performance and traction. Similarly to inflation, the psi will change by one for every ten degrees of temperature change. Because it is so easily neglected, over-inflation is another common cause of premature tire degradation. A tire blowout can happen at any time during a hot summer day if precautions are not taken.
How do you maintain tire air pressure?
If your vehicle was made after 2007, it has a TPM (TPMS). TPMS systems display a dashboard warning light when a tire is underinflated. If your automobile doesn’t have TPMS, you can use a gauge. Remove the valve stem cap before using a tire pressure gauge. Push the gauge onto it to get an accurate reading. You can then decide whether to inflate or let it cool. Tire pressure gauges are available at gas stations and car parts stores. Underinflated tires wear down rapidly and waste fuel. Tire pressure monitoring should be a recurring maintenance process, but it shouldn’t be continually checked or adjusted. If it’s been a while, check for the future season.