Keeping the correct air pressure in your tyres is as important as servicing your vehicle or giving it a tune up. Probably the money saved will be greater. With the correct air pressure, your tyres wear longer, save fuel, enhance handling, and prevent accidents. Failure to maintain the correct air pressure in tyres causes excessive fuel consumption, reduced tyre life and seriously affect vehicle handling. So as you can see, it is crucial to check and adjust your tyre pressures on a regular basis.
It’s easy to forget about your tyres, especially radials which always tend to look the same even when they have low air pressure. But tyres lose air pressure each day through a process called permeation. Normally tyres loose 1 or 2 pounds each month and this increases in hot weather.
It really is important to check your tyre pressures on a regular basis; we recommend once a month. And make sure you check your spare tyre too. There is nothing worse than having a puncture and discovering that the spare is flat too! It is especially important that spare saver spare tyres are inflated to their correct pressure. They usually run on a much higher pressure than regular tyres. It is dangerous to drive on space savers that are not inflated correctly. Air pressure information can be found in your vehicles manual or on the tyre label which is usually stuck in the drivers or front passengers doorwell of fuel hatch. When possible, it is best to check and adjust air pressures when the tyres are cold.
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In this example, add 3 psi in the right rear tyre to match the other rear tyre’s warm reading. When the tyre returns to cold pressure, it should end up at the recommended pressure. |
After checking and adjusting your tyre pressures, be sure to replace the tyre valve caps so that dirt and moisture is kept out of the tyre valves.
Correct tyre pressures give you big increases in fuel economy and longer tyre life; both have major environmental benefits. And well inflated tyres make driving less stressful and enjoyable.
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