Tom’s Tire Tips: Time to Top Off Tire Pressures
My trusty air pump, has been inflating tire pressures for my wife & a few neighbors, lately, due to last week’s sub-freezing weather. Cold temperatures can cause tires to lose air. I’ll top off my own tire pressures today, because with the warmer temperatures, they won’t need adjusting as often. I add a few pounds of air per tire, above the recommended tire pressures that are on the placard attached to the driver’s side door (on my Jeep). On the tire, itself, it shows maximum air pressure for the tire, but I go by the placard on the driver’s door. Sometimes, if I’m loading my vehicle with A LOT of weight, and plan to drive a good distance, I may add 5 pounds to each tire, above the recommended pressures on the door placard. It’s rare that I’ve inflated tires to the maximum air pressure that is written on the tire. I have done the maximum pressure (written on the tire), on occasion, on our motorhome, especially after loading the fridge/freezer, tools, more clothes and other “stuff”. By the way, when we go on our many ArkLaTex region RV trips, I bring just enough clothes, to last for the distance of the trip. My wife brings enough clothes, shoes etc, that could cover twice as long as the journey. That’s okay, though. I used to say something to her about that, but it’s one of those things that I can’t change, so I “accept the things that I cannot change”. Back to the tires. While I’m inflating, the tire pressure reading for each tire that is on my dash, is okay, but since I’m at each tire topping them off, I push my tire gauge on each tire valve stem, to compare it with the dash tire pressure readings. One thing about those pressures that you see listed on the dash reading – After I inflate pressures, it may take a short drive for the dash tire pressure readings to recognize the pressure that I’ve added. There are many (very) important parts to a vehicle, but where the rubber meets the road, is the most important to me. An old racer once said “You ain’t goin’ anywhere, without tires”. Oh. The photo is from my wife’s car. It was on the text that she sent me, before leaving her work place.
