PSA: It's winter time, check your tire pressure because it's probably low!

[IronWing]

Check the pressure in your spare every decade or so. Nothing like the sinking feeling one gets when changing a flat for a flat.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Now THAT'S just fucking hilarious!


My 05 Expedition warns me when the tire pressure is off. In the winter, the sensors register a slightly lower pressure. Must be time to take the truck into the shop and have all the air changed...I'm sure that fresh air will make all the difference in the world.:hmm:

Make sure they replace the air filter on all 4 tires too...and that they lube up the gasket before attaching the new filters.

Might as well check the blinker fluid while they have the wheels off.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Most tire pressure monitoring systems only notify the driver when the tires are 25% underinflated which is far too low! The tire pressure should be much higher than that and these systems are just a fail safe.

The ones in my wife's Lexus go off with only a drop of 2-3psi. Of course, I always keep her tires inflated per the manufacturer's recommendation.

 

[Meghan54]

I would ask Boy George for advice regarding sexing up the ladies, and carry it out, before I would listen to ANYTHING Fleabag has to say about tires.

Damn, that was good!!!

Make sure they replace the air filter on all 4 tires too...and that they lube up the gasket before attaching the new filters.

Might as well check the blinker fluid while they have the wheels off.

I was thinking the muffler bearings may need to be checked and regreased, too.

 

[BlackTigers]

Of course I know more than them,

I promise you....that you don't....at all.

 

[Eli]

PSA: Fleabag is not qualified to give out auto related advice


PS: I was wrong. I should have said Fleabag is not qualified to give out advice.

I chuckled.

This is actually good advice. Most people don't check their tire pressures nearly enough. If a drop in temps is going to key them into checking it, that's a good thing. You should be doing it once a month at the least, IMO.

 

[Eli]

Of course I know more than them, why else haven't they produced a car that gets decent mileage? The answer to those engineers are the engineers from Honda and Toyota.

Are.... Are you serious? lol

Do you like have a PhD in thermodynamics now, or what?

Seriously dude, I agree with your advice about checking your tire pressure, but.. Seriously? What do you propose you know that -an actual engineer working at a large automotive manufacturer- doesn't know?

Good MPG isn't rocket science, so to speak. Yes, a degree in thermodynamics would certainly help, but the overall equation is simple.

The problem is that people, overall, don't want good MPG by way of what they do want. Unfortunately, the laws of thermodynamics dictate that you can't have your cake and eat it too in this situation.

 

[rockyct]

Of course I know more than them, why else haven't they produced a car that gets decent mileage? The answer to those engineers are the engineers from Honda and Toyota.

There are two things wrong with this statement.
1) they do
2) even if they didn't, it doesn't mean that you know more than them

 

[fleabag]

The ones in my wife's Lexus go off with only a drop of 2-3psi. Of course, I always keep her tires inflated per the manufacturer's recommendation.

I like how you think it's "only" 2-3 psi. Not to mention the fact that you're probably inflating the tires based upon the PSI when the car's tires have already warmed up and not when they're cold.

 

[ManyBeers]

I do not intend this thread to become another discussion about the merits, safety and benefits of inflating tires to sidewall rating or not.

With that out of the way, I just wanted to say that if the area in which you live has seen a 20 degree drop in temperatures, that unless you've inflated your tires within the time frame of the temperature drop, that it's time to inflate your tires. Furthermore, I'd like to stress checking your tire pressure before driving on them is critically important. Check your tire pressure once before driving off (early morning before work) and right before you go to inflate your tires that day; then while inflating, subtract the difference in tire pressure. Whether you inflate your tires to sidewall rating, above, to what the manufacturer recommends or anywhere in between, it doesn't matter, just inflate them!

All tire pressure guidelines are ALWAYS when the tires are COLD, soon as you drive on those tires, even for a 1/4 mile, those tires are no longer cold and the PSI of the tire can rise by several points!!!

fleabag! since you're in love with tires and the gases in them
maybe you should change your username to "Gasbag".
And a nice overinflated tire avatar would be nice too.
Capece!

 

[fleabag]

fleabag! since you're in love with tires and the gases in them
maybe you should change your username to "Gasbag".

Tires are the very most important part of the car, not even the brakes matter as much as the tires do! If you inflate your tires with Nitrogen, they'll last longer as there won't be as much oxygen to react with the tires from the inside and will deflate slower, have more steady pressures. As for the avatar, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a tire inflated to the manufacturer suggestion and to sidewall because it still wouldn't be over-inflated AND so happens to be a radial.

 

[Bignate603]

I like how you think it's "only" 2-3 psi. Not to mention the fact that you're probably inflating the tires based upon the PSI when the car's tires have already warmed up and not when they're cold.

Nice assumption there. He never mentioned a single thing that would let you jump to that conclusion.

 

[IronWing]

Tires are the very most important part of the car, not even the brakes matter as much as the tires do! If you inflate your tires with Nitrogen, they'll last longer as there won't be as much oxygen to react with the tires from the inside and will deflate slower, have more steady pressures. As for the avatar, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a tire inflated to the manufacturer suggestion and to sidewall because it still wouldn't be over-inflated AND so happens to be a radial.

Sulfur hexafluoride is what the cool cats use. Big honking, inert molecules.

 

[fleabag]

Nice assumption there. He never mentioned a single thing that would let you jump to that conclusion.

Sure he did, the fact that the tire pressure monitoring system comes on after "only" 2-3psi would indicate to me that he doesn't inflate the tires enough in the first place! The reason for that is because those systems are ONLY suppose to come on when the tire is 25% under-inflated, and 25% of 30psi is around 7.5psi! His tires are probably 30psi when they're warm, maybe 29 and probably 23-25psi when they're COLD, therefore 2-3psi would likely be enough to set off that warning.

 

[Bignate603]

Tires are the very most important part of the car, not even the brakes matter as much as the tires do! If you inflate your tires with Nitrogen, they'll last longer as there won't be as much oxygen to react with the tires from the inside and will deflate slower, have more steady pressures. As for the avatar, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a tire inflated to the manufacturer suggestion and to sidewall because it still wouldn't be over-inflated AND so happens to be a radial.

Unless you let your car sit for very long periods of time you'll have to replace the tires because of tire wear long before oxidation becomes the limiting factor.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Tires are the very most important part of the car, not even the brakes matter as much as the tires do! If you inflate your tires with Nitrogen, they'll last longer as there won't be as much oxygen to react with the tires from the inside and will deflate slower, have more steady pressures. As for the avatar, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a tire inflated to the manufacturer suggestion and to sidewall because it still wouldn't be over-inflated AND so happens to be a radial.

So damn wrong.

 

[fleabag]

Unless you let your car sit for very long periods of time you'll have to replace the tires because of tire wear long before oxidation becomes the limiting factor.

If you don't drive 80-90K miles, all of a sudden you're letting your car "sit for very long periods of time"??? wtf? Just because I don't drive 15K miles a year, it doesn't mean that I let my car sit... Car tires technically expire 6 years after manufacture but if you're like me and only toss things when they're actually broke or about to be broke, then you'll try to preserve those things for as long as possible. Ozone, UV-rays, and oxidation from other sources of oxygen are what kills a tire, not to mention the chemicals from the tire leaching out. I've never PERSONALLY bought a tire and kept it for 10 years, but I'd say if a tire isn't dry rotted from the inside out, and still performs good and doesn't act funny, you could ride on a tire for 10 years.. In fact, there is a guy with a Civic VX on some forum where he is driving on the original tires! (Civic VX is from 1992-1995)

 

[fleabag]

So damn wrong.

I'd LOVE to prove you wrong! Again, we're not talking about bias-ply or bias tires, but radials! So, what would you like me to do, take pictures of a tire on a car at various tire pressures and let you play a game of what tire pressure the tire is at? This page proves that it's usually quite difficult to ascertain what a car's tire pressure is:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=1&

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

I love how you guys are arguing over tire pressure. Give it a rest gentlemen.

 

[Toastedlightly]

So... does the pressure really change that much over lets say a 40*C temp swing? I'll let you guys do the math!

 

[El Guaraguao]

lol winter. while you guys are shoveling snow out your driveway, ill be at the beach catching up on some sun rays in a place that snow doesnt exist. HA!

 

[Bignate603]

Sure he did, the fact that the tire pressure monitoring system comes on after "only" 2-3psi would indicate to me that he doesn't inflate the tires enough in the first place! The reason for that is because those systems are ONLY suppose to come on when the tire is 25% under-inflated, and 25% of 30psi is around 7.5psi! His tires are probably 30psi when they're warm, maybe 29 and probably 23-25psi when they're COLD, therefore 2-3psi would likely be enough to set off that warning.

So you're familiar with every single low tire pressure system? Very impressive.

Anyways, I would tend to think that Jules probably has gone out to the car, seen the tire pressure thing come on and then checked his tire pressure either immediately or after driving a relatively short distance to get to a gas station where he could fill up with air, long before the tires get up to temperature. At any rate, his tires will be at or pretty close to their cold temperature. I believe his 2-3 psi estimate quite a bit more than your attempt at math.

 

[LTC8K6]

For air, it's about a 1psi variation for every 12 degrees.

For my Jeep with 33psi recommended pressure, the dash light will come on at 26psi and go off at 30psi.

However, since the EVIC displays the actual tire pressures, it's trivial for me to look and see what it actually is, so I check my tire pressures more often.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I'd LOVE to prove you wrong! Again, we're not talking about bias-ply or bias tires, but radials! So, what would you like me to do, take pictures of a tire on a car at various tire pressures and let you play a game of what tire pressure the tire is at? This page proves that it's usually quite difficult to ascertain what a car's tire pressure is:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=1&

You're such an idiot. I could tell right away that the tire on the left was under inflated. I can tell if my tires are at 26 psi or 32 psi. So yes, you've been proven wrong once again.

Aren't you still in high school? Do you even have a driver's license? How many cars have you own/driven? How many tires have you inflated or replaced?

 

[Toastedlightly]

My point was a 40C temp swing (72F) is a pressure difference of:

Pi ( Tf / Ti - 1 ) = Delta(p)

30psi * ( 300K/260K - 1) = 4.6 psi.

It isn't that big of a difference to be honest. Many people's tires vary that much side to side. The key point is to just check your tires at reasonable intervals!

Even a 60C temp swing (108F) only gives a 7.5 psi difference (which may be getting into trouble).

All of this is rather nonsensical though. The real question would be the temperatures the tires experience on the road (as that is what really sets the tire pressure).