Importance of Tire Pressure

The routine of checking your pressure

Tire Pressure

I recently attended a business seminar and one of the workshops involved completing a simple task analysis for our day—I'm sure everyone has done one of these.

The course speaker used her own morning as an example and displayed her day's actions so far. She wrote them all on the whiteboard, starting with waking up and turning off her alarm clock. When she wrote task 15, there was a moments silence before a few people were asking why she did that.

She'd written: 15. Check tire pressure

Our speaker explained that by doing this regularly she found that it significantly increased the life of her tires and saved her money, besides. She's an expert at saving money—having a college degree in business and her own successful company—she works mainly as a motivational speaker and business consultant.

“Check your tires' pressure frequently”.

There is no better piece of advice than this. If your pressure is too low your tires will overheat—especially at high speeds— and greatly increase the chance of a blowout.

If the pressure is too high, the ride may be hard and wear the center of the tread.

When to Check the Pressure

The best time to check the pressure of the tires is when they are cold. Your tires can generate an enormous amount of heat—especially at highway speeds. Remember, when you test the tire pressure it will be higher if you've been driving for a while.

How can I find out my vehicle's recommended Pressure?

This was the first question asked of me at our break that day. The speaker had informed her group of attentive listeners why she checked her tires pressure each morning. Of course, yours truly already knew, but I wasn't going to interrupt her- that would be rude.

The best places to look for the correct pressure specifications are

Your car manual- look up “tire pressure” in the index
A sticker located at the driver's door post or the edge of the driver's door
Inside the Glove Compartment door

Pay particular attention to whether the recommended pressure for tires is the same for the front and rear wheels. Depending on the design of the vehicle, there may be different pressures designated for front and back. Always try to follow the manufacturer's recommendations.