Seasonal Tire Pressure Checks / Adjustments

[NT2C]

Just a reminder that as seasons pass and air temperatures change, tire pressures can fluctuate quite a bit, so it's a good idea to check tire pressures when cooler/hotter seasonal weather rolls in.

This point got brought home to me early this morning as I took the Jeep on a 6AM McDonald's run for some breakfast. I got barely a block from the house when the TPS on the right rear pinged a low-pressure warning and showed 25PSI.  Odd, but I'd driven past a neighbor's house that was in the middle if a major renovation so it was possible I'd picked up a screw or nail.  Then, within the next 500', one by one the other three all did the same thing.  WTF?  Now I'm starting to check the radios in the Jeep, thinking that one might be dead keying on a harmonic frequency, or even close to the 433MHz frequency the TPMS uses. All the radios were either normal or off so I pulled off at the local supermarket's gas station and checked with a gauge I keep in the glovebox.  Sure enough, every tire was down below 25PSI.  That's when it dawned on me that the last time the tires had been aired up was when I was done running trails in Moab, and the temps were hovering around 110℉, and it was currently 66℉ in my AO.  A 44 degree drop in temp is pretty significant, and more than enough to lower the tire pressure by several pounds.

[MacWa77ace]

I'm checking mine every quarter, but it seems the cars with the least miles are the ones that lose pressure the most. is that a thing? Like I hardly ever have to add air to the car i drive 450 miles a week.

It's always hot in Florida. Goes from bearable in the winter to don't touch skin to pavement in summer for any reason. YAOMV

cold tires [not driven for a couple hours] are usually a couple pounds lower psi than hot tires [just driven on].

Those air gauges at the gas stations can be wildly off, had to fill a work vehicle from 20 to 30 psi on all 4 tires at one and set it to 30, but with a separate psi tester it was 10 psi too high. I've never seen them off by that much before but that would have been dangerous if at least detrimental to tire wear to run them that overpressured.

Also don't forget to check the pressure in your spare tire. That and toilet paper are probably the most neglected preps.

[EBuff75]

I've had this happen in the course of a few hours before.  The most frequent occurrence has been during a choir practice on the first really cold day here in Michigan, because my car is parked outside.  It'll be fine when I get there, but by the time I come back out, it's cooled down so much that my TPS warning goes off! 

I just topped off the tires in my car about a week ago, so I should be good, but I'm also keeping an eye on the one that lost the most pressure, as it may need to be re-sealed (the joys of old, corroded wheels).

[EBuff75]

EricTheCarGuy on YouTube just released a basic guide to vehicle maintenance today and guess what was at the very top of the list?  Yep, tires!  It's a good, quick overview of everything that we should be checking on a regular basis (tires, fluids, battery, wipers, leaks, test drive) in order to get ahead of any issues / maintenance items. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25-HG471MIc

[Raptor]

What is this cool temperature of which you speak?

[flybynight]

What is this cool temperature of which you speak?

Ahhh . Think back to when you were a child. Trudging through  shoulder deep snow on the way to school. I remember it well. Including the great blizzard of 1963-1974. Oh they were hard times. But we were equal to the task . Some kids fashioned snowshoes  out of  discarded lumber and curtains. Spending hours lashing it together with rawhide rabbit skin. But this only made them more visible to the wolves.  I for one thought it much more provident to shovel my way through the overhead deep snow and 15 foot deep drifts.  That's how I found my old school chum Tommy Tudor. Poor brave Tommy.  , We thought he had moved away . But shoveling up 20 mile hill In the darkness.  on the way to school, I found his frozen last stand. 20 feet deep in the snow, still surrounded by the wolf pack that he had kept at bay til the end . Cursive writing  book still upraised in one hand for a final blow. Which never fell as he froze solid.  Yes  Every day was a struggle . The darkness, the deep snow, howling wind , bears and wolves , The unrelenting cold. 20 miles uphill to school. 30 miles to get back home and even steeper. It was hard life back then in Southern California. Cool temperatures indeed. 

[Raptor]

What is this cool temperature of which you speak?

Ahhh . Think back to when you were a child. Trudging through  shoulder deep snow on the way to school. I remember it well. Including the great blizzard of 1963-1974. Oh they were hard times. But we were equal to the task . Some kids fashioned snowshoes  out of  discarded lumber and curtains. Spending hours lashing it together with rawhide rabbit skin. But this only made them more visible to the wolves.  I for one thought it much more provident to shovel my way through the overhead deep snow and 15 foot deep drifts.  That's how I found my old school chum Tommy Tudor. Poor brave Tommy.  , We thought he had moved away . But shoveling up 20 mile hill In the darkness.  on the way to school, I found his frozen last stand. 20 feet deep in the snow, still surrounded by the wolf pack that he had kept at bay til the end . Cursive writing  book still upraised in one hand for a final blow. Which never fell as he froze solid.  Yes  Every day was a struggle . The darkness, the deep snow, howling wind , bears and wolves , The unrelenting cold. 20 miles uphill to school. 30 miles to get back home and even steeper. It was hard life back then in Southern California. Cool temperatures indeed. 

Brilliant post! 

Yes indeed I do remember those walks to and from school in the snow uphill, both ways, in black and white because color was not invented yet.

 

[Rednex]

Checked and filled the tires on my truck, also checked spare it was at 0 psi.

[EBuff75]

Maybe you could replace it with a Tweel.  Then you'd never have to check it again and 0 psi would be correct!