garberfc

Hey All,

Just wondering how you measure and add air to your tires. Tire pressure readings are to be taken when the tire is "cold". So, it's easy to take the pressure reading before driving your car. I guess the tire temperature should really be equal to the temperature where they're going to be driving. As an example, my garage/garage floor is probably 10F cooler than the outside temperature in the summer. So, should I back the car onto the driveway for a 1/2 hour first?

If they need air, how are you filling the tires, do you have your own compressor? I live ~5 miles from the nearest gas station with an air nozzle. If I have to drive there to fill them up, can I still consider the tire to be "cold"? Should I be compensating for the 5 mile drive (specially in hot weather)? If the pressure reading was 32psi on my driveway and my target pressure is 35psi, should I re-measure the pressure at the gas station and just add 3psi?

So many thoughts...

Jimminez@Nemesis

Generally hot tires will read 3 psi or so higher than when cold and by cold I mean 65F. With colder temps, the cold tire pressure will drop. Driving 5 miles won't increase by the entire amount but I'd say target 1-2 psi higher at that time and you should be fine.

superswiss

The common rule is cooled down for at least three hours and not driven more than a mile. Every 10F increase or decrease is 1 psi up or down. I have a compressor, but most of the time I just use my bicycle pump. 4-5 pumps equals 0.5 psi.

gk1

I tend to go with "coldest condition".
So if it is winter and 30ºF outside and 50ºF in the garage I set them +2psi over my standard. (as superswiss pointed out +-10ºF=+-1psi)
If it is summer and 90ºF outside and 70ºF in the garage then I fill them to regular inflation since 70ºF is my "cold" inflation baseline in this example.

evanseric21

I just recently bought this https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/air...-tire-inflator
I was picking up a few things from Academy and seen this in the checkout line and figured why not. Definitely an impulse buy but I don't regret it. My wife is also a buyer for Academy so I got a discount.
I like that it's multi-functional and can be used to inflate everything from sporting equipment to car tires.

The G Man

OP, You are making this a lot harder than it has to be. Just buy a small compressor and pump it up in your garage. If your garage is heated, pump it up an extra 2-3 PSI if out side temp is very cold.

18A5SB

Overnight cold is best to set tire pressure. Depending on where you live use the average winter and summer temps and fill up accordingly. I adjust the tire pressures when the outside temp is about 40F for the winter and about 80F for summer. I found that the gauge in my inflator is off by 4psi. I am using a calibrated gauge - I calibrated a stick gauge that I keep in the car against it.

On a slightly different note - I seem to like the ride and handling with pressures at 34psi rather than 32psi in my all season tires as recommended in the manual.

garberfc

I have a small 4 gallon compressor, but the pressure regulator isn't very sensitive or exact. I guess I could always over inflate the tires and then release air until I hit my target.

garberfc

I have a similar gauge, but with a 60psi max. It's nice because it has a button for releasing air from the tire, without having to remove gauge from the valve stem.

uberwgn

^^ Yes, time permitting, I over-inflate the night before and bleed the tires down before driving in the AM.