What Should The Tire Pressure Be in Your Car?

If I have learned anything in the car business its that most owners don’t check tire pressure. Hell, most of them don’t even know how much air to put in the tires.

Finding the recommended tire pressure isn’t that hard to do.

It’s actually quite simple to figure out:

Ideal Tire Pressure: Finding Your Car’s Recommended Tire Pressure

Open the driver side door on your car. If you look on the door jam there will be a sticker.

This sticker shows the recommended air pressure for your car tires.

The tire pressure shown is based on the size of the tires and the weight of the car.
You can easily check the tire pressure with a tire air pressure gauge.

It is one of the cheapest and easiest tools you can use.

Keep Your Tire Air Pressure at The Recommended Setting

Improper tire inflation can cause problems. Let me explain below.

There are two problems that can cause uneven tire wear:

Over-inflation:

When there is too much air in the tires. This will cause the middle of the tire tread to wear quicker than the outer edges. Over inflating your tires can reduce their lifespan.

Related: How Often Should You Change Your Tires?

Under-inflation:

This is caused by too little air in your tires. The edges of the tire tread will wear quicker than the rest of the tread. Under inflation is another way to ruin your tires.

These two problems can also cause fuel consumption problems and safety issues. In fact, over 500 people were involved in tire-related collisions in 2014 according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB had said that around 33,000 passenger vehicle crashes occur over tire related problems.

Why Tire Air Pressure Changes

Fact:

Your tire pressure will decrease about 1 psi for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit temperature drop.

When the temperature increases by 10 degrees Fahrenheit the tire pressure will increase about 1 psi.

Why does this happen?

Changes in temperature can cause the air to expand and contract inside your tires.

What Should Tire Pressure Be in Summer?

In the heat of summer, you should inflate your tires 2 PSI below the recommended tire pressure.

Remember that the air will expand as the temperature rises.

The opposite is true for winter weather:

Inflate your tires 2 PSI above the recommended tire pressure.

You may need to tweak the pressure depending on the temperature.

That was simple right?

Now you don’t have to worry about what your tire pressure should be.

Sources:

• https://www.ntsb.gov/
• https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Pages/SIR1502.aspx
• https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-alerts/Documents/SA_044.pdf