The Importance of Maintaining Proper Tire Pressure

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Over many years of driving, a lot of us have neglected tire care so much that we have seen replacements come and go as if it were the revolving door of a department store during Christmas. We must keep in mind that tires are the most beaten parts of the car due to their constant exposure to friction and heat. Bearing this in mind, tires deserve the proper attention not only on a usage basis, but from a maintenance perspective. Now you might ask, how does one take care of tires? Isn’t it simply used until the three-year mark arrives and I should replace it before it pops? That’s where most misconceptions come from. Drivers must understand that maintaining the right tire pressure is the day-to-day lifeblood of these things. It ensures that the tires serve its purpose, maximizing the availability and usability it was intended for as it flew out of the manufacturing line.

Importance of the Right Tire Pressure

The ability of a tire to survive and perhaps exceed the recommended useful life depends on the amount of air infused in it at any given time. The keywords to note here is ‘at any given time’ because any insufficiencies and excess in tire pressure will have detrimental effects.

Underinflation of tires result in inefficiencies in fuel economy. This phenomenon occurs as tires are unable to smoothly create traction and move the car from point A to point B with less effort. Let us illustration. Imagine having underinflated tires, they slouch and slop around without proper grip on the road. There is also the lack of support on the car’s weight from the air causing the tire to bear more contact on the surface at greater force. With these two facts, you can now start to picture how the vehicle must work harder in order to travel the same distance compared to properly inflated wheels. As the engine works harder, more fuel is consumed per unit of distance travelled, rendering a higher cost at lesser distance covered.

The extreme opposite of underinflated tires are overinflated ones. Over inflation may not necessarily have an impact on fuel efficiency, but it takes on a more dangerous path, as it quite literally spells trouble on the road. There are two major things one should know when it comes to overinflated tires. One is that the center of the tire will bulge out, causing all the contact with the road to concentrate on the central area, leading to uneven wear and possibly a premature requirement to replace. This will cost you money earlier than you would have expected. The second and more compelling reason to avoid overinflation is the safety on the road. Overinflated tires will reduce the tire’s contact with the road. Instead of a flat surface area of the ribs and shoulder coming into contact with the asphalt, you’ve now raised everything apart from the center lessening the ability of steering leading to an accident.

With these two in mind, it is also important that the tires selected are of good quality. Some tires that do not exhibit the structural integrity tend to perform even worse than brands that stand for only the best products. Companies like Giti Tires can be relied on to perform at its best and get you through these unusual occasions.

Why Your Tire Pressure Does Not Stay Constant

By now you might be heading over to your nearest gas station to get your tire pressure checked. That’s a good thing. The daily grind reduces your tire pressure, and it should get you to notice that heading over for a top-up on air should be done on a regular basis. The reason why tires do not maintain air forever inside is because of temperature differences and tire damage.

Temperature has a subtle effect on tires. Science dictates that air molecules become more violent as temperature rises, and calms down as temperatures cool. This means as molecules become violent the air pressure becomes higher because of the higher velocity of molecule movement causing a slight overinflation. The solution? Try parking your car in a garage or away from the heat of the sun. In the colder temperatures, tires will exhibit deflation, it may not be as noticeable and the effects might not be significant but all the same, try to simulate a temperature for your car that doesn’t expose the tires to these extreme conditions.

The other side of the coin deals with the way tires pick up foreign objects along the road. As these objects puncture or lodge themselves onto the tire treads and ribs, they create outlets of escape for air pressure, creating a slow expelling process.

How Can I Gauge Tire Pressure?

Gauging tire pressure is not rocket science. There are multiple ways to have a sense of something unusual. One of the more conventional methods is purchasing a pressure gauge which does not cost much and does not take up a lot of space. Simply remove the caps on the valves and place the gauge to get a reading. The rating of the pressure can be found on the car door where the hinge or jam is located. If you’ve found that you are well below the standard, fill it up together with your spare tire.

Should you find that your tire pressure requirements are quite unique, then checking out what Giti has to offer through their website can ease your mind with their vast range of offerings.

If your vehicle has been purchased as a brand-new unit in the last decade, chances are some variants will have a pressure gauge displayed on the car’s dashboard. Monitoring the air pressure then becomes simples as a probe inside the tire can measure the pressure and send it back as a reading on the screen.

Conclusion

When we look back at the impact of simply being conscious about maintaining the proper tire pressure, the effects can go way longer than you probably would have expected. Quality tires from manufacturers such as Giti tires paired with the right methods will give you more than what you bargained for. Doing regular checks can save you money that you may end up spending should you neglect giving the right amount of attention to your tires and the best part is you may end up saving your own life in the process. There are many ways to know if your tire needs more infusion of air and taking the time to do this will not only pay dividends but make sure things go the way they should.