Why do I need to check my tire pressure?
The tire pressure of your vehicle is very important. If you allow it to fall under the recommended amount by too much, you will start to cause other problems.
These include things such as poor mileage which is due to the deflated wheels creating extra friction, which slows the car down; and uneven tire wear, as they will not be level with each other.
What you will need
All you need to get started is a tire pressure gauge.
An optional piece of kit that you could purchase is a tire pump. The benefit provided is that you can adjust your tire pressure anywhere.
Now we get to actually checking the pressure. It is worth noting that before taking any readings, your car needs to have been idle for approximately 3 hours.
This way your tires will have cooled and the reading will be more accurate.
How to change your tire pressure
Now it’s time to get started.
Using the pressure gauge, take a reading of your tires psi. To do this simply insert the gauge into the small valve on your tire.
Once you have the current psi value, compare it with the required psi value for your vehicle. (If you don’t know this value, refer to your cars manual.)
If the pressure in your tire is greater than the suggested value, release the air in small increments, until the psi is correct.
However, in the case that you need to increase the psi in your tires, you can go about it two ways.
The first way would be to head to your nearest air pump. (You can typically find these at your local petrol station.)
Alternatively, if you own a tire pump, you can do this at the comfort of your own home.
Simply keep adding air, then check the pressure until it is correct. Don’t worry about going over the recommended value, as you can always release some air until you get it right.