How to Check and Inflate a Car Tire

Tires are arguably the most important part of a car. They are what connects the rest of the vehicle to the road so keeping them well maintained is important. Tires that are under inflated or over inflated can be dangerous so in this article my goal is to show how to properly check and inflate a car tire.

• Tire Pressure Gage
  • Analog or digital will work these can be bought locally at any store that has a automotive section or online.
    • Link: Tire pressure gauge
• Tire Inflator / Air-compressor:
  • There are basically two types of compressors that can be used:
    • A regular air compressor, this is good if you are in a garage and can fill tires very fast but cannot be used without a wall outlet. Also can be used for other purposes.
    • A Tire Inflator, these are smaller lower powered units that are designed yo be used exclusivly on cars. They are powered by the vehicle so they can be used anywhere , their mobility makes them great for emergencies. I use a heavy duty Inflator made by slime that is powered directly off the battery but other lower powered models are available that can be powered though your car's cigar lighter that are good if you are not comfortable under the hood.
      • Links: Heavy Duty Inflator, Standard Inflator

Linked products are mainly just examples, I recommend you do your own research before purchasing.

Before checking the tire's current tire pressure, determine what the correct tire pressure is for your car. For most passenger cars the manufacture will recommend between 30 to 35psi. Many cars have a sticker on the driver's door with the recommended pressures, if it is not listed there it can be found in the owners manual

Once your know that pressure your tires should be, you can move on to checking their current pressure.

After determining the recommended pressure use a tire pressure gauge to check each tire and find what the current pressure is using a tire pressure gauge. This should be done when the tires are cold.

If the pressure is close to the recommend pressure you are good to go, if the pressure is high you can remove air by pressing the valve in the center of the stem with your nail and recheck the pressure, if the pressure is low I will show how to inflate the tire in the next steps.

The exact steps involved in inflating your tire will depend on what you are using, the basic steps are:

1. Connect the compressor to power
2. Connect the compressor to the tire
3. Start the compressor and inflate the tire
4. Stop the compressor once desired pressure is reached
5. Recheck the the tire pressure using a gauge

Now your tire should be good to go. If you find that the tire pressure drops low often you should get the tire check by a tire shop so you can find what is causing the tire to lose pressure. Tires pressure will raise and lower with changes n weather so if it seems to be seasonal then there is probably no issue.