Tip #2: Cold weather lowers your tire pressure overnight
Air shrinks when it cools, so a tire set correctly on a mild afternoon can be noticeably low after a freezing New Jersey night. Check pressure cold, against the number on the driver's door jamb, every few weeks through winter.
Tip #2 in one line
Air shrinks when it cools, so a tire set correctly on a mild afternoon can be noticeably low after a freezing New Jersey night. Check pressure cold, against the number on the driver's door jamb, every few weeks through winter.
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Call nowWhy the light comes on in November
The air inside a tire contracts as the temperature falls. A common rule of thumb is about one pound per square inch lost for every ten degrees of drop, which is enough to push a tire that was already a little low below the warning threshold on the first cold morning.
That is why so many drivers see the tire pressure light for the first time in late fall. Often nothing is punctured. The tires were slowly losing air for months, as all tires do, and the cold finished the job.
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Call nowHow to check it properly
Use a gauge, not your eyes. A modern tire can look normal while being well under its correct pressure. A basic pencil or digital gauge costs very little and lives easily in the glovebox.
Check the tires cold, before you drive or after the car has sat for a few hours. Driving warms the air and gives a falsely high reading.
Use the pressure on the sticker inside the driver's door jamb or in the owner's manual. The number molded into the tire sidewall is the maximum the tire can hold, not the pressure your car needs.
Add air at a station or with a portable inflator until the gauge matches the door-jamb number, then recheck after the first cold snap. In a New Jersey winter, temperatures swing widely from week to week, so a tire set correctly in a mild spell may be low again after the next freeze. A monthly check is a reasonable habit through the season.
Do not forget the spare. A spare that has been sitting in the trunk for years is often the lowest tire on the car, and you only discover it on the shoulder.
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Call nowLow pressure is not just an efficiency issue
An underinflated tire flexes more, runs hotter, wears its edges, brakes worse on wet and icy roads, and is more likely to fail on a long drive down Route 1 or I-287. In snow, correct pressure is part of how the tread grips at all.
If a tire keeps losing air after you fill it, it likely has a slow leak and needs a tire shop. If it is flat and you are stuck, a flat tire change puts your spare on with a truck shielding the scene, and a tow to the tire shop is quoted on the same call to (908) 444-0129 if the spare is not usable. Read the flat tire change guide for the full picture.
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Call nowMore on tires
Keep reading, or go back to every post on the blog.
- Flat tire on a New Jersey highway: what to do
- Tip #13: Driving on a flat ruins the tire and the wheel within a short distance
- Tip #14: Find your spare, jack and wheel-lock key before you need them
- Tip #17: Run-flat tires buy you limited miles at limited speed, not a free pass
- Tip #22: The tire pressure light is a warning to check, not proof of a flat
- Tip #86: Rotate your tires on the schedule in your owner's manual
- Tip #92: Check the spare tire's pressure, because a flat spare is no spare
- What to do when your car breaks down in New Jersey
- All posts
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