5 | P a g e
3Importance of tire care
It is extremely important to ensure car tires are properly inflated for safety while driving.
However, most drivers tend to neglect proper tire care and maintenance. Car tires are the
only contact holding the car to the road. The air pressure inside the tires is supporting the
weight of the car and passenger loads. Improperly inflated car tires may cause serious
accidents on the road.
When the car tires are underinflated, the full weight of the car may compress and distort
the tire side walls. Continued use of underinflated tires may lead to heat build-up and
cause de-lamination of the tire materials thus increasing chances of tire blow-out.
Underinflated tires will also wear faster around the tire shoulders causing uneven tire
wear. Gas mileage will reduce due to more drag when driving with underinflated tires.
For some drivers, they tend to overinflate their car tires to get better mileage. However an
overinflated car tire tends to bulge at the center radial causing uneven wear. Water
dispersion may also be affected when tires are overinflated increasing chances of
hydroplaning. That’s when the car may spin out of control when driving on wet road.
What is the optimum tire pressure? There are a lot of information about this subject in
internet forums and web articles. A quick guide for better understanding of tire pressure
below:
1) Car manufacturers recommend the optimum tire pressure for their car models.
The information is usually available on a sticker at the door jam (side of the
driver’s door) or in the owner’s manual. For some car models, the information
sticker may be on the trunk lid or on the fuel door. Car manufacturers usually
recommend different tire pressure for front and rear tires. This pressure is usually
recommended for comfort driving and optimum performance of the car. It is not
advisable to go below this recommended pressure level.
2) The car manufacturer recommended tire pressure is “cold pressure”. When you
drive your car to the gas station, the friction on the road will heat up your car tires
within a few minutes. Typically there will be 1psi (7kPa) increase in air pressure
for every 10oC (50oF) increase in tire temperature. It is advisable to inflate the tire
pressure with this compensated pressure above the recommended pressure.
3) Air pressure is a direct function of temperature. Check and adjust your tire
pressure whenever there is a drastic change in environment temperature, eg.
change of season.
4) Tires will deflate over time by itself even without any puncture. Usually the air
leak mostly comes from the tire valves. Change the tire valves or at least check
the valves condition every time you change a new set of tires. Under normal
condition, a set of tires could deflate at a rate of up to 2psi per month. It is good
practice to check your tire pressure regularly and top up to the optimum pressure.
5) Every car tire has a recommended maximum load pressure. You should not use
your car tire at this pressure. It is dangerous to inflate your car tire to the
maximum load pressure.
