How To Check Your Tire Pressure

If you are unsure of how to check the tire pressure on your car then have no fear as it’s a pretty easy process.  If your vehicle is not equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system you will have to check your tire pressure with a tire pressure gauge to be able to tell if your tires need more air in them.

What is Tire Pressure?

Tire pressure is the amount of air or pressure that is applied to the inside of your tires. Without tire pressure, your tires would have nothing separating them from your wheels and the road which would result in a bumpy ride.  

Having tire pressure in your tires allows your tires to provide a smooth ride. Tire pressure is measured in foot-pounds per square inch or PSI which is what most tire pressure monitoring systems will provide.  If you’d like to learn more about what PSI means check out my other article.

If your car is equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system you should be able to check your tire pressure from within one of the menus of your car.  If your car is not equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system (many older cars are not) then you would need to check your tires with a tire pressure gauge. 

You can buy a tire pressure gauge that will show you what the tire pressure is by showing how much tire pressure you have by sticking out to a certain length that will tell you what tire pressure you currently have by the chart on the tire pressure gauge.  

There are also digital tire pressure gauges that you can purchase that will tell you what tire pressure you have with a digital display that way there is no guesswork on how many PSI you currently have in your tires.  

TEKTON 5941 Digital Tire Gauge, 100 PSI

What Does TPMS Stand For?

Newer cars have Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems or TPMS  installed on your wheels and tires to monitor the pressure within the tires so that you don’t have to get out and do it yourself.  In my car, I am able to cycle through a set of menus that eventually show me all four tires of my car and how much PSI each tire is inflated at.  

This allows me to check to see if I need to inflate my tires from within my vehicle and not have to mess with breaking out my tire pressure monitor.  

Usually when the seasons start to change the temperatures will start to take a dip and I will need to refill my tires because the pressure within them will get low.  The tire pressure monitoring system on my car will alert me on my dash that one or all of my tires are low on air and needs to be reinflated.

The TPMS system on your car will also alert you if you have a blowout from a pothole or nail in your tire by alerting you that there is an issue with one of your tires.  When I once hit a pothole and blew out the sidewall of my tire my TPMS system immediately came on and I knew that I was going to have a bad rest of the day.

Some people may not know that they have a blowout on their vehicle and will still drive on a flat tire and TPMS systems should alert people in that sort of situation.  However, a lot of people that I know leave their tire pressure monitoring system always on alert because they don’t want to inflate their tires from time to time.

If you always leave your TPMS system on alert it won’t be able to effectively do its job to alert you when you actually do have an issue so keep that in mind.

Why Should You Check Your Tire Pressure?

If you let your tire pressure get too low it can affect a lot of different components on your vehicle.  For starters, if your tire pressure is too low this can affect how good of gas mileage that you are getting out of your vehicle.  If your tires are not properly inflated this will increase the rolling resistance of your tires, therefore, decreasing your gas mileage.  

Another reason to check your tire pressure is that if your tire pressure gets too low it can cause your tires to wear down more quickly than if they were properly inflated.  If your tire pressure is too low this can cause your sidewall to sag and put excess pressure on the sidewalls of your tires and the sides of the tire tread. This can also cause your tires to wear down quickly.  

One more reason you should check your tire pressure is that your tire pressure ultimately affects how well your vehicle handles on the road.  If your tires are not properly inflated this can cause your steering to feel sloppy and can cause your steering to pull to one side or the other.  

What Should My Tire Pressure Be At?

You can check what tire pressure your vehicle recommends for your specific vehicle by looking in the door sill of your driver’s side door.  There you should see a sticker that tells you what tire pressure you should be running for both the front and back tires.

It’s common to see then recommend different tire pressures because the engine is over the front of the vehicle, because of this vehicle manufacturers will typically use different sets of springs with different spring rates for both the front and back axles.

This can also depend on if your vehicle is front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive.

How Often Should You Check Your Tire Pressure?

You should check the tires of your car anytime you go to take it for a ride.  If one of your tires looks to have low tire pressure you can always check the pressure to confirm that.  If your vehicle has a TPMS system it will typically alert you to that one of your tires is running low on air.

If you don’t have a TPMS system on your vehicle it’s up to you to make sure that your tires are properly inflated.  If this is the case for you I would recommend checking your tire pressure every month or so especially around the change in seasons.   

Typically during the winter, the cold air will decrease the amount of PSI in your tires because cold air is denser than hot air.  Hot air will typically try to expand and increase your PSI so you may not need to re-inflate your tires from winter to summer seasons.

How To Inflate Your Tires

I would recommend buying a portable air compressor that can inflate your tires to be able to easily inflate your tires from anywhere.  This can be handy because you will be able to inflate your tires anywhere, you don’t have to drive to a gas station to inflate your tires anymore.  This will also save you money in the long run as long as your portable air compressor stays functioning.

Another benefit of having a portable air compressor in your car with you is if a friend or a family member has a flat tire you should be able to refill their tire from wherever you are provided they don’t have a massive hole in their tire.  

This can also come in handy if you forget to check the tire pressure of your spare tire and need to use it if you hit a pothole.  You can air up your spare tire while you are removing your wheel with the blown-out tire.

If you want to know the specific portable air compressor that I have in my car I will link it below.  The EPAuto portable air compressor is nice because it has a digital display that you can set to what PSI you want to have your tires inflated to and it will inflate them to that pressure and then shut itself off.  

You don’t have to keep messing around with inflating your tires and then checking them to see if they are at the correct tire pressure.  

The other nice thing about this portable air compressor, when compared to a cheap one that I bought from harbor freight, was the amount of air that this portable air compressor can pump into your tires.  It is able to inflate my motorcycle tires to 40 PSI fairly quickly.

EPAuto 12V DC Portable Air Compressor Pump, Digital Tire Inflator

Related Questions

How do you check tire pressure at the gas station?

If the gas station you go to has an air pump that has a digital tire pressure gauge on it you can read your tire pressure that way.  Your car may also be able to tell you what your current tire pressure is if it is equipped with a tire pressure monitoring system.  Alternatively, you can also buy a digital or analog tire pressure gauge to measure the tire pressure yourself.

Can you drive with low tire pressure?  Yes, you can drive with low tire pressure but it’s bad for your tires and your car’s overall MPG.  Driving with low tire pressure will cause the outside of your tires to come in contact with the road surface when they typically would not.  This will accelerate the wear of your tires in the long run.

Driving with under-inflated tires also decreases your cars MPG as it will have to work harder to move your car forward.  If you’d like more tips on how to increase the MPG on your car check out my other article 12 tips to increase your MPG.

How do you know if your tire pressure is low?  The easiest way to tell that your tire pressure is low is to visibly inspect your tires.  If the sidewall of the tire is not as tall as it usually is then that is usually a sign that your tires need to be inflated.  Otherwise, you would need to check your tire pressure with a tire pressure gauge or with your cars TPMS system.

Where can I put air in my tires for free?  Some gas stations will have air pumps that are free to use but this is becoming less and less common.  I would recommend buying your own personal air pump that you can bring around with you in your car.  That way you can inflate your tires essentially anywhere because the portable air pump will get power from your cigarette lighter adapter.

Is it bad to put air in your tires when it’s cold?  No, it does not really matter what the temperature is outside when you put air in your tires.  Air is denser when it’s colder out and lighter when it’s hotter out which is why you usually need to inflate your tires during the fall and winter months as the temperature drops.

Is 25 PSI too low for tires?  25 PSI is going to be too low for most tires.  In general, around 32 PSI is preferred for most vehicles.  But it’s best to check what PSI your vehicle manufacturer recommends by looking in your door sill or at the owner’s manual to find out that information.

Is 45 PSI to much for tires?  Yes, for most vehicles and tires 45 PSI is going to be too much pressure.  When you increase the tire pressure above what is recommended for your tires this will increase the sidewall stiffness leading to a rougher ride as well as increasing the likelihood of tire wear on the center of your tire tread.

It’s best to follow the PSI guidelines set by your vehicle manufacturer to get the best ride and performance from your car.

What is dangerously low tire pressure?  Anything below 25 PSI is going to be really low pressure for most tires.  The issue with driving on really low tire pressure is that you run the risk of hitting a pothole and damaging your rims.  The less tire pressure that you have in your tires the less ride height you will have between the road and your rims.

In Conclusion

You should now know how to check the tire pressure of your tires on your own.  Hopefully, this guide was able to better inform you of how to check the tire pressure of your tires.  I would suggest investing in your own portable air compressor it may one day save your butt from being stranded on the side of the road.