Tire Pressure

How Often Should I Check My Tire’s Air Pressure?

Today’s tires are marvels of high-tech engineering, but when driven on with insufficient air pressure they are prone to blow outs at high speed, especially when overloaded or in hot weather conditions. To prevent blowouts, maximize your fuel economy, and extend the life of your tire, we recommend checking the air pressure in your tires at least once a month. We will happily do this for free at any of our locations. Just stop in and we will fill your tires up to the proper pressure with regular air, or we can refill your tire with Nitrogen for a nominal fee.

Max Load and Air Pressure

The maximum load carrying capacity and inflation pressure that a tire is engineered to withstand is molded into the sidewall of every tire. The tire in this picture is designed to carry 1356 pounds when inflated to it’s maximum of 51 PSI. If the pressure is lower than 51 PSI, the tire will not be able to carry the entire 1356 pounds it was designed for. The tires for your vehicle will not necessarily require the max inflation amount, but it is critical to maintain proper air pressure in your tires so that the tires aren’t overloaded. (See below). 

Does Air Pressure Affect Vehicle Load?

The weight of your vehicle can be found on another door jamb sticker. For example the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) might say 3,828 pounds as shown for this Volkswagen Beetle. According to the vehicle tire placard, the maximum additional weight of the passengers and cargo for this example would be 772 pounds, for a total of 4,500 pounds, or 1,125 pounds per tire, which is less than it’s maximum load. 

Max pressure means max load carrying capacity, but for this Beetle the engineers at Volkswagen have recommended a lower tire pressure to give some margin of error and to improve other tire attributes such as handling, ride comfort and traction.