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I use my good bicycle pump with a built in gauge; you know, the big ones that you stand on and have a T-handle and you pump up and down. Car tires don't run as high pressure as bicycle tires so the pumping isn't as hard as pumping a bike tire. However because you have to fill more volume you have to pump more times. Anyway it sure as Hell works better than the lousy coin operated pumps in gas stations.
The volume of air is considerably larger so it may take 6 hours of pumping.
I haven't had any issues with the coin operated pumps, although you need to mind the pressure.
Putting air in the tires is the easiest maintenace part of a vehicle. We just pull into a Discount Tire store and the man comes out and adds air at n/c and you're on your way in just 2-3 minutes.
Most tire dealers will add air for free hoping you'll be a tire customer one day.
It's become so much of an ordeal that whenever I have to fill the tires, I'll fill them all the way to the sidewall max.. and wait many months until they're about 5 psi below the manufacturer's recommendation before filling them all the way to sidewall max.
I know that underinflated tires are very hazardous.. I also know it's probably not a good idea to run the tires at the sidewall max either. But being such an inconvenient and awkward ordeal, I procrastinate filling until the last minute (5 psi under) and fill them to the max. Maybe i'm clumsy but it's so difficult angling the pump nozzle so that the air ends up in the tires and does not end up taking air out of the tires instead. And don't get me started about using a separate tire pressure gauge and having to realign the pump nozzle back again to pump air. Turning on the pump and being able to fill 1 tire in 1 round before the pump shuts off is a success (relatively speaking.)
Is there any viable alternative to pulling up to those air pumps at them gas stations? Any recommendations for air pumps to buy instead?
I have a portable air tank and I have one of these little Black and Decker Air Stations. Thanks for reminding me, I have to check my tires as it's getting cold.
Take a look in Northern Tool's catalog or website, there are all sorts of hand-driven, portable 12V, and or portable 110V compressors available. If you can find a place where you can fill it for free, say where-ever you buy tires, an air tank - sort of like the tank on a compressor minus the compressor itself - could be an option. Even if you are stuck with the coin-op compressor, using that to pump up your own air tank would probably work better than what you are doing now.
Those coin-operated air compressors are a PITA on several levels - some of them have very clumsy, hard to operate air chucks, so it may not be just you.
If you have a place to put it, a small say 1-HP air compressor with wheels - look at Northern, look at Sears, for just 2 places - even if you have to bring it up close to your house and plug it in, let it pump the tank up and then wheel it out to your car - and this is the worst way to use it - is way better than not having a compressor at all.
Another alternative would be to check bicycle shops for hand or foot operated pumps. Many of the better ones have gauges installed on the pump so you can see what pressure you have attained as you go. Most of these are small and light enough to put in your trunk and keep there.
As noted, you need to look at the sticker in your door jamb to see what the OEM recommends for tire pressure, front and rear - many Plain Jane cars call for 32 all round, but check the door jamb and see what is right for your car.
Manufacturer says 35 psi, tire sidewall rates for 44 psi, strategy is to fill to 40psi or slightly over then fill again in the future when it dips to 30 psi.
Manufacturer says 35 psi, tire sidewall rates for 44 psi, strategy is to fill to 40psi or slightly over then fill again in the future when it dips to 30 psi.
Well, if that is what you intend to do after reading 5 pages of good advice to the contrary, then all I can say is...
...you are incredibly lazy
...you enjoy wasting gas while driving on underinflated tires
...you enjoy courting danger from poor handling by driving on both overinflated and underinflated tires
Manufacturer says 35 psi, tire sidewall rates for 44 psi, strategy is to fill to 40psi or slightly over then fill again in the future when it dips to 30 psi.
a 10 psi swing isn't good for the tire or the economy. Why not just fill it to 35 psi, like the (assumed) auto manufacturer states is proper for the vehicle?
Why not just do it right, without all the silly "strategy"?
Well, if that is what you intend to do after reading 5 pages of good advice to the contrary, then all I can say is...
...you are incredibly lazy
...you enjoy wasting gas while driving on underinflated tires
...you enjoy courting danger from poor handling by driving on both overinflated and underinflated tires
Quote:
Originally Posted by vmaxnc
a 10 psi swing isn't good for the tire or the economy. Why not just fill it to 35 psi, like the (assumed) auto manufacturer states is proper for the vehicle?
Why not just do it right, without all the silly "strategy"?
1) Because even with the 10 point swing, a fillup is required every 2-4 months. This is true on 2 different vehicles with tires all bought new in the last 1.5 years. I've suspected leaks and have had mechanics check for them, all came to negative.
2) I track my fuel economy on fueleconomy.gov and have not noticed any difference in fuel economy.
3) Unlike the majority of the population, I'm not blessed with average motor skills and filling tires can be quite a chore.
4) I've been doing this for 3 years but would like to see what can make things easier (maybe invest in a pump?)
I check my tires on Saturdays. I also check the oil, brake fluid, wiper fluid, power steering fluid, radiator fluid, all the belts, I look at everything in the engine compartment and under the vehicle. Each car and the van gets checked out. Then I clean out the interior and wash the outside of them. I have never known it to be that hard of thing to do as it is basic maintenance.
Lets say that you have an issue with maintaining your ride. You could take it in for a checkup. If you want to limit it to the time you change the oil then that could work. Just have them check everything includung the tires. That way every 3 months you would have your car checked out and the proper amount of air would be placed in the tires. We change our oil every 3 months mainly because we don't drive that much. It isn't that good on an engine to drive 7 or 8 miles and then turn it off. Still that is the distance from home to work.
We just pull into a Discount Tire store and the man comes out and adds air at n/c and you're on your way in just 2-3 minutes.
I hope you realize that you are never going to get an accurate reading of your tire pressure by doing things that way.
Unless that tire store is less than 2 miles (of slow driving) from your house, by the time that you get there, the tires will have gained a few lbs of pressure as a result of the drive. And then, after the tires cool down, they will have less pressure than when they were checked/inflated at the tire store.
The only accurate way to check tire pressure is before the car has been driven for the day, or after it has sat for several hours. That is why I check the tire pressure at home with a good-quality dial-type tire pressure gauge. And then, if they need air, I use my electric tire inflator that runs off of the cigarette lighter socket. I strongly suggest that you do something similar.
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