Inflating car tires

Amethyst said:
....Now the car tells me the tires are full, but I can't get it to change the display so I can go back to obsessively monitoring our gas mileage. Sigh. Man in the service of technology, as usual!
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Keeping your tires properly inflated will get you better fuel economy. My tire pressure warning came on this morning as well. I ran my battery down by leaving the ignition on to monitor the tire pressure display while I reset all 4 tires.

I use a very old Craftsman 110V compressor that I got used. When it dies, I'll get one of the new jump starters that has 12V and USB outputs in addition to an air compressor. Harbor Freight has a cheapie that goes on sale for $40.
 
We use a bicycle pump too. I can't remember if we've inflated a flat tire.
After swapping the snow tires with the all seasons and vice versa, it usually takes about 50-100 pumps to get it back to spec.
 
The new truck came with nitrogen-inflated tires (green valve stem caps). Any thoughts on inflating with nitrogen?
 
misanman said:
The new truck came with nitrogen-inflated tires (green valve stem caps). Any thoughts on inflating with nitrogen?
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Nitrogen is excellent stuff, but you can do even better.
I use a proprietary gas mixture consisting of approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and a considerable number of other gases in trace quantities. This has always worked superbly well for me.
 
I have a small plug into the cigarette lighter socket air compressor. I spliced the wires and added two wires with alligator clips so I can also drive it off the battery on my lawn tractor. It is a handy tool to have... use it for cars, bicycles, wood carrier, wheelbarrows, lawn tractor, golf cart, etc.
 
braumeister said:
Nitrogen is excellent stuff, but you can do even better.
I use a proprietary gas mixture consisting of approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and a considerable number of other gases in trace quantities. This has always worked superbly well for me.
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Well, sure, easy for you to say. When would an ordinary person get such a carefully blended mix?;)
 
jimbee said:
My preferred tire gauge for passenger cars is the Milton S-921. I have one in each of my cars. About six bucks, doesn't require much space to store, no batteries required. Amazon has it available if you can't find it locally.
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I've never had any luck with the pen type tire gauges. My problem is from getting air to not leak before the measuring. I do have a dial type manual (no batteries either :)) pressure gauge which makes a good seal without air leaking. But the gauge is a bit on the clunky side. There's was a discussion on a measuring tire pressure thread a few months back:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/measuring-tire-pressure-82280.html
 
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Being a motorcycle owner/rider I have always had a little air compressor and a very accurate analog pressure gauge. Most the the gauges on the compressors are not very accurate. The best time to check and inflate to the proper pressure is when the tire is cold.
 
I purchased a Campbell-Hausfeld 120 volt inflator about 6 years ago, and it works great. Its gauge provides accurate readings and it inflates quickly. It cost $39 at the time from Amazon and it was well worth it. I have used it for cars, riding mowers, air mattresses, kids inflatable toys, etc.

I also have a small inflator than can be plugged into the car outlet, as part of an emergency road kit. The one time I had to use it worked, but very slowly.
 
meierlde said:
It depends on the brand both my 2011 Cruze and 2016 Malibu have a mode where the actual tire pressure is displayed on one of the displays, not just an idiot light. This is how I see the pressure be lower on cold days also.
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That's nice - I wasn't aware of any like that. I like actual data rather than just limit alerts, though the 'idiot light' approach does make sense to grab your attention if you weren't watching the numbers, or simply don't know/care what they mean.

misanman said:
The new truck came with nitrogen-inflated tires (green valve stem caps). Any thoughts on inflating with nitrogen?
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In addition to the other (appropriately satirical, IMO) comments, I'll point out that if it really is the other (non-nitrogen) gasses leaking out of an air-filled tire, then when you top off (and you should be checking every few months at least), you are replacing those other gasses with 78% nitrogen.

If you do the math on that, after a few top-offs, you will be almost all nitrogen anyhow, assuming it is other gasses leaking out first, which is questionable.

I think Consumer Reports actually tested it, and found a slight difference after a year (something you might not even notice on your gauge). I don't think they tested again after topping off, but that slight of a reduction wouldn't have much effect anyhow. I also read that if you actually have a several # drop over a few months, you have a leak - it's not a gas permeability issue (the idea that Nitrogen is a larger molecule, and therefore does not permeate through the tire as easily).

-ERD50
 
easysurfer said:
I've never had any luck with the pen type tire gauges. My problem is from getting air to not leak before the measuring.
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That can be a problem with pen type gauges, and I have had that same problem with some gauges I've tried. I haven't had that problem with the Milton model I suggested. YMMV. :)
 
You have to love America...every time I see the green cap of "nitro" on a car, I have to laugh. Last time I had my tires rotated, I asked the shop how much of the nitro they see and the price and they said they about 1/3 of the tires they install have nitro in them and they charge upwards of $20 a tire for it!!! Amazing, isn't it?

I guess if I ever consider driving my car up a 25,000 foot mountain, I might consider it. Until then, I too use the mixture posted above. ;)
 
ExFlyBoy5 said:
1/3 of the tires they install have nitro in them and they charge upwards of $20 a tire for it!!! Amazing, isn't it?
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That's impressive. My local discount tire store automatically fills new tires I buy there with nitrogen at no extra charge. I can also go there to refill them with nitrogen any time, also at no charge.
 
jimbee said:
That can be a problem with pen type gauges, and I have had that same problem with some gauges I've tried. I haven't had that problem with the Milton model I suggested. YMMV. :)
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That Milton model has a very good rating at Amazon.
 
I bought one of these as a factory-reconditioned on clearance at a discount store 35 years ago. Still pumps great, although the dial gauge reads about 5 psi above true pressure.
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ExFlyBoy5 said:
You have to love America...every time I see the green cap of "nitro" on a car, I have to laugh. Last time I had my tires rotated, I asked the shop how much of the nitro they see and the price and they said they about 1/3 of the tires they install have nitro in them and they charge upwards of $20 a tire for it!!! Amazing, isn't it?

I guess if I ever consider driving my car up a 25,000 foot mountain, I might consider it. Until then, I too use the mixture posted above. ;)
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The place we went to have new tires installed (bought the tires from tirerack.com, and had shipped directly to this shop) filled them with nitrogen (at no extra charge, at least not that I saw), and I didn't notice until we got home that they put the green caps on. :facepalm:

Those green caps look ugly, and I do feel like I'm advertising that I don't know I'm being scammed. I might go back and ask them to put black caps back on, just out of principal.

And there is a downside. A while back, when I took a car in for an oil change, the oil change guy said he didn't top off my tires since he saw the green caps, and they don't have nitrogen. Of course I told him to top them off anyway with the good old 78% nitrogen that they had available. But how many people would have just said 'OK', and then not gone back to a nitro source for the top off? Not good.

-ERD50
 
I have a really cheap pump ($10) and a more expensive one ($20) which plug into cigarette lighter (may have to turn your car ignition to on or acc.) Both work fine, but don't trust the gage (cary a good tire gage). I also have a built in tire pump in the "jumper" battery (about $50) I carry which can also jump a car. Just have to charge it up with house current about once/month.

If the tires are "low" (but in the 25 to 28 range) I would not worry about driving on them at least to a place to fill them to the specified pressure. Not likely you would damage tires until they got quite a bit lower than 20, though gas mileage would suffer 5 to 10%. If in doubt, drive a bit slower. Tire pressure is important for 1) proper handling with your specific suspension 2) ride comfort/feel 3) fuel efficiency 4) tire wear at the extremes.

YMMV
 
ERD50 said:
Those green caps look ugly, and I do feel like I'm advertising that I don't know I'm being scammed. I might go back and ask them to put black caps back on, just out of principal.

And there is a downside. A while back, when I took a car in for an oil change, the oil change guy said he didn't top off my tires since he saw the green caps, and they don't have nitrogen.
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I'll bet the green caps help the oil change shop do some targeted marketing. "Here comes another live one! Joe, you sell him the deluxe cabin air filter replacement. Jimbo, let him know his pfetzer valve needs replacing. Bobbie, sell him the blinker fluid refill. Boys, if we bat three for three, Taco Bell is on me today!"
 
Don't forget the muffler bearings and radiator pressure caps for air cooled engines.
 
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Koolau said:
Tire pressure is important for 1) proper handling with your specific suspension 2) ride comfort/feel 3) fuel efficiency 4) tire wear at the extremes.
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Also...
5) ensuring similar wheel rotation for AWD vehicles.
 
Thanks for the chuckle about N tires.

I was thinking about the thread on "assisted living," which has gotten into old people's dislike/inability to deal with computing. I felt like an old person as I went over and over the 2-pound owner's manual. *Nowhere* did it say how to turn off the tire pressure LED dashboard display (all 4 tires, all the time!) and return to my beloved gas-mileage display. In fact, the manual seemed to imply I'd have to go to the dealership. I just kept pressing random buttons on the steering wheel and console until I finally got the results that I just *knew* had to be there somewhere.

This random-pressing-of-buttons stuff annoys me, but at least I am willing to do it. Really old people, I've found, are scared to mess with electronic things in the absence of specific instructions.
 
Amethyst said:
Thanks for the chuckle about N tires.

....
This random-pressing-of-buttons stuff annoys me, but at least I am willing to do it. Really old people, I've found, are scared to mess with electronic things in the absence of specific instructions.
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Could be related to growing up in the cold war era, knowing that at any time some nut could press the wrong button and blow us all up :eek:
 
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