Maintenance & Care
Learn to check tire pressure the right way, find your car's correct PSI, read tread wear, and inflate safely so your tires grip well and last longer.
Tires are the only part of your car that actually touches the road. Everything you do behind the wheel — accelerating, braking, steering, holding a line through a wet corner — depends on four patches of rubber each about the size of your hand. Looking after them is cheap and quick, and it pays back in safety, longer tire life, and better fuel economy.
The two things worth checking regularly are pressure and tread. Neither needs special skill. A basic gauge and a few minutes are enough to keep your tires doing their job.
The correct pressure isn't the big number stamped on the tire's sidewall. That figure is the maximum the tire can hold, not what your car is designed to run. The number you want lives on a sticker in the driver's door jamb — open the door and look at the frame — and it's also in your owner's manual.
That sticker lists the recommended pressure in PSI for the front and rear tires, and sometimes a different figure for when the car is fully loaded with passengers and luggage. Some cars call for higher pressure at the back when heavily loaded, so it's worth a glance before a big trip. Make a note of your numbers; you'll use them every time.
Getting this right matters more than it seems. An underinflated tire flexes and heats up as it rolls, which wears the edges of the tread, drinks more fuel, and in the worst case can fail at speed. An overinflated one grips less well and wears out down the middle. The recommended number is the balance the carmaker settled on for your car's weight and handling, which is why it beats any general rule of thumb.
Pressure changes with temperature, and driving warms the tires and pushes the reading up. If you check straight after a drive, you'll see an inflated number and end up running your tires soft.
"Cold" simply means the car has been sitting for a few hours, or you've driven less than a mile or so. First thing in the morning is ideal. Check all four, and don't forget the spare if your car has one — a flat spare is no help on the day you actually need it.
Weather plays a part too. Pressure drops as the air cools, so tires that were spot-on in summer can read low once autumn arrives, and climb again in the heat. A check as the seasons turn catches that drift before the dashboard warning light does.
You can't judge tire pressure by looking. A tire can be well down on air and still look basically round, especially the low-profile tires common on newer cars. So use a gauge.
A cheap pencil or dial gauge lives happily in the glovebox and costs less than a single tank of fuel. It's one of the few tools that pays for itself the first time it saves you from driving on a soft tire.
To use one, unscrew the valve cap, press the gauge firmly onto the valve stem until the hissing stops, and read the number. Do it a couple of times to be sure. If your car has a tire pressure monitoring system, treat the dashboard light as a prompt to check properly with a gauge, not as a substitute for one.
If a tire is low, top it up at a gas station air pump or with a home compressor. Add air in short bursts, then check with your own gauge rather than trusting the pump's display, which isn't always accurate. Work toward the number from your door jamb, not the sidewall maximum.
Don't overinflate. An overinflated tire rides harshly, wears out faster in the middle of the tread, and grips less well. If you go over, press the small pin in the centre of the valve to let a little air out, then recheck. When you're done, screw the valve caps back on so grit stays out of the valves.
If the nearest air pump is a drive away, remember that the tires will warm up on the trip over and read a little high by the time you get there. Rather than chasing a perfect figure at the pump, get them close, then confirm the reading cold the next morning at home. Tire inflation isn't an exact science, and small adjustments are easy to make.
Tread is what channels water away so your tires keep gripping in the rain. As it wears down, wet-weather grip fades, and past a certain point the tire is no longer safe or legal.
An easy home check is the coin test: insert a coin into the tread grooves and see how much of the rim disappears. Modern tires also have built-in wear bars — small raised strips across the grooves — and when the tread is level with them, the tire is worn out. While you're down there, look for these warning signs:
Bulges and sidewall damage are the ones to take seriously right away. A bulge can mean the tire's internal structure has failed, and it can blow out without warning, so have a professional look at any tire that shows one rather than waiting.
Tires rarely wear evenly across all four positions, because the wheels that steer and drive work harder than the others. Rotating them at the interval in your manual — moving them around in the recommended pattern — spreads that wear out and helps the whole set last longer. It's a quick job for a shop to do while the car is in for a service, and a good habit to fold into your regular upkeep.
A monthly pressure check, plus one before any long drive, catches almost everything: a slow leak, a nail you picked up, tires drifting soft as the seasons cool. Keeping tires correct also helps the rest of the car run better and safer.
Correct tires are part of the bigger picture of upkeep, alongside your engine and brake fluids and the other small checks that keep a car healthy. Folding a tire check into a simple car maintenance schedule means it actually gets done, instead of being remembered only after a puncture.
Anything beyond routine checks — a persistent slow leak, vibration at speed, or wear that looks odd — is worth handing to a tire shop, which can spot alignment and balance problems you can't see from the driveway.
Carla believes basic car care shouldn't require a mechanic's paycheck or a mechanic's ego. She writes clear, safety-first guides to the maintenance any owner can handle in a driveway, and she's upfront about the limits — when a job needs a lift, a torque wrench, or a professional. Her aim is a car that starts every morning and costs you less to keep.
Keep reading
A simple, follow-the-manual car maintenance schedule covering monthly checks, periodic services, and seasonal tasks to keep your car safe and reliable.
Carla Mendez
Learn the sounds, pedal feel, and dashboard warnings that mean your brakes need attention, and why brake work is a job best left to a qualified mechanic.
Carla Mendez