How To Learn And Teach Checking Car Tyre Pressure

 Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
You need to check tyre pressure. How often? Every couple of weeks. Or when you notice there's a problem.

Overinflated tyres are not pliable. They won't grip, lose traction, especially if in the wet, which is dangerous. If you over inflate tyres, the base will balloon, so centres wear more.

If tyres are under inflated, the tyres are all squishy. You lose manoeuvrability. The car doesn't want to turn; you can feel it. In either case, the tread is not presented to the road properly,

In the UK the spelling is tyre, to distinguish the noun, car tyre, from the verb, to tire out the driver. In the USA, the car tire is spelled like that, simplified spelling introduced by Webster, author of Webster's dictionary. He gets the credit or blame for making American spelling easier.

Problem

In London we drove our car into a garage so my husband could check the car tyre pressure. A woman jumped out of the car ahead and checked her car tyre pressure. She didn't look bigger and stronger than me.

I thought to myself: 'It doesn't take long. You don't need to be a twenty stone body builder. I should learn this. Next time my husband is away on business, or I am driving somewhere alone, or God forbid, I am left divorced or a widow, I shall need to do this.'

I remember the day after my mother died, my widowed father phoned and asked, "Where are the egg cups? I can't find them." In the month afterwards, I kept thinking, "If only my mother had taught him, shown him, how to ..."

Regarding the car, and all my household machines, I need to ask for advice on all those little tasks, whilst I have a spouse around to help me, before he disappears on his next business trip or mountain climb. The same applies to you, your parents, your children, your friends, your family, your colleagues, your pupils, everybody.

So I asked my husband, "How do I check car tyre pressure?"

"First, you pull up next to the tyre guage and the pump which corrects the shortfall. In the Waitrose garage in South Harrow the tyre guage is free. (But the petrol is more expensive.) At other places the tyre pressure check costs 50p, but the petrol is cheaper.

"You check what your car tire pressure should be. This is usually on a small metal plate visible when you open the driver's door."

If it is, I bet most people, passengers, have never noticed, never looked, never bothered to read what it says. Go around your car and check all the useful information written all over it. What does it say? What does it mean?

CHECKING HOUSEHOLD GOODS
The same applies to everything in your house. Where is the number of the washing machine, the microwave? What temperature should your fridge be and how do you adjust the temperature? Check the control hasn't slipped or been nudged or fiddled with by an adult or child.

Take pictures of everything. First the entire item, then close up of the position of the plaque with number, then a close up of the numbers. Store them. Print, them. Share them. Remember where they are and what they say.

At the beginning and end of every year, and mid-year, go through your list to remind yourself. If you own a vehicle or a property, note all the items. Then when your son or daughter or tenant phones and asks, "Mum, Dad what do I need to do about ..." you can instantly say, "You'll find the number on ..."

Check everything is in order before taking a major trip, or sending a member of your family or an employee on a trip. Fill up with petrol, check tire pressure.

TYRE PRESSURE
Why does tire pressure matter?

What To Do
(Old style machine had a pressure guage in the nozzle. But now you set the pressure in advance on the main unit.)

A portable pump you carry on a motorbike, scooter, pushbike, is all in one, different construction. If you buy a portable pump it comes with instructions.

Let us go back to the car tire machine at the garage (in the UK called a p e t r o l station, in the USA called a gas station).
Set the pressure number on the machine. (For example, the target might be 36.)
Pull out the extending cable. Unscrew anti-clockwise the cap on the tire. Screw on the cable,  (Screw up clockwise.)

Watch the guage on the machine. The target number on many bikes and cars is 36.
So the number after you have linked the tyre and machine may read something less if your tyre needs pumping up. When the number starts at, for example 30, it jumps to 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36. When it reaches 36 there is a click sound and it jumps and stops.

It turns itself off. All you have to do is disconnect.

The air won't leak out. There's a one way valve hidden inside. The black bit you unscrewed is just a dust cap removed.

(The pressure is relative to air pressure, 0 in a tire is the same as air pressure - which is fifteen, so plus 36 is really 36 +15 but nobody thinks of it like that.)

Over inflation could make your car tyres wear in the centre. (So we were told in the written report when a car went in for the MOT and service.)

Finally, replace the cap on the tyre. Job done. For that tyre. But you have to check all of the tyres. Carry on the good work. Fourth tyre done? You have finished.

Unless you have a spare tyre in the boot, which Americans call the trunk. You have to check that as well, but not so often.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.