Tire pressure

mvela

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I've read that a tire's pressure changes about 1 psi for for every 10 degrees F change in ambient temperature. Not driving or having the sun beat down on them. Let's say the car has been sitting overnight in your shaded garage which is 70 degrees F and the tires measure 32 psi. You go back later in he day when it's hot & the garage is now 90 degrees & the tires will be about 2 psi higher.

I have heard that tire pressure should not increase by more than 10% when hot from driving. If it increases by more that means the tires are overheating due to under inflation. I don't usually check my tires when hot, but my other car's TPMS system gives individual pressure readouts & it does increase about 3-4 degrees after driving awhile.
Well most of our civics came from the factory with the wheels filled with nitrogen. Nitrogen really doesn’t change with temperature because it is dry. It’s the moisture in the air that expands and retracts with temperature. This is why most people want nitrogen in their tires. I know both mine and my girlfriends car have nitrogen and tire pressure doesn’t change
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Well most of our civics came from the factory with the wheels filled with nitrogen. Nitrogen really doesn’t change with temperature because it is dry. It’s the moisture in the air that expands and retracts with temperature. This is why most people want nitrogen in their tires. I know both mine and my girlfriends car have nitrogen and tire pressure doesn’t change
Yes, nitrogen is great for maintaining tire pressure but it'll eventually leak out (small amount) through the sidewall over the course of a year. I prefer nitrogen also if it's free but it's not convenient to visit dealer/Costco just for airing up every year (vs airing up myself on my driveway). The air we breathe in contains 78% nitrogen anyway.

Honda Civic 10th gen Tire pressure upload_2019-6-9_16-35-5
 

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Yes, nitrogen is great for maintaining tire pressure but it'll eventually leak out (small amount) through the sidewall over the course of a year. I prefer nitrogen also if it's free but it's not convenient to visit dealer/Costco just for airing up every year (vs airing up myself on my driveway). The air we breathe in contains 78% nitrogen anyway.

upload_2019-6-9_16-35-5.png
Going to Costco once a year is not that big a deal, and even if your Dealer claims they will top up your tires with Nitrogen, that's just so they can find something else to bill you for.

We topped up the Nitrogen at Costco in the Fall, when it was starting to get cold.

Now it is Summer, morning tire pressures before driving have only crept up a little to 36.
If it gets a lot hotter, we might let a little out, and then get them topped up again after the fall, for the winter,

It takes literally less than 5 minutes at Costco, for them to top up the tires.
Less time than it take to fill the car with gas.

Maybe one reason that i this works well for me, is that I have a Direct Reading TPMS system fitted, so I know at any time exactly what each tire pressure is, and do not have to keep checking them, and potentially losing "AIR" -0- so I do not have to mess about in the driveway, checking the air every Months or so.

But each to their own.. everyone should do what they feel comfortable doing, and then be accountable for their own actions. :drive:
 

mvela

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Yes, nitrogen is great for maintaining tire pressure but it'll eventually leak out (small amount) through the sidewall over the course of a year. I prefer nitrogen also if it's free but it's not convenient to visit dealer/Costco just for airing up every year (vs airing up myself on my driveway). The air we breathe in contains 78% nitrogen anyway.

upload_2019-6-9_16-35-5.png
Yes that is true but when you use air it puts moisture in your tires. Most air compressors do not have dryers so that moisture gets put directly into your tire. That moisture is what expands when heated and condenses when cooled. If you could have dry air put in your tire then it would be just as affective as nitrogen but that’s usually not the case
 

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Yes that is true but when you use air it puts moisture in your tires. Most air compressors do not have dryers so that moisture gets put directly into your tire. That moisture is what expands when heated and condenses when cooled. If you could have dry air put in your tire then it would be just as affective as nitrogen but that’s usually not the case
Shops & dealers usually have some type of air line drier system to keep moisture out of air tools & especially paint guns. I have a cheap water separator on my small air compressor but it doesn't seem to do anything. I've wondered if Discount Tires has any type of air line drier to keep their impact guns dry because I thought about there. Last winter when cold weather hit they had a line of 6-8 cars waiting to get tires checked or topped off.

I know a nitrogen filled tire is not suppose to change pressure as much as an air filled one, but it's difficult to comprehend that that the 22% oxygen in an air filled tire is causing that much of a pressure difference.between hot & cold.

Since my other car has the direct reading TPMS, I use that as sort of a reference. If it's tire pressures change due to weather I figure the Civic ones probably are too & I check both cars with a real tire gauge.
 


mvela

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Shops & dealers usually have some type of air line drier system to keep moisture out of air tools & especially paint guns. I have a cheap water separator on my small air compressor but it doesn't seem to do anything. I've wondered if Discount Tires has any type of air line drier to keep their impact guns dry because I thought about there. Last winter when cold weather hit they had a line of 6-8 cars waiting to get tires checked or topped off.

I know a nitrogen filled tire is not suppose to change pressure as much as an air filled one, but it's difficult to comprehend that that the 22% oxygen in an air filled tire is causing that much of a pressure difference.between hot & cold.

Since my other car has the direct reading TPMS, I use that as sort of a reference. If it's tire pressures change due to weather I figure the Civic ones probably are too & I check both cars with a real tire gauge.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a3894/nitrogen-in-tires/
 

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The truth is that it's always better to overinflate, certainly if the car is to be loaded. If you inflate to the car only to the specified pressures, you will be always riding on underinflated tires unless you check and pump it up very often, before the pressure drops by any significant amount. The maximum tire pressure specified on the tire is nowhere near the tire burst pressure. At least so they say.

https://www.cartalk.com/content/it-possible-burst-tire-too-much-air-pressure-find-out

After a long drive on overinflated tires you might end up with a lower pressure than on underinflated tires....

As for nitrogen... it's actually cheap and quick if I could keep a 6000 psi tank in my garage. There is some investment though in the tank/pressure regulator.
But that would be still too much trouble for a tiny benefit. Instead, think of any nice dry day as a great time to inflate your tires....
 
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Good article & interesting that "Both air and nitrogen respond similarly to The Ideal Gas Law". It's been a long time since I took chemistry & physics.

I am concerned about moisture in the tires. One of my other cars had alloy wheels & after many years one started having a slow leak due to corrosion & pitting around the bead. Then 6-12 months later another acted up. The tire shop would wire brush the rim & initially would apply a black sealer. They did this a couple times. After a while they stopped using sealer & said it caused more problems by trapping moisture. Maybe, but it held up for about a year for me each time.

Guess I need to buy a new car more often.
 

latole

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My tire pressure monitor went off so I check my pressure.

The sticker on the door indicates 32PSI, Seems the dealer filled each tire to 41PSI. Do they know something I don't?
Next issue ; with your oil change ; dealer will forget to put under shield bolts.
 


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My tire pressure monitor went off so I check my pressure.

The sticker on the door indicates 32PSI, Seems the dealer filled each tire to 41PSI. Do they know something I don't?
NO, DEALER did NOTHING !!

They should have set the pressure after delivery to them , to the correct pressure -- as well as many other post-delivery checks.

Cars are transported to the dealer with higher Tyre pressures so they can chain them down to the transporter bed more firmly.

SO, it was something the Dealer failed to do .. BIG SURPRISE !!!
 

ladysi

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Dealer can't even wash a car right, so there's that.
I just took my car to the dealer, and against my wishes washed my car. I had just washed it and painstakingly dried it to make sure there were no water spots.

When I picked up my vehicle...a thousand tiny dried water spots of grime and soap were all over my car. Ugh. Fuckers.

Next time I will show up with my "I want to speak to a manager face" just in case they pull this shit again.
 

mvela

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I just took my car to the dealer, and against my wishes washed my car. I had just washed it and painstakingly dried it to make sure there were no water spots.

When I picked up my vehicle...a thousand tiny dried water spots of grime and soap were all over my car. Ugh. Fuckers.

Next time I will show up with my "I want to speak to a manager face" just in case they pull this shit again.
Yeah because water spots can damage the paint if left in the sun and bake into the paint. I would be pissed off to
 

ladysi

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Yeah because water spots can damage the paint if left in the sun and bake into the paint. I would be pissed off to
Yep. I should make em pay for a wrap or full paint job. That is one way to get my [desired] matte black look :)
 
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mvela

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Yep. I should make em pay for a wrap or full paint job. That is one way to get my matte black look :)
Matte black would look badass. I don’t think I’ve seen anybody do that yet
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