What Is the Relationship Between Tire Pressure and Temperature?
Temperature and altitude are the two biggest factors that can significantly affect the tire pressure. You should have done regular maintenance of your car tire if you live in a city where you can go up and down hundreds of feet in altitude within a couple of hours or go from 35 to 80 degrees just within a week! Learn what the relationship between tire pressure and temperature as well as tire pressure and altitude is and how these two things can affect your car tires.
Tire Pressure and Temperature
There’s a proportional relationship between tire pressure and temperature. The air in a tire expands with an increase in temperature, which means an inflation of the air pressure. On the other hand, a tire gets flatten in cold temperature because it reduces the pressure of air.
So, change of temperatures can make your tire under or over inflated, quickening the process of wearing of tires.
Tire Pressure and Altitude
The right air pressure inside a tire depends on the air pressure in the outside environment. Driving your car to an area with a different altitude means there’s a change in the external air pressure around the tires.
An increased altitude means less resistance from the air, which results in increasing the pressure level within the tires. Similarly, a drop in the altitude will create a vice versa effect. So, don’t forget to adjust the air pressure to the right level when you go somewhere that has a different altitude level.
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How to Determine the Correct Tire Pressure?
You can find out the standard tire pressure of your car by measuring the car’s weight and size of the tires. Look into your vehicle’s manual and see what’s written in there as the right pressure of the tires.
You can measure the pressure by yourself with a gauge or take the vehicle to your local gas station to have it checked by a mechanic. The unit for measuring the pressure is psi (pounds per square inch), and the standard air pressure at sea level is 14.7 psi.
Don’t forget to check the pressure if the temperature suddenly rises or falls, or if you drive somewhere where the altitude is different. You can also use a tire pressure and temperature monitoring system to have real-time data about your car’s tire pressure.
It’s important to keep a balance between tire pressure and temperature as well as altitude. Remember that an over or under inflated tire will wear very fast and can cause accidents too because it will be hard to have a proper grip on the roads.
