We bought this portable air compressor (MasterFlow Santa Ana High Volume Air Compressor MF-1035) from Pepboy recently. We used it on our little Toyota. It works (i.e., it does not burn the fuses.)
My S may buy a similar model to pump the tires on his Altima. Does anybody happen to use this kind of portable air compressor on a passenger car? Will it burn the fuse in your experience?
I usually tried to keep the tire pressure between 32 to 33 psi for a typical passenger car and a typical all season tire. (That is, I am too lazy to look up the recommended tire pressure from the “door” or the owner’s manual.)
I tend to be too lazy to check the tire pressure. (I know it is not safe.) So it is often the case my tire’s pressure could be as low as 26-28 psi. I am thinking of pumping the tire to 34-35 psi so that the tire pressure would not be too low most of the time. We drive the car likely only a few blocks a day. But still, I think we should check the tire pressure more frequently.
The only person I know who checks their tire pressure more often then at the oil changes is Happykid who has one tire with a slow leak that has resisted repair.
Over-inflation tends to result in a harsher ride and twitchy steering. Under-inflation softens both ride and steering but results in the tires running hotter than normal. With tires of a decent heat rating, 26-28 psi isn’t really low unless the vehicle’s loaded to the brim and you’re driving a long distance in very hot weather.
If you remember back to all the lawsuits about Ford Explorers blowing a tire and rolling over, the underlying cause was Ford specifying to Firestone (their oem tire supplier) tires of a certain cost (heat endurance plays into that), that Firestone built and specified an inflation psi for. An inflation pressure Ford later lowered, because it made the vehicle perform better on rollover tests. Fast forward to: an older vehicle, worn tires of a mediocre heat range, under-inflated by both design and lack of attention, running in South Texas in the heat of the summer, and carrying a good sized cargo of people and belongings. When they got hot enough, they popped.
And Mcat2…it takes all of two seconds to look for the recommended air pressure for your car in that door. Take the time. It sure beats damaging your tires or risking a blowout due to over inflation.
Several times in the past, when we brought our relatively new car to the dealer for a basic maintenance service, we were told that their mechanics are required to inflate the tires per the specification of the car. However, it seems they kind of told us that it is no harm to increase the psi a little bit if we do not mind the ride is a little bit harsher. This makes me wondering whether the specified psi may not be always the “best” for every owner. One thing I know for sure is that, if the car is overloaded, the tire pressure needs to be higher. In our situation, my main concern is that since I check the tire pressure so infrequently, I may want to inflate the tires to a slightly higher pressure so as to avoid the possibility of having the tire pressure well too low before I inflate the tires again. (I am fully aware that two wrongs : over-inflate the tire and do not inflate the tire when it is needed, may not make it right. This is a twisted logic on my part.) But fortunately, we drive very little and drive in a “mild” way. We does check the tire pressure before we have a slightly “long” trip - like driving (mostly) on an express way to the airport (which is 20 minutes from where we live.
A few psi over isn’t going to hurt but severe over-inflation (to the point it lessens the area in contact with the road) reduces traction to some degree.
A few pounds under isn’t a big deal, either. Not from a safety aspect. The problem with the Exploders was a combination of several things that all combined to make a tire with a poor temperature rating get hotter than it was designed to stand. The distances you’re traveling, you could probably run yours near flat.
