How frequently do you put air in your tyres?

[Trygowithflow]

I remember my driving instructor saying to check tyres every 2 weeks. Do people actually do this?

I don't usually check that often.
Over the years, it's depended on the car, and the amount of driving I do. If I've checked every 3 or 4 weeks ad they've never gone down, then I would check less often.
I do usually check before going on a longer drive.

Depends how old the car and the tyres are. On my old car (a 2005 ford) I'd check and fill them every 8 weeks or so but on my new car (a 2015 citroen) I havent checked or filled since I bought it in Aug 2019

Erm, I last checked mine before we went on our summer holidays. Think I need to check them again don’t I?

We are crap and only do it before long holidays with loads of driving, or if the vehicle is unusually loaded.

Never it gets checked once a year when it’s serviced.

Not very often... maybe every 3 months? Which I know is really bad. Apart from the time my friend pointed out one looked a bit flat (it was) then I got a bit obsessive for a while once it was fixed!
If I am going on a super long drive (like a full day or more) I will though as I live somewhere with big distances between towns and where I can be pretty remote
Definitely not every 2 weeks

On my old cars every time I put fuel in unless it was raining! I do high mileage though.
My more recent electric cars have a system thing that tells you the tyre pressures and when they need air which is much more convenient . They need doing pretty infrequently-only a few times a year.

Oh god. I've not done mine since ex left 3 years ago.

They flat. I have no idea what to do with them nor how to fix it! I really need to 😳

It's very easy atomic. You need to look up what pressure they are supposed to be at - this will be in your car's manual, or if you don't have one, Google the make, model and build year and 'tire pressure', you'll find it.

Then drive to a petrol station, pull up to the air/water pumps, set the pump to the pressure you found in the manual (there are instructions on the pump), and put a pound or whatever it charges in the machine. Then you take the nozzle off and take it to each wheel in turn - take the cap off the valve in the wheel, put the nozzle on, and the machine will automatically keep going until the tire is at the right pressure. It'll beep, you take the nozzle off, put the cap back on, and move to the next wheel. Do all 4, job done!

I check mine when I realise the car's driving like a garden shed. Happens every 4-6 weeks.

Thank you! That is exactly the sort of explanation I needed. I was 'not allowed' to do this stuff by him, so there's loads I just don't know how to do. Thank you so much. I'm going to try over the weekend x

Atomic, first of all have a look on your door sill. Theres often a sticker there with the pressures on. Much easier than faffing with the manual!

I try to check once a month ish. You can buy a tyre compressor for around twenty quid which plugs into lighter socket. Easier than faffing at garage.

@atomicnotsoblonde There’s often a sticker on the inside of you car door frame that tells you

m.youtube.com/watch?v=vvZKIWpEhiA

There are LOADS of YouTube clips showing you huw to do it

This shows why it’s important to keep your pressure at the right level. It’s unsafe not to and it wears your tyres out much more quickly (because they’re running in bits of the tyre that’s not supposed to have contact with the ground - like walking on the sides of your shoes, not the soles)

Take some hand wipes it’s a messy job!

Phew, just answers I needed! Have been leaving it months but having the guilt. Thanks all.

I did it today! So glad I did. They should have been 31 but ranged from 8 - 17 😳 thanks for the help, I've got this now going forwards.

I did it today! So glad I did. They should have been 31 but ranged from 8 - 17 😳 thanks for the help, I've got this now going forwards.

I'm glad, those are scarily low. Check them again in a week's time to ensure you haven't got any slow punctures. I've no desire to scare you but with tyre pressures that low, it's putting yourself and others at not inconsiderable risk.

These checks should be done fortnightly by anyone driving a car www.kwik-fit.com/blog/5-car-maintenance-checks-you-should-do-regularly.

I do mine once a week, I cover about 1000 miles a week though.

Depends how old the car and the tyres are. On my old car (a 2005 ford) I'd check and fill them every 8 weeks or so but on my new car (a 2015 citroen) I havent checked or filled since I bought it in Aug 2019

The age of the car makes no difference to the tyre pressures though.

My car has a low pressure tyre indicator on the dashboard, this can illuminate every two weeks. Bloody pot holes in my area don't help, they are a joke.

Thanks for the link. It turned out I didn't have any oil either. I genuinely didn't know what I had to do, let alone know to do this so often. I'm going to be much better at this going forwards.

Mostly when my sensors tell me a tyre might be getting flat, but also when they look a little low.

Check your pressures regularly. Remember the tyres are the only things connecting you and your car to ground, probably the most important thing from a safety perspective. If finances are a concern, running on low pressures also decreases fuel efficiency, you will spend more on fuel.

Pop into a garage get a token for the machine, unscrew the caps off the valves and screw the pressure gauge on. It will have the pressures on the sticker on the inside of the car door frame. If in doubt...if its below 10psi then its most likely needing air, badly! If you are feeling brave you can order compressors off amazon for about 30 quid that you plug into the cigarette lighter socket and do the same thing. Whatever you do don't wait till you do that one long journey once a year, flat tyres will damage the rubber, potentially making them unsafe.

Remember, tyres keep you on the road, on motorways you are hurtling along at 70mph, keep them in good shape! :-)

Once or twice a month usually, pot holes round here are to be seen to be believed and with all the rain it's not always possible to see/avoid them.