Tyre Pressure Gauges
Few people pay adequate attention to their tyres...don't be one of them.
Maintaining proper tyre pressure is essestial for your safety and budget. Properly inflated tyres can reduce treadware, improve handling for a smoother safer ride and provide you with better gas mileage than under inflated tyres.
It is therefore recommended that motorists check tyre pressures weekly. This frequency will normally allow slow punctures to be detected and repaired before the tyre sustains any permanent damage.
Why you need a DIY tyre pressure gauge instead of using tyre pressure pumps at filling stations
Many motorists rely on garage or filling station tyre pressure equipment. The problem with this apart from the cost is that pressures quoted in owners' handbooks, and those shown on pump-side charts, are for cold tyres. Motorists inevitably under inflate their tyres by setting them to the "cold" pressure when the tyre has been heated through being driven to a filling station.
Inflating heated tyres to "cold" levels can under-inflate them by between 12 and 15 per cent. This leads to a 2 per cent or so increase in fuel consumption and carbon emissions, even for diligent motorists who carry out weekly tyre checks at a filling station.
Advantages of DIY Tyre Pressure Gauges and Air Pumps
The biggest advantage is that you can check your typres at home, when they are cold, and set them to the correct pressure. You never have to deal with another 'out of order' filling station pumb again or be forced to stand in the path of traffic leaving the fuel forecourt. You also save money by not paying filling station pump charges, increasing tyre life and savings on fuel.
Initially you will need to invest in a good tyre pressure gauge but compared to costs at a filling station alone it will pay for itself in under a year and when you take into account the savings you make from not wasting fuel due to under-inflated tyres then the payback period is even shorter.
