How to Check and Adjust Tire Pressure

Checking your car’s tire pressure takes only a few minutes. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Use a good, well-maintained tire-pressure gauge. Don’t trust the gauge on a gas station’s air pump to be accurate.

2. Find out what the recommended pressure setting is for your car. This information is usually located on a placard or sticker in the driver’s-side doorjamb, inside the glove compartment or fuel-filler door. Also check your owner’s manual.

Typical inflation pressures range from 28 to 36 psi (pounds per square inch). Many placards also list the metric equivalent in "kPa" (Kilopascal).

Front- and rear-tire pressure may differ.

Important: Use the pressure recommended by your car’s manufacturer, not the "max pressure" figure found on the tire sidewall. The recommended pressure provides the best combination of performance, ride comfort, service life, and fuel economy.

3. Check the pressure when the tires are cold: after they’ve sat for at least three hours and before the car’s been driven more than a couple of miles. Tires heat up as a vehicle is driven, which increases the air pressure and makes it difficult to accurately assess any pressure change.

4. Check each tire by first removing the screw-off cap from each tire’s inflation valve. Be careful not to lose the caps, as they protect the valves.

5. Insert the end of the tire-pressure gauge into the valve and depress it. If you hear air escaping from the valve, push the gauge in further until it stops.

View the pressure reading. Some gauges can be removed to read the pressure value, but others must be held in place on the valve stem. Read the gauge instructions for proper use.

If the pressure is correct, simply retighten the valve cap.

6. Don’t forget to check the pressure of the spare tire. Space-saver "doughnut" spares often have high inflation pressures, usually 60 psi.