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Thanks, as you can tell I am not into bikes, I prefer the comfort of my tin raincoat.
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Totally pathetic! Why can't the driver read the handbook or the list of tyre pressures usually displayed by the air line? Why should somebody taking the money at the till, and probably on the legal minimum wage, have any knowledge about the tyre pressures of any car that drives in for fuel? I don't expect recipes and cooking advice at the supermarket checkout - I buy what I know how to cook and/or check out a cookery book when I get home!
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Quote: "what do I pump them up to?" "you'll find the tyre pressures marked on the side of the tyre"....
Scary advice but it's not really the till person's job to know - although all motorists should do really. It also surprises me that people even bother with the tyre air compressor at the petrol stations, given that most of them seem to charge you these days, you've got to mess around with that long awkward airline, and you've no idea how accurate that reading gauge is since it's been in frequent use and bashed around.
I check and top-up the pressure of my tyres (to the correct psi) every couple of weeks on the driveway with a tyre pressure gauge and a cheap mini air compressor (kept in the boot) which plugs in to the cig lighter socket. Makes it all simple, quick, and less of a chore.
The top 2 rated tyre pressure gauges on the Auto Express review link are superb as I've got them both - the Halfords Deluxe version, which I returned to store, seems really hard to get a reading without loads of air escaping first).
autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/66830/tyre_pressure_gauges.html
autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/204570/air_compressors_mini.html
Edited by Webmaster on 04/11/2007 at 17:33
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I thought the modern driving test would take this sort of basic knowledge into account. If you have to ask the cashier at a petrol station, you shouldn't have a licence anyway IMHO.
I wonder if she knows how to check the oil?
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I would bet money she doesnt. It amazes me that people will spend thousands on a car and not look after it with the most basic checks. Probably a dry dipstick or empty coolant expansion tank would be lost on them. Still, keeps the trade in work!
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Ours have it printed by the Nissan on the drivers side door post.
I believe it is part of the driving test. Where we were shown a couple of road signs in a card book at the end of the test now the Examiner can ask you one or two from a range of questions and you have to demonstrate your knowledge - where and how to check oil, other fluids, lights and so on - basically routine maintenance. Both my driving children were tested on these things in the drive in the weeks prior to their tests.
Some seem to think that you learn these things for the test and then forget them. After my journey this evening (New Forest to Brighton and back) I presume that now includes indicating if you are changing lanes, especially if you are doing 15 mph less than the lane you are pushing into .....
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Very few people RTFM (read the flippin' manual) these days for any equipment, not just cars.
I'm old-school so when I get a "new" car I put aside a couple of hours to read the manual and from then on can remember all the important things - tyre pressures normal, laden and towing - service intervals - meaning of warning lights, etc.
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I watched in amazement as a young female doctor put 55 psi in her VW Passat recently - I ventured a view that she didn't really want to do that and that both the fuel flap and handbook would give the correct rating.
Why I mention the fact that she was a doctor was she said that she'd never read the handbook ...I just hope she took a more dedicated view to her study.
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>>Why I mention the fact that she was a doctor was she said that she'd never read the handbook.
>>
My daughter (also a doctor ) has not read the handbook.
I am still trying to get her to wash her car, check the oil and tyres. :-((
In the meanwhile of course I have to check things cos I also drive it.
Nowt so strange as folk.
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Sorry, Paul but human beings don't come with a handbook.
All the books we have access to are written by other humans not our maker.
A bit like all Ford Fiesta handbooks being written by another Ford Fiesta. Would you trust them?
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Sorry Paul but human beings don't come with a handbook.
Maybe the next best thing....
tinyurl.com/32qs86
:-)
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A lady of my aquaintance complained of heavy steering, a quick check of the tyres showed all four about ten pounds below the hand book requirements. Her answer was that she had the car serviced every six months and they were looked at then. Needless to say anything under the bonnet came under the same regime.
My next door neighbour had a new BMW 318 and it seized up after a few months due to the oil level warning light failing. It did not seem to cross his mind that a weekly check might have saved him some grief.
It is worrying that so many people on the road seem to have a lack of understanding about these basic necessities.
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What do people think of the advice given on the Car Bible website www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg2.html on tyre pressures?
It took me by surprise.
Under the heading "What's the "correct" tyre pressure?", he says
"Lets just say a good starting point is the pressure indicated in the owner's manual, or the sticker inside the driver's side door pillar.I say 'starting point' because on every car I've owned, I've ended up deviating from those figures for one reason or another. . . . Having said this, I've given up using the door pillar sticker as my starting point and instead use the max.pressure-10% theory. ...from my experience it does seem to provide a better starting point for adjusting tyre pressures. So to go back to my Subaru Impreza example, the maximum pressure on my Yokohama tyres is 44psi. 10% of that is 4.4, so 44-4.4=39.6psi which is about where I ended up."
(I've abridged that a bit - you are probably better reading the full account on the site)
Edited by tyro on 22/11/2007 at 15:38
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I don't have a problem with simply sticking to the recommended pressures in the manual. I feel that actual pressures, as long as they are around about the recommended levels, are less important than having equal pressures on the 2 tyres on one axle. A discrepancy here can cause serious handling problems. I think that tyres inflated to max. pressure less 10% would be seriously over-inflated in normal use.
However, what annoys me is that so few manuals give wheel bolt tightening torques, especially when they harp on about how important it is to check these after a wheel has been replaced. I have a torque wrench and am capable of using it. A punter who does not know what to do with one wouldn't get into trouble by knowing the torque settings, so let us have them.
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Sainsburys' digital air pumps are free. Even better, because the pressure sensor is inside the unit it's pretty much idiot-proof.
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we always used to put 32 psi in every car tyre
customer...........what pressure have you put in my tyres
fitter................what do you normally put in?
customer..............31psi
fitter................thats what ive put in
customer.............my rear tyre is losing 2 psi a week
fitter.................what do you normally put in it?
customer..............31 psi
fitter.....................how come it has 42 psi in it then
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The driving licence is too easily available. Should have to ride a motorbike: that gets tyre pressures to the frontal lobes....
Edited by nortones2 on 22/11/2007 at 19:39
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Should have to ride a motorbike: that gets tyre pressures to the frontal lobes....
Literally, if you get them wrong.......
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Re Tyros link. The author seems to be mostly influenced by American habits and thought patterns. Thus, he does not consider that over inflating tyres in the interests of economy has a downside. But USA has few roads with bends. Pinch of salt, large, required, for this "Bible" IMHO!
Edited by nortones2 on 22/11/2007 at 21:18
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The author seems to be mostly influenced by American habits and thought patterns.
That would seem to be the case.
The link, by the way, is courtesy of Andy Bairsto, here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=44506
It is an interesting site, and most of it seems fine, but this advice on tyre pressures was so unusual that I was a bit gob-smacked.
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Carbon fibre! - please! ;-)
--
Fullchat
Edited by Fullchat on 22/11/2007 at 23:52
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High-speed, heavy load settings are the ones I always use. They use less petrol, the tyres squeal less easily and the wear rate is lower, while the less comfortable ride is hardly noticeable. Tubeless tyres on dodgy old rims tend to lose pressure fairly quickly. After a couple of weeks most cars need a tweak up on a couple of wheels at least.
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Mine run on the heavy loaded figures as well.
Many years ago (Late 80s) My sister's allegro seized on the M62 - No oil, the light on the dash had blown and she never checked it, an engine from a scrapyard went in it.
Last week did an oil change for my daughter (she is regularly questioned about oil and tyre pressures) and before I started the dipstick was dry. When I showed her she asked what would have happened . . . . . I think the thought of buying a replacement engine shocked her!
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Incorrect tyre pressures particularly too high leads to a reduced foot print and increased stopping distances. In an accident the Accident Investigation Team check the vehicle tyre pressures for manufactures compliance.
That said I was filling my car with fuel and observed a young lassie stood by her car with the tyre inflator attached, when I finished filling up she was still blowing up the same tyre, I ventured across to offer assistance, she was trying to infalte the tyre to 32 psi but was reading the 'Bar' scale so the tyre was at 3.2 Bar yep 47 Psi now that would have been like driving on ball bearings. Regards Peter
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