As the seasons change, your car maintenance needs change, too. While you may need snow tires for winter and new wiper blades for spring, you should remember to check your tire pressure regularly, too. The outdoor temperature causes the pressure to drop or rise significantly, and monitoring the air levels can prevent issues on the road.

How Do Outdoor Temps Affect Tire Pressure?

Like any gas, air expands when heated and contracts during cooling. This means that during late fall or winter, your tire pressure may drop several pounds per square inch (psi) and stay that way for the season. Unless you check the pressure regularly, you could drive around for months on tires that are low on air. This reduces your fuel economy, makes the car more difficult to handle, causes uneven tread wear, and shortens the life of the tires.

Likewise, during hotter months, the air in the tires expands, and you could spend the whole summer with overinflated tires, which often leads to uneven tread wear. Worse, it reduces the surface area of rubber in contact with the road, which is a serious safety issue, and it poses a risk of bursting.

When Should You Check Your Air Pressure?

The recommended air pressure for your vehicle is listed in the car's owner's manual and normally printed on the sticker taped to the inside panel of the driver's door. This is the "cold" inflation number, so check your tires in the morning before you've driven and the tires are not yet warmed up. If your tires have low air pressure, drive to a nearby gas station and use their air tank. This type of car maintenance should be performed about once every two weeks, so you avoid long periods of driving on over- or underinflated tires.

Outdoor temperatures play an important role in tire pressure, especially during periods where the temperatures fluctuate frequently, so checking them regularly should be a part of your car maintenance routine. However, if one of your tires still seems to be losing too much air, you should have it checked for a slow leak. Contact All Around Auto Care, an experienced auto repair shop and towing service in Elizabethtown, KY. They've been serving customers in and around Hardin County for more than a decade, and they specialize in everything from a simple oil change to engine repair and transmission replacement. Visit their website to learn more about their services, and call (270) 737­-9954 to schedule a car maintenance appointment.