Today I am going to be taking a look at the best time to check and inflate your car tires. Many people have been asking for advice about tire inflation and how often you should check things out. I’m going to give the best advice that I can while also looking at things from a practical point of view. You can read on to discover everything that you need to know.

Best Time to Check Tire Pressure

If you want to get the best results, then you should try to check your tires once per month. There are many people who wind up checking the air pressure in their tires more often than this, though. This is just a good general rule for checking your tire pressure. If you ensure that you’re checking on things monthly, then you should be able to keep things driving smoothly and safely.

Just remember that you should take the time to check your tires at least this often. If you go too long without checking the air pressure in your tires, then there’s a good chance that you’ll be driving around with tires that aren’t inflated properly. This can wind up leading to many different issues, like noise. If you don’t take care of things, then it could even lead to a car accident.

Checking your air pressure isn’t something that should take a lot of time. You should be able to check everything out in a matter of minutes so long as you know what you’re doing. Driving on tires that aren’t inflated right is never going to be a good idea. You need to make sure that you’re inflating your tires often enough to keep yourself safe.

When to Inflate Your Tires

There is no specific time for when your tires need to be inflated. If you check your tires and they need to be inflated, then you need to take the time to inflate them. This is luckily going to be as simple as it sounds. You just want to follow the above advice and check your tires often enough.

You’ll also encounter situations where you should check your tires more often. Once per month may be a good general rule to follow but it might not wind up being perfect for you. If you run over something and suspect a leak, then you might need to check your tires to see if anything is amiss. Likewise, if you notice that your car is driving oddly, then you should check the air pressure situation in your tires.

You should also check and inflate your tires before going on long trips to be safe. If you’re planning a road trip that will have you driving multiple hours in a row, then you’ll definitely want to make sure that you can count on your tires. Taking the time to check things out ahead of time could mean the difference between a safe journey and complications. Always err on the side of caution when it comes to checking and inflating your tires.

How to Check the Tire Pressure Properly

It’s also good to point out that you need to check your tires properly to get a good reading. Some people think they know how to check the air pressure in their tires but they aren’t actually doing it right. Thankfully, I should be able to explain everything to you fairly easily. Follow this advice to make sure that you’re going about things in the right way.

Find the Proper Inflation Levels for Your Tires

So many people make the mistake of judging whether or not their tires are inflated properly just by looking at them. This is not going to be a good way of keeping yourself safe out on the road. Your tires could be pretty far off of their ideal inflation levels without you really being able to tell. It isn’t always easy to spot things with the naked eye so don’t think that you can inflate your tires to the right level without first finding out what the recommended levels are.

The recommended tire pressure is determined by your vehicle and not the maximum tire pressure of the tire itself. This means that you shouldn’t be paying attention to the side markings of the tire. Instead, you need to take a gander at the sticker that should be present near your driver-side door jamb. This should list some information such as the weight restrictions of your vehicle and the recommended tire pressure.

Once you’ve located this information, you should be able to inflate your tires properly. If you don’t have the right information handy, then you can likely use a search engine to research the make of your car. The recommended tire pressure for your specific car should be easy enough to find online. Just make sure to do this before proceeding with inflation.

Always Use a Tire Pressure Gauge

Always remember to use a tire pressure gauge too. A good tire pressure gauge will be able to give you an accurate PSI reading for your tire. There are several different types of tire pressure gauges on the market. The cheapest gauges are going to be very affordable and even the fancier digital gauges are quite cost-effective.

You don’t want to just fill your tires with air until they look good to you. Make sure that you actually use the tire pressure gauge to fill them to the recommended levels. You want your tires to be even so that you can have a smooth ride. Taking the time to do things right is always going to make a difference.

The Car Temperature Needs to Be Considered Too

You shouldn’t check your tire pressure as soon as you’ve gotten done driving. Temperature actually plays a role in the PSI readings that you’ll be getting. If you’ve been driving on a hot road, then you might not get the best reading until things have cooled down. This is why experts recommend checking your tire pressure when it is cooler outside.

If it’s summertime and you want to get an accurate reading, then you should check your tires in the morning when it’s still cool. Also, you’ll want to check your tires a little more often in the autumn and winter. Hotter weather can cause tire pressure to go up by as much as one PSI for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that your tire pressure might be lower during the cooler months.

You can still stick to the once-per-month formula of checking your tires if you’d like to. Just keep in mind that temperature does play a role in your tire pressure readings. You also need to keep in mind that tire pressure will build during longer trips due to the tires getting hot and being constantly used. Things will even out so you don’t need to worry about this.

Don’t Forget to Check Your Spare Tire’s Pressure

It’s actually going to be a good idea to check the air pressure on your spare tire as well. This is actually something that many people forget about. Your spare tire is supposed to be there for you when you need it. If the tire doesn’t have the proper pressure when you’re trying to put it on after getting a flat, then you might wind up being out of luck.

When you check your tire pressure each month, take the time to examine your spare tire. This is not going to take you much longer to do and it’ll save you from encountering certain problems. No one wants to go to change a tire while on the side of the highway only to find that the spare is also flat. You can prevent this from happening by simply planning ahead.

It might be a nuisance to do this at first but keeping your spare tire inflated to the proper level is useful. This could bail you out in a bad situation. You’ll be happy that you did this the next time that you get a flat on the road and need to put the spare on.

Keep Your Tires in Check

Knowing what to expect when it comes to tire pressure will make you feel safer on the road. Doing your part to check your tires often will keep you driving as smoothly as possible. It doesn’t take a long time to check your tires and it’s certainly worthwhile to do. Just remember to do things right and you’ll have a good overall experience.

Your tires are such an important part of your car. You truly rely on your tires to get you where you need to go and to keep you rolling down the road. Buy a good tire pressure gauge and check things out once per month. As long as you do things properly, everything should turn out just fine.

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• Why Are My Tires Wearing on the Inside?

The post When Is the Best Time to Check and Inflate Your Car Tires? appeared first on Car Roar.

In this article, I am going to be talking about how to go about cleaning your windshield wipers. I will also discuss how you can recondition your wiper blades to make things as easy as possible. All of this information is going to come in handy. You will be able to refer to this guide if you are unsure of what to do and will stay safer on the road because of it.

Wiper Cleaning Tips

Cleaning your wiper blades will be a very simple thing to do. You want to take the time to do this every so often to avoid having your wiper blades leave streaks on your windshield. Wiper blades that are not clean are not going to work well, even if you spray a bunch of wiper fluid. You need to get in there and clean them off properly.

Preparing to Clean Your Wiper Blades

To do this, you simply need to grab a few common supplies. You will need a few washcloths or a roll of paper towels. You should also get a bucket of hot soapy water as well as some rubbing alcohol. Once you have all of these, you will be ready to start cleaning.  

In addition, you may want to consider washing your car ahead of cleaning the blades. It can help you to avoid getting more dirt or grime on your nice clean wiper blades. Take your car to an automatic car wash, or give it a good cleaning yourself. It won’t take long, and it is a task that pairs nicely with cleaning your blades.

Start the Cleaning Process

To start cleaning your wiper blades, you just need to lift your wiper blades away from the windshield. Use some of your hot soapy water to start wiping down the edges of your wiper blades. Try to wipe the blades down as thoroughly as you can. It will likely take several times of wiping to remove all of the built-up grime.  

You should also go ahead and wipe down the hinged areas of your wiper blades. It will not take too long to do this, and it is just good to eliminate all of the dirt that you can from your car. A little bit of soapy water and one of your clean rags will do the trick.  

Now grab your rubbing alcohol, and use it to wipe the edge of the wiper blade. Use a fresh rag or paper towel for this part. The purpose of this is to remove any soapy residue that may be lingering from the cleaning process. It will ensure that the rubber on your wiper blades is completely clean and ready to start being used again.

How Often Should You Clean Your Wiper Blades?

Knowing how often you should clean your wiper blades will be very beneficial. For the best results, you should clean your wiper blades once every month. It keeps the dirt or grime from building up too much. You will be able to rely on your wiper blades when you truly need them, and it will be a better overall situation. 

You should also know that experts recommend that you change your wiper blades either every six months or every year. This depends on the type of wiper blades that you are using as well as other factors. Your wiper blades do have a shelf life and will wear down over time. Even so, the cleaning process and the restoration that I will discuss later can help to extend the life of your blades a good bit.

Restoring Wiper Blades When the Rubber Hardens

It is important to understand how to go about restoring your wiper blades when the rubber has hardened. This is going to be a good thing to do that will let you keep using the blades for a bit longer. Hard rubber is really going to make it so that your wiper blades won’t work well at all. Luckily, it is possible to soften the rubber so that it can work as it was originally intended.  

Softening the rubber is not going to be difficult at all. You just need to grab a few washcloths, some petroleum jelly, and a bottle of vinegar. Once you have these items, you will be ready to get started.

Softening the Rubber

Grab the necessary items, and then lift your wiper blades away from the windshield. Apply a little bit of vinegar to your washcloth, and wipe it along the length of your wiper blades. Two or three gentle passes should be enough to allow the rubber to soak up the vinegar. Now you want to grab another washcloth and wet it down with some water. 

Using the new washcloth with water on it, you need to wipe the length of your wiper blades again. The purpose of this is to remove any excess vinegar. With this done, you can grab a dry washcloth. Now you need to dry the wiper blades as gently as you can. 

The next step involves using the petroleum jelly. You want to apply some of this petroleum jelly to a cloth and wipe it along the rubber parts of your wiper blades. Try to ensure that the rubber soaks up the petroleum jelly properly. You want to let the petroleum jelly dry naturally using the air, so step away once you are finished. 

You can now lower your wiper arms and the rubber of the blades should be softened. This will allow the wiper blades to work much better than they did when the rubber was hard. You should be prepared for rain, and it will be much easier to see while driving.

General Wiper Blade Maintenance Tips

Now that you know how to clean your wiper blades, it is a good idea to look into some general maintenance tips. This is going to help you solve some common problems that people encounter with their wiper blades. If you can fix these issues, then it will really improve your time on the road. You will find that these fixes are pretty easy, and you do not have to be a car buff to be able to make use of them.

How to Fix Chattering Wipers

Have you ever heard your wiper blades chattering against your windshield while you are driving down the road? This can be a bit of an annoyance and is also bad for your wipers. When they are making noises like this, it means that they are not working properly. Chattering wiper blades will leave streaks and are generally going to be inefficient.  

Luckily, this can often be fixed by using the cleaning methods above. Try cleaning your blades to see if it fixes the problem. If that doesn’t work, then you are likely dealing with a bent wiper blade arm. You can determine if this is the case by examining the blades while they are in motion.  

Bring the wiper blade up until it is in the middle of its stroke. Now take a look at the blades to see how the blade arms are positioned. The arm should be parallel to the glass and the blades themselves should be touching the windshield. If it is in a different position, then you are going to need to bend it back into place.  

This can be accomplished by using a simple pair of pliers. You need to carefully use your pliers to give the arm a twist and get it back to the recommended parallel position. Once this is accomplished, your chattering problems should be a thing of the past. There could be other causes for the chattering, but this is the most common fix.

Avoid Using Wiper Blades to Clear Ice

If you live in a place that gets regular snowfall during the winter, then you likely know what it is like to have your wiper blades frozen. Many people wind up clearing the ice just enough to use the wiper blades in an attempt to clear the windshield. Ice is actually really bad for your wipers. You should do your best to clear your windshield yourself using a traditional ice scraper and good windshield de-icer.  

The best thing to do is to make use of your car’s defrost setting. This will heat things up, and it will make it easier to clear the ice away manually. You do not want to try to force your wipers to do this work. You also want to remove all ice from your wipers during the winter months. Don’t let your wipers stay caked with ice chunks, or they are not going to last you very long.

Try to Keep Your Wiper Blades out of the Sun

It is also beneficial to try to keep your wiper blades out of the sun. Many people do not realize how damaging the sun can be for wiper blades. In particularly hot areas, the sun is going to cause wiper blades to dry out and crack. This can be prevented by being smart about where you are parking your vehicle.  

When possible, it is a good idea to park your car in the garage. If you do not have a garage, then parking in some type of shady spot is going to be the next best thing. It can protect your windshield wipers a bit, allowing them to remain usable for longer. Try to be mindful of this when going out shopping, too, and pick your parking spots accordingly.

Refill Your Fluid Often

It is also important to remember to refill your fluid often. This may not be something that you are physically doing to the wiper blades, but it is important for their operation. If you wind up not having wiper fluid, then you will not be able to use the wiper blades properly. When your car gets splashed with muck from the road, you need that fluid to wipe things away neatly. 

Take the time to check your wiper fluid as often as you can. You should always go ahead and refill it if it looks low. In addition, you want to make sure that you are using the proper mixture for the current weather conditions. You need to have the right ratio of antifreeze and wiper fluid. 

As long as you are proactive about this, you can avoid many problems. It is simply something to keep in mind when you are looking to take care of your wiper blade situation.

Change Your Blades When Necessary

All of the tips that I have listed above will be very helpful. Even so, you are going to have to change out your wiper blades when necessary. No wiper blades are going to last forever, even when they are made very well. It is important to change out your wiper blades every six months or at least once per year. 

You can use the above tips to keep your wiper blades working well during that period of time. The methods can even extend the life of your wiper blades somewhat. Just know that you are going to need to replace them eventually. Try not to wait too long to change your blades so that you can avoid any potential problems. 

As long as you make use of the above advice properly, you will be in good shape. It is going to be far easier to maintain good visibility while out on the road. You will be ready to deal with significant rainfall and won’t have to fret about anything. Just be reasonable about your expectations, and commit to checking on your wiper blades every month to keep them in the best shape possible.

RELATED POSTS:

• How to Fix Windshield Wipers That Stopped Working
• How to Stop Windshield Wipers Chattering or Juddering

The post How to Clean and Recondition Wiper Blades (Maintenance Tips) appeared first on Car Roar.