Best Practices -Dealing with Tire Pressure During the Cold Months
When winter comes, your equipment has to be ready for extremely low temperatures and harsh outdoor conditions. The cold isn't just tough on your engine and components, it can also make it difficult to maintain optimal tire pressure.
Check Your Tire Pressure
Underinflated tires decrease the efficiency of your machines, leading to worse fuel economy and increased wear. To ensure your tires are properly inflated, you should check tire pressure regularly when the temperature changes. Visual inspections don't cut it, because often tires will look correctly inflated even when they aren't. Use a tire pressure gauge to get an accurate pressure reading.
Always Measure at Working Temperature
It's important to always measure your tire pressure in the conditions you'll be working in. It's no use taking a pressure reading in a warm shop if you're going to be working outside in 20 degree weather. To take an accurate reading of how your tire pressure will look in the cold, measure it in the cold.
Slowly Warm Your Tires Up
If your machine has been parked out in the freezing temperatures overnight, then you need to get it ready for the day's work slowly. Frigid temperatures can cause the contact surface of the tires to go flat against the cold or frozen ground, misshaping the tire. When first using the machine after it's been sitting, move slowly so the tires roll gently and gradually regain their proper shape.
Try Using Nitrogen
Nitrogen doesn't react as much as air does to cold temperatures, meaning filling your tires with it will help protect them from large pressure fluctuations. There's no added risk of combustion and nitrogen actually prevents ice crystals from forming that could hold open the tire's valve stem. Whether using air or nitrogen, always fill the tire to the manufacturer's recommended PSI.
Watch out for warm temperatures, too
Once temperatures begin to warm, be careful that your tires don't overinflate. Tires with too much air experience irregular wear, which can shorten their lifespan. Especially during the fall and spring when the weather is going back and forth from warm to cold, check your tire pressure at least weekly and anytime there is a large temperature swing. Regularly measuring tire pressure will ensure you're always working at optimal pressure.