5 Reasons Your Tires Keep Losing Air

Your tires play a critical role in your safety when driving your car. They can also affect everything from your car’s performance, handling and acceleration, and even braking and comfort. Because of all of the aspects your tire pressure affects, it should be no surprise that proper maintenance and checking your tire pressure should be a priority.

Unfortunately, many drivers forget to check the condition of their tires regularly. We’ve compiled five reasons why your car’s tires may be prematurely losing air.

Your tires are simply underinflated: This may seem a little obvious but it’s often a common reason why your tires pressure light has come on. Tires that are underinflated tend to run hotter than they should. This is because proper air pressure will keep the tire’s tread and sidewalls from bending. When they do, more tire surface comes in contact with the road and causes them to wear faster than they should be.

Your tires are too old: Tires are usually rated by mileage but many people assume their tires will last until they’ve driven that many miles. Fair enough, but there are other factors that play a role like how long the tires have been on your car and also what elements they have been exposed to. Tires that get more sunlight than others will tend to wear our faster because the overexposure to sunlight decreases the integrity of the rubber causing them to dry out faster.

Your tires have deteriorated: Piggybacking off of our last point, environmental factors can contribute towards your tire’s deterioration. Some of the most common culprits are the ozone, chemicals on the road like salt, and ultraviolet light. Tires in extremely hot and dry climate are at greater risk for faster deterioration like areas such as the southwest.

You’re overinflating your tires: Some people think it’s harmless to overinflate their tires but in reality, they could be doing more damage than good. A belief behind over inflation is often than it will increase their vehicles gas mileage but overinflation makes the tires more prone to exploding and shredding at higher speeds. It was also found that overinflating your tires does very little for improving gas mileage and you’re much better off inflating your tires to the proper recommending PSI.

Your tire is damaged: One of the most common reasons for premature deflation is that your tire is just damaged. It isn’t hard to run over a nail or something that punctures your tire. Many small objects can embed themselves in your tire causing a slow leak. Sometimes they can hide in your tire’s tread making it hard to find them.

If none of the five points above apply to you then have your car inspected by a professional. Bob’s Auto Repair is your neighborhood auto repair garage and we’d be happy to figure out any situation you may be experiencing with your vehicle. Have a question? Give us a call at (215) 343-1255.