Discount Tire Locations - What Is The Cost of Air?

Discount Tire Locations - What Is The Cost of Air

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I use my car every day for business, I spend more time in my car than I do sleeping and I drive an average of 25,000 miles a year. Without my car I am unemployed, there can be no down time. That said, I have four boys who each own their own car and it has become apparent that I have not adequately been able to impart on them the need for daily checks on such basic vehicle items as tires. They all have driven on under-inflated tires without any understanding of the costs that occur as a result of this.

As I clearly spend a significant amount of time on the road, it is fascinating the number of times I notice cars on the interstate, or around town, driving with noticeably under-inflated tires. We have all heard that under-inflated tires reduce the gasoline mileage a car will get per gallon but losing a mile or two per gallon, does not often resonate with drivers as a serious problem. To break it down: a two-mile per gallon loss, over a 15,000 mile annual car use, at an average of $3.00 per gallon for gas, with the average cost for a fill-up of a 20 gallon tank at approximately $60.00, each fill-up of 20 gallons will last for roughly 400 miles. The final figure in mileage lost is 10% for each full tank of gas. Over a year's period of time that is approximately 1500 miles lost in gas mileage due to under-inflated tires.

A more serious cost consideration is: what is the cost of an accident? There are serious safety concerns with under-inflated tires. To understand the risk, it is important to understand what happens to a tire as it contacts the road when it is under-inflated. A tire is designed to be inflated to manufacturer's specified pressure for normal operation. The tread on the tire contacts the road on the tread surface, depending upon tire size, on approximately a 5"x5" patch of tire under each tire. When the tire is under-inflated the tire running surface becomes concave in the middle of the tread where it is designed to grip and due to under-inflation it leaves the road surface. The tire is now making contact with the road surface on the outer tread and on the sidewall of the tire. Tires are designed to heat up under the friction force. They become sticky to the road surface and the tread is designed to absorb the heat and to provide better traction on the road. An under-inflated tire gives opposite results.

When a tire travels at highway speeds on its side walls, the heat from the friction builds in the side wall instead of in the tread. The side walls of a tire were not designed to endure the heat that builds and the result can be costly. The structural belts that give a tire its strength will break apart and their failure results in what is commonly referred to as a blowout. Tire blowouts are frequently the cause of accidents and rollovers. In wet conditions, an under-inflated tire is more likely to hydroplane resulting in loss of contact with the road, again with a possible accident or rollover as a result.

Assigning a dollar value to the mileage loss is easy and to some people it is merely pocket change. The seriousness of under-inflated tires lies in the safety concern. If with attention to the small detail of proper tire pressure an accident can be avoided why do more people simply not take the time to check their tires when they start their day or pump their gas?

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