Want to know the two biggest factors that can affect your tire pressure here in Denver? Temperature and altitude.
While there are many things we all love about living in the Mile High City, when it comes to your tires, they aren’t nearly as excited. We can go from 90 to 30 degrees in days. You can go up and down thousands of feet in altitude in a matter of hours. And one of the biggest things that keeps you safe as you head out on your journeys is your tires. Which means your auto maintenance routine should begin at the bottom.
Standard tire pressure depends on the size of your tire and the weight of your car. The best way to determine what your tires’ correct pressure should be is to look in your vehicles manual. Keep this number in mind as our temperature varies greatly, or you travel thousands of feet in direction over a short period of time. Tire pressure is measured in pounds per square inch (psi) and can be measured easily at your local gas station or with a gauge you can buy at any auto supply center. As a guide, air pressure at sea level stands at 14.7 psi.
An increase in temperature causes the air in tires to expand. Likewise, cold temperatures have the opposite effect, reducing air pressure and causing tire to flatten. As a result, tires filled at one temperature could no longer be correct as the temperature changes. And here in Colorado, temperature change is something that can happen quite rapidly, going from winter to summer temperatures in a matter of days. Meaning your tires can quickly be over or under inflated – impacting the way your tires will wear.
When a car changes altitude, the external air pressure around it changes. The level of pressure in a tire is created from the relationship between the air in the environment and the air inside the tire. Climbing higher in altitude means the air offer less resistance, which creates a higher level of pressure within the tire itself. To keep your tires perfectly balanced, pressure should be adjusted while you are at higher altitudes and again when you make your descent.
A tire without the correct tire pressure is harder to control and creates unnecessary wear and tear on the vehicle. Whether they are over or under inflated, the tires will not be able to properly grip the road, which results in longer stopping distances. Not only does your car have to work harder, your tires do too.
To ensure your tires are at their optimal level, stop by today.
Enjoyed your article. I commute daily during the work week from 4000 feet elevation to sea level. (Pine Valley CA to San Diego). At the end of the day I make the opposite drive back up to 4000 feet. I have a car with an active tire pressure monitor that displays the actual pressure. Charts I have seen state the difference in pressure will be about 2 psi between sea level and 4000 feet. It seems the temperature changes that happen on my 42 mile freeway (one way) commute have a greater effect on pressure then the change of elevation. Your article is in agreement with many others I have read about the tire pressure increasing with the altitude change however looking at the physics using a rising weather ballon as an example, the pressure in the ballon as it ascends actually drops. The tires have flexible side walls and are not steel cylinders so why would the pressure increase? That does not make sense to me so further investigation is needed.
The difference between the balloon and your tire is that the balloon is NOT a closed system. The air can go in and out of it at the base. Your tire is a closed system so when the air surrounding the tire exerts less pressure against the tire the air inside the tire which is already way above atmospheric pressure exerts more force trying to balance (everything in nature wants to balance, water wants to be level, pressure wants to be equal). This force translates into a higher pressure inside the tire relative to the pressure inside at a lower altitude.. It’s actually the same reason temperature affects tires. Colder air is more dense, why heat rises, this denser air’s molecules travel slower and as a result while the atmospheric pressure remains relatively the same, the air inside the tire is exerting less force and this translates into a lower tire pressure reading.
Great post! Have nice day ! 🙂 leqcw
Great post for sure! but translated in to numbers, would mean that a correct 36PSI tire at sea level would have to be inflated with a pressure of 34PSI at 4000ft altitude to maintain performance and mileage?
Same question with Jimmy
I went to local tire store here in Denver. My tire pressure should be 32 pairs at the sea level but they guy told me I need 38psi??? for Colorado, either altitude and temperature correction.
This is true. Its make-sense to me but 6 LSU above is a good number?