[Mr. Ali]

A few days ago I notice that my car got out of alignment when I hit this bump in the road. Thinking nothing of it and was just going to deal with it later I carried on driving my car thinking nothing is wrong for a day. This morning I notice my rear right tire is so flat that my car has a tilt to it. I instantly go to a gas station and fill it with air. Not knowing shit about shit I filled it up till the tire looked like my other ones. Not realizing the thing I used to fill my tire with air has a built in tire pressure gauge I went and bought one a little while ago and find out the tire is still only at like 5psi or something. So I go to the gas station and fill it again. This time I filled it will lots of air, checking the pressure as I go and got to 25PSI (manual says 32psi is needed) and really felt that I was over filling the tire with air. I used the same air gauge on my other tires and they are registering at 31-32psi and I am now wishing I just filled it to 32psi even though it looked like the tire was already full.

Can I just deal with this later or is 25psi too low when it needs to be 32psi? Or should I go and pay another 75cents right now to fill it up.

BTW my car drives fine now, it wasn't really out of alignment, it just the tilt in my car was causing it not to go completely straight.

EDIT: my utter lack of automobile understanding is just disgusting.

[bigwill51534]

You really should fill the tire to 32lbs. It will yield much better fuel economy, and will help to protect the life of the tire. Tires with lower air pressure have a tendency to run much warmer than when they are at the correct pressure. This is due to less sidewall flexing.

You should be OK to run for a few night or so. Just try to get it fixed ASAP.

~Will Courtier~

[MSP]

Duh! Less air pressure = all sorts of bad shit. Fucked up alignment / stability, lower gas mileage, more tire wear... If you're that cheap you can always fill it with a bike pump. It'll take a while, but you'll save 75 cents...

[Coleman]

Ali, to safely run your car with a lower tire pressure you're going to need to drive it like you're racing. At the track, you run a lower psi than normal because you're beating the shit out of them so hard that the air inside expands rapidly.

But seriously, listen to Michael Andretti and regulate that tire pressure!

[Mr. Ali]

i have one of those foot bike pumps, im going to try and use that to fill it. Its not that I am too cheap to spend 75cents, I just dont want to go to the gas station for the 3rd time today

EDIT: Well I took your guys advice and used my foot pump to get it to 31psi. I don't want to over do it incase my el-cheapo tire gauge thing isnt all that accurate. Thanks for the help.

[sims]

you would have been completely fine for a couple of days, esp. at 25 but its still idea to have the proper tire pressure for the reasons listed above.

I think the bigger concern is how your tire got so low. Make sure to check it in the morning because you more then likely have a slow leek in your tire.

Their's a book called "Popular Mechanics Complete Car Care Manual" they had it at costco for $11 last time I was their. it shows you in great detail how(and why) to do all the little simple crap that basically anyone could and should do to their car. I'd recommend checking it out.

if you do have a leak take it to a tireshop and they'll likely be able to patch it up for under $20.

[-Sevendust-]

Take it up to the correct amount. You will thank us and yourself later.

Less problems down the road (ohh a pun)

[randomtask]

ha wtf you pay 75cents in the US to fill a tire with air? That shit is free at servos here. Of course I realise 75 cents isn't much... but what the hell?

[-Sevendust-]

yeah I dont have to pay for it here either.

[MSP]

I use one of those foot pumps all the time, it works surprisingly well. I need to get an air compressor at some point, I got rid of my old one.

[Mr. Ali]

Well, the worst case is upon me. My tire is flat after driving around in it. It held all its pressure over night but driving it around it is back down to like 5-10psi.

According to friends I have a hole in the tire or a bent wheel since this happened after I hit a pot hole. Supposedly stock rims (hub cap types in my case) are super expensive. I will take this into the dealer as soon as I can and see what the find out.

[-Sevendust-]

best case is you just have to buy a new tire. Thats only 100+. But throw a stock rim and it probably will be around 500. Dont quote me on my price on rims because Im not sure.

[sims]

if you have hubcaps then you just have a standard cheap steelie wheel with a hubcap over it, take off the hubcap and put it on a new wheel. $50.

if its a hole in you're tire you should be able to patch it.

[super_Chris]

I would suggest against the dealer if they wont do it for free(they wont). Hit up a smaller tire/wheel shop. They could probably get you a new or even used steel wheel(what you have) for dirt cheap. The dealer on the other hand will rape you.

[fornik8her]

Seriously, run by your local tire shop and have it checked. You may have just busted the bead (seal) where the tire meets the rim. If you did they will be able to reseat it for you if you didn't bend the rim. If ya popped a hole in it they will be able to fix that, unless it is in the sidewall. There really is no safe way to patch the sidewall. But whatever ya do, try to stay away from the dealer unless ya got a good buddy working there that can get ya a deal out the back door, cause they usually charge 60 - 80 bucks an hour just for labor. Good Luck

[MSP]

Just take it to a regular mechanic. I've had tires fixed for 20 bucks, and my mom even got them to grind out and fix her alloy rim after a pot-hole incident. I think they charged her about 20-25 bucks as well.

[Mr. Ali]

Fuck yeah, PROBLEM SOLVED

Took it to the Honda dealer, they checked it out, found a nail in my tire and patched it up. Cost me nothing and they gave me a voucher for a free car wash at the local chevron.

I am so glad I don't have to keep pumping my tire up every day.

[jake]

Nice work, the dealer pulls through.

[snipes040]

keep it filled to 32 PSI for sure low pressure means bad shit happens