A low tire can lead to less traction, slower braking and destroy the tire over time, according to Mark Breining, a manager at Grismer Tire in Dayton.
He said there were about a dozen customers in his service center this morning who had a low-tire dashboard indicator light come on in their vehicles.
“Like any light on the dash, it unnerves you or makes you nervous. You think ‘I’ve got a tire that’s almost flat,’ when most cases it is not,” Breining said.
In most cases, the tire needs a little air to get it up to the recommended pressure, Breining said.
You should be checking your tires’ pressure with an inexpensive tire gauge about once a month, and more frequently when it is extremely cold or hot outside.
“If we get really warm weather later on this week you may even want to let some air out of them. If they are a little high it doesn’t really hurt, because we still have a long winter ahead of us,” Breining said.
Motorist Bob Baudendistel, of Dayton, said he deals with low tires all the time, especially in the winter, so he goes everywhere prepared with a small air compressor.
“It plugs into the cigarette lighter and the hose goes in the tire. It cost 20 bucks,” Baudendistel said, adding that it gives him piece of mind.
To find your tire’s recommended pressure, you can check the owner’s manual, and in many vehicles the information is posted on a sticker inside the driver door panel.
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