Bitter cold McCullom Lake days can be deflating for you and your car’s tires

As winter rolls into McCullom Lake, you can

find the bitter cold deflating for your car's tires.

Have you ever had a morning when you wake up feeling great. You’re happy and excited to get on with the day. But then you see the weather report and it’s telling you that it will be frigid outdoors in McCullom Lake. You may find the news a tad deflating.

Did you know your tires may react the same way?

Yes! Your tires can find cold weather deflating.

It’s not that they’re emotionally distraught. Rather, there is a perfectly rational reason your tires may go flat when the thermometer dips outside in and around McCullom Lake.

On the one hand, cold will naturally reduce the air pressure in a tire. According to one report, tires lose approximately one pound of air pressure for every drop in outside temperature of 10-degrees. Of course, when you start driving, and the tires warm up, the pressure will increase. But there are other reasons tires can lose air pressure due to cold air temperatures.

For instance, think about rubber. The warmer the tires, the more flexible the rubber. And the reverse is true – the colder the tires, the less flexible the rubber. Without that flexibility, tires aren’t as forgiving of imperfections in cracks and the seal with the wheels. You may lose a little air pressure this way but, hopefully, not too much.

Another reason tires may go flat in the winter is more common with aluminum wheels that are prevalent these days. The aluminum rims are more susceptible to corrosion that can interfere with the seal between the tire and wheel. This is more problematic when the cold has made the rubber harder and more brittle.

Resolving the problem can be as simple as filling your tires to the prescribed air pressure. But it will take more than that if you have a leak.

If the leak is somewhere in the rubber, you’ll need to have it plugged or sealed. If the leak is between the tire and the wheel, the tire may need to be remounted after the rim and the tire bead are cleaned.

We all know it will get cold in McCullom Lake this winter. Have your tires checked and you may be able to avoid having a flat tire add to deflating any excitement you’re feeling for the day.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog