Road Trip Tips

Check air pressure on all four tires plus the spare when cold, compared to the sticker in your door jamb. Check tread depth visually and with the penny test. Scan each sidewall for cuts, cracks, and bulges. Confirm the jack, lug wrench, and any locking lug key are actually in the vehicle. Confirm your roadside assistance details are accessible.

Because it is what turns a roadside flat into a 30-minute delay instead of a multi-hour wait for a tow. Spares sit ignored for years and lose pressure. A spare at 15 psi is useless. Check it cold along with the other four, using the pressure printed on the spare itself, which is often much higher than your road tires.

Heat-related failure from underinflation, which is why the pre-trip pressure check matters most. Punctures from road debris, which is why tread inspection and adequate depth matter. And blowouts from pre-existing damage that was never inspected. All three are largely prevented by a five-minute check before departure.

Check each morning before you drive, when tires are cold. Do not bleed air from tires that are hot from highway driving or from sitting in direct sun, because that reading is inflated and you will end up underinflated once they cool. Ambient temperature changes across regions can shift your pressure meaningfully on a multi-day trip.

A fully loaded vehicle with passengers and luggage sits closer to its maximum load rating, which usually means a higher recommended inflation pressure. Many door jamb placards list a separate loaded pressure figure. Use that figure when fully loaded, and return to the standard figure for normal driving.