How to inflate your car tires yourself

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How can you inflate your car tires yourself?

Properly inflated car tires ensure better road holding. They not only drive safer, but also more economical and environmentally friendly. Therefore, check your tire pressure regularly. In this blog post we explain how you can inflate your car tires to the correct pressure yourself.

How do I check the pressure of my car tire?

Check your car's owner's manual for the recommended tire pressure. Sometimes you will also find this information on a sticker on the inside of your door or behind the fuel filler flap. Unless your tire is flat, you can't judge the pressure with the naked eye. For this you need a device, such as a compressor with a built-in pressure gauge. Preferably check the air pressure before you set off, i.e. when the tires are cold. This gives the most reliable measurement. When driving, the temperature of the car tires rises, which also increases the air pressure on the inside.

Where can I inflate my car tires?

If the air pressure in your car tire is too low, you must remedy this immediately. This is fastest if you do it yourself.

Inflating car tires at home

You don't have to be super handy to inflate your car tire yourself. Certainly not if you have an electric air compressor. You can restore the tire pressure to the correct level in no time. Saves you another trip to the gas station.

Inflate car tires at a free tire pump

You can inflate your car tire yourself at almost every gas station in the Netherlands. There are also often air pumps at garages, parking lots, hardware stores, shopping centers and car washes. Please note: in some places you pay a small fee for the air you purchase. On this website you will find an overview of free car tire inflators.

Inflating a car tire with a bicycle pump

Don't have an electric compressor? Then you can also inflate a car tire to the correct pressure with a modern bicycle pump. The condition is that the pump has a pressure gauge and goes up to at least 3 bar. The hose must also have a connection for a car tire valve (the so-called Schrader valve). Last but not least: you also need to have quite a bit of air yourself, because it takes more stamina to inflate a car tire than a bicycle tire.

How should I inflate my car tires?

Unscrew the cap from the valve and keep it in a place where you can easily find it
Connect the hose from your pump to the valve. Depending on the type of pump, you must press the adapter firmly or screw it on.
Read the tire pressure. Is the air pressure too low? Then pump until the gauge shows the correct pressure. With the Donrox electric compressor, the pump then switches off automatically.
Loosen the adapter and screw the cap back on the valve. Repeat these steps for the other car tires. Also remember the spare wheel! Sometimes this wheel is smaller than the rest of the tires: this is also called a homecoming. For the correct pressure of the spare wheel, check your car's owner's manual.
Tip: while you are busy with your car tires, check them immediately for damage. And measure whether the profile is still deep enough. By law, a tire must be replaced if its tread depth is less than 1.6 millimeters. However, the ANWB recommends doing this as soon as there is less than 2 millimeters of profile.

How much bar should I inflate car tires to?

The recommended tire pressure can be found in your car's owner's manual. You can also get the right air pressure on this website check. In most cars this is between 2 and 3 bar. The recommended voltage is always the minimum voltage for a normal load. This advice applies to wheels on the same axle. In other words: the pressure of both front tires must be the same. There may be a difference between the wheels on the front and rear axle, for example if you load the car with holiday items. When transporting a heavier load, always check the tire pressure table in your car's manual.

How often should I inflate my car tires?

A car tire loses approximately 0.2 bar of pressure per month. Even if you are not driving, because a rubber car tire is not completely airtight. It is therefore advisable to check the air pressure of the tires monthly. Also do this if your car has a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). This system only gives a warning if a tire falls more than 20 percent below the required pressure.

More car facts

Did you know that 6 out of 10 motorists hit the road with tire pressure that is too low? And that November is the time to change from summer to winter tires? Check our blog page for more interesting articles about car tires.

Most suitable pump for inflating car tires to the correct pressure

The Donrox A922 is our number 1 for inflating car tires. This powerful, electric pump has convenient, pre-programmed settings. This means all you have to do is connect the pump and press Go. It stops automatically when the desired tire pressure is reached

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