Can your tire go flat after awhile... like I haven't put air in my tire in a year and suddenly the tire looks like its flat or something.?
Tires loose Air due to Permeation...Air Molecules seep through the Rubber or from around the Rim of the Wheel. A Tire can go Completely Flat if not Aired for a Year. And Yes..Driving on a Flat Tire can Damage the Tire from Running on the Rim. This Damages the Sidewall of the Tire. Look on the Drivers Inside Door Area..There is Usually a Stcker with the Correct Tire Pressure. After Filling the Tire (s) pour Soapy Water over Each Tire and Look for Bubbles...If You See Bubbles You have a Leak. Average Tire Pressure form Most Vehicles is 36 psi.
My tire keeps losing air pressure, do you know what could be wrong with it?
depends...How much do you want to spend, and how worried are you? either it's a bad valve stem, a bad bead seal, or a hole in your tire... your options are A.)deal with it, and keep refilling B.)take it to a professional tire shop and have it patched(I reccomend this option) C.)buy a new tire D.)buy a can of "fix a flat" to plug the hole...
How do we get optimum MPG with 2005 Pontiac Vibe on Highway?
I'll post what I do to get 36 mpg highway in my Alero (only rated at 28). Air up the tires to max psi (on the sidewall). This will cause less rolling resistance. The ride may be a little rougher now, but the savings are worth it. The before mentioned maintenance. A dirty air filter or old spark plugs can drop a few mpg by itself. A bad oxygen sensor or fuel filter can take off 30% of your mileage. Seriously. Junk outta the trunk! I've read that every extra100 pounds decreases mileage by .5 mpg. Drive slower. This is the big one. Prius owners have done several tests and proved that the best mileage is around 45 mph. This is because the engine is in the highest gear and at low rpms. Any more speed and the rpms go up, as does the fuel used. On road trips I do about 60, which is a very noticeable savings from 70. If you have a manual, always have it in 5th (or 6th, depending on your Vibe). Drafting. This can be dangerous, but the fuel savings are massive. Find a semi truck with trailer and get about 2 or 3 car lenths behind it. You will notice that you can come off the throttle a LOT, as the truck is creating a vacuum that pulls you along. Drivers of some light cars like Geo Metros and Ford Festivas have been known to put it in neutral while drafting and get pulled for hundreds of miles while at idle. Talk about saving gas! Stay off the brakes. Every time you brake, you have to use more gas to get back up to speed again. Buy gas that doesn't have ethanol in it. 10% ethanol is required in a lot of places for emissions reasons, but it reduces mileage by 15 - 20%. 7-11, Williams, Walmart, Sam's Club, On Cue, and other cheapie places all run gasohol. Buy from "top tier" places like Shell, Conoco, Chevron, etc. Yes, it will cost a little more, but you'll make up for it with the extra mileage. Check the links below and have fun with it. I bet you could get 40 mpg easily.
Tire Pressure - Pros and Cons?
Regardless of what the other young pups say, you dad knows what he's talking about and he's NOT telling you to run them when they are truely underinflated for the load they are carrying. If you look on the side of the tire, somewhere close to the rim it'll say something like "Maximum load 1,200 lbs at 35 psi" for example. That means that when the tire is aired up to 35 psi (pounds per square inch of air pressure), the tire can safely carry 1,200 pounds at normal speeds without worry of failure. If that tire is only supporting 600 pounds, then 35 psi is considered over-inflated. At that lighter load, the tire may only need 24 pounds to safely carry that load. However, turn around and put 1,200 pounds of load back on it and at 24 psi, it's severely under-inflated and will likely overheat and blow out and that possibility increases as your speed increases. Contrary to what one gentleman said, the air pressure in a warm tire increases over that of cold and in cold weather, the pressure decreases. What do you think makes hot air balloons rise? They don't call them hot air for nothing. Hot air expands and when confined inside of a tire, the result is increased pressure. It's a good idea to check the pressure in the fall before really cold weather sets in. Over-inflating a tire will have a tendency to wear the center of the tire and under the outsides as previously mentioned. Go by what the sticker on your car's door jamb says or look in the manual for varying loads. If you have a small car and only you in it, you can go on the light side of recommendations but if you have 5 of your fat friends with you, better go with the higher recommended pressures. Also, the faster you go, the higher the pressure needs to be. If you're running 85 mph in Montana, better up the pressure to the maximum recommended.