#car life
USAmericans. I need to know something.
Do you have to pay to put air in your car tyres?
Do… Do you get charged for compressed air at the petrol station (gas station?)?
Is that a thing?
ummm, maybe, but just a little? it’s one of those “it depends” situations. but at our preferred gas station (the one with consistently fair prices, a good carwash, and nice staff), it probably costs less than $5 to top up 4 tires, assuming normal conditions/use/etc.
so i would say, yes, but it’s not much?
i seem to recall a time in my life when it was more commonly free, but even now the machines are mostly coin operated. bc. it’s only a handful of quarters.
also, grown up tip: now that it’s may, it is a good time to check your tire pressure.
regardless of where you live, changing weather effect it, and it can make a big difference in gas efficiency and overall vehicle longevity.
Some stations require a purchase to turn on the air compressor, some stations have coin operated compressors, and a lot of stations have attendants who will turn on the compressor and refuse your money.
Also yeah check your tires and in case you didn’t know you can get a 12-volt compressor to keep in your car for like twenty bucks from Aldi or you can get a really nice one for like forty bucks from walmart; they also make great mothers’ day presents.
(For like a hundred bucks you can get a battery charger so you can self-jump your car and they ARE expensive and need to be charged at least once a month but they are fuckin HANDY. Maybe not as handy as the compressor. The compressor is fucking great. I love my little aldi compressor)
yeah, all that too.
bob handles this shit for us usually, but now i’m starting a tag for things i need to learn.
@ms-demeanor will be a major contributor to “#bob says.” if you wanna just follow both for how to do things.
where the fuck do you live that there are ATTENDANTS who do that FOR FREE? Are you new jersey?
I mean “cashiers who work at the gas station” more than “gas station attendant” I guess. You walk in and go “hey could you turn on the air?” and they do. Or sometimes they say “air with purchase” or sometimes you offer them the fee posted on the compressor and they’re like “no worries, you’ve got five minutes”
I tried the air station and got nowhere.
Just call a car place and ask if they’ll fill your tires. The guy didn’t say it, but his attitude was like “uh yeah duh we fill tires for free? What? Why are you asking such an obvious question”
I would call again before I’d try it myself. I don’t know how I didn’t get any air into those tires, but it just didn’t happen.
(I AM stubborn enough to try using my bike pump, but idk how far I’d get.)
You might have had a bad seal or the nozzle could have been broken; you definitely can’t rely on the gauges that most gas stations have attached to the pumps but yeah after a minute or so on a tire you should be able to measure a change in pressure of at least a pound or two from where you started.
If you drive, some things that you should always have in your car are:
- At least a quart of oil in the right weight for your engine
- One funnel (ideally two, but you def. should have a long funnel, which you can use either for refilling fluids or for refilling your gas tank)
- Napkins/Paper towels (for cleaning off dipstick to get a good reading)
- Tire pressure gauge that you know works (digital if you’re worried you won’t be able to read it, but you MUST make sure to replace the batteries on a regular schedule, and you should have a backup analogue pressure gauge)
- I’m probably a little bit insane but I like to keep a gallon of coolant in my car
- Flashlight
- Jumper Cables
- and, depending on how good at stuff you are you probably want a philips head screwdriver, a flathead screwdriver, and a set of box wrenches and a set of socket wrenches that match your car’s measurement system (SAE or Metric).
- (you should probably also have at least a small METAL gas can; you can get a two gallon can for about $30 and any gas you put in it should be good for at least six months; cycle it on solstices don’t store gas in plastic gas cans)
But yeah if you’ve been trying to get the air in from the compressor for two minutes and there’s no measurable change then try a different tire; if there’s no measurable change after two minutes either assume your technique is off or the compressor is broken. Drive to a different gas station and try their compressor; if that isn’t making a difference then there’s probably an issue with how you’re trying to fill the tires and you should go to someplace like a Discount Tire and ask them to fill your tires and ask if you can WATCH them fill the tires because you are having trouble doing it yourself.
It *does* usually take at least a little while to fill tires, it can take a couple minutes to get to the right pressure if you’re a few pounds low, but you should be able to measure a difference with a functional gauge after a minute or two.
Also: correct pressure for your tires will be listed on a sticker on the inside of the driver’s side door; open the door and you should see a black and white sticker somewhere between the handle and the baseboard on the inside of the door.
