free air at filling stations

anewman

I'd much prefer them to deflate the tyre fully and fill them with NOZ. Plain old air just leaks out the tyre itself over time and expands with heat.

cepheus

cepheus wrote: »

To start of perhaps we could provide a list here of stations along the main trunk/motorway network that provide free air?

OK let me start with one

Warwick services southbound between junction 12 and 13 M40

M4RKM

iolanthe07 wrote: »

it will last you a lifetime.

I bought mine in 1963 just after I passed my driving test and it is still working OK. The only thing is that it is marked in lbs per square inch!

the one i use my dad bought back in the 60's too... nowt wrong with PSI, as i have a little chart that tells me what it is in BAR, so i know what i need to do... no need to replace it as it still works perfectly!

GabbaGabbaHey

Conor wrote: »

Rubbish. I've actually tested this and it made absolutely no difference. The tyres were checked near the end point of a 400 mile journey and then checked again the following morning. There was no difference.

Interesting - the IAM Trust Tyre Pressure survey quoted above (http://www.iam.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7976C25F-5DDB-4823-AD73-640C63C445BA/0/pressuregaugesurvey2007.pdf) disagrees with you, though. It says:

"The majority of motorists – roughly two thirds – rely on garage or filling station equipment, and believe that it is accurate. The concern here is that the pressures quoted in owners’ handbooks, and those shown on pump-side charts where available, are for cold tyres. Once the car is driven, especially along a motorway, the pressure increases significantly. No known industry figures are available, but in three cars tested as part of this survey, the pressure increased by an average of 2 to 3 psi (pounds per square inch) on rural roads and 4 to 5 psi on motorways."

and also:

"More concerning is the fact that the majority of motorists inevitably under inflate their tyres by setting them to the “cold” pressure when the tyre has been heated through being driven to a filling station. Inflating heated tyres to “cold” levels can under-inflate them by between 12 and 15 per cent under inflated. This leads to a 2 per cent or so increase in fuel consumption and carbon emissions, even for diligent motorists who carry out weekly tyre checks at a filling station."

plane_boy2000

Didnt realise many still charged for Air anymore - think all the ones I have used around here are free.

To the poster who mentioned that ASDA at Cribbs was out of order, then you could try the shell down the road, or if (like me) you happen to use M5 south from Cribbs then the ones in Gordano services are free. They are one of those new digital ones, and are well off from the fourcourt, so easy to get to.

toasterman

It was me, and thanks for that plane_boy.
Thats the portishead junction, right? My sister lives in clevedon, so I go past that junction most weeks.

A silly question to everyone else.
If your tyres are meant to be 30psi for example, but driving to the garage warms them up, meaning if you set it to 30psi, when they're cold, they'll actually be only 28......why not drive to the garage, inflate them to 32psi? Surely that solves the problem?

Admittedly I have no idea how specific they are, and at what point they go bang if you put too much air in...

darich

tomstickland wrote: »

Buy a track pump, much quicker than an electric one.
I inflated a car tyre to 30psi in a few minutes. Meanwhile my neighbour was still there messing about with the pathetic electric pump.

But you were outside in the cold and rain, getting cold hands while sweating. Your neighbour was indoors enjoying a coffee!!
:rotfl::rotfl:

Not literally of course but you see the comparison!

roddydogs

Blimy, someones found aTesco Air pump working?
Pressure guages are all very well, but it takes about 2lb PSI when you check the pressures, due to the amount needed to work the guage, so you need to be near a pump anyway.
If you need to pay for a timed guage-make sure you can reach all wheels, remove caps Before starting, and do not put tham back on till youve done all wheels (not forgetting having the spare ready), you then will not have to put more money in!

cepheus

Here is another thread about this
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=506881

cepheus

Come on, there must be lots of free air littered around the motorway network, I remember one near Southampton, could have been on the M27.

Are there any supermarkets that provide free air as a matter of policy, or tokens if you use their petrol? Someone mentioned Tesco and Morrisons respectively, with regard to the latter I doubt if many people think of asking for tokens