Myth: You do not need a tire gauge.
Reality: You should regularly check the air pressure in your tires using a tire gauge. That's especially true now, because you're more likely to find them low as winter approaches. The air inside your tires is getting colder too, so it's shrinking. Even if air isn't leaving your tires, the pressure inside is going down because of contraction. Your tires can lose one to two pounds of pressure for every ten degrees of outside temterature. The air pressure in your tires should be checked in the morning before you've driven on them, which is when they're at their coldest. The recommended tire pressures in your owner's manual or stamped someplace in your car - usually inside the driver's door - are recommended for when the tire is cold, not after it's warmed up. (You should go by those numbers, not what it says on the tires, in case the car requires a certain pressure for proper ride and handling.)
Myth: Inflate tires to the pressure shown on the tire’s sidewall.
Reality: The pounds-per-square-inch figure on the side of the tire is the maximum pressure that the tire can
safely hold, not the automaker’s recommended pressure, which provides the best balance of braking, handling, gas
mileage, and ride comfort. That figure is usually found on a doorjamb sticker, in the glove box, or on the fuel-filler door. Perform a monthly pressure check when tires are cold or after the car has been parked for a few hours.
Mistake: Honest Abe knows when you need new tires.
Reality: You may have heard about doing the "penny test" to see when it's time to get new tires. Some experts want to toss that coin test in favor of the quarter. The penny test is simple. Hold a penny so that you can see Abraham Lincoln's head. Now insert Lincoln's portrait, scalp-side down, into a groove in your tire tread. If your can still see the top of his head, it's time for new tires. That works because the distance between the edge of a penny and the top of Lincoln's head is about 2/32 of an inch (in normal speech, that would be 1/16 of inch, but tire treads are measured in 32nds of an inch). But now some experts advise a more conservative approach. Instead of Lincoln's head on a penny, use George Washington's head on a quarter. That's about 4/32, or 1/8, of an inch. In track tests conducted by the tire Web site TireRack.com, using a quarter instead of a penny resulted in 24 percent shorter wet-road stopping distances. If you can see Washington's wig, your tires are as close as you'll want to get to being bald.
Myth: If the brake fluid is low, topping it off will fix the problem.
Reality: As brake pads wear, the level in the brake-fluid reservoir drops a bit. That helps you monitor brake wear. If the fluid level drops to or below the Low mark on the reservoir, then either your brakes are worn out or
fluid is leaking. Either way, get the brake system serviced immediately. You should also get a routine brake inspection when you rotate the tires, about every 6,000 to 7,000 miles. Getting a brake inspection with every rotation of your tires will help with not having to replace the rotors every time you need to change the brake pads. Also driving gently for a five to ten minutes helps your brakes to warm up. Brakes can heat up to 200 degrees or higher in an instant with a hard stop. That kind of sudden temperature change promotes warping of brake rotors, he says. Better to make a few slow stops at first so the brakes can heat up gradually.
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