Before I went on the road a few years ago, I bought a tire plug repair kit and a compressor that could inflate my tires using the cigarette lighter port for power. I never needed to repair my own tire, but this setup came in quite handy one time while on the road – resulting in one of my favorites road trip experiences.
I still have the kit and the compressor in my garage. Now that I’m back in civilization, if I get a flat, I’ll put on my spare tire. If I get two flats, I’ll call for a tow.
I’ve used the compressor many times since then.
A few times, I’ve used it to inflate my neighbors’ flat tires. Mostly, I use to t periodically check my tire pressure and inflate my tires to the recommended level.
Instead of doing this when I notice a problem, I created a calendar reminder to repeat this process every 2 months. Whenever I do it, there are two results:
- All four of my tires always need at least a few pounds of air.
- My car handles noticeably better immediately.
Most of my life, I used gas station air pumps to reinflate my tires. They used to be free. Over time, they went from $.25 to up to $1.50 for a fill up of air. The challenge had been to find a pump that worked, that was available and that had a built in gauge when I needed it. It was a minor pain in the a$$.
That inconvenience is now gone.
For $35, I’ve had 5 years convenience, easy tire inflation.
I should have done this 30 years ago.