Inflating Car Tires ... using a hand pump

It is very important to keep the tires on a vehicle well inflated to the rated pressure. Under inflated tires have faster wear, and uneven tire pressures among the four tires can amplify the problem of uneven wear on tires.

But inflating tire is an inconvenient chore - many gas stations do not have air pump, for those who have, air pumps typically don't have gauge on them, one can easily over inflate tires - which is not good either, especially in summer time, it can lead to burst!! 

Recently one tire on my car had 2 psi lower pressure than the rest 3. This definitely could cause uneven wear. Unfortunately my dealer did not correct this problem during my recent car maintenance which included tire rotation.  On the other hand I kept forgetting to inflate the tire when I was on the road - with the assumption that I need to use the motorized pump to inflate tires.

Today I was determined to correct this problem, the air pump at the one gas station that has air, malfunctioned! 

On the way home it occurred to me  that I could use a hand pump to inflate the tire! I gave it a try when I got home: I inflated the under-inflated tire to the "exact" pressure as the rest of tires on the car in no time!!

Fortunately  my pump has a gauge and can inflate pressure up to 120psi; and the tire valve has a universal receptor and it can take the hand air pump's nozzle.  

In addition to tire rotation and aliment, now I have another way to minimize tire wear by keep all 4 tires have their rated pressures.

Note  - even though bicycle air pump is not designed to inflate tires, but it can as long as the tire air valve can receive the nozzle from hand pump.