Australian 4WD Action – August 2019

TYRE PRESSURES

• 14PSI VS 24PSI

We all know lowering your tyre pressures helps to

increase traction, and if more traction means you don’t have

to work the engine as hard to gain forward momentum, surely

the engine won’t get as hot, right?

You betchya! For this test we aired back up to highway

pressures to see what’d happen. Well it’s no surprise, we got

stuck so often we couldn’t complete the loop, let alone take a

reading. We then dropped them down to 24psi and recorded

peak temps of 96°c. Compare that to our control run of 89°c

(with tyres set at 14psi) and it’s conclusive, dropping your tyre

pressures lowers engine temps by at least 7°c!

5

PARTING THOUGHTS

Each of the problems we’ve covered could happen to anyone,

so arming yourself with the knowledge of what to look for and

how to fix it could easily save you thousands of dollars in

repairs.

Our testing proves a few things. A well-maintained cooling

system will be able to deal with most things you can throw at it.

Use a bit of common sense; dropping tyre pressures when it

calls for it, and keeping on top of basic vehicle maintenance,

and you won’t go far wrong.

Each one of the problems we’ve talked about in this article

aren’t likely to cause massive issues on their own, but if a few

occur at the same time, you could soon see yourself in hot

water.

Fitting^ a^ thermostat^

that opens^ at^ the^ right^

time can^ help^ bring^

your^ operating^

temperatures^ down

Truck & 4WD Wheel Alignment

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(02) 4648 2002

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(02) 9725 5330

WOLLONGONG

(02) 4276 2533

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• Alignment & balancing specialists


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Beach runs where
your engine is working
hard can cause the
temps to creep up
mighty fast