I've got a what?

This weekend the Man and I took our truck, Big Red, out for a spin to do some errands and simply to run the truck as we don’t drive it often. It’s been COLD lately –dipping down into the -40’s (C) before windchill and generally staying in the high -30s and we’ve been impressed with Red’s ability to handle the cold. She needs a few minutes to warm up and is a bit sluggish for the first minute or so of driving, after which, she’s just fine. We do plug in the engine block heater and the battery warmer whenever she’s not in use, but not everything can be plugged in, of course. This is a picture of what she usually looks like while parked in our lot and in our parking space which is on an incline, as the apartment building is on a hill.
After we’d driven her for a few minutes and I’d wondered why the apparently smooth road felt so bumpy, I discovered something new that happens when the mercury drops to the chilly temperatures common in Northern Town in February.

Square Tires!

Yep. The tire pressure was on the low side and the truck had been parked on an incline, putting a fair bit of the truck’s weight on the back tires. As it was so ridiculously cold (-39C that morning and -41 overnight), the tires had frozen...and kept their frozen shape as I drove off, bouncing the truck every time the flat side of the tires rotated around. ManNorth explained the problem and the moniker as we spent some time trying to inflate the tires after the squareness had worn off, so to speak, during the drive. It’s a problem that will be hard to avoid. Correct tire pressure will help, but only warmer temperatures (or a heated garage) will really do the trick.