Tire Pressure

Which recommendation do you follow?

  • Tire Manufacturer

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Vehicle Manufacturer

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
I follow the manufacturer recommendation because all that's on the tire is the max pressure, not the recommended pressure for your application.
 
It depends. I fill my tires higher when I'm going on a trip on long straight roads. I get better gas mileage that way. Of course I never exceed the maximum pressure on the sidewall, I never even go within a few PSI of that #.

I usually have them filled a few pounds above the vehicle manufacturer's recommendations.

My current tires have a MAX PSI rating of 44. I usually have them at 35 all around. I believe the manufacturer's rec is 32F 33R.
 
The tires on my car are *very* different from what came on there so I adjust the pressure to my driving style and keep in mind the max pressure on the sidewall. With the short sidewalls on my tires, I also keep rim protection in mind. This all leaves me with 42 in the fronts and 39-40 in the rear.
 
35psi all around is a good rule of thumb. I wouldn't run anything less than that. If you remember all the problems Ford was having with the Explorers, I think the majority of the problems originated from having a recommended tire pressure that was actually too low for that application. In order to achieve a softer ride Ford was only recommending something like 30 psi, and that's just too low.



On the other hand, if you run a pressure to high it will prematurely wear the insides of your tire treads since they will be mostly riding on the center of the tire instead of evenly across the whole tread.



Passenger cars should be set at a pressure and kept that way, trucks on the other hand can be played with. The front tires are carrying the load of the passenger and the engine which is consistent and the tire pressures should stay exactly what is recoomended but the rear tires sometimes carry a load and sometimes don't, but the manufacturer has to assume that you ARE carrying a load so they give a set pressure recommendation based on that assumption. This usually means that you are running too much air in your rear tires 75% of the time.

The F250 I used to own had a front pressure of 55psi and a rear pressure of 80psi which was WAY too much for normal *unloaded* driving so lowered the rear pressure down to 45psi for normal driving and bumped it up and down as needed. When towing, I put it all the way to the recommended 80psi, but never any other time and no problems at all with premature wear.
 
I follow the manufacturer's recommendation because it takes the vehicle specific application more into consideration. However, when you start playing with different tire brands and different compounds (Dot legal R-compounds for instance), things can change. It's best to figure out what works best.



For example, on my Merc, 32/f and 35/r is recommended on the door jam. But I run 35 all around because the front tire tends to roll over during hard cornering due to a lack of negative camber. This gives me a touch less understeer and is a good compromise, short of pulling out the pyrometer.



On my Lotus, I follow the manufacturer's recommendation exactly. 26/28psi or something like that. Works great for street and performance driving.



Tailor the pressure to your specific application!
 
JDookie said:
On the other hand, if you run a pressure to high it will prematurely wear the insides of your tire treads since they will be mostly riding on the center of the tire instead of evenly across the whole tread.
Click to expand...



Over inflation wears the middle of the tire. Under inflation wears the edges.
 
I only follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommendations.



The tire manufacturer does not know the kind of vehicle, load and other factors. They usually specify optimum or maximum tire pressure.
 
Toyota says 27/28. (On a pick-up!). Wear patterns showed they were too low so I go +3...then I add 2-4 because of higher temperatures, load and higer speeds.



I use the recommended 30/32 on the Accord.
 
The car manufactureres use the tires as a part of the ride adjustment. This allows the more sophisticated driver some leeway in choosing a softer or firmer ride with the attendant changes in the way the car handles. As mentioned in an earlier post, lower than ideal pressure will cause excessive wear at the outer edges of the tread; higher pressure, wear at the center. I understand that the highway patrol generally prefers higher pressures to augment the handling characteristics, but a high percentage of their driving is at highway speeds. I run my heavier cars 3500 lbs and up at 36 lbs (measured cold). As mentioned above: Taylor your pressure (within the specs of the tire) to the specific application and your preference in ride and handling.
 
I am sorry I have to disagree to a point with some of this discussion. There is no good general rule for tire pressures, except to follow the manufacturerâ€â„¢s recommended tire pressure for the original equipment on the vehicle.



Each vehicle and application is unique. Tire construction, wheel size, driving conditions, temperatures, etc. all play important roles in determining what the proper tire pressures should be. Some vehicles even have different pressure for front and rear. Notwithstanding, the effect the pressure has on the wear of a tire, adjusting the tire pressures effects the handling of the vehicle, which can result in more over-steer or under-steer.



Not to pick on JDookie but 35psi is not a good round number to just throw out to the general public. 35 psi on the 18â€Â� rear wheels, of my rear engined 996 would result in rim damage and/or tire damage on all but the sedatest driving and/or on the smoothest roads. The factory recommendations for the rear tires on my car are 44 psi (fronts are 36psi).



The biggest problem with discussions like this on a board like Autopia is the vast differences in cars and applications being used. What is good for the corvette owner is not good for the Honda accord owner, which isnâ€â„¢t good for the Honda accord owner with aftermarket 19â€Â� rims, which is not good for the F150 owner, etc.
 
bet993 said:
Not to pick on JDookie but 35psi is not a good round number to just throw out to the general public. 35 psi on the 18â€Â� rear wheels, of my rear engined 996 would result in rim damage and/or tire damage on all but the sedatest driving and/or on the smoothest roads. The factory recommendations for the rear tires on my car are 44 psi (fronts are 36psi).
Click to expand...



Don't worry, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I don't take anything personal in open discussions as this, but I would like to comment on your view.



35psi is my rule of thumb as a *minimum* amount of air pressure in a *passenger car*. If you re-read my previous statements, you will see that I used the word minimum because I feel anything under 35psi is just too low. I wouldn't consider you car a *passenger* car even though it does in fact carry a passenger or two.



Now, as far as your car's rear tire pressure, I'm sure Porsche doesn't expect you to only drive in straight lines under 35mph to the grocery with a 996, so they are giving you a tire pressure that is compatible with any type of driving style you may have, regardless of whether that means your grandmother driving your car at 30mph or you racing your car at the local SCCA meet, so 44psi in your rear tires is meant to cover all bases.



I'm not saying you should lower your tire pressure by any means, I voted for following the manufacturer's specifications and follow those specifications to the "T" when checking my tire pressures, but to say that you *can't* drive your car with 35psi in your rear tires is untrue. Of course you can. I have 22" wheels with very wide and low profile tires and only run 35psi all the way around, and I'm positive my vehicle is heavier than yours and am not in any danger of damaging my wheels.



To the general public, I say to always follow the manufacturer's specifications, but sometimes a little *adjustment* of your tire pressure isn't a bad thing.
 
HRP said:
As mentioned above: Taylor your pressure (within the specs of the tire) to the specific application and your preference in ride and handling.
Click to expand...



yup. no more than 44 psi, but more than Ford's recommendation on my mustang. i guess because i like the stiffer feeling a higher psi gives. anything under 40 psi feels like the sidewalls are folding over or something.
 
hirosh said:
yup. no more than 44 psi, but more than Ford's recommendation on my mustang. i guess because i like the stiffer feeling a higher psi gives. anything under 40 psi feels like the sidewalls are folding over or something.
Click to expand...



Try driving on 28" ET Drags with only 12psi in them! :shocked
 
kartoon said:
I only follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommendations.



The tire manufacturer does not know the kind of vehicle, load and other factors. They usually specify optimum or maximum tire pressure.
Click to expand...
:xyxthumbs



Same here.
 
JDookie said:
I'm not saying you should lower your tire pressure by any means, I voted for following the manufacturer's specifications and follow those specifications to the "T" when checking my tire pressures, but to say that you *can't* drive your car with 35psi in your rear tires is untrue. Of course you can. I have 22" wheels with very wide and low profile tires and only run 35psi all the way around, and I'm positive my vehicle is heavier than yours and am not in any danger of damaging my wheels.



To the general public, I say to always follow the manufacturer's specifications, but sometimes a little *adjustment* of your tire pressure isn't a bad thing.
Click to expand...



It is interesting that you say that because I actually do not follow the factory recommendations. I run slightly lower pressures than the factory recommends for my car (34/39 which is closer to the GT3 specs.). It has helped to dial out a little of the understeer.



I will say that while messing around with tire pressures on my old 993 I managed to crack a rear wheel at some point. The turbo twist I had were notorious for bending and/or cracking, so I am not sure whether it was the tire pressure or the pavement/wheel that was the problem).



I guess my biggest concern for making broad general statements about significant items such as tire pressures is that it could mislead the uninformed. I like to make disclaimers when making such statements (guess it comes from my job). I honestly don't know whether 35 psi is appropriate for the majority of passenger cars or not. I know that my wifes car has a factory recommendation of 32/36 for general purpose use.
 
As JDookie said the problem with the Explorer was the tires and being underinflated. Ford actually said to run them at 26 all the way around, way to low. But if you think about, all of the problems they had, how many people do you think really ran the tires at 26, so I think it was a Firestone problem more than anything!



As far as pressure, no tire has a recommended tire pressure. You will never find a tire with a recommended pressure on it, street tire that is. As some others have said the tire manufacturer has no idea what vehicle the tire will come on. For instance, I work for Goodyear company owned store. We sell the RunFlat tires for the Vettes, that is the only vehicle we can put those tires on. And the tire only has a MAX pressure, not a rec. pressure. So even knowing what vehicle they will go on, they still will not give a recommendation on the PSI. Always go by what the vehicle manufacturer says, within reason. The general rule of thumb I give my customers is if you want a lot of air in the tires, go a couple of pounds below the max, I try to never put the max in the tire just to be safe. If it says 44, go 40 or 42. If it says 35 go 33. Tires are not a part of the car to take lightly or to overlook.
 
Never seen where a tire manufacturer recommended tire pressure for my truck....



So I start with the door jam sticker and work from there..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top