Whats with the crazy high PSI in tires?

[Offroad]

Old dogs like me just read the contact patch on the tire....newer tires are not like factory especially on older cars so i don't go by door sill or max inflation on sidewall. I usually will run on some dusty asphalt and look at how much the tire is contacting the road looking at tread dirt patch pattern, and if its a 1/8th inch from the side wall I'm good. You can use chalk line too if not road dirt . I seem to get the best handling/wear/mileage doing this the last 25 plus years.

[HomespunLobster]

Yeah, stickers on the car can be off.
Such as ford windstars (I believe) were running to low of PSI and were causing blow outs. They blamed the tire manufacturer on it

[tirebob]

Originally posted by HomespunLobster
Yeah, stickers on the car can be off.
Such as ford windstars (I believe) were running to low of PSI and were causing blow outs. They blamed the tire manufacturer on it

That was the Ford Explorer, (or as we always called them... Exploders) not the Windstar... They had a door placard recommendation of 26 psi!

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Spoons]

Well I got my car back from Sunridge Nissan, drivers side was 30 PSI, passenger was 35PSI, 2 were under torqued.

[mr2mike]

If you're going stretch then you need high PSI.



Also higher PSI, less chance of bent rims.

But on your stock corolla's... why bother.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Offroad
Old dogs like me just read the contact patch on the tire....newer tires are not like factory especially on older cars so i don't go by door sill or max inflation on sidewall. I usually will run on some dusty asphalt and look at how much the tire is contacting the road looking at tread dirt patch pattern, and if its a 1/8th inch from the side wall I'm good. You can use chalk line too if not road dirt . I seem to get the best handling/wear/mileage doing this the last 25 plus years.

Of course, but you still need a starting point. Different brand/model tires also dictate different pressures, and I change to different tires so often that it takes time to find the right setup for each brand/model.

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I was always under the impression that the manufacture intentionally set the pressure a little low to increase ride comfort and reduce road noise to help sales.

I dunno if it's federally mandated, but my car has 2 tire stickers. One on the door sill, which dictates a maximum at full load, something like 44f/46r psi. In the gas cap door, I have a chart for pressures based on varying loads, top speeds, and winter/summer.

My understanding is that the door sill sticker is always set to worst case scenario, so full load, at vehicle's rated top speed.

[Tram Common]

I bought my S12 from a dealership in Lethbridge, they had 95 psi in all four tires!

Fucking blew my mind...

[revelations]

^ aaannnnddd........this is why I work on my own vehicles.

Do it right the first time.