Getting long life out of tires

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Drew's right. Running a higher pressure may buy you a little better gas mileage and maybe a little better shoulder life, but while his dental work may not like the rougher ride (and that's a shame), the wear and tear resulting from shock imparted to every component and bushing in your suspension is the real downside to maximum pressures. Tires are cheaper than front end rebuilds, and the CV joints, engine mounts and all the other rubber-mounted soft points don't care for high tire pressures either. The manufacturer engineers these things to a spec, and things go out of kilter when you stray from said specs.

Keep the pressures to spec, don't let them drift down in the cold and rotate em every now and then. I don't do mine every 5k, but rather when I see a difference between front and rear. Then I flip em, they "catch up" to one another, front/rear, and then rotate em again. They'll last longer than not rotating, but this is a good method to balance it out and perhaps saves a little wear and tear on the lugs, nuts and wheels..
 
to replace my oem tires on my 06 vibe with oem tires cost $102 a piece at walmart with additonal fees of mounting,balancing, valve stems, state fee, disposal fee. spend $500 for a set of 4 tires. I want to make these last as long as possible.
 
Well, don't look at just the OEM tires if they are too expensive. Other tires are typically less expensive and many times better in many ways.
 
Lonnie,

Although I have read some books in my time, my suggestions are based on years of tire and car experience, as well as some autocrossing.

Anyone who runs max pressure is asking for other problems...unless you are near max load. Truth be told you really want to let some air out on hot days and add air on cold days for best tire overall performance. But nobody does that unless they are racing.

Some high performance tires can handle higher infation pressures without distorting and maintain pretty even wear. I run Goodyear GS-D3's right now, which I use to run up at 36-38psi to compensate for a poor stock suspension. Now with upgraded shocks, springs, swaybars, bushings and alignment , I can run lower pressures (29-33 psi) for best grip and wear. I no longer need to increase the tire pressures to aid in handling stability at the sacrifice or ultimate grip. And guess what? The tires are wearing a little more on the edges, but before the centers were wearing faster. Rotation help for even wear and I just do it when my four H-rated snow tires go off for the summer. So, in the end, with an alignment that is adjusted for the tire wear angle that I want, the tire life will end up about the same.

So if you like higher pressure in your car, then fine, but realize that you are sacrificing some mechanical longevity, ride and grip.

Every car and tire combination is different. What's best for each individual is different as well. We can get as complicated or as simple as you would like.

If you have a beater and are lazy then, ---- ya, just leave those tires on until they wear out, you crash, or they fail inspection. But realize that you are sacrificing something by doing this. Good engineering is always a good comprimise for the situation.

Your mileage may vary!
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Agreed. I remember replacing the Bridgestone Dueler HT tires on my mom's Honda CRV at 25,000 miles, using some cheap Kelly-Springfield products. The car handled way better, was much quieter, tires weared much more slowly, and we paid much less than what we would have paid for new Bridgestone Dueler HT tires.
 
1. Highest quality tire (long tread life is fine, but internal construction matters more). New, better than OEM shock absorbers/struts. Finding the best alignment shop in town.

2. Finish braking before turns (otherwise, edge wear is rapid; see this constantly). Same for potholes, RR tracks, etc. No parking AGAINST the curb.
Avoid distortions.

3. Balance. If I can't have brand-new tires balanced down to 25# or less on a HUNTER GSP-9700, then I want another tire (wheel problems aside). I rebalance yearly on vehicles running 20m miles. The travel trailer got Centrimatic balancers.

4. Tire pressure. 75% of sidewall maximum vs. door placard number. I work it around in this area.

5. Tools. An accurate air gauge, a tread depth gauge, and, latest, a laser-equipped IR thermometer. I use this on the truck and travel trailer to keep an eye on operating temperatures. I'm looking for consistency; 5F variations.

6. With this I don't see less than 45,000 miles on any tires, BUT, figure any miles beyond this as gravy as internal wear-and-tear is likely on the rise.
More miles in shorter time wouldn't worry me as much as old tires with less miles.
 
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Agreed. I remember replacing the Bridgestone Dueler HT tires on my mom's Honda CRV at 25,000 miles, using some cheap Kelly-Springfield products. The car handled way better, was much quieter, tires weared much more slowly, and we paid much less than what we would have paid for new Bridgestone Dueler HT tires.




Bridgestones were on my Navara new.

Nothing like the noise of a 4 wheel drift at 30MPH in an SUV. They handled like garbage and were rooted at 40,000km (26,000 miles).

20,000km on my Maxxis, and they are going great.

Kellys on my 4Runner lasted 50,000 miles (80,000km) before I threw them out because they started to not grip in the wet.
 
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But what kind of Bridgestone tires - Dueler HL Alenza? There can be quite a bit of difference within just Bridgestone or any other mfg.




I just put a set of these (Dueler HL Alenza) on last week on my wife's SUV, supposed to be a 60k mile tire and seems highly rated.
 
Bridgestone Dueler HL Alenza tires ROCK. I know because I got mom a good deal on 4 of them for her Jeep Grand Cherokee. Quiet, durable, and extremely good wet handling

Bridgestone Dueler HT tires are pure garbage. Short life, noisy, and difficult to handle.

Just a few letters are the difference between good and bad.
 
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