Tire Pressure

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Originally Posted By: dogememe
On my Suburban ever since the tire shop installed my new tires they looked very low, in fact two people have pointed it out to me. I checked the pressure and it was about 35, which is what the door sticker says. However, I increased it to 40 all the way around, and they look a lot better, the ride quality is definitely firmer, but I like that the whole truck feels less squishy now. I did notice that on the highway the steering feels much lighter - not sure if that is good or bad. I'm curious what the downside is of having the tire pressure this high? On the tires it says 51PSI is the max so I'm not too concerned about blowing a tire but just in terms of handling and wear...


The higher the pressure, the smaller the contact patch, the less grip you have.

Fun fact: F1 cars only run 12 or 13 PSI in their tires.
 
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
The higher the pressure, the smaller the contact patch, the less grip you have.

Fun fact: F1 cars only run 12 or 13 PSI in their tires.


And how long do their tires last? These type of comparisons are meaningless.
 
some time ago i posted about my 08 Avalon tire pressure. but ill post my last round with tire pressure. the call out psi is 29. i cranked it up to 43. i do a LOT of driving at 65 MPH. my MPG stayed at 27-25. and was showing a little ware in the center. 2-3 day ago i drooped the PSI to 35. same MPG. i think ill drop to 30. i like a firmer ride. but i cant get info as to a stiffer spring for that car. toyota list 2 diif springs. but no info as to stiffness.
 
Radial tires are supposed to look like that.
Most people over inflate their tires which puts extra wear on expensive suspension components, reduces grip,
and wears the middle tread
 
+1. Radial tires have the cords run so that there is a springiness in the sidewall. The sidewall springiness helps the tire tread stay flat to the road for max footprint in cornering and other conditions . Over inflation messes up the engineering of the radial. Ed
 
I run the pressures that the placard calls for except when I'm at the track- where I usually play with F/R pressures to fine tune the handling. I've found that the pressures recommended by BMW/Mini tend to be spot on most of the time for street driving. Ditto for my Wrangler.
 
On my Focus, I run 44 psi in the front, and 51 in the back, max sidewall pressure for the tires. My RF likes to self deflate to 35 psi or so over a week or two. I feel the higher pressure handles better (less slop), and I definitely get better fuel mileage (last tank was 31, previous with the tire at 35 psi was 28).

On my F150, I run 35 in the front (Michelin X LT), and 51 (max sidewall pressure) in the rear (BFG All-Terrain KO). I've had the fronts higher, but it bounces all over the place. Last tank was 20 mpg on it, and have gotten 22 mpg.
 
I find this comment interesting:

Originally Posted By: Wagonmaster261
…….. On my F150, I run 35 in the front (Michelin X LT), and 51 (max sidewall pressure) in the rear (BFG All-Terrain KO). I've had the fronts higher, but it bounces all over the place. …….


That confirms my opinion that not using the placard inflation pressure can cause handling problems.
 
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