Has anyone ever gone to a tire store for tires, rotation and balance or flat repairs and ever had the tire pressure set to a requested value. I just had a flat fixed and asked for 36psi and the guy said no problem, that he had already set it at 35 and would be glad to make it 36. The next day, while servicing the family cars I discovered that the repaired tire was set to 30psi. In fact, I don't think any tire service has ever left me with the pressure set correctly. Has anyone else had this problem?
Tire stores
- Thread starter LarryL
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I mostly remember more like 45 psi, likely what they used to seat the bead. Just plan to bleed out the excess and retorque the lug nuts.
It's important to note that the tire pressure should be checked and set when the tires are cold, meaning before they were driven on. Is it possible that when the shop set your pressure, the tires were warmed up, but when you checked the pressure the next day, the tires were cold? That would explain the difference in PSI.
Hot vs cold when you are talking driving around town could amount to a pound or two, never 6 pounds. A couple of years ago when I bought a set of tires, I remember the range was between 29 and 40 when I asked for 36. Not one tire was within 5 pounds of the 36psi requiested. They could at least take some care and get it within 5 pounds.
If you tried drawer full of tire gauges, there is good chnce you would find that big a difference on tires with the same pressure.
Th eproblem could be your gauge, their gauge or a combination. Or maybe they lied to you.
At your pressure it would take about a 15F tire air temp change to change the pressure 1 lb/in^2
Th eproblem could be your gauge, their gauge or a combination. Or maybe they lied to you.
At your pressure it would take about a 15F tire air temp change to change the pressure 1 lb/in^2
Kestas
Staff member
I just assume the tire changers do a half-baked job and follow up myself with the air pressure and lug nut torque.
In fact, a lot of times I'll just take the tires off the car and present it to them to avoid the grief of lug nut overtorque.
Better yet, I sometimes use the tire changer in my basement from Harbor Freight. I bought it for $45 delivered to my door when they had a special. So far it's paid for itself. I can mount my own spares. I can sometimes get away with not balancing the tires. Plus, I can take care of the rust on the rim mounting surface by sandblasting and painting before mounting a new tire.
I wouldn't recommend this unit for aluminum tires.
In fact, a lot of times I'll just take the tires off the car and present it to them to avoid the grief of lug nut overtorque.
Better yet, I sometimes use the tire changer in my basement from Harbor Freight. I bought it for $45 delivered to my door when they had a special. So far it's paid for itself. I can mount my own spares. I can sometimes get away with not balancing the tires. Plus, I can take care of the rust on the rim mounting surface by sandblasting and painting before mounting a new tire.
I wouldn't recommend this unit for aluminum tires.
Our tires are usually have about 33 psi in them when we get them changed. This is at walmart, and we don't tell them a specific psi.
However, I told the guy to put LT's on and when he was done he said he just put P's(passenger) tires on.(He tryed to talk me out of the LT's because the max 'weight' rating was the same on both.) We didn't have time to deal with the bs though. So we have slightly underrated('load range' wise) tires on a 6500lb fullsize van.
However, I told the guy to put LT's on and when he was done he said he just put P's(passenger) tires on.(He tryed to talk me out of the LT's because the max 'weight' rating was the same on both.) We didn't have time to deal with the bs though. So we have slightly underrated('load range' wise) tires on a 6500lb fullsize van.
Schism,
Would you please tell me what the vehicle placard says about the tire size and inflation pressure and what tire size they actually put on?
This could be a very dangerous situation and I would like to help you document it (and correct it) if it is.
Would you please tell me what the vehicle placard says about the tire size and inflation pressure and what tire size they actually put on?
This could be a very dangerous situation and I would like to help you document it (and correct it) if it is.
Schism - I think a short talk with the manager, emphasizing the safety issue, would get that problem remedied VERY quickly. Actually, you shouldn't even have to do that, the fact is that they should have delivered to you what you asked (contracted) for.
Hehe, forgot about this post guys, the placard calls for P235/75(XL) with inflation at 40psi.
According to tirerack, it is a tire with a "D" load range.(I think, it is down at the moment, so I cant double check) Which I guess according to ford and michelin is "XL" on "passenger" tires.(XL may be a slightly lower rating than "D", as D is usually on LT tires, not Passenger.) Now the LT tires we asked for weren't rated better, but either way the LT's are a more heavy duty tire as you know.
Tires on the van now are all BFG's P235/75@35-36psi.. 30k miles later the fronts are wearing fine, replaced one 10k miles ago as it had a small tear in it, probably from my spirited cornering on slightly sub par tires. I don't do it anymore though, and the rears were just replaced about 8k ago. We do not load this vehicle to the max and it is only a 7 passenger model, the current tires are shy of the previous tires weight rating by 80lbs.
Not all walmart service center people are idiots. The one here where we live now actually asked if we wanted the LT's on it, however we chose not to because we did not have the extra 55 dollars and they had to be changed. It was better than completely bald tires.
According to tirerack, it is a tire with a "D" load range.(I think, it is down at the moment, so I cant double check) Which I guess according to ford and michelin is "XL" on "passenger" tires.(XL may be a slightly lower rating than "D", as D is usually on LT tires, not Passenger.) Now the LT tires we asked for weren't rated better, but either way the LT's are a more heavy duty tire as you know.
Tires on the van now are all BFG's P235/75@35-36psi.. 30k miles later the fronts are wearing fine, replaced one 10k miles ago as it had a small tear in it, probably from my spirited cornering on slightly sub par tires. I don't do it anymore though, and the rears were just replaced about 8k ago. We do not load this vehicle to the max and it is only a 7 passenger model, the current tires are shy of the previous tires weight rating by 80lbs.
Not all walmart service center people are idiots. The one here where we live now actually asked if we wanted the LT's on it, however we chose not to because we did not have the extra 55 dollars and they had to be changed. It was better than completely bald tires.
I did a comparison check of a number of gauges in my garage. A couple were off by 3psi, but one was out by 15psi.
I immediately proceeded to check the calibration of my torque wrenches!
If all the tires are at the wrong pressure, but they're consistent, someone could just have a bad gauge.
I just ask for the tire mounter to set the pressure at 40 psig and say I will readjust in the morning. 40 psig is about 10 psig over so I usually get anywhere for 34-38. I saw the problem at several shops. The guy sets the air regulator to a specific pressure and hooks the tire on. the gage is still reading whatever he set it at and when he can't hear any air moving he assumes the tire has met the set pressure which it has not. He never uses a tire gauge to check so you get an under inflated tire. Because of FORDS big screwup many garages now set tire pressures to the maximum on the tire sidewall for legal reasons. I have been told this by two tire places and GM even sent out tire pressure decals for some of their trucks to increase pressure to a higher value over the origional requirement.
I never run my tires more than 3 psi less than the max sidewall pressure. Outsides of the tires, especially the front set, don't wear so much.
Discount Tire and Wheel were I live (both loactions) always set pressure to what I request.
I used to have a set of Mich XGT-H4 Pilots that I would request 36 PSI. Always got it.
Just had my Yoko Geolander A/T's on a '95 Z-71 rotated and balanced, and asked for and got 35PSI.
I used to have a set of Mich XGT-H4 Pilots that I would request 36 PSI. Always got it.
Just had my Yoko Geolander A/T's on a '95 Z-71 rotated and balanced, and asked for and got 35PSI.
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