CHECK YOUR TIRE PRESSURE!

If you're math-oriented you could just use the published weight of your vehicle and divide it by the total of the maximum load stamped into the tire sidewall (sum of all four). Take the resulting fraction and multiply it by the maximum inflation pressure stamped on the tire sidewall. I did this a couple of times and found that the pressure obtained this way was very close to the recommended pressure on the door jamb.

This more or less assumes you are using tires that have the same or similar load rating than your OE tires.

Pretty cool, huh?
 
Tire Pressure.jpg

I use these, $2.00 each they are very well made, they are set for 40lb's 40lb might be a little high but the car handles better overall and I like the idea of getting better gas mileage.

Just a walk around the car to make sure they are all reading green, its simple
 
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Going to the high end on tire pressure maght make your sedan handle like a gokart on smooth roads (or seem like it, anyway) but in the frozen north the wear and tear on suspension parts and wheel bearings comes back to haunt pretty quickly especially with 60 and down series tires. I do a little autocrossing , and I run wide alloy rims with tires to match, Koni struts, and a front strut tower bar and stiffer bushings in the suspesnion links, but I don't see much payback from going over 36 pounds in the tires. . It's all about tire footprint, IS the tire FLAT on the road from tread edge to tread edge? The racer guys use a tread temp gauge to measure across the tread looking for hot spots. Harder to do on the street, you have to resort to looking at wear patterns instead. I have always understood the max tire pressures were for carrying a lot of people and luggage, on a lot summer day, at high speed, not keeping the tires of an unloaded car in contact with a bumpy road. Some IRS layouts introduce quite a bit of camber, overinflate the rear tires and the inside edges wear real fast.
 
I check mine every few days because my left front drivers side tire is always leaking air out of em I WOULD NEVER GET DUNLOPS again.
 
Between my two vehicles, I have 4 sets of tires. The recaps and factory tires on the focus do not leak. One of the winterforce tires on my car leaks a few PSI a week, and one of the AT tires on my Cherokee leaks about 10PSI a weeek (if not driven) or none if driven.
 
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Check newly mounted tires checked every few days to reconfirm asked-for pressure and to make sure there's no loss when mounting liquid brushed on the tires dries...

Then every two weeks....

On the Kitacam (LE/4cyl) F/R are above recommended 29psi...
Front 33, just enough to eliminate squealing on tight turns...
Rear 34 to get the rear end out and around the turn "more quickly"...
 
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Originally Posted By: DBMaster
If you're math-oriented you could just use the published weight of your vehicle and divide it by the total of the maximum load stamped into the tire sidewall (sum of all four). Take the resulting fraction and multiply it by the maximum inflation pressure stamped on the tire sidewall. I did this a couple of times and found that the pressure obtained this way was very close to the recommended pressure on the door jamb.

This more or less assumes you are using tires that have the same or similar load rating than your OE tires.

Pretty cool, huh?


Pretty wrong.

First, it assumes the weight on your tires is the same all around - OR - if you use the GAWR's, it assumes the there is no difference side to side.

Also, it assumes that the maximum pressure is where the maximum load occurs - which is not always true.

It also assumes that tires should be inflated right up to the minimum pressure needed to carry the load.

Al in all, not well thought out.
 
Kitacamry has gotten to like 20% more PSI than its door jam recommendation...35 vs 29

This past few weeks the air temps have dropped from mid 80s to low 50s resulting in a drop of 2 PSI cold tire readings...
...something southern auto-owners should be aware of...especially if their tire PSI is at door jam setting.
 
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Just checked a friends tire pressure before they took a trip, 45 psi all the way around!?!?!?!?!? G6 calls for 32/30 on the 18 inch tires. He said no wonder it was handling and riding so terribly. DONT TRUST THE SHOP GUY! In the words or Regan, trust but verify.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
I also find the Michelin winter tires on the truck (year round Michelins on the Honda) have much better liners and don't lose much air.


This is my experience with our E rated truck tires. Most are now running the new LTX MS2 style and they simply do not leak air at all. It's another small plus for Michelin quality control.


Yeah same here. I just look at them now. I got tired of checking the air pressure only to find that I wasted my time.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
I also find the Michelin winter tires on the truck (year round Michelins on the Honda) have much better liners and don't lose much air.


This is my experience with our E rated truck tires. Most are now running the new LTX MS2 style and they simply do not leak air at all. It's another small plus for Michelin quality control.


Yeah same here. I just look at them now. I got tired of checking the air pressure only to find that I wasted my time.


Yep. Our new truck has bridgestones but has TPMS also so we can keep track of the poor tires!
 
I typically run 2-2.5 PSI higher than what's written on the door jamb. With the high temps. we had last week, all my cars had the roughest, bumpiest ride ever since the tire pressures shot up an additional 3-4 psi with the heat! I had to adjust everything so the rides would return to normal again.
 
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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Tis the season, temperature dropping.

Depending upon how your TPMS is set, you might loose 10+ psi before it alerts you! Thats a lot of air in a low profile tire like many cars have these days.

And of course cars without TPMS need to be watched because you just dont know.

With it getng colder, we can see some pretty big fluctuation. Some cold morning, before too long, go out and check the pressure!



JHZRa,

My TPMS is off by about 3 pounds so like you said my tires are toast before I'm alerted! I check my tire pressure once per month and adjust it to the cars recommended pressure.

Since I do this I basically ignore my TPMS system. Is there a way to reset to show a more accurate panel reading? I have an 08' Impala SS.

Durango
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Am I the only one who checks it monthly, or before a road trip, regardless of season?


Every other week at night when the tires are cool.
 
On the cars that I service, I fill them COLD and inflate them to 3psi over the OEM recommended pressure or 35 psi, whichever is higher.

Usually, this is enough to keep the tires at or near the recommended inflation pressure until it comes back for its next service visit.
 
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