The most important part is just MAINTAIN the designed pressure on the placard. It is the safe starting spot on any cool morning, and they will pretty much self-adjust to higher pressure anyway. Depending on ambient, and pavement temps, some days they might only gain a pound, and some days the tires might gain 5 or more psi on the highway. That way they will usually ride smooth in town, and firm up on the highway all by themselves. Main thing is the correct recommended cold pressure on any given day. All you can do is keep within a safe operating range totally depending on temperature anyway.
Follow Inside Door Plaque Tire Pressure ?
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I usually go 1 lb. over purely because it is easier to see on a gauge. All my vehicles recommend 35
This whole thread smacks of "I know more than the people who designed the car".
Originally Posted By: Claud
I remember Ford and Firestone having a big fallout over tire pressures a few years back.
As I recall Ford recommended a lower pressure than ideal for safety to give the model concerned (I want to say Explorer but I'm open to correction) a softer ride, and Firestone wanted a higher pressure but didn't want to upset a major customer so went along with it.
However I have run my tires at the recommended pressures unless I notice excessive wear on the center or outer part of the tread.
Roger.
yeah,that was the first gen(91-94) explorer, they had a lot of blowouts, causing rollovers and fires. which led to the explorer getting the "Exploder" nickname.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Explorer#Rollover_and_Firestone_Tire_controversy
I remember Ford and Firestone having a big fallout over tire pressures a few years back.
As I recall Ford recommended a lower pressure than ideal for safety to give the model concerned (I want to say Explorer but I'm open to correction) a softer ride, and Firestone wanted a higher pressure but didn't want to upset a major customer so went along with it.
However I have run my tires at the recommended pressures unless I notice excessive wear on the center or outer part of the tread.
Roger.
yeah,that was the first gen(91-94) explorer, they had a lot of blowouts, causing rollovers and fires. which led to the explorer getting the "Exploder" nickname.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Explorer#Rollover_and_Firestone_Tire_controversy
I have owned two cars that at stock pressures had serious problems, cupping and kidney shakers.
I tried many pressures and 40 psi was best on both, stopped the cupping and kidney damage.
I tried many pressures and 40 psi was best on both, stopped the cupping and kidney damage.
What the heck is kidney shakers?
Originally Posted By: ltslimjim
What the heck is kidney shakers?
reference to old days tractors/agricultural implements....
The "Pro" guys almost would end up with kidney problems.... (might be the fact that 80-95% of them they where drinking a lot....)
Just my childhood memory from 5k miles away country.....
What the heck is kidney shakers?
reference to old days tractors/agricultural implements....
The "Pro" guys almost would end up with kidney problems.... (might be the fact that 80-95% of them they where drinking a lot....)
Just my childhood memory from 5k miles away country.....
I adjust pressure depending on tire wear. I find that 34-35 works best on the front for even wear, the rears when unloaded like about 30
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
I adjust pressure depending on tire wear. I find that 34-35 works best on the front for even wear, the rears when unloaded like about 30
I hope you realize that you're dialing out a lot of the understeer Ford built into your car. I don't know how much it would take to cause the car to go into oversteer, but that's the direction this is headed.
I adjust pressure depending on tire wear. I find that 34-35 works best on the front for even wear, the rears when unloaded like about 30
I hope you realize that you're dialing out a lot of the understeer Ford built into your car. I don't know how much it would take to cause the car to go into oversteer, but that's the direction this is headed.
Originally Posted By: dparm
This whole thread smacks of "I know more than the people who designed the car".
+1
This whole thread smacks of "I know more than the people who designed the car".
+1
^^^ sure, but..... how far do you go in drinking the cool-aid, and how far do you go in verifying more yourself? On one hand, mfr guidelines are great against "you can't fix stupid," on the other, how enterprising is the same attitude which says, "I vote X because my daddy voted x, my grandpa voted x, so I vote x."?
I used to live in aggressively-driven streets but couldn't afford a nice car. I loved on and worked the snot out of my little 2.2L subaru wagon with 14" steelies. I got better tire wear going over the sticker, and better mpg. I watched temps -- ideally kept PSI at 2degree F increase from cold to hot, based on the tire engineering literature available at the time. I then worked on balance in cornering and found the car to balance the best when the fronts were 2PSI over the rears, which made sense since more weight was over the front.
Every single item in an automobile is compromised out of its own unique optimal design. Every single item. And compromise is established based on a set of perceived values. The margins are bound by big things like cost and safety, and then design requirements, and then finer points like customer expectations. It is ok to think, as long as you don't go outside of the bigger issues like safety.
Example. design an optimized gas tank. design for the most efficient use of materials for weight and strength. It will be a sphere. holds the most volume of fuel for a given quantity of materials, and will also be strong. But do you see any spherical gas tanks in cars or motorcycles? not a one. Already, its optimal design is compromised....
the s60 rides the best for me at mfr placard and the mpg does not really go up over that. 35psi. the truck +2-4 front, mfr spec for empty bed, +10 psi when towing heavy.
-meep
I used to live in aggressively-driven streets but couldn't afford a nice car. I loved on and worked the snot out of my little 2.2L subaru wagon with 14" steelies. I got better tire wear going over the sticker, and better mpg. I watched temps -- ideally kept PSI at 2degree F increase from cold to hot, based on the tire engineering literature available at the time. I then worked on balance in cornering and found the car to balance the best when the fronts were 2PSI over the rears, which made sense since more weight was over the front.
Every single item in an automobile is compromised out of its own unique optimal design. Every single item. And compromise is established based on a set of perceived values. The margins are bound by big things like cost and safety, and then design requirements, and then finer points like customer expectations. It is ok to think, as long as you don't go outside of the bigger issues like safety.
Example. design an optimized gas tank. design for the most efficient use of materials for weight and strength. It will be a sphere. holds the most volume of fuel for a given quantity of materials, and will also be strong. But do you see any spherical gas tanks in cars or motorcycles? not a one. Already, its optimal design is compromised....
the s60 rides the best for me at mfr placard and the mpg does not really go up over that. 35psi. the truck +2-4 front, mfr spec for empty bed, +10 psi when towing heavy.
-meep
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The giant swaybar I installed also worked to remove under steer. Even with that it's very difficult to get the back sliding. Anyway, slightly lower pressure in the rear should make the contact patch bigger giving more lateral grip
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