estiamte on tire pressure

[Jack_Berry]

i replaced two cheap tires today with a couple goodyears. the tech said all the tires had 65 lbs of air. the po had 80 in all tires. i immediately noticed a much smoother less hoppy ride. when i called gy the fella there said yes the ride improves but a heavy load may overload the tires at 65 lbs.


so whats everyone else think? sacrifice the empty ride for the loaded buckboard ride?

 

[terryandrene]

I usually kept my Michelins at 80 rear / 70 front and rotated every 10,000 or so, whenever had time to kill near a free rotate at Costco. Sacrifice comfort for longer tire wear. 180,000 miles was not uncommon on the Michelin LTX E rated tire.

 

[Moot]

I agree with Terry. I run 70# front and 80# rear on Firestone Transforce tires. I also agree with Terry's rotation policy, except I don't adhere to it. I rotate my rear tires to the front and my front tires to the scrap heap. I buy from a small local tire outfit. He does offer free rotation, but I find it too time consuming and putzy to rotate every 10,000 miles.

I do have a Costco membership but find my local guy to be reliable, completive and does good work. Especially when doing an alignment.

 

[ATeam]

Most if not all major tire manufacturers have a tire data book that shows proper inflation levels for each type of tire under a range of loads. Determine the normal load your new Goodyear's carry, consult the tire data book and run them at that psi.

Any Goodyear dealer will have the book. I think the information may also be on the Goodyear web site.

 

[fastman_1]

I run Bridgestones 80 PSI On all 4 corners and Rotate Every Oil Change, This Current Set has 160,000 Miles on them and still have about 50% Tread Left

 

[FIS53]

Most mfrs for cargo vans recommend the like of 80 for the rears and 55-60 for the fronts. I found the handling changes interesting when increasing the fronts from the mfr recommended levels. yes ride is nicer with lower pressure as the tires absorb more of the smaller bumps by compressing more but can't handle the loads. Unfortunately for me I get loads over 2000lbs too often to run lower psi in the rears. So for me 80 it is. truck rides nice with a load in it. Current front is at 72 as alignment guy made fronts equal each other and rears match each other so 72 front and 80 rears. handling is a little different on the front now but not dangerous or anything and feel the bumps more.
Rob

 

[RLENT]

I found the handling changes interesting when increasing the fronts from the mfr recommended levels. ....... handling is a little different on the front now but not dangerous or anything and feel the bumps more.

Yeah Rob .... the thought that has repeatedly crossed my mind was:

"If you increase the front's inflation pressure beyond the manufacturer's recommendation, how does that affect tire adhesion when cornering and in turns ?"

I don't really know the answer .... but it seems like you might have less sidewall flex and maybe less leeway before the tire would break loose and slide ..... dunno ........

 

[Turtle]

I run 80 front and back. On my previous set of tires I ran 55 front, 80 back, but when I got these new tires I figured I'd give 80 up front a try. No real noticeable difference in the ride or handling. Physics dictates a slight increase in fuel mileage, but there are too many other variables to calculate the difference with any certainty. Variables like more weight from day one from the addition of the shelves (previous tires only had to deal with the shelves for the last half of their tread life), which will decrease fuel mileage, so more likely any increase in fuel mileage from the 80 psi up front is mitigated by the increased weight.

Also, the previous set of tires, I rotated those every 20,000 miles, and at rotation there was no discernible difference in treadwear between the front and rear. I've rotated these once at 37,000, and there was noticeably more treadwear on the rears than on the fronts. I don't know if that's due to decreased treadwear up front because of the higher pressure, or an increase in treadwear on the rears due to the added shelving weight. I'll be interested to see if the treadwear catches up after another 37,000 miles. And if so, as I expect it to be, it'll be interesting to see how the life of these tires compare to the previous set.

 

[dhalltoyo]

The Chevrolet Express 3500 calls for 50 psi/front & 80 psi/rear.

One time they rotated the tires and forgot to make the proper adjustments. I was going from Dayton to Cleveland the next morning and I felt harshness like I had never felt before, but when it started snowing around Mansfield the poor handling characteristics really got me to thinking why the van was driving differently.

As soon as I got past the snow belt, I pulled into a service station and checked the air pressure. It was then that I realized what they had forgot to do.

Those were "E" rated tires.

Interesting, the cutaway dually came with "D" rated tires, yet it has a higher GVWR (400 lbs more). Aerocell puts the final label on the door (based upon the weight of the cargo box) and the tire pressure reads 60 psi all the the way around. I thought that to be very strange, but it must have something to do with the load distribution across the amount of tread (six tires as opposed to four) contacting the surface.