How much pressure do my tires need, please

[Big Z]

Should I go 30? 35? 40????? OHHH!! THE SUPSENSE!

 

[A Wise Guy]

The correct tire pressure is the pressure that gives the best, and most even, contact between the tire and the pavement.

To expand off of this statement which I believe in is something I learned from an RV forum.

Because the weight of a vehicle is greatly affected by the way a vehicle is loaded a blanket statement of all tires at the same pressure is not allways true. At least in the RV market holding tanks and storage compartments are a huge factor in this equation.

Now let's scale it back to the automotive application of four tires. It is convenient for automobile manufacturers to suggest that all tires be at a suggested pressure but how they come to that is anybody's guess.

Here is a way that I learned to figure out how much pressure is needed in each tire. Fill your gas tank 1/2 way that way you are not too far off of your calculations when completely full or completely empty. Find a nice clean flat parking lot where it is safe to do this procedure. Using sidewalk chalk color the tread side of your tires and then move the vehicle in order to wear the chalk off a little. If you have chalk in the middle you are under inflated. If you have chalk on the outsides you are over inflated. Increase or decrease air pressure accordingly. When you are happy with the wear pattern that is created note your air pressure. Do this for all your tires.

 

[corkey]

Okay people let me back this shiz up,,

having driven since i was 13 and having had a bunch of cars, i am no stranger to tires living in Canada
Having also worked at probably 12 tire shops too is also a plus in my favour.

the way i set my tire pressure is as the other poster said to use the chalk mark test to show you that the complete tire face is in contact and not just parts of it,
In doing this as often as i have i have established a favourable pressure that always seems to be the right one for that contact patch to be correct,,

and that pressure seems to always be about 35 psi,,

In my career in the tire shops i also attended several workshops put on by several tire companies that concur with my choice of this pressure, and usually most tire shops will put tires at that as the default,

as another poster said, it varies from tire to tire, but in my experience, it always seems that is the number,


Okay, call a local tire shop , tell them what kind of truck and what kind of tires, see what they say,,

i am not a kid, i am 46 years old, i have probably put on more tires than some of you have seen,,

i am not getting into a peeing match over this, i just know that 30 is not enough pressure, and with my experience i offered what i do and believe to be the right thing,,

 

[waskly]

i agree

 

[waskly]

i will say one thing, thing ford got lost on tire pressure in 2002/2003/2004 those were the 32/32 32/33 32/35 33/35 psi stickers, once tpms came in, for "mysteries" its been around 35 to set all tires.

and for the year of the vehicle were talking about and the firestone recall, it didnt matter if it was the 28 psi printed or the 34psi which firestone said it should be the tires were all recalled after even ford explorers due to them comming off. so they came off tahoo and 4 runners also later in life, just that wasnt on tv.

tire pressure you should be fine around 34-36 on that year ex, i would say 35 but since most gauges are not digital and analog and the scale in 2's that 1's really not happening

but any tire you buy should be set to the spec or sticker of the car.

 

[BigRondo]

Yup

i agree

Me too!.....................................

 

[carboy400]

WOW, this much discussion over tire pressure!

 

[sport97]

WOW, this much discussion over tire pressure!

Agreed. Even though I'm adding to it!

Just put between 30 to 40 and you will be between ford and the tires recommendations. I used to run 40psi, and it wore out the center of the rear tires because they had too much air/not enough weight. I have found 32-35 psi to be right for my tires, explorer. Even at 32 the sidewalls start to bulge, so any lower may be too little air.

Just find what works best in regards to wear, ride, etc for your tires, use and explorer.

 

[SoNic67]

"Sidewall start to bulge"???? Did you EVER look at a car tires to see how much bulge they have? 35psi is encrusted in small car owners brain and they think the SUV's should be the same.
Geez, some people like to think that they are smarter than the manufacturer engineers... Those engineers are just some idiots that never know anything! Same with the DOT people that check those settings before approving a car/SUV to be sold in USA.

Chalk tests? Do you really think that the contact patch wasn't studied in the factory when they recommended the tire pressure? And not only in straight line, but in more important in the curves where you want to have maximum contact patch.
Sure, they study the OEM tire and that's the one they recomend to use. But the guys here that say they know better, they didn't STUDY any other tire on the Explorer, they just run their fingers on the keyboard assuming things.
"Tire manufacturer recomandations"? The only recomandation they put on tires is "Don't you dare to blow it over 44psi at cold! Don't spin it faster than x.. mph! Don't load it more than x.. lbs!". They have no clue what car/truck you will install that tire and what's the weight of that car/truck!

Stop listening to these "tools" trying to scare you with talk of liability if you don't listen to them, insurance companies checking your tire pressure, roll over,etc.....

B.) Ummm, again. Cuckoo, cuckooo.

Sure, when you run out of rational arguments, insults are the best next thing! You are lucky that on this forum there is no moderation...

 

[01sporty]

my tire placard is completely wrong. as it list my 01 to have 15 inch tires when in fact it came out with 16 inch tires. bought it from original owner who said it came off the lot that way. so those reccomendations wouldnt be any good for my vehicle anyway.

 

[SoNic67]

My tires are 16" and sticker (posted above) shows 30psi on a 2001 year.

 

[ajkula66]

My sticker says 26 on a '00 with 15" which simply MUST be wrong...I currently have the (non-OEM) tires at 32 and it feels pretty good...

 

[techieman33]

My sticker says 26 on a '00 with 15" which simply MUST be wrong...I currently have the (non-OEM) tires at 32 and it feels pretty good...

Yeah the 26psi is part of what lead to the firestone rollovers, ford has updated the sticker since then but most 2nd gens never got the new stickers.

 

[Glen4X4]

35PSI That is all. Pete was right about it. Next question?

 

[cybergasm]

i need some new entertainment here

 

[Glen4X4]

i need some new entertainment here

Want some entertainment? I'll throw a 35psi tire at you



J/k of course

 

[gmanpaint]

Hmm, wonder if the engineers knew about some of us running at 8 psi when wheeling?

They should make a new sticker that tells us what psi to run for all conditions, topography, climates, sidewall makes, Speeds we run, for each type of tire ever made!

Be a pretty big arse sticker! LOL

Geeze, a little common sense is needed here guys. This is one of the wackiest threads I have read in a long time. Thanks! keep em coming!

 

[techieman33]

Hmm, wonder if the engineers knew about some of us running at 8 psi when wheeling?

They should make a new sticker that tells us what psi to run for all conditions, topography, climates, sidewall makes, Speeds we run, for each type of tire ever made!

Be a pretty big arse sticker! LOL

Geeze, a little common sense is needed here guys. This is one of the wackiest threads I have read in a long time. Thanks! keep em coming!

it's coming gregg, it won't be long with all the tpms stuff that is already out there. I'm sure in a few years it will adjust the pressure in the tires for conditions.

 

[SoNic67]

Hmm, wonder if the engineers knew about some of us running at 8 psi when wheeling?

The OP obvious is at the first car/truck and probably a beginner driver. I am 100% that it has the OEM tires and it drives on the highway, otherwise won't ask this question here.

What relevance has to the discution the wheeling and heavily modifyed trucks here? Just to confuse him? To prove that the engineers at Ford are dumber then you?
Of course that sticker applies only to original tires... and that type and size is marked on the SAME stiker. I posted a pic of it for who doesn't feel like reading the door jamb.
30psi at cold is adequate for the OEM tire because it has a thicker sidewall than your wife/son/gf car tires (from where I quess comes the 35psi).
The 26psi come from rollover risk of the 1990 models, inflated at 35psi. And for that Firestone tires probably didn't have strong enough sidewalls. Then they switched to Goodyear tires, tested them at 30psi for rollover and... never had a problem with 30psi. That's all.

 

[jbl0072k2]

my 99 xlt gets in the S.Carolina summers: 33psi in rear and 31psi in front. The front will be softer while driving, and the rear will be a little stiffer and more responsive when accelerating. AND the PSI creeps up a little bit in the summer, so not to go way over the TIRES recomended 35 Max PSI. This gives me a great ride and fuel efficient. Winter months i'll have the front tires at 34 PSI and rear at 35psi. And if i want a smoother ride, i'll lower them 2-4 PSI. Overall you want to get a feel for the comfort of each PSI you got 'em at...and if fuel efficiency is important to you, screw your comfort and tune your tires PSI to get the most out of your fuel mileage. If you know how much PSI your tires got before a road trip...look at the fuel gauge. On the way back change the psi up or down and you should notice a difference in fuel economy. Just find that balance of comfort/fuel efficiency for each driving situation youre about to embark on! Its not hard to do, and youll be glad when you figure out those magic numbers to keep your tires inflated at.

and get a Griots air gauge. non-digital and very accurate. And made in the USA.

Go Gamecocks.