Tire pressure

[Barnacle Bill]

I had a flat the other day and wound up destroying the tire. Since I had low mileage on them I found one exactly like the others. After getting home I decided to double check the air pressure and found they had put 45 lbs in it. I got curious and called them to ask why and was told that is what is recommended for that tire and not the 32 lbs posted on the door jamb. Inspecting the other 3 revealed the outer edges wearing more than the inner which indicates low pressure. Still not satisfied I did some research on the web and found several places that also said 45 lbs for those 17" Bridgestone tires. So I increased the others. What a difference. Maybe a little harder ride but my mileage went from 17 mpg to 20.56 mpg. Not bad for a V-8.

[joejv4]

I never go by what's on the door jamb, I go by what's on the side-wall of the tire. Whatever the max pressure listed on the sidewall is, that's what I inflate them to. Gives better gas mileage AND longer lifetime mileage on the treads.

[jlaughlin72]

Just think of all the extra miles you registered on your truck running it with low air pressure. Less pressure makes the tire smaller and it makes a complete revolution before it should, therefore increasing miles on the odometer when you didn't actually put that many miles on it. We have 3 trucks, 2 compacks and a full size, and I run oversized on all of them, a little harder on the take off, but better milage. Glad you found your problem.

[rancherlee]

The pressure on the sidewall is listed as a MAXIMUM, not what you are suppose to air them up to. Running too much pressure will cause the center tread to wear faster and more importantly INCREASE your breaking distance and hurt your wet handling ability also. As long as the tires are the same width as stock run what the doorjam says, wider tires need slightly less air and skinnier tires slightly more.

[Barnacle Bill]

As I said in my original post I was running what is posted on the door jamb and the outer edges were wearing faster than the inner. Pressure to low.

[Don G]

I had a flat the other day and wound up destroying the tire. Since I had low mileage on them I found one exactly like the others. After getting home I decided to double check the air pressure and found they had put 45 lbs in it. I got curious and called them to ask why and was told that is what is recommended for that tire and not the 32 lbs posted on the door jamb. Inspecting the other 3 revealed the outer edges wearing more than the inner which indicates low pressure. Still not satisfied I did some research on the web and found several places that also said 45 lbs for those 17" Bridgestone tires. So I increased the others. What a difference. Maybe a little harder ride but my mileage went from 17 mpg to 20.56 mpg. Not bad for a V-8.

Bill, what kind of vehicle? I have 17'' Bridgestones on my Chevy truck so I had better check them for proper pressure...Thanks for the tip..

[Barnacle Bill]

Bill, what kind of vehicle? I have 17'' Bridgestones on my Chevy truck so I had better check them for proper pressure...Thanks for the tip..

03 ToyotaTundra

[Bowfin]

there's a trick using chalk to determine the right pressue. Goes something like this, draw a chalk line across your tire tread, inflate to maximum psi, and reduce the tire pressure until the line wears evenly across the tire by driving several feet.

[roybuoy]

My Michelins call for 50psi,thats what I run,4years and 42,000 miles and still going.Go with what the mfg. says.They pay engineers big bucks to find out how to get the most miles out of their brands,so go with what they say.Tires are made with different compounds of rubber,( the hardness of rubber ) thats why you have different psi for each compounds.On the sidewall of the tire it should have a # like 200,300,ect.The higher the # the harder the tire,higher the # = higher mileage. If it's not on the sidewall do a web search on your brand and look at the specs.My Michelins are 440 compound,haven't bought tires in 4 yrs,and pull a boat all over the southeast with them.They cost more but I change tires less.

[REDBOAT]

Wouldn't the Maximum PSI on the tire be for a certain amount of weight that the tire is carrying ie the weight of the truck?