How Much PSI?

[MaD]

Anyways, I'm pretty much a Tire Idiot (among other things)

 

But anyways, Last night, I noticed my tires were friggin low. (I'm talkin' 20psi)

 

So, I went to go fill them up, then I realized, I know nothing about tires. Trying to find as many resources as possible at 9pm, I started poking around in my trunk and some sticker advised me to inflate my tires to 30psi.

 

I proceeded to do so, when I noticed the sticker was for 195/70R14.

 

Since my tires are 205/70R14, I started to wonder is 30psi was sufficient. (Even at 30psi, they looked a bit low.)

 

Then, I read everything I could on the tires themselves and the only thing I could find was that the MAXIMUM psi I should have is 44.

 

I didn't want to do the Max, since I'm such a "Bare-Minimalist" (whatever that is) so I inflated the tires to 40psi (Thinking perhaps This was the "Happy Medium").

 

However, As I reflect upon the situation, I start to remember every pebble, bump, nook and cranny on the way to work this morning and I'm starting to wonder if maybe perhaps 40psi was a bit too much?

 

I did manage to read my Service Manual, but it's as helpful as that damn sticker (It says 30psi)

 

So here I am.

 

I would stick with 30psi, but they just look too low, even at 40 they have some Gut. But I suppose if I have to, I'll stick with the 30, unless someone can give me a better answer....

 

...and perhaps an explanation as to why I need a certain psi.

 

Sorry I'm such an idiot, but perhaps one day I'll learn

-MaD-

[MaD]

Oh, and my search of the net only brought me to this:

 

 

 

Jim Pfiffer's humor column for Sunday 5/06/01

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Under pressure and full of hot air

 

Column by Jim Pfiffer

 

Please tell me I'm not alone in my dilemma of trying to figure out how much air to put in my tires.

 

It seems so simple, but I can't find anyone who can tell me in easy-to-understand language how much air I need in my car's Bridgestones.

 

I can find plenty of people and ads telling me the importance of maintaining properly inflated tires for safety and longer tire life.

 

"Nothing causes tire wear faster than under- or over-inflated tires," say the ads.

 

Mechanics, tire dealers, auto parts store clerks and even the occasional waitress tell me the same thing. But no one can tell me how much air to put in my tires.

 

I don't think anyone knows.

 

In the old days, you could read the instructions on your tires. They contained easy-to-understand directions like "Inflate to 35 pounds."

 

The directions on today's tires are written in secret codes, with metric measurements added for more confusion (I don't know where one gets metric air). And only a few high-placed executives in the tire industry have the secret code books.

 

My tires say things like: ST402/R/195/kgm/row 4/section 5/E-I-E-I-O.

 

The instructions are written in teeny black letters that blend in perfectly with the sidewalls so you can't read them. Worse, they're written in an arch around the tire so I have to squat down and tilt my head toward the ground until I tip over in the driveway as I read the entire line of tiny tire text.

 

After 20 minutes of tire reading, and three pulled neck muscles, the only thing I read on my tire that made sense was "Do not inflate to more than 40 psi."

 

Great. Does that mean I can inflate to 30, 20, 10 or 1 psi?

 

I asked the guy at the gas station, and he said, "Check your owner's manual."

 

I did. It referred me to the "tire pressure sticker" located inside the driver's side door jamb.

 

The sticker read (I'm not making this up): "GVWR 1600/3527 kPa/PSI 160/23."

 

Huh? It's like picking lottery numbers. You can't win.

 

So, I went to a tire dealer and picked up a pamphlet on tire care called (again, I'm not making this up) "Inflate. Rotate. Evaluate." (Doesn't that sound like a great name for an adult parlor game?)

 

It used to be that you could look at a tire and tell if it needed air. But according to the pamphlet, you can't do that with today's radial tires.

 

Worse, the tire pressure varies if the tires are hot or cold. So you have to know both tire pressures. I just want to know one.

 

The tire dealer told me: "Your tires can loose up to 10 pounds of pressure every five months."

 

"How?" I asked. "Are the tires you sold me leaking air?"

 

"No," he replied. "They just lose pressure."

 

"Huh?" I retorted. "Well, how much air should I put in my tires?"

 

"It depends on many factors," he said. "Like driving conditions, the gross vehicle weight, tire rotation, tread wear and so on."

 

"Huh?" I said. "Can't you just pleazzzz tell me how much air to put into my tires," I begged.

 

"I'm sorry, sir," he said. "But I don't have the code book."

 

Jim Pfiffer's humor column appears each Sunday and Friday.

 

Jim Pfiffer Index

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http://www.stargazettenews.com/ttl/pfiffer050601.html

 

 

Pretty funny shyte....

Almost perfectly described my night yesterday. :oops:

At least I'm not the only one who can't understand this Greek.

:? ,

-MaD-

[GnatGoSplat]

It's normal for radial tires to have that under-inflated look.

Since this is not an SUV, you will be safe at any PSI between what the sticker in the trunk recommends and 44psi. Since the sticker doesn't list your specific tire size, my guess is that 35psi is sufficient.

 

Overinflated tires may tend to wear a bit more in the center. They also ride stiffer. That's no big deal. Underinflated tires are prone to blowouts. That could become a pretty big deal. So it's actually better to be overinflated (but not exceeding the tire's max) than underinflated. However, if you know the recommended pressure, I would stick to that.

 

You can't go on appearance of the tire alone. It would probably take 100+ psi to lose that under-inflated look considering that's how radials are. Back in the old days of bias-ply tires, they didn't have that under-inflated look.

[per0781]

for 22560r16's the max pressure is 44 psi. For all u guys with those tires, what psi are ure tires set to once they are hot?

 

Thanks,

Paul

[Brian P]

I set mine at 34psi...yeah NEVER inflate according to looks! When I had the 15" POS Hercules tires (came with the dang car) I inflated a tire based on the fact that the car was pulling to the right. I overinflated a tire to 65psi! drove on it for a few weeks too!