Nitrogen in tires scam

[Wade Garrett]

....the conventional would predict.

[invalid unparseable]

I would doubt it too for 20 pounds but otherwise I heard that radial tires do not show as much as old biased and it is best to monitor pressure with a gauge.

[dpb]

I'll agree w/ Clare -- at least on American passenger cars manufacturer recommended pressures are predicated mostly on ride and most people have been acclimated to squishy/soft as opposed to firm/stiffer.

Somewhere from 2-5 psi above door plate typically will provide better mileage and handling as well as at least as good as if not better tread life as well.

Have done that way for 50 year or more...

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[Clare Snyder]

The load capacity of the LT tires currently installed is close to double the load capacity of the originals. Originals are rated about

1435 lbs. The LTs on it now are rated for 2150 or 2270 depending on whether it's the summers or the snows. The sidewall pressure is for the tire at max rated load.

Same tires on the Sorento except they are 17 or 18 inch (winter vs summer) and assuming 50/50 distribution that's about 1200lbs per tire at max GVW of 4807 and only 900 per tire at empty curb wight of 3600 lbs. Recommended pressure is 34PSI .I'm run nunning 36.

The ranger rear axle is rated for a max 2750 lbs - so the max load per tire is about 1375. Accounting for load shift on turns etc lets say we want a minimum of 1435 - the rating of the originals. This means you want full rated pressure (sidewall rating) at full load and the placard pressure is for running at curb weight - no load. The truck is never running empty - it's got a fiberglass cap and a bed liner in it all the time. It HAS carried 4300 lbs of hardwood flooring, as well as 3800 lbs of Ikea library shelves. The 3800 lbs went from Burlington Ontario to Kitchener -about 70 miles. If I'd have done that on the little tires I'd have popped them for sure. At ANY pressure!!

I've done the +2 to +4 on standard sized tires on virtually all my vehicles since Radial tires became standard - about a dozen vehicles, minimum - likely over 500,000 miles total - and have never had abnormal tire wear patterns due to higher pressure. If I let the pressure down I end up wearing the outer edges off.

[Arthur Conan Doyle]

My experience as well.

[thekmanrocks]

Arthur Conan Doyle, Clare Snyder:

I've dividing American tire consumers into three categories with regards to inflation pressures:

30% - Too low, mainly by not keeping up on pressures 20% - At or close to what's listed on the TIP(Tire Info. Placard) sticker on most vehicles' B-pillars 50% - Significantly higher(>5psi above TIP numbers), or at Max Cold Pressure stamped on tires.

I put myself in the middle category. Those of us who do follow the instructions are pretty lonely, but in most cases those TIP pressures have satisfied my handling and ride needs.

Twenty-plus years ago, I would have been in the latter category: I inflated not only to what was stamped on my tires, but as much as 5psi over...! But once I actually BOTHERED to read what was on that strange sticker on the pillar nearest my drivers seat, it was a revelation. I was finally feeling the ride and getting the handling the car was capable of, given its OEM tire size specs!

And I never looked back! To me, any more than 1-2psi over TIP recommended pressures, and the steering becomes too light and darty for my preferences. Given the lower-profile trend in passenger tires since 2000, I find most sedans, coupes, and even vans and SUVs waaaaay too easy to steer! I'm using no muscle at all to turn that helm, and I feel that that is a dangerous property to design into vehicles driven vastly by folks whom have never been near a race track, let alone competed on one, or at least attended a defensive driving course, or a school such as Skip Barber's.

I prefer a little weight build-up off-center, when turning or coming out of a turn. I get that more at vehicle recommended pressures than I do at tire max cold.

Additionally, the ride itself becomes too rough in most vehicles I've driven lately, at more than

1-2psi over what's on that placard. It's not comfortable to me or my passengers, nor is it good for the suspension or the total vehicle structure.

Plus, wanna a hear a little secret?.....

Most vehicles that I run at the vehicle placard recommendation accelerate, roll, and brake BETTER than those with the tires 5-10psi over vehicle placard, or at Max Cold on the tires!

Think about that, even here in More More MORE land, more air pressure, brighter TVs, bigger, better, More more MORE!

[rbowman]

I'm in a 4th category. I put 35 psi into everything with the exception on one of the bicycles that I take up to 60.

[dpb]

...

You've got the last category about a factor of 10X too high, virtually nobody actually inflates to Max Cold Pressure and I'd guess most by far who do run above the recommended vehicle ratings are <5 psi over.

As Clare notes and I agreed, +2 to +4 is far, far more common I'm thinking. No formal study/survey, just based on the folks I know.

Your initial breakout would probably be closer to reality (barring the >5 number, anyways) if you reversed the percentages of 2) and 3) above.

I'll grant over last 40 years with the move away from the much larger road weight automobile and to radial vs bias ply tires and better suspension systems, the manufacturer weights are generally more nearly what works well for handling than just the initial squishy ride of the

40s thru 60s...

[gfretwell]

I bet close to half don't ever check tire pressure until someone tells them they have a problem. By then the sidewall already has a groove in it.

[rbowman]

I just put my street tires on today. They were stacked up by the shed since the weekend before Thanksgiving. I fired up the compressor just in case but they were all 33 - 35.

One of the studs is a slow leaker. I replaced the valve stem last fall but it still loses pressure so I hit it about once a month during the winter. The other three are fine.

The bike tires lose more pressure. The Harley needs new shoes but the other two have good rubber. probably the smaller volume makes it more obvious.

[gfretwell]

Lay it down and pour some soapy water on the bead. The last slow leaker I had was a bead leak. It varied in the leaking depending on where the wheel stopped when I parked..

[Jim Joyce]

The Walmart in Cheyenne, WY, has an air station in the parking lot where you select the pressure that you want, then you just stick the air hose onto the tire. It automatically adds/removes/checks the pressure, and when it's done it beeps. Go to the next tire and do it again.

I'd like to have something like that at home, just because I think it's cool and not because I need it. I've never seen anything like that for sale, though.

[rbowman]

Grandmother. Suck. Eggs. I was looking for a stock tank so I could throw the whole damn thing in.

[Clare Snyder]

And varies with temperature too. And overinflating slows the leak by seating the bead tighter. I've got one losing a bit on the Ranger. It's an alloy rim and I'll clean and re-seat it when I switch to the summer wheels in a couple weeks. I just top it up every couple weeks from the compressor in the garage.

[thekmanrocks]

Public roads and highways are not the race track. So learn the process of following directions(IE tire placards on regular road consumer vehicles). It's never failed me!

[thekmanrocks]

Or a nearby lake - or the neighbor's swimming pool. :D

[rbowman]

This isn't swimming pool country. I can't even remember any of the neighbors blowing up one of those plastic wading pools for the kids. People swim in the river. I thought about that since the river is a few hundred yards away but I have visions of chasing the thing downstream.

Maybe I'll try the pond thing this summer. Being lazy and having a compressor it's just as easy to top it up every now and then.

Now the Harley tire is good at blowing bubbles around the rim but there's enough sidewall cracking that I'll replace the tire. Brazil had a problem making tires for a while and they all cracked prematurely. Love that global production.

[Clare Snyder]

My "competitive driving" wasn't on a race track either. It was on the same roads we drive on every day. ONNRC rallying. And adding 2 PSI has never failed me.

[thekmanrocks]

__________ It is symptomatic of the 'more-is-better' attitude toward tires in general. In addition to all the plus-sizing going on, bigger rims, wheels, wider tires, 25" alloys on a little Civic, etc. A whole buncha horseshit if you ask me. If Honda wanted wagon wheels plus

30-series low-profile rubber its 2016 or whatever year Civic, they would have ENGINEERED THE THING around such a setup. 32psi cold on the TIP(Tire Info. Placard) MEANS 32psi cold. 80psi in the back of a Ram Van and 55psi in the front of that van means THAT - NOT 80psi all around like I have to undo every damn time I'm around one. It's called SCIENCE, ladies & gentlemen, not 'personal preference'. Dodge recommends 80psi rears and 50 fronts for a REASON - load capacity in back, and better steering feel up front.

(Although it is common practice to 1-2psi that during the colder/wintry part of ones' year, be it July-September in Australia or January-March in NY or Moscow, due to a slower warmup curve of tire temperatures during those times.)

[dpb]

... It is symptomatic of the 'more-is-better' attitude toward tires in general. In addition to all the plus-sizing going on, bigger rims, wheels, wider tires, 25" alloys on a little Civic, etc. A whole buncha horseshit if you ask me. If Honda wanted wagon wheels plus 30-series low-profile rubber its 2016 or whatever year Civic, they would have ENGINEERED THE THING around such a setup.

...

Well, you can order a standard 2020 Camry w/ anything from P205/65R16 to P235/40R19 from factory so clearly the idea of a "one size fits all" just ain't so.

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