30 psi, won't feel so many bumps


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Posted by ChrisCase [75.36.46.181] on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 21:50:14 :

In Reply to: Re: Non Directional Tire Pressure? posted by Vaughn [99.88.75.77] on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 21:33:21 :

I don't know why people think you have to run the MAXIMUM pressure in tires. It usually says on the side wall something like "Maximum load, XXXX pounds, at maximum pressure YY. If you are not hauling maximum load, you don't need maximum pressure.

Lower pressure lets the tires give a bit on bumps. Too low will handle poorly, kind of squishy, and squealing on corners. High pressure handles tighter, and will give better gas mileage. Low pressure wears the outsides of the tires more, high pressure where the center a lot. So there is a lot of give and take.

One myth is to put a piece of masking tape across the tire, and go for a test drive. Adjust pressures, and replace the tape, until it wears off evenly all the way across. Makes sense, eh? So I tried it on my daily driver. 20 psi wore the tape evenly, but it handles unsafely. Squishy on corners, squealing on every turn. Back up to 35 psi.

When I bought my current F250 for the city of Tucson, it had 80 psi all around. Geeze, what a bumpy ride. I swear I felt every piece of pea gravel in the asphalt, all the way home to San Diego. 14.9 mpg. I lowered the pressure to 35, still get 14.9.



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