I have no idea why Ford recommends this, but I've kept those pressures there religiously (in spite of the dealer fooling with it) in 18 months/20,000 miles. Seems fine to me.
Run our '02 v6 4x4 w/o trailer tow at 32ft/35rear. Sticker says 30ft/35rear. No problems. wth
I always thought that the higher the weight on a tire the higher the pressure should be. If you load all 7 people in and put a trailer on the back the rear wheels will have a lot of weight on them.
Back when people were smarter, most vehicles included multiple pressure recommendations depending on load and in some cases speed. However, since the advent of P-metric radial tires and CAFE regulations, the manufacturer's tend to specify only one pressure for a passenger vehicle. This pressure is chosen for many reasons, but sould be sufficient to allow for any load the vehicle is rated to carry. In general, the pressure recommended today are higher than was common
34 years ago when I first started driving (for instance, my Mom's 1969 Country Sedan Station wagon recommended 22 front / 27 rear unloaded, or 22 front / 29 rear at maximum load - and this was for bias ply tires).Ed
I haven't done any experimenting with my pressures, but I rotate the tires on my '02 EB with every other oil change (every 3 months, which is usually under 3,000 miles), and I always keep the tires at 30 front, 35 rear. I have the third-row seats, so I feel better knowing that the rear tires are a little higher.
It still rides better than my previous '99 XLT, no matter what the pressures.
I think you got this one 'bout square on the head........ back when folks were smart enough to come in out of the rain, they understood the concept of "footprint" versus pressure versus weight.....
The key ingredient is to maintain the tire pressure in such a manner as to equalize the load carried across the face of the tire. Obviously, we can add weight to a tire in such a manner as to change a lightly loaded, overinflated tire into a heavily laden, underinflated tire. Bias ply tires were ever so easy to judge by simply looking at them. Radial ply tires are much harder to judge simply because the eye has to be more critical ( a result of the construction of the tire).
That tire pressures are of important to the members of this gathering, speaks volumes to their care and concern..... it is those millions that have proven that common sense ain't so common that we have "one size fits all" tire pressure recommendations. I'm not sure why the manufacturers have gone this far since such a small portion of the motoring public seem to think that air in a tire is something to take for granted...
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