Tire pressure

BobN · 2006-01-03T18:22:00+00:00

Last Friday I put a set of Goodyear Comfort Treads on my 98 OBLW. The tiredealer filled them to 29 psi as spec'd on the door sticker, but the tireslooked really flat at that pressure. The maximum recommended pressure onthe sidewall is 44 psi but the dealer said that would completely wrong forthe car. That got me to thinking.I reckon that the tire is designed to hold a certain shape under load, anddepending on the weight of the car that would involve different pressuresfor different cars, and the maximum on the sidewall would refer to thepressure at the highest rated load. Different tires also have differentsidewall stiffnesses, so it doesn't make sense to go by the OEM door stickerwhen changing to a different brand/model tire. If I put too much pressurein the tire it will have the wrong shape and not handle correctly. But Ilike to have the highest reasonable pressure to decrease rolling resistance,since most of my miles are highway.Is there a way to calculate the correct pressure for a specific tire and carweight (assuming typical passenger/cargo load and driving conditions)?

Jan 03, 2006 21 Replies

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bigjim 20 years ago

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QX 20 years ago

I second the Accu-Gage. It's the easiest and best made guage I have owned. The EZ-Air Tire Gauge Model# EZ02 is the one I have. Attach the hose to the tire with the clip and hold the gas station air nozzle against the guage. No switching back and forth. Best thing, is the tire clip really works. No loss of pressure getting the thing to seat.

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