Correct Tire Pressure ?

On 04/19/2012 06:05 PM, AJL wrote:
> On Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:38:17 -0700 (PDT), Robert11
> > wrote:
>
>> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>
>> Car sticker says to set at 30 psi
>
> My 2004 Buick Century (bought new) also says to set it at 30 psi all
> around. That seemed a little low to me too. I have compromised at 32
> psi all these years. Probably my imagination but it seems to make the
> ride a bit harder. Perhaps Buick specifies 30 psi to give this low end
> Buick a softer ride? It currently has 22K miles on it (don't use it
> much) and the tires still look new, no noticeable wear patterns. Now I
> have to decide when to replace them because of old age (now 8 years
> old). I've read different opinions on the matter but the consensus
> seems to be 10 years. Opinions here?

tire replacement due to "old age" is just bull**** blown up
congressional [and public] skirts by frod to help them wriggle out of
multiple corporate manslaughter lawsuits for killing thousands of
americans selling a vehicle [the exploder] they /knew/ to be
fundamentally unstable and that would roll just because of a flat tire.

tire rubber doesn't rot on its own. and if the vehicle has been garaged
in a reasonably ventilated area, you're absolutely not going to have any
problems. as you may know, aerospace rules and regs are orders of
magnitude stiffer than for ordinary passenger vehicles, and this is what
michelin have to say about storage life of aero tires:

"Michelin aircraft tires or tubes have no age limit and may
be placed in service, regardless of their age, provided all
inspection criteria for service/storage/mounting ... are met."

<http://www.airmichelin.com/uploadedFiles/MichelinAirDev/StandardContent/Resource/certification_level_2.pdf>


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On 04/18/2012 09:38 AM, Robert11 wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
> Tires on it are Nokian WRG2 225/60R16 98H
>
> Folks at the dealership checked tire pressures during an oil change,
> and have now
> made them all 35 psi (when cold).
>
> Have to admit that the car seems to handle a bit better with the
> higher pressures.
>
> Used to be around 31 psi when cold and just starting out.
>
> Tech Support at Nokian says to use what is on the car door sticker.
> They would not suggest any p which is a bit surprising as I thought
> the 'correct' pressure was probably
> more specific tire type determined, than what Buick would suggest.
>
> Anyway, it's now 35 psi when cold.
> Goes up to about 38 after driving.
>
> Car sticker says to set at 30 psi
>
> Think what I have now (35/38 psi) is "safe" for summer driving ?
> Would hate to have a blowout due to higher pressures. 38 psi sounds
> quite high (to me). Is it ?
> Safety aspects are really important to me.
>
> Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

open the owners manual, and inflate to the maximum pressure recommended
for sustained high speed freeway driving. i guarantee it's less than
the maximum pressure the manufacturer says the tire can tolerate per on
the side wall of the tire.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:55:23 +0000 (UTC), gregz >
wrote:

>AJL > wrote:
>> On Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:38:17 -0700 (PDT), Robert11
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>>
>>> Car sticker says to set at 30 psi
>>
>> My 2004 Buick Century (bought new) also says to set it at 30 psi all
>> around. That seemed a little low to me too. I have compromised at 32
>> psi all these years. Probably my imagination but it seems to make the
>> ride a bit harder. Perhaps Buick specifies 30 psi to give this low end
>> Buick a softer ride? It currently has 22K miles on it (don't use it
>> much) and the tires still look new, no noticeable wear patterns. Now I
>> have to decide when to replace them because of old age (now 8 years
>> old). I've read different opinions on the matter but the consensus
>> seems to be 10 years. Opinions here?
>
>I never got that much milage from tires. If kept indoors, they should be
>good. I had one set on a car for longer,

This car has been garaged its whole life.

>but you could start to feel the
>dryness, and some cracking. Cracking occurred with me on a set of
>performance michelins in less than two years.

No noticeable cracks or drying in my tires.

>Did a lot of armor all, which
>I suspect was the major reason,

This car only gets washed 3 or 4 times a year so no excess Armor
All... Though I was under the impression that Armor All protected
the tires from sun damage.

>aside from being in the outdoors, in the
>desert.

I also live in a desert climate (Phoenix) and the summer is especially
hard on tires.

>I think you have to worry about the inner layers which you can't
>see.

Yup. That's what I wonder about. There seems to be a wide range of
opinion on the matter.

On Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:35:22 -0700, jim beam > wrote:

>On 04/19/2012 06:05 PM, AJL wrote:
>> On Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:38:17 -0700 (PDT), Robert11
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>>
>>> Car sticker says to set at 30 psi
>>
>> My 2004 Buick Century (bought new) also says to set it at 30 psi all
>> around. That seemed a little low to me too. I have compromised at 32
>> psi all these years. Probably my imagination but it seems to make the
>> ride a bit harder. Perhaps Buick specifies 30 psi to give this low end
>> Buick a softer ride? It currently has 22K miles on it (don't use it
>> much) and the tires still look new, no noticeable wear patterns. Now I
>> have to decide when to replace them because of old age (now 8 years
>> old). I've read different opinions on the matter but the consensus
>> seems to be 10 years. Opinions here?
>
>tire replacement due to "old age" is just bull**** blown up
>congressional [and public] skirts by frod to help them wriggle out of
>multiple corporate manslaughter lawsuits...

The 'old tire' defense may be used in litigation, but I don't think
that makes the old tire replacement concern 'bull****'. There are too
many articles on the subject by authors that have no reason to
fabricate. But the problem for me is that while all the articles I've
read agree that old tires should be replaced eventually, there seems
to be no consensus of when. Most seem to be at 10 years, but many are
also earlier.

Here is a sample article:

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-...our-tires.html

>tire rubber doesn't rot on its own.

It's not so much the rubber rot (though rubber also deteriorates with
age) that's my concern but more what I can't see which could cause the
increased chance of tread separation at high speeds. Especially here
in the desert where freeway road temperatures can be brutal.

>as you may know, aerospace rules and regs are orders of
>magnitude stiffer than for ordinary passenger vehicles, and this is what
>michelin have to say about storage life of aero tires:

I would imagine that an aircraft tire is considerably better built
than my car tire. I'm not sure that's a good comparison.

>"Michelin aircraft tires or tubes have no age limit and may
>be placed in service, regardless of their age, provided all
>inspection criteria for service/storage/mounting ... are met."

But according to my above posted link Michelin has a slightly
different age limit for its car tires, 10 years:

"Tire manufacturers such as... Michelin say a tire can last up to 10
years, provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year."

But then the very next sentence says there's no way to date a ti

"Manufacturers Association says there is no way to put a date on when
a tire "expires," because such factors as heat, storage and conditions
of use can dramatically reduce the life of a tire."

And this is typical of all the articles I've read on the matter. No
consensus on the matter. Which is why I was curious what those here
thought. Anyway I think I'll keep the tires for at least for another 2
years.

Thanks to all for your opinions.

AJL > wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:55:23 +0000 (UTC), gregz >
> wrote:
>
>> AJL > wrote:
>>> On Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:38:17 -0700 (PDT), Robert11
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Have a 2009 Buick LaCrosse.
>>>
>>>> Car sticker says to set at 30 psi
>>>
>>> My 2004 Buick Century (bought new) also says to set it at 30 psi all
>>> around. That seemed a little low to me too. I have compromised at 32
>>> psi all these years. Probably my imagination but it seems to make the
>>> ride a bit harder. Perhaps Buick specifies 30 psi to give this low end
>>> Buick a softer ride? It currently has 22K miles on it (don't use it
>>> much) and the tires still look new, no noticeable wear patterns. Now I
>>> have to decide when to replace them because of old age (now 8 years
>>> old). I've read different opinions on the matter but the consensus
>>> seems to be 10 years. Opinions here?
>>
>> I never got that much milage from tires. If kept indoors, they should be
>> good. I had one set on a car for longer,
>
> This car has been garaged its whole life.
>
>> but you could start to feel the
>> dryness, and some cracking. Cracking occurred with me on a set of
>> performance michelins in less than two years.
>
> No noticeable cracks or drying in my tires.
>
>> Did a lot of armor all, which
>> I suspect was the major reason,
>
> This car only gets washed 3 or 4 times a year so no excess Armor
> All... Though I was under the impression that Armor All protected
> the tires from sun damage.
>

I heard of more horror stories with the stuff I used in the 70s. At least
the newer stuff has uv protector. Tires cracked, dash cracked also. You
will have less performance once the rubber gets dry. I like to take it out
and do some hard driving to expose fresher rubber. Not sure how old the
tires are on my datsun. They look fresh. 66 roadster. I previously was a
one owner 77 z. 32 years. Went through 4 sets of tires, at 67k miles.

Greg

Greg


>> aside from being in the outdoors, in the
>> desert.
>
> I also live in a desert climate (Phoenix) and the summer is especially
> hard on tires.
>
>> I think you have to worry about the inner layers which you can't
>> see.
>
> Yup. That's what I wonder about. There seems to be a wide range of
> opinion on the matter.

"AJL" > wrote in message

But the problem for me is that while all the articles I've
> read agree that old tires should be replaced eventually, there seems
> to be no consensus of when. Most seem to be at 10 years, but many are
> also earlier.


Some of the data from insurance claims indicates that 82% of the age
failures
occur after 6 years. They extrapolate that tires over 10 years of age
should
not be put in service at all.

Companies like Ford, GM, and VW have agreed with this, according to what
I can find.

This is the best option on here I would recommend, and I do it myself - running 1-2psi over the door sticker. Depends on the profile though, and even just a pound over on lower profiles(55 or 50 or 45 series tires) might roughen up the ride undesirably. With 60series and up you have have more sidewall compliance, hence more room for experimentation. The chalk method does not work for me; I draw two lines across each tire - from the sidewall across the tread. By the time I've gone up & down my driveway it is ALL gone. smh!!!

On 04/20/2012 02:18 PM, hls wrote:
>
> "AJL" > wrote in message
>
> But the problem for me is that while all the articles I've
>> read agree that old tires should be replaced eventually, there seems
>> to be no consensus of when. Most seem to be at 10 years, but many are
>> also earlier.
>
>
> Some of the data from insurance claims indicates that 82% of the age
> failures
> occur after 6 years. They extrapolate that tires over 10 years of age
> should
> not be put in service at all.
>
> Companies like Ford, GM, and VW have agreed with this, according to what
> I can find.

are you guys for real??? you'll /really/ believe the guys with a vested
interest in ass-covering and protecting their biggest advertisers over
the guys that actually make the freakin things? and in this case, the
guys who are not only the most advanced technologists in the field, but
who have to satisfy the f.a.a?

you guys go ahead and waste you money and ignorantly keep on propagating
the propaganda that gives manslaughterers a free pass. i won't. and
i'm disgusted that you will.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On Apr 21, 1:19*pm, wrote:
> The chalk method does not work for me; I draw two lines across each tire - from the sidewall across the tread. By the time I've gone up & down my driveway it is ALL gone.

You don't need chalk, you can tell by the wear pattern.

Tires have a range of pressures. If the pattern is rolling over the
edge even ever so slightly to the sidewall, it's under-inflated. If
it doesn't reach the edge, it's overinflated.
-----

- gpsman

On 04/22/2012 01:48 PM, gpsman wrote:
> On Apr 21, 1:19�pm, wrote:
>> The chalk method does not work for me; I draw two lines across each
>> tire - from the sidewall across the tread. By the time I've gone
>> up& down my driveway it is ALL gone.
>
> You don't need chalk, you can tell by the wear pattern.
>
> Tires have a range of pressures. If the pattern is rolling over the
> edge even ever so slightly to the sidewall, it's under-inflated. If
> it doesn't reach the edge, it's overinflated. -----
>
> - gpsman
>

for normal "pedestrian" applications, this is largely true. but for
more sporting applications, or at least, driving that doesn't involve
going in a straight line, some of the performance tires have sloped
tread shoulders which don't normally touch the road, but which are
designed to gradually lay more rubber as lateral force increases.
"pedestrian" tires don't have this of course, and their edges are quite
sharp so the tire type is easy to distinguish. so, with regard to
pressure, not reaching the edge doesn't mean it's over-inflated if it's
a tire whose edge is rolled.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum