Tire Pressure and Load Limits
by Katherine Bailey
(Cattaraugus, NY, USA)
Car overloaded, Load limits exceeded and Tire pressure low,
In the fall of 1990 my husband and I were moving from the country into the big city of Buffalo, NY. I was 4 months pregnant & we stuffed all that we could into our 1977 Monte-Carlo.
We were driving down the 219 and all of a sudden we heard a loud poof and saw our left rear tire rolling past us down the highway!
My husband did all he could to get our car safely off the road and onto the shoulder. It wasn't as easy as one might think!
No pay phone near by, no rest stop in sight and cell phones hadn't been invented. We were stranded. What were we going to do?
I was getting cold and our food in the car was beginning to spoil. I had to use the restroom.
We waited for what seemed an eternity for someone to stop & help us. Finally someone did and we got a ride to the next rest stop where we used the phone to call a tow truck. When the tow truck driver reached us he just shook his head and laughed. He asked us if we knew what the weight limit was on our car.
We looked at each other in awe & confusion. No, we didn't.
He laughed again & told us how lucky we were that ALL of our tires didn't blow and flip the car over with all the weight we had.
We just shook our heads and looked down in embarrassment.
We got into the city, spoiled food and all, and made it to my Aunt's house very late, very tired and VERY embarassed.
The lesson we learned is to check the weight limit on your vehicle and tires BEFORE you cram it full of all of your stuff and adjust the tire pressure to compensate for the load.
(ed: See Reading a Sidewall for more details on tire limits and pressure.)
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Tires losing pressure
by JP
(RI)
Tire and wheel damaged by impact
My two front tires were losing pressure. I took the car to the shop and found out both were badly worn, so I purchased two new tires. Within a few weeks, however, both had also lost pressure, and needed inflating. What would cause this?
Editorial Comment: Without actually seeing the tires and the vehicle it is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis, however, based on the description I'll try to tell you where you might find some clues.
Since this is affecting only the front wheels and they seemed to be loosing pressure before and after changing tires I would start by seeing if there is anything that might be affecting only the front wheels and not the rest.
You could try putting these wheels on the back and see if they act differently in that location. If the other wheels from the back lose pressure on the front, you have a locational problem. If these wheels lose pressure in another location, you have a problem that goes with the wheels.
Is there anything unusual in the way the vehicle is parked? Are there any curbs or ridges that might put pressure on the tires at the front?
Have the front wheels ever been damaged through hitting a curb, a pot hole, or other kind of impact? Sometimes just a very minor distortion of a wheel, putting it out-of-round would be enough to provoke a slow leak.
I'd like to think that your tire valves were changed when you got new tires. They're really quite cheap but if they were defective or damaged and not changed, they might be the reason for the pressure loss.
These may not be the only causes, but they represent to ones which seem most likely given the description that you've provided.
TG
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Trailer tire pressure under different conditions
by Ernie Tidwell
(loxahatchee fl)
assorted trailer tires
What happens if you put the maximum pressure of 110 psi cold in a tire in Florida when it is 80 degrees and you're at 10 feet above sea level then travel to Georgia where the temperature is 60 degrees and you're at 1500 feet above sea level? You check all 4 tires cold and observe a pressure of 100 psi. Would you add 10 pounds pressure before starting the trip back to Florida?
Guidelines
The guidelines for trailer tires are as follows:
- Inflate trailer tires to the maximum inflation indicated on the sidewall.
- Check inflation when the tires are cool and have not been heated by sunlight.
- If the tires are hot to the touch from running, add three psi to the maximum inflation limit.
- Underinflation is the number one cause of trailer tire failure.
Based on this you should be checking your tires at the beginning and ending of your trip ... or any other time that you know that something has happened that may change the load/pressure conditions.
In this case you have a change in altitude and outside temperature.
The most important thing that you want to avoid is having the tires run at a lower pressure, since a low pressure is more likely to produce a tire failure than a slightly higher pressure.
If you make any stops along the way, or change your load, you'd want to recheck and possibly adjust the tire pressure especially if the tires have a chance to cool during your stop.
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Pressure indicating valve cap Warning
by Jim
(Illinois, USA)
This isn't a horrible story, just sort of a warning to anyone who is considering the use of the pressure indicating valve caps (covers).
The ones I purchased were made of aluminum, I put them on my wife's car, and when I went to add air, they were galled to the brass valve threads.
With two dis-similar metals all you need is a little water and a little salt like in the midwest, and chemistry takes over causing them to lock together so you need to cut the aluminum off.
One solution that may work is to use some "Never Seize" anti-seize compound on the valve before putting the cap on.
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Silverado Tire Pressure
by gm
(ny)
Chevy Silverado
What's the best tire pressure for Chevy silverado with r16 235x75?
The recommended tire pressure for your vehicle is usually on the tire information label – normally located on the edge of the driver’s door, the door post, the glove box or the fuel door.
This information can also be found in your owner’s manual.
Don’t use the pressure shown on the tire. It’s the maximum pressure which the tire is designed to support, and is probably higher than the recommended one.
See Tire Pressure for more details.
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Tire Concerns: Minimum tire pressure
by Andres
(Costa Rica)
BF Goodrich Momentum Tire
I have BFGoodrich LT 285/65 R18 tires with a load rating of "E." What is the minimum air pressur that I can run. Is 40PSI too low?
Editorial Comment:
It's unusual to hear someone asking about minimum tire pressure, but that doesn't make it an invalid concern. In fact, many tire accidents and problems could be avoided if people were more concerned about minimum tire pressure.
I'd like to take a moment to explain why minimum tire pressure is important.
You see the most important danger to a tire is heat. When a tire heats up, the heat weakend the rubber and at the same time increased the air pressure inside the tire. Eventually with the weakening rubber and the increasing air pressure caused by heating, the tire explodes.
I would guess that most tire blowouts that you see on moving vehicles started out as a tire with too little pressure.
Now, if a tire has too little air in it this will cause it to flex more as it rolls along, thus creating more heat than if it were being run at the pressure it was designed for. So there certainly is a minimum air pressure required.
This minimum air pressure is determined by the maker of your vehicle, and is usually posted on the door post or inside your glove compartment.
Measure your pressure when the tire is cool -- remember that heating increased the air pressure -- and never let your cool tire air pressure fall much (1 or 2 PSI at most) below what your manufacturer recommends.
40 PSI, by the way, seems to be somewhat higher than what most vehicles call for, so you might be looking at something lower.
TG
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Tire Concerns: Tire bald in center
by anne
(coral springs,fl,usa)
Over-inflated tire
My back tires are worn only in the center. There is still plenty of treading around the rest of the tires. I keep the air pressure in my XL7 at 32psi, so what can be causing this?
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Editorial Comment:
If the wearing on your tires look something like the photo above, then you have a classic case of tires being used with excessive pressure.
The best bet to learn the correct pressure is to check the recommendation of the car manufacturer which is usually found on a sticker on the driver's door or the inside of your glove compartment.
If your car has different sized tires from what the car originally came with the pressures listed may not serve and you could have to do some experimenting.
Also, you might want to be aware that some vehicles require different pressure in the front and rear tires, depending on the weight being placed on the front and back axles.
TG