Rear tire inflation

[Bob_Trevithick]

I just checked my new 4300, and the manual recommends 12 psi both front and rear for my unloaded R4s. They were all set to close to 30psi! I downed them all to 12.

I've gotten new cars which were way over-inflated also.. I was told the dealers do this so a car sitting on the lot for months doesn't develop flat spots in the tires.

Does 12 front and rear sound okay?

Thanks,
Bob

Bob Trevithick

 

[Von]

Bob, I have turfs and run 24 psi. in the fronts because of the FEL and 10psi. it my loaded rears. I think 12 without a FEL is fine.

 

[Bird]

Bob, I'm doing almost like Von; 12 psi in the rears and 24 psi in the front (may lower my rear ones to 10 psi as he has done because I'd not getting a complete footprint with the loaded rears). I'm running R1 (Ag) tires.

 

[jfakerj]

Bob
On my 4300 w/ldr & bh I run my fronts at about 30 and the rears at about 20. If I go down much under that on the fronts I've noticed the tires swat down a lot when I'm using the fel and I've already got lots of crack in the side walls. I even had to put a tube in one front just to hold air from going though the side walls. I had the rears down to about 12 but had fluid leaking out around the bead so I upped the pressure to 20 and no more fluid leaks.

Jerry

 

[PaulT]

I just picked up on this thread. From memory, I think my manual says to run 34psi in the fronts and 24 psi in the rear (r-4s). I remember because I decided to check them in September, after running the tractor all summer long. THe dealer delivered it with 34 on the rear and 24 on the front - exactly backward from the manual specs. The obvious thing was to correct the settings, which I did. I noticed a difference right away.

Since 12-15psi is a contradiction over the manual (for the 2710 with R-4s, anyway), I'm curious what process all of you went through to arrive at your current pressures? Me? - I read the manual and set them accordingly. It makes sense that I would get even better traction/ride if I went lower like you guys, so I probably will.

 

[beenthere]

Referring to my JD4300 manual for 6-ply R-4's, the table gives MAXIMUM inflation pressures of 30 psi in the rear and 50 psi front. It further suggests these maximums are for LOADED tires, and I suspect lower pressures are ok and more comfortable for the ride (when no load). FYI

 

[Pks]

I don't want to make a mess of this thread so I will appologize in advance.

For those of you who have read a pressure value from the manual, did you compare it to the maximum pressure listed on the sidewall of the tire? I don't intend to sound flipant here, it's just an honest question.

I would like to suggest that anyone with R4 tires and a lot of weight on the 3 pt, NOT go below 15 PSI in the rear tires. One of my tires was immediately squished flat when I had 12 to 15 PSI in them and then lifted 900 pounds on the 3 pt. Since the tire bead came off the rim, I had to take it to an auto shop to reinflate it.

IMHO, follow what the tire manufacturer recommends, not what the tractor manufacturer recommends. Manuals are known for errors (32 vs 22 is just a figer stroke difference; right?). I'll bet on that tire sidewall any day.

Incidently, the argument between what the manual recommends and what the tire manufacturer recommends does appear important. Firestone said that what Ford reccommended was too little pressure; Firestone wanted more pressure.

Peter

 

[Bird]

Peter, I won't try to go into detail on the subject of tire inflation, been out of the business a few years, and don't claim to be an expert anyway, but there's a world of difference in car and pickup tires and tractor tires. Basically, the pressure listed on the sidewall of your tractor tires is the maximum to be used to inflate and seat the bead; has little to do with the pressure at which you should run them (and I know there may be some exceptions and if someone wants to correct me, feel free to do so). The pressure listed on the sidewall of your car and pickup tires might be considered a "maximum"; however, you can generally exceed that by 10% if the weight they're carrying justifies it. And, more importantly, you should NOT run them at less than 80% of the pressure on the sidewall. At least that was the rule the last time I had anything to do with the business.

In '91, while working with my brothers in their tire dealership in Alaska, we warrantied some Uniroyal tires. Every one that we warrantied (bubble between the cord and tread) was on 3/4 ton GM pickups or suburbans and were being run far below Uniroyal's recommended minimum, but within the minimum in the vehicles' owners' manuals.

Now I don't know any more about the Ford/Firestone deal than what was in the news, but I strongly suspect the same thing happened with them; never would have been a problem if the tire pressure had been kept up to what it should have been. And then of course I also suspect that incompetent drivers had something to do with it, too. I've blown (I meant in one big bang) both front and rear tires while doing in excess of 100 mph with no power steering and never had a problem controlling the car, but a lot of novice drivers will instinctively hit the brake, which is the worst thing you can do.

Oops, let me off this soapbox before it collapses./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[bgott]

<font color=blue>I've blown (I meant in one big bang) both front and rear tires while doing in excess of 100 mph with no power steering and never had a problem controlling the car</font color=blue>

How the h**l did you do that? Drive over your own tack strip?

 

[Bird]

Nope, Brad, no tack strips. You just caught me wording something very poorly when I said both front and rear. What I meant by that is that I once blew a right rear tire while running just over 100 mph on one car, and some years later blew a left front tire on another car while running about 110 mph./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif