Tire Pressures

[Fred Barbour]

I used to work at a service station after finishing up a day at high school and on weekends. I was required to check the oil, clean the windshield/headlights and check the tire pressure on every car that came in for gas. Three guesses on what decade in the last century!

Today most gas stations don't even have an air hose and, if they do, try and get the station employee to understand what you want. And, as for asking for a tire gauge, forget it they won't have one. They will however, sell you a slurpee and a bag of chips!

Fred

 

[ultrarunner]

I check things less frequently on my every day driver and always do a full check before a trip, but I believe that you and I are exceptions any more. I wonder if they still teach that in driver's Ed?

Don't know of any schools still offering Driver Ed around here... in fact... there doesn't seem to be a rush to get a license... I know 18 and 19 year olds that without one.

At work, I'm always finding the cars with low tires... at one time, someone even joked I was letting the air out...

Security falls under Engineering and I'm constantly aware... started a collection of screws, wire, sharp objects that has almost filled a coffee can in 5 years... all from the parking lot.... several bullets of assorted caliber too.

 

[Bird]

I was required to check the oil, clean the windshield/headlights and check the tire pressure on every car that came in for gas.

My dad owned a service station from the time I was 16, and I did those things, too. But I did learn to ask before checking tire pressure after a furious customer chewed me out for messing with his tires. His opinion was that if they didn't look flat, leave them alone because messing with them could start them leaking.

 

[Bird]

Don't know of any schools still offering Driver Ed around here... in fact... there doesn't seem to be a rush to get a license... I know 18 and 19 year olds that without one.

A lot of schools dropped drivers ed years ago. Five years ago, I taught my grandson when his high school no longer had drivers ed. And the local high school, where we now live, dropped it this year. The course I used for my grandson definitly included vehicle and tire maintenance. And even when my daughters took drivers ed in high school in the early 80s, it was hardly more than a joke. I had to teach them myself. And I not only taught them about checking tires, but I required them to demonstrate (by actually doing it) how to change a tire and put the spare on.

 

[4720 OWNER]

Conspiracy theory states that the RFID chips for the tires/rims can be read by a roadside sensor so a vehicle is always tracked by whatever agency or alerts put out for a specific vehicle. Or tolls. Or speeding...or....

It is scary to get an email from onstar stating 1 of my tires is low (sudden change in temp from dealers show room to the snow white world out there).

 

[dcyrilc]

Conspiracy theory states that the RFID chips for the tires/rims can be read by a roadside sensor so a vehicle is always tracked by whatever agency or alerts put out for a specific vehicle. Or tolls. Or speeding...or....

It is scary to get an email from onstar stating 1 of my tires is low (sudden change in temp from dealers show room to the snow white world out there).

...but did they tell you which one and where you could safely pull over to change it?:laughing:

 

[Don87]

I stole the thumbnail from another post. I rest my case.

I laughed so hard on that one, when I saw it several months ago, that I actually did pee my pants.

Only thing I can say is..........Abortion should remain 'legal', and in some cases it should be 'mandatory'.

 

[Tollster]

The pressure listed on the sidewall of a tire is the max. pressure at the full load rating of that tire. Lets say it says 40 psi cold and the rating is 1750 lbs. Assuming your vehicle has 4 wheels/tires this means that at 40 psi those 4 tires will safely carry a vehicle that weighs 7000 lbs. and the sidewalls will be flexed properly and the tread surface will be in proper contact with the road and sheds heat, water etc.

Now what if your vehicle only weighs 3500 lbs ? They use that size/rating of tire on many,many different weight vehicles. Those sidewalls are going to be too hard and tall, and the tread surface is going to be more convex to the road instead of say flat and the tires are going to ride pretty hard and wear the center of the treads out faster than the edges of the tires. The DOT requires automakers to list what air pressure will give the proper stance etc. for the tires that they use on that particular vehicle - that's what that decal is for and that's what air pressure is ideal for that size/rating of tire that came on the vehicle. One guy's similar Chevy truck may have 500 lbs more weight than the next guy's because of certain options it has and might have a different air pressure listed. Now when you change size/style/rating of tire from the original, that decal may not apply anymore and you have to figure it out some other way. With a tractor tire you simply look at your bar contact pattern for proper stance and/or your specific needs. The air pressure on the sidewall is still a max pressure at rated load for that tire, not necessarily the tractor & tire combo you have.

This is the primary reason I read the frame sticker and use that air pressure, rather than the one on the tires. I have always did this on my motorcycles and the tires always wear and last. Asfor my hydrolic dumping trailer, I typically shoot for 5 lbs below max

 

[Bird]

This is the primary reason I read the frame sticker and use that air pressure, rather than the one on the tires. I have always did this on my motorcycles and the tires always wear and last. Asfor my hydrolic dumping trailer, I typically shoot for 5 lbs below max

That should be right. I've been out of that business a long time now and I'm sure some things have changed, but 20 years ago I know at least some of the tire manufacturers said it was acceptable to go 10% over the pressure shown on the tire sidewall for heavier loads, but to never go below 80% of the sidewall listed pressure. So the example of 40 psi on the sidewall could go from 32 to 44, depending on weight. But in 1990-91, there were some 3/4 ton GM trucks and suburbans sold with original tires that had 80 psi shown on the sidewall, but the GM frame sticker only showed pressure in the 50s. When the tires got bubbles from tread and cord separating, the tire manufacturer said it was due to running pressure too low (never should have run below 64 psi), but they did allow us to warranty those tires when it happened. Fortunately, there weren't many of them that had the problem.

 

[Willl]

Don't agree, the frame has no idea what tires I have on it.