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What PSI ?

8K views 75 replies 22 participants last post by  mmm666 
#1 ·
what PSI you guys put in your tires in summer and winter ?

I put 36 all around in winter (not too sure I should go 32 in winter or not)

also getting a new set of tires in summer cooper A/T 265/60/18s and not sure what psi I should have them at if I want to have the best tire tread wear on them.. I assume 36 in summer and winter is good for that
 
#2 ·
I believe the stock tires call for 32 psi. If you not running stock you can always contact the tire manufacture and ask them the recommended pressure for the tire according to the weight of the truck. That is most sure fire correct way to get the correct pressure.
 
#3 ·
I find the Ridgeline with OEM Tires rides better with 34-36 PSI cold inflation.
This is winter time temps that many of us have now with 30s or lower at night & 40s to 60s day. In the summer when it hits 80s to 90s just inflate to 33-34 PSI. If you don't check your tires often like every few weeks you should be fine for a month or two without checking. That 32PSI in the Ridgeline just seems to soft of a ride to me. I have the same 32PSI inflation with my Acura & that 1 or 2 PSI increase to 33-34 makes the car ride better.
 
#4 ·
I run 34 psi just to give me some latitude for being slack about checking tire pressures. I checked them recently and they were all down around 30 psi. I think slightly high is better than slightly low.
 
#5 ·
If I am doing a significant road trip with passengers in the back seat and no heavy cargo in above-freezing temperature, I set pressure to 32 PSI cold for good ride quality. Doing so is a rarity.

By default, I set them to 36-ish. In the summer, it's to avoid resetting pressure when hauling or towing heavy.

In winter, I set this pressure when it's just above freezing. This way, the tires will still have safe pressure when the temperature drops into the "cold" and "stupid cold" ranges.

I avoid setting or even measuring the pressure when it's below freezing. If any moisture gets into the valve, it might freeze in there an cause a leak. Plus, the valve material itself will be hard and it might not re-seat.

NOTE: make sure that the all valves have valve caps. One came off and salt corroded the valve's internals. I have to have the valve, including TPMS, replaced. Lost a five-cent cap and it cost about $90 with labour at a non-dealer location to have it replaced.
 
#6 ·
heres a question.... mine are set right now to 36

oem says 32... but thats meant with oem tires and rims so if I have bigger rims and wider tires would it still be 32 ?


oh and last question

in theory when you are riding on ice/snow isnt it better to have lower psi's so you have better contact ?

today was the first day it snowed and I went on some back roads where there is no salt on the road just snow and I was skidding :( so I was wondering if I would skid less if I lowered it to 32 from 36 like oem says... :/ or maybe ill just drop it to 34 ..

36 seems good in the summer but I dunno about riding with a higher psi in snow
 
#8 ·
My tires were at 32 from the factory when I bought my RL. As soon as the temp. dropped outside my tpms signaled that two of my tires needed air. I adjusted the pressure to 40 psi. The tires call for a max pressure of 44 psi. I figure that the higher pressure will give me better my gas mileage and save me from having to constantly adding air everytine the cold air blows.
I'm mot a tire expert or anything like that. I just chose these settings because thats what makes sense to me.


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#11 ·
The rating on the tire is related to the maximum safe pressure for a particular tire, it has nothing to do with the correct pressure for a specific vehicle.
 
#9 ·
After doing a lot of reading on the subject, I came to the conclusion that the Honda engineers knew what they were doing when they established the tire pressure at 32 psi. So I have adjusted my psi down to 34 to give my lazy self some latitude in checking the pressure and yet try to keep it reasonably close to 32. ;)
 
#27 ·
That's exactly my thinking. I go from 34 to 32 psi in about a month, so I keep setting it back to 34 whenever I remember to air up my tires. Sometimes I go up to 2 months without filling them, and they will drop to about 30psi which is the absolute lowest I'd want them to go.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I see 32 as a minimum. A few pounds over for heavy loads, etc. Having to make additional lower tire settings especially for an AWD vehicle, would not seem necessary except in the most extreme circumstances (like sand).
 
#15 ·
Come November 1 I pump the tires up to 36 and that will usually see me through winter without adding more air.
As for the less psi more grip discussion there is so much more than psi affecting grip. Tire compound, tread design etc.
As an example if you put street summer tires on your RL and drove in snow you might not stay on the road very long. Do the same run with winter snow tires on and you'd be amazed at how they feel.


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#18 ·
I find 34 a comfortable setting. It will keep you from rarely going below 32 and still maintain good wear and ride quality. Just remember, no matter what you pick, to adjust when temps change.
 
#19 ·
I run 32 and keep it there.
 
#23 ·
I've tested several different theories over the last few years. I've done 30psi all the way up to 37psi. 30, although providing a very soft ride, was a bit detrimental to handling as there was too much sidewall give. 32 was a little better, but still felt soft. 36-37 was too hard and caused every single crack and bump in the road to be felt. I found that 34 was the perfect balance between a smooth ride and handling. I check my pressures once every 4-6 weeks or so. Once this time of year rolls around, I typically check and adjust my pressures to 35psi on a day that is just above freezing. From there, I will ONLY check them if it's above freezing as to not cause any damage to the valves. In the winter of 2010-11, I didn't check my tires for about 2.5 months because it was so cold. Last year, I was able to check them regularly because the temperatures were fairly mild. Bottom line is that if you set your pressures to 34psi and check them regularly, you'll be in good shape.
 
#28 ·
Each tire brand and size will likely have a recommendation for the pressure. You should be able to find it at tirerack or on the tire manufacturer's website. If the tires are the stock size, I would say that keeping them at 34psi would be just fine, but make sure to double-check that.

post proof that it wont//


i know for a fact that setting tires to lets say 30psi or even 28psi you will wear out the tread way faster than it would at 32psi... and 34psi youd have the longest life out of your tires

at 38+ you will wear out the middle more tho
As with ANY tire, if you're substantially under the recommended tire pressure, the tires will wear faster in general. If you're substantially over it, you'll get the same result. Putting a few more PSI in your tires won't make them last "longer". Keeping the pressures within a reasonable range of the recommended pressure will yield the most even wear patterns and will prevent them from wearing prematurely. There's nothing you can do to really make tires last longer than they're supposed to. Some have great luck with certain ones and others have bad luck with the same tire. There are so many factors to tire wear that you can't control, though, including weather, road surfaces, slight variations in tread compound, alignment, loading, etc. Keeping the proper pressure in them at all times is not only good practice, but one of the most important safety steps you can take before driving.
 
#26 ·
Anything below 32 is considered under-inflation. That's why it wise to stay above that. How much? YMMV. You guys are quibbling about a couple of pounds. What kind of loads you typically carry could be a factor too. I would say 34-36 is probably safe, and any differences in wear, etc. would be small for most conditions.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Anything below 32 is considered under-inflation. That's why it wise to stay above that.
And anything above is over-inflation!

Each tire brand and size will likely have a recommendation for the pressure.
No, the car manufacturer recommends the PSI, not the tire manufacturer, they will only recommend the Max. pressure.

Honda recommends 32 PSI. Not more if you are towing, or any other silly theory. It's pretty simple.
 
#33 ·
Under-inflation is a more serious condition.
There are vehicle owner's manuals that DO recommend higher pressures for certain loads or speeds.
I am not aware of any that would recommend a lower PSI than what is on the sticker under any circumstances.
 
#34 ·
Sand driving is one of those circumstances.
 
#41 ·
can someone just please answer this

in theory am I wrong here?

say its snowing/ice my winter tires are set to 34psi

if I drop them to 31psi would that not give me better contact with the road. better stopping power and decrease chances of spinning the tires when accelrating from a stop in snow/ice ?

I dont expect really noticeable grip but in theory lowering to 31 from 34 would give me better grip ?


PS: im exepecting someone to reply why not just set it to 32 and call it a day

but thats not my point I just want to know if the idea is correct not so much about psi to spec I already put my tires to 32 I just want to know if I am right about lowering the psi for grip in snow is effective or it wont do anything
 
#45 ·
It would be different for snow vs. ice. In snow, certainly deep snow, you want less contact area so the tire cuts through to the solid surface beneath. That would in general mean higher pressure - it's the opposite of dropping the pressure for more flotation in sand. Less contact area is also the reason why many folks (including me) go with a slightly narrower tire when choosing a snow tire. For ice, the additional contact area provided by a lower pressure might be a slight advantage. In my opinion, dropping your pressure for winter driving would be a bad idea - ice is ice, and you're only going to have so much traction no matter what, so why compromise snow performance?

Just as a point of reference, I'll post my setup - this is based on my experience and experimentation, not anybody's theories:

Summer: stock Michelin 245/60x18 on BMW X5 18x8.5 rims, set to 38 psi
Winter: Blizzak DVM-V1 235/65x18 on stock 18x7.5 rims, set to 40 psi

Yes, I know those pressures are higher than Honda recommends, but I hated the way the Ridgeline drove at 32 psi - it didn't feel connected to the road. With the stock tires, I felt there's a distinct difference between 38 and 40 psi - 38 feels tight, although still with some compliance over sharp-edged bumps; 40 is really harsh. The Blizzaks seem to be fine at 40.

F
 
#42 ·
It seems to me that they were trying to answering your question a few posts back and you posted a fairly inflammatory picture towards what seemed like a fairly knowledgeable individual on here.

What else do you need to know? I had the answer several posts into the thread. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like you are digging way to deep into this question. :hol12:
 
#43 ·
those answers were in regards to tire tread wear specfically in the summer

now im talking about all out winter tires

stop replying randomness and just answer a yes or no answer please

would dropping from 34psi to 31'' psi give a slight better grip in the snow with snow tires
 
#52 ·
I don't think the OP is concerned about the rate of tread wear on his Winter tires. He is asking specifically about the way tire pressures affect traction in Winter conditions.

Road surface conditions vary so much in the Winter that I don't think it is possible to give a meaningful answer.

Roads may be wet, ice covered, ice covered overlaid with a thin layer of liquid water (yikes), hard packed snow, deep loose snow. Snow can have a high or low moisture content or anything in between.

The ambient temperature greatly affects how your tires react to any of those conditions.

The optimal pressure for those different conditions probably varies.

I set mine on the high side because where I live we sometimes get cold snaps that drop into the minus 30 to 40F range. When that happens I don't want the pressure dropping into the seriously under inflated range.
 
#53 ·
I don't think the OP is concerned about the rate of tread wear on his Winter tires. He is asking specifically about the way tire pressures affect traction in Winter conditions.
I was referring to the post that 38 psi would wear the centers...I probably got off track with this. Sorry.
But, I feel the same way about the difference in taction between 32 and 40. It will be virtually unnoticeable. Im sure that some text book says that the difference is considerable, but IMO it makes no considerable difference on the road. In order to make a useful change, you might have to drop down to 8-15 psi depending on the tire, but we all know that a tire are not roadable at that psi.
 
#54 ·
Those low pressures sound more like sand driving tire pressures.
 
#61 ·
I think it makes sense in some ways, but I am a bit unsure as to how that will affect handling ... which I think it will in a negative way. Maybe only in extreme cases... but probably when you need it most. ;)

I also have to wonder how it affects braking performance, if at all.
 
#64 ·
I've kept my Hankooks at 35 since I got them a year and a half ago and they're doing great! I think some folks are over-analyzing this. Do what the manufacturer suggests if you don't like the advice you get here. Just check your pressure regularly (I've heard you lose pressure when the temperature drops).
 
#67 · (Edited)
A voice of reason! And yes, the pressure does drop off in colder weather another reason to keep it monitored and adjusted as needed.


Considering the max pressure has nothing to do with ride, handling, etc. but everything to do with a safety limit of the specific tire ' I don't understand why anybody would run pressures near that number.
 
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