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Whether I go to a dealership, a jiffy lube type place or private mechanic when I check my tire pressure afterward it's always around 37 or 38 psi. This is on a regular passenger car with standard tires. The information sticker on the door clearly states 30 psi and yet they all do it. When I get home I have to let air out.
Not a huge deal but I don't get it. What's so hard about inflating tires to the proper pressure and why should I have remind mechanics 38 psi is too high for most standard tires?
Anyone else have this problem?
Tire pressures?
I bet your lug nuts / bolts are over torqued in terms of percentage way more than your tires are over inflated.
See if you can break loose a lug nut / bolt with the wrench supplied with your car....
They might be doing that on purpose so that you will pop a tire and you will have to come back to purchase another tire or tires.
I noticed this a very long time ago with ALL of the cars I have owned in the past when I would take my car for service or an oil change.
I'd say just wait until the morning when your tires are cool and let the air out to the right pressure.
That is what I would do.
Car manu's always specify a lower poundage for ride smoothness. Tires "work" better at the max pressure specified.
I run mine at 40lbs. Couldnt ever see running a street tire at less than that on anything other than a SMART car.
In any event, I wouldnt wan a JIFFY lube place doing anything to my car. The last time I used on was in that 90's because I lived in the city, no place to change it myself. They guy was running this vacuum cleaner, something I had no idea he was going to do, and used the door to slam the seat belt buckle into the jam and tore it up, on my Stealth. Because about 2 weeks went by before I saw the damage, I had no recourse. Never again
Okay arm chair generals, here's one for you. My older Supercrew came factory with P255/70/17 tires. The max air per the tires was 35 lbs. For those tires, that's what I ran in them but that's not the point. My wife just bought a new Fusion. Tire size P255/70/17..........sound familiar? Yep, both P rated car tires in the exact same size and NONE made by Ford. The Fusion tires per FORD is 51 lbs. The exact same size tires but a tremendous difference in the air pressures. The 51 lb recommend by Ford is also the max air pressure on the tire. It has to do with the fuel mileage package on the car which is great at 45 mpg hiway. So tire size is irrelevant as to the pressure you should use. When the wife's car needs tires again, we may not necessarily buy the exact brand and that new tire may have a 35 or 40lb max air limit. According to some of you, I'd have to run Fords recommended 51lbs in a tire only max rated at 35 or 41lbs. It won't happen at my house. We just aren't that stupid here.
I can only assume none of you remember the Explorer and Firestone issue. Ford recommended far too low of air pressure and tires were blowing up from the added heat which deteriorates the carcass. Firestone had issued a warning to Ford but Ford didn't want give up the cushy ride. Handling was horrible obviously and tire life was short. I personally don't care what you run in your tires, you can run them flat for all I care. But if you want the best fuel mileage and the best handling for your car/truck, read the max air level on the side of tire and consider that as the air pressure you need. You'll also note, on the side of the tire it reads XXlbs COLD. That means the tire is expected to take on more air pressure as it heats up or driving on hot asphalt. Normally any tire has a built in 10lb safety margin for any expansion. If you don't want to follow that, then pull yer big boy panties up and run whatever you want.
Whether at dealer or the independent the guy checking your tire pressure isn't the sharpest pencil .I always tell them to leave tire pressures alone because I have noticed this. They are not even near even and I have very accurate inflator. Anyone with any sense sees the size and pressure on door. I always inflate by the wear I see; usually about 2-3 pounds more than on door; I find. Too much pressure at a point is very hard on tires when potholes are hit. Can damage a belt for instance.
My FWD sedan recommends different air pressure front and rear with front about 3 psi less than rear. I keep them at this pressure so often that I can feel the loss or gain of around 3psi. Car shops here always default to 32 psi on all four tires. Rear end feels bouncy and south Louisiana has horrible roads. Get a tire gauge and an air compressor that plugs into your car's outlet. Use this to "maintain" air pressure. Check once or twice a month. If you notice a regular loss of air in one tire, get it checked. Doing this will save you money and an accident. I go by the pressure on the door. Then I experiment with other pressures. I always prefer the ride of the door pressure. I can go two psi higher, but any more than that changes the ride comfort beyond where I want.
You ever tried using a different tire pressure gauge ?
I think these new digital type tire pressure guages, easy to use, cost about 12. bucks up here.
In the USA, much much less.
I use them all the time, as you can't judge pressure on radials that easily visually.
Listen to the tire mfg over the car mfg. I always fill to the sidewall rating but you can run less if you like the ride better and are willing to sacrifice a bit of fuel economy and tire life.
The max rating on the side means "tire is full when you put this much air in it" not "tire will explode if you put this much air in it." That would be ridiculous.
I keep mine at 100 psi generally. Maybe a pinch more on the steers.
Listen to the tire mfg over the car mfg. I always fill to the sidewall rating but you can run less if you like the ride better and are willing to sacrifice a bit of fuel economy and tire life.
The max rating on the side means "tire is full when you put this much air in it" not "tire will explode if you put this much air in it." That would be ridiculous.
I keep mine at 100 psi generally. Maybe a pinch more on the steers.
Dumbest and most UNinformed post here.
Tire Rack, perhaps the most respected tire selling in the US, says follow the carmaker's recommendations.
You have no understanding of what the sidewall rating means.
Tire Rack also says:
Quote:
The pounds per square inch (psi) pressure number branded on the tire's sidewall identifies the maximum cold inflation pressure that specific tire is rated to hold. However, the tire's maximum pressure is not necessarily the correct pressure for every vehicle upon which the tire can be used (almost all vehicle manufacturers' recommended tire inflation pressures are less than the tires' maximum pressure).
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