Street Tire Pressures

pjbgravely wrote:

curtis73 wrote:

pjbgravely wrote: In reply to curtis73: Running at the tire max pressure can result in higher fuel economy.

At what cost though? I will have to show you what my truck tires look like. The previous owner kept them at max pressure. The center of the tread is bald while both shoulders have 5/32". Had they been run at proper pressure, they would have 20k left in them, but now I need to replace them prematurely.

The rest of my post said that my tires wear completely flat, I can post a picture if you don't believe me. If I saw uneven wear on my tires I would adjust the pressure, my last summer tires I ran right down to the wear strips completely flat. Each car is different, each driver is different. There is no set pressure for all. Trial and error is the only way to know.

Nah, no picture needed. I believe you, its just that I don't believe that max pressure is correct because its max pressure. I believe that in your case, the two are simply coincidental. Max pressure doesn't mean proper pressure. I think we can agree on that.

The factory recommended tire pressure is the definite baseline. Every car is most likely engineered to ride and handle to or from a certain set of parameters from the tires so at least if pressure is up or down a little from the baseline, the car will not handle erratically etc. I think it is also set so the tires can wear out evenly. Then, for different tires or for different racing events, adjust from the baseline.