Tire Pressue Dumb Question
 

My car handles like crap in the snow. Just bouhgt it used a few weeks ago. It has 16" factory wheels. What should the tire pressure be set at? It doesnt say anywhere on the sidewall. Im thinking 35-35 lbs??

Right now most of the tires are at 25. IM thiking this might be part of the problem.

If that info is not on the outside of the tire ,it will most definately be on the inside.
Dave

Lower pressure should help in the snow. It puts more tire on the ground giving you better traction. I'd be looking at better tires not different tire pressure.

See, I'd think that higher pressure would be better in snow. With a wider tire (lower pressure), the weight of the car is spread out more over the snow, and the tire can't bite into the pavement underneath. With a narrower contact patch, the car's weight will force the tire to bite better.

At least, that is what I learned, years ago. Seems to work.

I think it is always important to keep tires inflated to the recommended pressure for safety and longevity reasons. I think you need to find tires that are better suited for the snow. I know I just did for my GP GXP.

These tires are new and Im not going to keep the car long so Ill juts have ot deal with it.

Bulls coments are correct from what I understand, but i just done know what the correct pressure is. Its not written anywhere on the tire.

Can't you just do a search on the manufacturer of the tire and look up the recommend pressure rating on their website?

Most non-speed rated tires are rated 35 psi, max cold pressure.
I've seen some with a 41 psi rating. I'd put 35 in 'em and go with it.

Aren't tire pressure inflation recommendations vehicle specific ?

In other words, the car mfr. recommends certain front and rear tire pressures based on power and weight of the vehicle, RWD vs. AWD, weight distribution front to rear of vehicle, etc.

I think that the exact same model of tire can have different inflation recommendations on a different make and/or model of vehicle.

Also, I think all of this goes out the window when driving on snow ! ;)
I drive a subaru all wheel drive in the snow so not familiar with traction problems on 2WD cars

Hmm??? you could be right about the snow. I know in sand you need lower pressure to spread the weight out so you won't sink. I'll have to research that one some more.

Glen

OK did some research. It's a damned if you do damned if you don't kind of thing.

In theory a thinner tire with more pressure will cut to the pavement easier thus giving better traction.

But also in theory if the snow is too thick and the tire can't cut through to the pavement a lower pressure would be better by putting more tread on the ground. kinda like a snow shoe.

All of the auto advice sights strongly discouraged changing the recommended pressure for any reason other than if you were stuck in sand.

The tire pressure on the sidewall, (yes, it's there - in very small type) is the MAX cold pressure and bears no reality to what the auto manufacturer specifies. Many 16" tires specify 44psi max, but the car needs pressure usually in the 28-35 range.

You should look at the decal that specs the OE tire size and pressure. Most US cars it is on the driver's door in the jamb area, or in the door jamb itself. If not there, look on the inside of the console or glovebox. Second choice is to read the owner's manual - what a concept!

einstein is right again. Read the decal on the vehicle and inflate to those pressures. If traction is marginal, then changing tires is the only way to improve. BTW, a tall narrow tire is better in snow.

Alan a.k.a. TreadHead

What the heck is this owners manual you speak of???

Ok, well I put 35 lbs in them yeaterday and well see what happens. The tires are new (not put on by me) and they are a realitivly cheap brand, so Im not expecting much.

The car just seems to wander in the slightest amount of snow. Its just terrible.

I had 16" Goodyears on my car and they sucked in rain or snow. I got a set of steel 15" rims to replace the 16" and put on a set of snow tires. The 16" tires were 60 series so I got 70 series snow tires to retain the same height. I will put the factory 16" aluminum wheels back on after winter and run the Goodyears until they need replaced. I wont be getting another set of Goodyear tires ever again. I have been running Mastercraft tires lately and they seem to be good tires. Jim

I've had good results with Cooper Tires. I've got their Discoverer ATR snows, front and rear, on my 2-wheel drive truck and they do real well. They're quiet, handle well and have infinitely better dry traction than the Goodyears I ran. They'd light up on a dry road with less than half throttle! The Coopers will barely spin at full throttle. The Wet traction of the Goodyears is pathetic! Check them on Tirerack.com. I lost the rear-end on a wet curve with them and spun out. I've driven that road 5-days a week for 11 years and never had a problem at faster speeds with other tires.

Rich

Some tires just suck in the snow. A decent set of snow tires should help. Blizzak makes a decent snow tire.

I recommend moving to SE Florida

:D :D :D :D

M

I also liked the Coopers, I got 90,000 miles out of my last set.

I checked in my truck and the inflation pressures are posted in door jam, 50 lbs. seems high though.

If you run Load Range "E" tires, they are 50psi front and 80 psi rear, or 80psi all around for fully-loaded vehicles. LR "E" tires are typical on one-ton PUs and work vans.

Is that in comparison to other cars you've driven in the winter? I don't think you said what the car is? Some cars are just horrible in the winter, regardless of tires- F-bodies, Mustangs, Rancheros, etc. A lot also depends on conditions- about a week ago, we had some fresh/cold snow (on very cold pavement) that made it damn near impossible for anybody to get moving, let alone take a corner or stop.

Its an 01 Mitsubishi Daimante. I cant describe exactly what its doing, but its completely unsafe. The rear end seems to want to fishtail. And in even in the slightest snow the damn thing wonders. Everyone passes me up like Im standing still when it snows.

Ive never driven a car like this in the snow. Even with bald tires, my last car (a maxima) handled better. Ive only had the car for a few weeks.

tire pressure on the side wall has to do with the tire rating for its load capacity, not the optimum for tread wear or handling or even the how much air pressure before the tire would blow.

Thats just part of it, a soft tire is less likely to start spinning. A narrow tall tire is better than a wide low tire but jacking the pressure to make the wide tire taller is not the way to go, a narrower tire is what you want. The narrow tire will have more weight per sq inch, and the tall sidewalls will absorb the shock that will get a tire spinning. Absorbing shock is important. If you take two identical trucks who's only difference is spring rates, the truck with the lighter spring rate will go through much deeper snow.

I plow snow a lot and have tryed everything. I run my Cooper tires so they are just at the edge of being soft. On my Dodge diesel with a Western commercial plow I am at 32psi on a tire that the owners manual says 55 psi. The manufacturer ratings are at maximum load, covering their ass in other words. If you are not at max load you don't need all that air. You only need what it takes to hold the car up off the ground, if you increase tire size you need less air to do the job.

We ran our Goodyear sponsored CORR truck at 28lb without beadlocks running about 500hp over the worst terrain [jumps]and they stayed on the rim. This was Goodyears suggestion for maximum traction, drop the pressure till you start rolling them off the rims and then go up a lb. Worked for us.....

Another thing you can do old Blue is tractionize. If you can't find a tractionizer you can do it with a Sawzall with a long blade. Jack the car up and run around the tire with the sawzall blade to bring up little nipples. Don't stay in one spot too long though! I have used this method to get out of bad jobsites when a storm came in, works great for a couple of weeks.

Some tires just suck, but try different pressures, maybe the sawzall thing and see how it goes......

Larry

Here in Seattle, drivers are allowed to run a studded tire through the winter season.
Sheesh, we hardly have any snow here at all and they allow this even though it wears out the roads prematurely because people are cruising around on dry pavement with studded tires.

Do they allow studded tires in IL ? Heck, that is better than wrapping the Mitsubishi around a pole !

Also, we see that some tire places are doing what they call siping. It's adding extra tread ribs via some sort of cutting up of the existing tread to make it grab more in snow.

They outlawed studded tires here in the 70's

Not trying to be a smarta** but have you checked for loose tie rod ends?

I had an '83 Honda Accord that I purchased for a winter beater. Both outer TR were sloppy. I drove it in a snow storm once, before I had a chance to get them changed. It wandered, wanted to follow the ruts in the snow/slush.
After I changed the Trods, it was much better.
Also, it sounds like your rear toe-in settings could be way off.

Agree with the last post, have the steering/suspension checked than have it checked on an alignment machine for a 4wl alignment. Mits are bad for outer tie rods as well, but that really won't affect what the rear is doing, especially in the snow.

What type of car? What type of tires? Maybe they are summer tires and not rated for winter use.

Snowed yesterday. Increased tire pressure didnt make any difference. Obviosly like stated in this post, theres something wrong with the car. Its going into the shop this week to check and fix any type of front end problem it has.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone.

It's not getting through the snow to the pavement that gives you traction in snow. It's the shear formed by the packing of the snow in the sipes. In other words, the snow packs and forms a bond, just like a snowball. That's why the most agressive snows have such wide grooves. The super fine snows we've been getting, because the temp's have been low when it snows, are terrible for traction. The snow doesn't pack, so you sink through it, while it forms ice on the road's surface.

Rich

Isn't this a FWD car ??? Yet rear end wants to "fishtail" ?!?!
Usually it's a torque steer situation with front wheels..IMO
Sounds like somethings amiss......Good idea to check that puppy out.

Funny this thread should resruface. I took the car yesterday to a guy I know for a front end check up. We both looked at it and couldnt find anything wrong. Im on my way this morning to get the front end aligned at another shop. I dont want to mess with the car in the snow in this next snow storm.

Independant rear suspension. The problem is just as likely to be in the rear, in fact more likely. Check for brake drag also.

The profile of the tires makes a difference also. A wide tire on slippery stuff handles poorly. Back in the day of RWD cars and snow tires, the snow tires had a narrower tread then the non-winter tires.

What car is this? You can aslo check the tire wet traction ratings on tirerack.com to see how they stack up compared to other brands.

George

BINGO!!

I took the car to the alignment shop this morning and with the wheels on the machine and in the air, he noticed the left rear wheel was wobbling. Something we didn't notice at my friend's shop while the car was on the flat lift. Apparently the bushings in the knuckle and i nthe controll arm on the left rear wheel were badly worn allowing the wheel to shift all over the place.

Yet more Mistu only parts....:mad: Im finding that you cant buy much for this car at the local parts store. With all the miles I drive, this car is gone at the end of January. Im not paying the price for parts at the local "stealership"

Thanks for everyones help!!

Deal every day with our local tire dealer/repair center.
They handle all major brands.
A few things i've learned over the years;

Low tire pressure is more likely to cause a blowout then an over inflation do to heat.
If also handles worse. Wet or dry.
A narrow tire will go through snow better then a wide one.
Keep pressure no less then 5lb's(2-3 is better) under whats posted on sidewall for best wear, comfort, handling, and fuel milage.
All good 16" tires will have at least 44 psi max when cold on sidewalll.
Goodyear is over priced compared to most other brands all things equal(my own observation).

Just last month, drove my K1500 down to KY and back.
Cruise set @ 70 mph.
Tires have 44 max cold on sidewall.
Going there, pressure was @ 37 cold.
Before heading back, up'd them to 40 cold.
Got 2 miles per gallon better milage @ 40.
It was also about 10* colder outside.
And truck "seemed" to handle/ride better.

I run my 40-44 all the way around on my 83 Olds 98 driver with Pirelli's. Your tires would feel like mush to me with 30-32 in them. We have nothing but hills and bends here so I need my tires to be very responsive.
Been doing this for years.............................
The Firestone Firehawk PV-41 police tire is without a doubt the best tire on the market today, second is the Pirelli, I've tried them all.

Paul: my wife's Eldo also has rear knuckles that have worn bushings. Dealer only part. List price over $500.....discounted price thru gmpartsdirect.com is "only" $330 or so........each.

I replaced the left side months ago where both top and bottom were badly worn; the right side has a slight amount of slop causing nuisance bonking noises. I need to do that one soon.

I think we're going to find more cars with dealer only parts in the future given the amount of options and features on the newer cars, plus they change designs more frequently.

george

Lucky for me, mine weren't that expensive George. Got the right rear side done for $240.00 with out an alignment. The car is soooooooooooomuch better now.

Regionwarrior is dead-on.I've worked at Michelin making tires for 32+ years.Lowering the pressure too much is asking for trouble.Remember the Ford Explorer/Firestone fiasco a few years ago?Ford found out that the Explorer didn't handle very good with the recommended pressure.Instead of fixing the Explorer,they recommended a lower pressure for the tires.Apparently Firestone had used some rusty cable also in their steel belts.The lower pressure caused the tires to seriously overheat and fail.
ALWAYS,ALWAYS KEEP YOUR TIRES PROPERLY INFLATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It may sound biased but I've never had any luck with Goodyears either.Ride like crap and just don't last.My 2 cents.