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Do you ever worry about a blow out at 45psi?
- Thread starter acarney
- Start date
Kleenerth3
Member
'95, 4 hrs north of Mazatlan in our '91 Explorer. Freaking learned the hard way that 28 lbs on tires rated over 40 leads to catastrophic sidewall failure of those crappy Firestones.
Don't confuse max pressure with recommended. Always follow your car's tag pressure (within a lb. or two).
I felt the tire going and was lucky to keep all four tires on the highway. From then on it's been Michelin and never had any issues... Including one tire that had 8 plugs in it when it hit 50,000 miles and was being replaced (construction sites are the worst ).
Thanks everyone. I learnt a lot, and in fact everything I thought I knew on this subject was all wrong.
They must have changed it back. Mine is a July 2019 and has Aeros with 45 psi sticker
Kleenerth3
Member
Just remember that the vehicle placard pressure is based on a set of assumptions that may or may not match your driving conditions. For the majority of people who drive on paved roads, that's the pressure that you should never go below, and in many cases higher will give better results. There are, unfortunately, a lot of practices that were applicable to bias-ply tires and have somehow been carried over.
Maybe it depends if it’s AWD vs RWD.
Mine says 42 PSI, October 2018 AWD with 18” Aeros.
Mine says 42 PSI, October 2018 AWD with 18” Aeros.
I’ll take a picture of mine tonight. 2019 July build SR+ RWD with 18 inch Aeros. 45 psi...
Atari2600
Active Member
Today I recalled the early to mid 1980s a friend of mine complained about his ride being horrible on bumps etc. Found out his tires were between 90 and 105 PSI. I grew up in a hick town and the local gas station provided free air but no gauge so he used the "visual" method inflate his tires. If 1980s tires do not blow out at 100 PSI I'm sure the tires of today are safe. And like the other said blowouts come from low tire pressure.
I had a set of firestone 721 that someone inflated to 80psi. Belt had separated and it was smoother that way, apparently.
The thing is, tire manufacturers are targets for liability suits. Even if they are not at fault, the judgment often goes against the party with the deepest pockets--usually the tire manufacturer. The maximum cold inflation PSI on the tire is so that it will still be safe even at 80K miles with a couple of patches and the tire manufacture can point to the warnings. Of course, stupidly high pressures on a car tire will eventually cause problems, but reasonable pressures are safe if you haven't gone and purchased cheap tires. (Tires are not the place to pinch pennies).
50psi is the cold tire pressure “max”, which means they’re also taking into consideration you driving with a heavy load in high heat causing the tire pressure to increase from friction and heat. My grandfather runs his vehicles at 60psi to squeak out that extra tiny fraction of a percentage of mileage and he swears his tires last twice as long. I don’t do that, but I keep my tires at 44-45 psi in my 3.
Of course, if you increase the pressure to start with, there will be less heat generation because the tires will not have to flex as much to get up to running pressure. Heat, not pressure, kills tires.
Sometimes it is much more than a "tiny fraction", but it does depend on the car and the tires.
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