Tire Pressure

[Milner]

Hi All,
New to the forum and would like some feedback on tire pressure. I posted several pics of the car (32 chevy). Basically a light car with 70's suspension, nothing fancy. Don't race or do burnouts (I'm old). Front - 165R15 steel belted radials. Rear - N50-15 Kelly Springfields. Started with 28 lbs all around, very harsh. Lowered it to 25 which is quite a bit better. What would you run?

Thanks,
Pete

[Matt167]

hmm. try like 24, see how it sits, if it's on the sidewall at all, can't stay. tires like that are desidned to ride @ 30-32 PSI.

[rspears]

From my jeep experience you want the tire contact patch to be in full contact across the tread. I run 32x11.5's on my jeep, and anything above 27# they are crowned, and will wear out the middle of the tire, not to mention riding very rough. The tire shop always pumps them up to between 45&50, because they are "truck tires". One trick is to chalk a line across the tread, drive ~100', and see where it is rubbed off. Deflate & repeat until you get an even erasing action, and you have found your ideal balance point for your vehicle weight and the stiffness of that tire. Just my $0.02 - it's worked for me on big bulky tires on a light jeep.

[Madman]

"One trick is to chalk a line across the tread, drive ~100', and see where it is rubbed off. Deflate & repeat until you get an even erasing action, any you have found your ideal balance point for your vehicle weight and the stiffness of that tire. Just my $0.02 - it's worked for me on big bulky tires on a light jeep."

Excellent advice RSPears. I have done the same thing on a few rods that I worked on in the past!