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What do you inflate your tires to?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by desertrider2215, Aug 18, 2009.

  1. desertrider2215

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    I'm seeing posts where people have theirs on the 40s. I am wondering what I should put my new tires to because when I had my old ones around low to middle 30s, the outer edges wore extremely quick, can't figure out why.

    I also read somewhere that keeping them at say 42 front 40 back will wear the center of the tires very quickly. Any recommendations?
     
  2. LRKingII

    LRKingII New Member

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    41 front / 39 rear on my 2010 with 15 inch wheels
     
  3. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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  4. Rotorhead

    Rotorhead New Member

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  5. drees

    drees Senior Member

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    Usually around 41/39. And the edges still wear a bit quicker than the middle, but overall it's pretty good as long as I rotate them by 10k miles. So far have 31k on the OEM GoodYear Integritys.
     
  6. krousdb

    krousdb NX-74205

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    It doesn't matter what you inflate them to, the edges will wear first.
     
  7. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I replaced my original tires last fall after about 55,000 miles. I started at 35/33, went up to 42/40 and for the last year ran them at 52/50. I saw no unusual wear patterns.
     
  8. sfvb

    sfvb New Member

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    How is the ride at 52/50 as compared to 42/40?
     
  9. boppo

    boppo Active Member

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  10. uclabruins

    uclabruins Member

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    wow. 52/50!

    i just inflated my stock integrities with 31,715 miles on them to 42/40 and it's 77 degrees in my garage. the tires were 40/38 when i checked them today. i adjusted them to 42/40 about a month ago when the temperatures in los angeles were in the mid-90s, so the temperature drop has lowered the psi.

    when i first read about people inflating higher than the recommended tire pressure, i used 40/38, then slowly moved to 42/40 after about a year.

    mahalo!
     
  11. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    42/40. The edges are wearing first.
     
  12. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    They did back in the old days of bias ply tires. But the passenger car world has moved on to steel belted radials, ending that pattern. The steel belts don't permit the rubber to balloon out significantly in the center.

    If you are comfortable with it, try a higher pressure, and watch the centers. If/when they wear too much, then lower the pressure to your old level, and wear out the edges. You'll end up getting more total miles out of your tires.

    My bet is that you won't see excessive center wear at all. But you'll still get more miles on them.

    Edge wear can also indicate alignment issues, some of which are problems that can be fixed, some others being inherent in the design of the car.
     
  13. desertrider2215

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    I have about 1800 miles on these new tires. Is it normal to see wear already? cause I see it on the outers..alignment checked/done twice.
     
  14. spitinuri

    spitinuri Member

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    Now 54/52 psi. I have over 32K miles on stock Integrities with no unusual tire wear.
     
  15. MJFrog

    MJFrog Active Member

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    I checked the max tire pressure on each of my tires and it says 44 psi. So I've got the front set to 44 and rear to 42 psi.

    I bought my 2004 used, last April and don't see any significant wear since then.
     
  16. drees

    drees Senior Member

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    Yeah, fairly typical especially if you take corners aggressively.

    Check your tire pressures and inflate them more, it will keep the tires from rolling over as much in the corners and reduce the amount of wear you see on the outside shoulders.

    Post the numbers from your last alignment, too - often there is room to improve even if the numbers are within "spec". How to tweak it will depend on the nature of the wear you're seeing as well as how the car drives now.
     
  17. jay_man2

    jay_man2 jay_man_also

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    Every time I see the thread title my thought is that "I inflate my tires to the sound of a very loud portable compressor in my garage." :p
     
  18. jbumps wvu mntrs

    jbumps wvu mntrs PC Superfan

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    60 psi all around, give or take. Checked this weekend when I changed the oil and they were all down to 58.5 - I can live with that. The ride is noticeably harsher, tire wear is no different, getting mid to upper 50's mpg on all interstate driving. the increase in milage and the life of the tires is worth the harsher ride, for me anyway.
     
  19. soboy

    soboy Junior Member

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    I'm running 44f/42r on my '09 Touring and 40f/38r on the '05
     
  20. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I suppose they're stiffer. I'm not what you might call, a connoisseur of fine driving.
     
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