Proper tire inflation

[derolph]

Can someone tell me what the label on the door frame of a 3rd gen Accord coupe says for tire pressure? The label on my Accord was badly roughed up by the former owner and I can't read it. I looked in the owner's manual to see whether it states the tire pressure but it does not.

[Honda Man]

I suggest you looked on the tires for tire pressure. Just in case you have different demension tires from stock

[derolph]

I should have mentioned I have the OEM size tires, 195/60R14. The tires tell the Max. pressure but not the normal pressure. Max. of 51 PSI is definitely not normal. With my last tires, I had tires rotated by the shop that sold me the tires. I believe they usually inflated to 32 PSI. I believe that is higher than the pressure stated on the car label. I would also like to know whether the stock/OEM pressure recommendation is the same for front and rear.

[derolph]

I just noticed that my owner's manual has the tire pressure specs stated on the back cover of the manual. It says 26 psi (measured cold), front and rear.

[Dr_Snooz]

That's really low. I usually run 36. Then refill around 28.

...or 24

...or 15...

You know how it goes.

[derolph]

I agree 26 psi seems very low; it seems too low to me. I'm inclined to think 28 should be the minimum cold psi. If I recall correctly, the shop I where I bought my last tires for both my Accords inflated to 32 lbs on both cars and that seems to have worked well. Since the tires were warm from me driving to the shop to get the tires rotated, 32 psi could be viewed as a bit higher than normal cold psi.

The new tires had about 36 psi when I received them from Tire Rack. That psi seemed a little too hard riding to me. I called Tire Rack yesterday to ask about recommended tire rotation pattern and tire inflation pressure. Their recommended rotation pattern for front wheel drive cars is Forward Cross, which means moving left rear to right front and right rear to left front. The shop where I bought my old tires simply used the Front-to-Rear method. Regarding air pressure, Tire Rack simply recommends whatever the car manufacturer recommends.

[cygnus x-1]

Tire inflation pressure is determined by how much load the tire is under and tire size. If your tires are the OEM size then the OEM recommended pressure will be correct (assuming you haven't made the car significantly heavier or lighter than its factory configuration). If you have oversized or undersized tires though, all bets are off. There are conversion tables out there that give pressure adjustments for oversize or undersized tires. But another way to do it is to draw a chalk line across the width of the tire tread and then roll the car and see how the chalk line wears off. It should wear evenly across the width of the tire. If it wears more on the ends the tire is under inflated. If it wears more on the middle the tire is overinflated.

That being said, under inflation is worse than over inflation (insert Patriots joke here), since under inflation could cause the bead to unseat and or wheel damage when hitting things like curbs and pot holes. Over inflation mostly just makes the ride more harsh.

EDIT: And just as an extreme example, my Suzuki Samurai has 235/85R16 load range E rated mud tires on it. Max pressure on those tires is like 85PSI, but because it's such a light vehicle, you can practically run the tires flat. I wouldn't be surprised if they were fine down to 8 PSI.

C|

[AccordB20A]

also have to keep in mind the pressure on the sticker will be for the stock tyres that were fitted back in the 80s. a lot has changed since then, but i usually set pressure by tyre size and vehicle weight.

In my accord i have 205/55R15's and i run 38PSI

[Hazwan]

I find 30psi to be the sweet number for my 195/55/15. Any more and it felt too harsh

[MessyHonda]

dont over inflate your tires. This reminds me of a story Robert(2nd gen sei) had a jeep and it was fitted with oversize tires. the shop he took it to inflated them to much so the first bump the car started to bounce like crazy. I run Nitrogen in my tires and i have mine set at 32 PSI. Best thing about Nitrogen is that weather does not affect the PSI when its cold or hot. I was able to notice a smoother ride and about a 1MPG bump. I run 205/50/15 inch tires on my car and 32 is my sweet spot for daily driving when I go racing I lower it to about 18-20psi

[Dr_Snooz]

I fill my tires with a proprietary mixture of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and a few other trace gases I'm not allowed to mention.

[AccordB20A]

and moisture thats in the nitrogen/air/other mix

[Dr_Snooz]

Oh, you know about it too, eh? I guess my secret blend is out. LOL

[gyates93]

I am also always skeptical about the 26PSI manufacturer suggested rating and therefore fill to 32PSI. However, I am noticing on my winter tires that they are a little more worn in the middle than on the outsides, leading me to believe I should follow Honda's specs after all..