Good News / Bad News

Ifixyawata · Post by **Ifixyawata** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:39 am

Well, the good news is I finally got my car in to get it re-aligned. Reason for this was that it was eating the outside edge of the front tires as well as pulling hard to the right. After chewing up a total of three (don't ask me how) front tires, I decided it was probably time to do something different. Right before I took it in you could actually hear the front tires going fap-fap-fap even at low speeds. Heh... fap-fap-fap. Anyway, $200 for 2 new tires and an alignment and the car feels like new, almost.

Here's the bad news and main point of discussion. Apperantly, according to the tire/alignment man, tires don't last very long at all if you follow the door sticker's reccomendation. I think on our cars its 32psi. According to him, the manufacturer does it to ensure a smoother ride even though it means reducing the tire's life. As a result of this, now I realized that I'll soon need 2 back tires as well. They're quite lumpy and belts are starting to break. Also, now that the front isn't shaking to pieces, I can feel the back tires hopping around at high speeds. Currently the tires are aired up to 42psi all around (44 is max).

So, has anyone else heard this theory on tire inflation pressures? I'll gladly sacrifice a smooth ride if it means my tires will last longer than 44k miles.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:10 am

Interesting... I would like to know this too...... I know on the sidewall of my tire it says a max of 32.. I don't dare go over that.... Thats for my 14'' Steelies... No abnormal wear...

00element10 · Post by **00element10** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:49 am

the tire pressure recomendations are for the stock tires...more than likely, you have replaced them with something else? if you have, just follow the recomended pressure on the new tires as the recomendations for the stock tires will be useless on the new tires

Ifixyawata · Post by **Ifixyawata** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:24 am

Nope, I'm rolling on stock 15's.

ChrisRT · Post by **ChrisRT** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:07 am

Ifixyawata wrote:Nope, I'm rolling on stock 15's.

Stock 15" tires too?

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:26 pm

You gotta watch with aftermarket rims and tires too, cause the sidewall and the recommendation on the door is totally different, plus the weight of the car theya re going is different too.

Nick Drake · Post by **Nick Drake** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:02 pm

I'm voting no on this one. Stick to 32 psi. I took a drive from TN to NY with my tires at 36 psi and when I got to NY two of my tires had lumps in the sidewall.

Don't do it, you'd be risking blowouts.

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:04 pm

I typically run at 34.

oklamopar · Post by **oklamopar** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:16 pm

I always go with the Tire manufactures psi when cold specs. my tires say 44psi max cold and i run 38-40.

Ifixyawata · Post by **Ifixyawata** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:01 pm

So we're basically collectively undecided.

I'm going to try this 42 psi for a while because the condition of the back tires is absolutely atrocious considering they're non-steering wheels and not out of alignment at all. On the lift you could clearly observe that the tires were out of round and you could feel the lumps from broken belts. Not to mention the car has 45k miles. Unless that's the typical lifespan of Goodyear Eagles (I think that's what it has from the factory.)

And yes, stock size tires.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:37 am

Ifixyawata wrote:So we're basically collectively undecided.

I'm going to try this 42 psi for a while because the condition of the back tires is absolutely atrocious considering they're non-steering wheels and not out of alignment at all. On the lift you could clearly observe that the tires were out of round and you could feel the lumps from broken belts. Not to mention the car has 45k miles. Unless that's the typical lifespan of Goodyear Eagles (I think that's what it has from the factory.)

And yes, stock size tires.

The door recomendation is for "Stock tires only"
If your running aftermarket tires "Not OE" then you use the recomended tire pressure setting thats marked on the sidewall of the tire.
So, if your aftermarket tire says 44psi MAX, run 38-40psi in them. They are NOT designed to run at the factory 30-32psi.
I run my tires at all 4 corners at 40psi (rated44max).....
And FYI, oem goodyears only are designed to last until the 3/36 is up...If you can get more than 35k on goodyear eagle tires, you did good...

Ifixyawata · Post by **Ifixyawata** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:45 am

Ok, that clears it up a bit more. No, the new tires aren't of the same brand as OE with the car, but hopefully they'll last even longer than the GY's. Supposedly they're a 70k tire.

ChrisRT · Post by **ChrisRT** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:05 am

Ifixyawata wrote:Ok, that clears it up a bit more. No, the new tires aren't of the same brand as OE with the car, but hopefully they'll last even longer than the GY's. Supposedly they're a 70k tire.

I asked you that earlier and you told me stock

Ifixyawata · Post by **Ifixyawata** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:27 pm

ChrisRT wrote:I asked you that earlier and you told me stock

Yeah, I thought you meant stock size.

ewetho · Post by **ewetho** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:21 pm

DO NOT RUN at 42PSI. If you are running a stock size tire with the same or very similar weight ratings you need to run close to factory for optimal tire life. At 42 you are over-inflated and will wear out the center of the tires.

The 2004 Neons SE comes with a P175/70R14 84T Goodyear Integrity tire.
The 2004 Neon SXT comes with a P185/60R15 84T Goodyea Eagle RS-A tire.

Both are load & speed rated at 84T.

Now any tire with the 84 load rating should be run at 32 PSI.
If you goto a low profile tire your pressures will need to go up but for stock sizes should be near factory recommended pressure. If you load up the car to it's max weight then a few extra pound would not be a bad thing what so ever. You may find by keeping tabs on your tires you need to run a couple extra pounds due to what you have kept in you car on an average daily basis.

The Max pressure on the tire is it's maximum pressure for it's maximum load rating. So if you tire can support 1000 lbs. your 4 tires can support 4000 lbs. which as you know is above the weight of your Neon. So you then are over-inflated.

Now is it the absolute best performance setup for auto-cross and what not.......HA HA HA HA HA not a chance but for tire longevity, there is a lot of work to get that just about right.

I went to a Traction T/A from BFGoody and it is a 185/65R14 86H rated tire. Now that means the tire at the same 44PSI max pressure is capable of holding up more weight. So it should actually not need as much air pressure for the same load. After lowering and chalking for optimal contact patch I find I can run 36/28 PSI F/R and still wearing good. I have 30,000 Miles on these and 8/32" tread depth around. Plus it is UTQG 440 AA A rated as well.

So in conclusion save your NEW tires and lower the air pressure back to where is belongs and replace you back ones soon to and be happy.