After getting a new set of 205/70R15 Douglas Xtra Trac 2's on the Park Avenue <cheap and crappy? Yes> I am now concious about tire pressure. I know the vehicle recommends around 33 to 35 psi, but it seems a little low for me. The previous set of tires had a fair amount of wear on the shoulders. I did keep up with tire preassures, but tall skinny tires can only do so much on a big heavy car. So, barring any alignment issues, if I inflate beyond GM's recommended tire preassure, closer to the tire rated max pressure, 44psi, will it help at all? Or am I stuck with being easy in the corners for as long as I have these tires?

Want to try and run the 225/60R16 combo in the future, but these may be on there a while.

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~Randall~


1993 Buick Park Avenue - 197k - Some odds and ends done - Simply won't die
1994 Buick Regal - 78k - Bone stock - Always ready for a good kicking
1990 Oldsmobile 88 - Gone to a better place

Where I work, at a repair/Tire shop, we always fill to the tire maximum. That way there will be no issues if the vehicle is loaded down, as the tire is rated for that weight at 44 psi, and with each pound lower that weight drops exponentially. What did the shop that mounted them have them set for pressure? I always go to the sidewall rating, except on our 2500HD, as that has Load Range E tires, and those call for 80. I have the fronts at 55, and the rears at 65 unloaded, and rears at 80 when towing.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Tire sidewall max. No reason why not to. It firms up your cornering and reduces wear on the edges.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

They went with what the door jam posts, and that is what they were trained to do. I will prolly push the front tires up to 40-42 then and see how it rides. The rears are fine at 30-35. They don't even have the contact patch the full width of the tire.

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~Randall~


1993 Buick Park Avenue - 197k - Some odds and ends done - Simply won't die
1994 Buick Regal - 78k - Bone stock - Always ready for a good kicking
1990 Oldsmobile 88 - Gone to a better place

If you ever go on a long trip, with a bunch of luggage and/or people, bump the rears to 44. That will help with handling with all the added weight.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

I have always gone with the manufacturer reccomendations. I have never had any problems with tire wear. Ive also run into quality of tire versus how it wears.

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x2
No offense but it is a Buick Park Avenue and most people drive it because of that Big Cushy Ride. Yes inflating the tires will give you somewhat better handling but the tires will bounce more over uneven surfaces. I think you should bring it in and have the alignment checked. That alone will improve the handling of the car. Keep the pressure at 35 PSI - Cold (IMHO)
35 PSI is fine for those days that you load it up for that long trip to the country too. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I worried about my tire pressure every day of the week.

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2006 Salsa Vibe - Auto - Side Curtain Air Bags - ABS - Vehicle Stability Control - Tunes No Moon - Monotone - Preferred Package - Slate Cyper Cloth - Steelie Wheels

2002 Snap Orange Beetle - Auto - Turbo

1991 Dark Garnet Red Oldsmobile 88 - Donated to Science

Going to sidewall max is a poor idea. Bumping around 5psi over manufacturer recommendations is usually pretty good, but putting street tires/no seasons to 45+ is a little overboard.

Post pictures of your tires and we can see what's wearing them. If you haven't had the car aligned within the last couple years (or especially ever) then you most likely have an issue there.

GM does actually have engineers for this, if you think you know better than them for all around performance and comfort then be my guest. But extra loads in cars don't need more air, a heavy duty truck with 10k in the bed? Yes.

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Jason Z - Exposed Autos

2001 BMW 330i - Titanium Silver - Sport Package - 3 Pedals - Koni Yellow/H&R Sport
2006 Volkswagen GTI - (gone) Tornado Red - DSG, Stage II~280hp/325tq
1993 Pontiac Bonneville - (gone) Purple Pearl H4U/SLE. Loud

Well, I put mine at 35 psi cold in summer. After a long drive in summer, they get up to around 38-40 psi. Anything higher than 39 psi and my TPS warning comes on saying check tire pressure. I don't know why you would want max air pressure in. It is too bumpy of a ride IMO

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Steve
Was - 1998 SSEi - 128,000 mi. ---- SOLD----
Was - 2003 Cadillac DeVille DTS - 91,000 mi. ----SOLD----
Is - 2008 Cadillac STS AWD Luxury, Black/Black.
2008 Ford Fusion SEL, - Midnight blue - Black leather int.
2005 Buick Lacrosse CXL, Silver - Black leather Int.

Also there's better fuel economy at sidewall max. The tire does not flex as much, which means the energy the engine puts out gets translated into grip against the road, not heat in the tire sidewall.

Better tire life, too.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

I always go with whats on the door label I have had problems with wear or anything like that.

Standard passenger load rated tires (P225/60R16) are rated at 35 PSI, not 44. 44 is the normal MAXIMUM tire pressure, not recommended tire pressure.

Light Truck and Heavy truck rated tires (LT265/70R16), load indexes are normally rated at 80 PSI, but this does not mean that 80 PSI is always their maximum. They tend to have more than one load index based upon their pressure, this is why you'll see things like 118/121 for a load index. One is at say, 50 PSI, and the other, 80 PSI. Also, for clarification for anyone that doesn't know, load ranges like c, d, e, etc are not telling you how much you can put on the tire, they're telling you how many plies that tire is, so its basically giving you a horizontal stability rating to go along with the load index (118/121), which is a vertical weight rating.

In general though, cheaper budget tires have considerably softer sidewalls than their more expensive counterparts, increasing pressure on the tires is only really partially covering up the problem, and should not be done to excess. The lack of handling you experience with cheaper tires is inherent in their design. 205/70/15 is definitely a large profile tire that seldom comes in high quality versions anymore, regardless of being OE for several large luxury cars for quite some time, including other large domestic vehicles.

If you're looking for a better driving experience, size up, and go with a 225/60/16..it definitely upgrades the driving experience of the H & C bodies considerably, no matter what suspension option you've got. And 35 PSI is more than plenty, unless you're really looking for an abnormally stiff and bouncy ride.

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John
Now: '15 Toyota Prius III | 134 hp 2ZR-FXE | Silver | 36k
Now: '03 Honda CR-V AWD | Slow 4-Cylinder | Dirt | 180k
Then: '07 Ford Fusion SEL | 221hp Gen I VVT Duratec 3.0 V6 | Tungsten Silver | 150k
Then: '99 Toyota Avalon XL | 200hp 1MZ-FE 3.0 V6 | Diamond White | 189k | Sold: July 2015
Then: '11 Ford Fusion SEL | 240hp Gen II VVT Duratec 3.0 V6 | Ingot Silver | 84k | Totaled: Oct 23 '14 (Rear-Ended)
Then: '96 Buick Park Avenue Ultra | 240hp Series II L67 | Medium Dark Lichen | Bought: JAN 11 @ 135k | Accident: FEB 3 '12 | Crushed: MAR 1 '13 @ 153K
Then: '98 Pontiac Bonneville SSE | 205hp Series II 3800 L36 | Topaz Firemist | Bought: NOV '09 @ 74k | Accident: MAY 28 '10 | Crushed: MAR 15 '11 @ 84k
Then: '93 Pontiac Bonneville SE | 170hp Series I 3800 L27 | Dark Yellow Green | Bought: JULY '07 @ 92k | Sold: JULY '12 @ 118k
Then: '89 Pontiac Bonneville LE | 165hp 3800 LN3 | Medium Garnet Red | Bought: JAN '05 @ 117k | Sold: SEP 30 '07 @ 152k

Plus if you put pressures at 44 cold, then they are going to warm up to 47 or so and be over max pressure.

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Do you have any anecdotes or evidence that running a tire at max sidewall is dangerous? If anything, running a tire at factory spec is more dangerous since there's far less margin of safety to where the tire gets underinflated, overheats and starts failing.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

Tires are designed and rated to work at their sidewall maximum, which is why there isn't a weight rating a 35 PSI, it's at 44. If you choose to run lower, for whatever reason, that's your choice, but the tire's load rating is diminshed below max PSI.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

I don't know how "Dangerous" running a tire at Mfg Max, but I do know there are some pretty inaccurate tire pressure gauges out there. I found one of mine was actually reading 5 pounds LESS than the actual pressure in the tire (37 lbs). Most of us know the difference 5 lbs makes. For me the ride with 37#'s was just intolerable. But that's just ol' me.
As far as safety goes. If everyone checked their tire pressure once a month (or at least every other month) we wouldn't need these Tire Pressure Monitor Systems in our new cars today. That said, I found this system actually worked when it detected a slow leak in my 2006 Vibe. Of course stuff happens and you could accidently go over a large sharp object in the road that will blow out a new tire with 25 miles on it (that happened to me too). But I digress. I think you should listen/read to what the manufacture recommends and then make your own decision.
And I don't buy that the tire's load rating is diminshed below max PSI. Nothing personal, I'm just going with GM on this one and a comfortable ride.

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2006 Salsa Vibe - Auto - Side Curtain Air Bags - ABS - Vehicle Stability Control - Tunes No Moon - Monotone - Preferred Package - Slate Cyper Cloth - Steelie Wheels

2002 Snap Orange Beetle - Auto - Turbo

1991 Dark Garnet Red Oldsmobile 88 - Donated to Science

The reason for the TPMS was the whole Ford Explorer thing, and subsequent tire and vehicle recalls. It's government mandated that all 08+ models have it.

It's not that the load rating vanishes at lower pressure, it's just that it's not the sidewall maximum, and maybe not the vehicle max, unless you run OEM tires the entire life of the vehicle.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

It's probably the floaty suspension in my car, but I do not notice any change in ride when the tires are higher PSI. I do notice the handling gets mushier than usual when not at sidewall max, and the car rolls more in the corners.

The pressure gauges on both my floor pump and my digital pressure gauge are both in agreement that my tires are 44 PSI. Now I've had the cheapy gauges go bad, but something a little more than bargain-basement is going to be close enough, maybe a 2 PSI range in total. And the digital gauge I have is great.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

So why on earth would all these engineers put the tire pressures they do on the door tags? I gonna go with what they say since they went to school and get paid the big bucks, they obviously know whats best otherwise they would put 44PSI on all the cars. Follow the door tags! Thats my last 2 cents for this thread.

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If someone buys tires with a lower load rating than OEM then going overboard on tire pressure is a band-aid for buying the wrong equipment.

Also, bumping up air pressure wont make much of a difference in handling feel if you have bad suspension, but you will lose some slop in the sidewalls.

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Jason Z - Exposed Autos

2001 BMW 330i - Titanium Silver - Sport Package - 3 Pedals - Koni Yellow/H&R Sport
2006 Volkswagen GTI - (gone) Tornado Red - DSG, Stage II~280hp/325tq
1993 Pontiac Bonneville - (gone) Purple Pearl H4U/SLE. Loud