Does anybody max out their tire pressure, or is it an unsafe practice? I just realized that the tire pressure on my 215/40-ZR-18 Dunlop tires is 51 lbs. psi, but I only have them inflated to about 45/46 lbs. Like an idiot, I thought I read on the tire that the psi was only about 35 lbs. psi (which would explain the fact that my gas mileage before was horrendous with these wheels on the car the first time...)

Is there a danger of inflating your tires to their maximum psi/ or is it just not a good idea in general. I searched this website to find out if this topic had been discussed before, but I did'nt discover it. As always, your help and knowledge will be appreciated

 

I'd say you're ok with the pressure you have. Just keep it within 5 PSI or so to within max because of the 40 series sidewalls.

 

Sounds like a plan to me

Thanks, doc

 

You go, Pitbull...lol.

 

The high max pressure on the tire is because of the speed rating. I would not run those tires at 45 psi all the time.

 

i have it at 51 psi on my 215-50-17 with no problems.

 

lol i got 245/40/18 all 4 tires are over 60..and i m still riding..gota lower em a little..the ride is kinda bumby..im just scarred to hit a pothole with a low psi wheel..dont wana buy new wheels again im going to lower them to 50 psi

 

I usually try to keep the cold PSI about 10 less than the max rating on the sidewall. That rating is mostly for load capacity and a little for speed rating. Go up about 4psi for road trips.
Inflating the tire too much is bad because the center of the tread will wear out quicker if the car isn't heavy enough to push down the entire contact patch.

 

Thanks for the advice, y'all...

So its a cold tire 10psi below the max, and approximately 6psi below max psi for a long road trip... I think I gotcha!

You guys are the best!

@browne...

Where in L.A. do you live, bro? I'm in the So.Bay near the L-B-C...

 

I was told by GoodYear that the car dictates the psi not the tire. of course you don't go over the Max, but i.e:
oem RSA's (245/45-18) was a max 44psi. Nissan says 32 psi. switched to dunlops which say max 51. GY said same size so stay with Nissan spec of 32.

if you overinflate gas mileage will go up, by you suffer in ride and risk blow outs if at the max.

anyone know for certain if the Max PSI is hot or cold? I know the 32 above is cold.

 

@NismoMax80...

It seems as though what you're saying makes sense, but I'm more inclined to go above the 32psi that Nissan suggests because my gas mileage was HORRIBLE at around 35psi with the tires I have on my car now (Dunlop SP Sport FM901 215/40-18 on 18x8 MKW chrome wheels), which I know is too small, so I'm going to get different tires later on - I'm going to test these out to see if I want to get these same Dunlops when it's time to replace these tires...)

I'm going to personally stay between 40-45psi cold just because the ride seems better and more responsive on these tires, plus the gas mileage is not much different than when I had the stock steelies on, which is important to me right now. I'm pretty much in the habit of checking my tire pressure every time I go to fill up the tank, and since I just switched over to Mobil 1 full synthetic oil, I know outside of getting a tune-up (which is next on the list of things to do), keeping my tire pressure monitored will keep the mpg up where I feel good about driving).

 

i live near hollywood and theres so many pot holes cuz of the massive rain this past winter. i try to inflate to max psi to protect my rims.