let me chip in. devon is correct. max pressure as imprinted on the sidewall is NOT for normal everyday driving. it is for short haul, max load, only. if u continue to run at max inflation, as the tire heats up, the pressure increases and then u have a blowout. most 60 series tires, 70 series radials seem to be best at 30-32 psi. i have 31 psi in the bfg radial t/a tires - 245r60x15 - on my 72 gs and there is no centre nor outer unusual wear. if i was to have 5 (max) people in my car, for a long drive, i would add another 2 lbs of air to the tires. so buick bloke, suggest u run 30-32 psi in your tires.
I have run all my tires at 32 for 30 years (not truck only cars) and never had any problems whatsoever......But monitor them regularily
I'm a lucky guy i guess. Livin' dangerously all my life. :bglasses: Every car in my family, including my heavy Buicks, Cadillacs, Lincolns, Pontiacs, Mazdas, Dodges, Plymouths, Chevy's, Triumphs, a VW, U-Hauls, flatbed auto trailers, bicycles, Viza Venom, Fleetwood Bounder motor home (not mine)and a John Deere lawn tractor, I've run the "MAX" cold pressure printed on the tire. Most of which have the factory size tires on them. I've never had a tire blow out in my life, nor has any family members. Word. The only time I saw a center wear out in my tires was when I got over anxious and had a tire installed on a rim that was too small for the tire. THIS created that wear in the center pattern. I was warned, but I had to see for myself. Why do I run such a high _safe_PSI? I prefer the handling, control and ride, that I don't see in LOW PSI in my tires. Try it. You might like it too. The only tires I drop down are the Hoosier Quick Time Pro's, and at the track only. Livin on the edge this New Year with high PSI, ElectraJim
I like 36 front, 34 rear. Some of these newer tires have 44psi max on the sidewall. I have found that tire stores usually fill the tires to this pressure when they mount them. But the car will ride hard like a lumber wagon at that pressure, so the following morning when they are cold I drop them to 36 - 34.
That's what my lightweight daily driver calls for (44 max). I wore out my first set just as I described at that pressure, so since then I've run about 38-40 and have had great luck ever since. I think wider tires on a light car really aggrevate the problem. I've been able to run my Wildcat on max and like it. Devon
Wern't radials available on the buick in 72 from the factory? I remember seeing a chart with that available then or somewhere around that era. nate
The 60 tire wall creates the opposite of this, that's probably why it squats a bit, even with pretty narrow tires. http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn249/LiL_ShuteS/EuroGolfProject0639.jpg 215 60 15 (215cm thread width with 60% of 215cm side wall height, 15 inch rim) 235 60 15 (235cm thread width with 60% of 235cm side wall height, 15 inch rim) Don't ask me who figured out this system.
You pretty much got it, but use mm rather than cm. And you can thank the European Tire and Rim Technical Organization (ETRTO) for the Euro-metric tire sizing standard. Here's some of their reading on load vs pressure: http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/loadinflationtable.pdf Devon
i have never seen nor heard of radials in being available as an option in 1972 on domestic built cars but i could be wrong. i worked a bfg in 1969 and they manufactured radial tires under licence from pirelli tires.
