Hi there I'm not much of a car guy so if this is a silly question, well, apologies in advance. I just bought a 73 Maverick with 14" tires and was wondering what the tire pressure ought to be. Thanks!
There in lies the question. My tire side wall is different then the recommended pressure on the door sticker. Bet his is the same.
Probably because you have steel belted radial tires on your car now and not fiberglass belted tires that came on your car.
If you are runing radial tires, 32-35 lbs. You need enough pressure to keep the tread planted evenly to the road surface and for even and longer wear. It will also alow the tires to run cooler and improve fuel milage. Drive safe.
The sidewall on modern radials lists the MAX psi rating. But you have to remember that while driving the pressure increases 3-4psi. I have always ran them at 4psi under the max rating.
tire pressure if you have stock tires you will not go wrong with the sticker on the car otherwise you will need to start with the pressure on the car and go up or down depending on the wear of the tire .if the tire is wearing in the center let 3-5 lbs out ,if it is wearing on the outer ends add 3-5 lbs.all this is assuming your alignment is good
link with pics http://www.procarcare.com/includes/content/resourcecenter/encyclopedia/ch25/25readtirewear.html
The problem is that 99% dont run the stock tires. So the sticker is pretty much useless. You cant even buy the tires at shops anymore, the only way to get them is through a specialty maker like coker. Even then stock tires should only be on a show car, IMHO.
OK, here we go: What the tire says means nothing... that only shows the MAX pressure. Forget about the extra few pounds when hot. The tire companies know what's up and rate it accordingly. The label on the door jam is where we look first. Most Mavericks say 24 pounds front, 26 pounds rear. This is for the old non-radial tires. They have sidewalls that are much stiffer than radials... so the actual tire sidewall is holding up the car somewhat. Radial tires have a much more flexible sidewall to allow the tread to stay on the ground for better traction. So, what should be a radial pressure? Lets look at a tire pressure sticker for a car about the same size and weight as a Maverick but uses radials. The 84 Mustang shows a recommended pressure of 28 pounds front and rear. This is a good place to start. Remember, the size of the tire (construction and type being similar), height, width, etc. have no bearing on the pressure. The goal is to have the contact patch at i the maximum and flat on the ground. It amuses me when I hear someone say "I got wide tires to put more rubber on the road". Wide, skinny; only the tire pressure and vehicle weight changes how much rubber (or the size of the contact patch) is on the ground. Wide tires just have a wide patch... skinny tires a long patch. The square inches of rubber on the ground is the same.
