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Hudsoner's avatar
Hudsoner
Explorer
Sep 15, 2016

Another tire pressure question

When I left home a few weeks ago (Wisconsin), I made sure that my tire pressure was set in the morning before the sun was really up (the outside temp was about 65ºF), and the normal increase of tire pressure during driving occurred.
I am now in the Cascade Mountains of California, and we have night temps in the low 40's around here, and day temps approaching the upper 80's.

My cold tire pressure is now quite bit lower, while the pressure in the early afternoon is similar to that in Wisconsin.
Do I need to adjust my tire pressure now to the new cold temperature pressure (do I need to increase it?) or shall I leaved my tires alone, and continue my travels with the original set tire pressure?

13 Replies

  • I'd air them up A) according to the load range table provided by the manufacturer or B) according to the door sticker or owners manual.

    Max sidewall pressure is just that, the maximum pressure the tire can safely operate at. There's plenty of youtube videos and websites in general that explain why max pressure is often not the answer.
  • In my opinion, if your within 10 or so pounds of your max req pressure I wouldn't worry about it, that also depends on if your loaded to the max weight rating of your tires. If you maxed on weight then I would keep it within 5 or so pounds. My 16" tires usually heat up about 6-8 lbs when traveling depending on outside temps. I have 16" where 15" tires used to be so I know I have some room to play.