Tire Engineer here - concerned about hyperinflating tires

[CapriRacer]

I've been reading about folks inflating tires over the maximum printed on the sidewall and this is one site where this has been reported. I've joined just to add technical background as to why that is a bad idea!

[trikkonceptz]

Welcome ... and OK, where is this information, you kinda left us hanging ...

[SVOboy]

welcome to ecomodder...i dont personally inflate past the max, but i know many who do...what technical issues do you speak of?

[Lazarus]

Originally Posted by CapriRacer

I've been reading about folks inflating tires over the maximum printed on the sidewall and this is one site where this has been reported. I've joined just to add technical background as to why that is a bad idea!

Great. Welcome to the site it will be good to have some expertise on the matter. What's your background and reported by who?

[Daox]

Welcome to the site. As the others have mentioned I'd definitly like to see some testing that you have done to prove this is a bad idea. We have many people running max sidewall pressures here without any problems, perfect tire wear, and greatly increased tire life.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by CapriRacer

I've joined just to add technical background as to why that is a bad idea!

(from an old "Kids in the Hall" episode)...

...Ya lost me

Folks have to back up claims here. We crave data.

RH77

[chrislk1986]

My tires were 11psi over inflated. They're mud tires too. I took corners fast and did hard braking to test failure. No problems, but I reduced pressure by 5psi to be on the safe side. (the tires are at least 5 yrs old too, but taken care of).

Chris

[GenKreton]

Perhaps we should discuss how poor the gages are on the car tire pumps. They can be off by over 10 psi in my experiences.. They always warn bicyclists not to use them for that reason. Also, they heat up a lot so you increase pressure at highway speeds if you inflate cold. I would say the concern isn't going beyond the limit of the sidewall by a few psi, but in how you do it and using what equipment, If you have other data, please enlighten us.

[tasdrouille]

Frank, I think quite a lot of threads here and on other FE forums have got to the bottom of this as far as RR is concerned. What do you believe has been left uncoverred?

The only concern I still have is related to some areas of the safety factor, as I haven't seen much data appart from annecdotal evidence.

[ihatejoefitz]

http://www.officer.com/article/artic...on=19&id=27281

This shows the relationship between temperature and tire pressure. Their test indicates that for a 20 minute drive you can expect ~+4Psi.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=1

Disadvantages of Overinflation

An overinflated tire is stiff and unyielding and the size of its footprint in contact with the road is reduced. If a vehicle's tires are overinflated by 6 psi, they could be damaged more easily when encountering potholes or debris in the road, as well as experience irregular tread wear. Higher inflated tires cannot isolate road irregularities as well causing the vehicle to ride harsher and transmit more noise into its interior. However, higher inflation pressures reduce rolling resistance slightly and typically provide a slight improvement in steering response and cornering stability. This is why participants who use street tires in autocrosses, track events and road races run higher than normal inflation pressures.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=1

-Notice, no mention of higher than normal wear, or blowouts.