Quote:
Originally Posted by dcb
ok, so hows this sound for a quick test.
let the air out of a tire and put a strait edge across the tread on top and pump it up and watch? Not the same as under load, but will demonstrate deformation/psi trend.
I'm still not sure how big of a problem this actually is. I always get the cheap tires and don't have any handling/wear problems to report either at higher pressures (~45psi, ~2500 lb vehicle).
|
Good thinking. It's simple and while it isn't measuring exactly the same thing, it's measuring something analogous.
But I would suggest measuring the higher pressure first. From experience, we've learned that tires grow - and obviously higher pressure generate more growth. With brand new tires, it is a common industry practice to measure tires after 24 hours worth of growth - we even call it that.
We've also experienced that adding 5 psi into a tire yields less than 5 psi 24 hours later.
I do have one concern. While I haven't actually measured this, I am reasonably confident that the axles aren't centered on loaded tires. Put another way, in a tire under load, not only does the part of the tire in contact with the ground deform, but so does the portion 180° away. The "top" part of the tire is stretched ever so slightly radially- and that results in the sidewalls beuing sucked in - and that will likely distort the tread face.
I would suspect that increased inflation pressure would decrease the amount of "sag" of the axle and result in less distortion. So it is possible that the results could go either way. Personally, I think my concern is unwarranted, but if we do not get the results each of us is expecting, that might be an area worth exploring.