[puddleglum]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

I have a '97 villager, and I suspect the tires wearing out in the middle has more to do with a 4000 lbs FWD vehicle than inflation pressure.

Will inflating tires to max sidewall increase longeviety? Depends on how you drive. And i beg to differ, just because you aren't personally paying the gas bill doesn't make the gas mileage any less important. All the reading and experience I'm seeing (my "fleet" clocks around 20K miles a year) says inflating to sidewall has no ill effects when using radial tires of good quality.

Also keep in mind that a RWD vehicle will naturally wear the rear tires in the center regardless of inflation pressure. why that is I'm not sure, just an observation and read about it in gov't manuals concerning tire inflation.

Everything I've read says underinflation is bad news, while "over"inflation is a mixed bag without the bad news. So tell me, which tire company do you work for? Something sounds fishy to me......

First off, I don't work for a tire company and I assure you I have nothing to gain by posting this. I'm a forklift tech running a service van. ( about 20k a year also and probably around 7000 lb) I'm running Nokian Vattiva E rates on my work van which are a very good tire and keep in mind I am still running 60-70psi in them. As for the mileage comment, my customers pay by the hour for my travel, not the mile and I'm not going to hypermile on their $ to save the company a little on gas. Believe me or don't, but it's my personal experience and it's the truth.