44 psi vs. 32 psi and costs

[Joggernot]

I did a spreadsheet on the cost of running 44 psi vs. running the recommended 32 psi. I have found that 44 psi wears my tires in the center and I need to replace tires sooner than the stated lifetime of my tires. The spreadsheet shows that even with an extra set of tires I come out ahead using the 44 psi tire pressure.

I had to drop the miles per set of tires down to 1/3 the stated lifetime of my tires before it was almost a break even. Has anyone else done this evaluation? What are your results?

[user removed]

Never had my tires wear out in the center from 44 PSI. Several cars and probably 100k miles, many different tires. Measured them on my VX after 25k and no measureable difference. Tires last longer as well.

I'm not trying to tell you your observations are wrong, mine are just different.

regards
Mech

[UltArc]

One could run their tires at, for this situation, 44 psi, then start lowering it to let the tires wear more evenly and extend the mileage from them.

[ksa8907]

quick question, what are your tire dimensions and brand? I run 45psi cold and don't see center wear, in fact i still get shoulder wear.

[2000mc]

Would this happen to be noticed on the back of the Tacoma? More wear at the center seems to be normal from what I've seen, on solid axles. On my own vehicles I tend to see even wear at max sidewall, and the edges seem to wear out first at the pressures recommended on the door

[mcrews]

Ran 4 sets of kuhmos on my 2002Q45 at 40+psi. I got 40-45k miles on each set. They were summer high performance and this was acceptable wear. I never experienced center wear.

[Joggernot]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

quick question, what are your tire dimensions and brand? I run 45psi cold and don't see center wear, in fact i still get shoulder wear.

My last set of Walmart specials 205/65 -15. The wear was on the front tires of the 2000 Accord. I haven't noticed the center wear on this set of tires (also Walmart specials), but I wanted to know if it was hurting me financially to do the 44 psi. Learned that it wasn't hurting me. I regularly check them and put them at 44 psi. Mileage increase was noticeable, but no A-B-A testing done. Scangage II only.

The Tacoma is doing just fine, front and rear. No difference at 50 psi, but the wife hauls things like bricks and landscape rocks quite often.

[mcrews]

There have been several threads concerning "center wear". You do realize you are suggesting thAt a steel belt can be made to expand with just 11 extra psi?

[redpoint5]

The tires in all of my vehicles are inflated to ~42 psi, and the outside edge always wears out before the center. Then again, I drive without brakes, so that means I enter corners and make turns at a much higher rate of speed than most people.

If the roads in TX are anything like OK, then they are all straight compared to the winding roads of the PNW. I once visited a friend in Enid, and he let me ride his motorcycle. The center was worn flat and I asked him if he ever uses the sides of the tire. His response, "the roads are all straight here". So, the discrepancy of your tire wear vs the experience of others might be attributed to straight vs winding roads.

My question is, how much faster do suspension components wear, given a 10 psi increase over manufacturers recommended pressure? I wonder how much extra force is transmitted to the suspension components due to the higher inflation pressure?

[user removed]

Here is a pic of my Fiesta's tires, factory Kuhmo Solus, close to 27k miles. They have been at 44 PSI since I got the car with 3770 miles and it was totalled in the front end.
I had the opportunity to get the toe set at minimum spec (closest to 0 within specs), when the shop that fixed it did the alignment.

regards
Mech