My car came with 205/70 R14 tires. What tire pressure should I run?

Thanks, Pete

Start with 20psi FRNT 30 REAR. Always keep the 9-10psi difference

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That is the size I have on my Olds 442 rally wheels. Using the powder on the floor test I settled in at 24# front, 40# rear. Handles great, look great, and satisfies the powder test.

Dennis
Nashville area

mine are 195/70R14. I find 24 front and 35 rear best.

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As noted, the front tire pressure must allow enough contact to provide traction. More isn't always better. I would suggest this procedure:
1) Put 30 psi in the rear tires.
2) start at 25 psi in the fronts. Note your contact patch.
3) Drive the car and see how you like it.
4) If the steering seems "vague", drop a couple of psi, and retry it.
5) If the steering seems "heavy", raise it up a couple of psi.
6) If the rear patch seems too big (tires looking flat) raise it a couple of psi.

What counts is how you like the performance of those tires.

Seth Emerson

Check my new Performance Corvair Web site: [www.perfvair.com]

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I'm ignorant Explain powder test.

Find a dry6 place. Garage floor, driveway on a nice day, etc
sprinkle baby-powder, or flour in front of your tire, and then roll the car over it.
Check the pattern of powder sticking to your tire.
you want an even dusting across the tread, not just in the middle.

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WA. state, 1 mile south of the Canadian border, I am not at the end of the world, but you can see it from here.

With today's tires out there the max pressure rating is what will dictate what the tire pressures should be, you need to know what the max pressure is for your tire. Gone are the days of 32psi tires and 35 psi tires where you could easily just say 25-35.

Example; if you run 25 psi in the front of a Corvair with a 44 psi rated tire you are woefully under inflated and you can damage the tire.

I posted about this in someone esle's thread a while back. Tire pressures need to be realtive to the max rated psi of the tire you are using. I tend to like higher tire pressures because I like peformance over comfort.

Ken Hand
Handy Car Care
248 613 8586

Vairmech@aol.com

Well, yeah and no. A lot of us are running larger tires that were designed to support much heavier loads. Using max sidewall "could" be way to high. On my motor home you adjust the TP according to how much load you are carrying. There are charts for every tire. When I got my new Sorento it was all over the road at high speed. I started checking around and made an appointment to have alignment checked. Then I checked the TP and it was at MAX sidewall 45 PSI thanks to a tire jockey somewhere. I dropped it back 35 where it belong and it handled just fine.

J.O.

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I believe what Ken was saying is that you can have 2 tires the same size that are rated to carry the same load with 2 different max pressures. So the pressure numbers need to match the tire and the load.

RJ tools
Salem,Oregon

Maximum tire pressure is the maximum it can withstand without risking a blowout. Air pressure increases with altitude and temperature.

Running higher pressure in tires than what gives you the best tread contact will give you less control and more tire wear in the center.

I get the best contact in my Mini with 31 psi up front where the engine and transmission are, and 15 psi in the back where there is nothing but an empty pickup body. But they are the same tires.

Restoration in Bolivia
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Selection of the Right Motor Oil for the Corvair
Selection of the right transmission oil for the Corvair
How to polish and restore stainless and aluminum trim

jjohnsonjo Wrote:
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> Well, yeah and no. A lot of us are running larger tires that were designed to support much heavier loads. Using max sidewall "could" be way to high. On my motor home you adjust the TP according to how much load you are carrying. There are charts for every tire. When I got my new Sorento it was all over the road at high speed. I started checking around and made an appointment to have alignment checked. Then I checked the TP and it was at MAX sidewall 45 PSI thanks to a tire jockey somewhere. I dropped it back 35 where it belong and it handled just fine.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you read what I said, I said tire pressure should be realtive to the max tire pressure, NOT run max sidewall pressure.

Ken Hand
Handy Car Care
248 613 8586

Vairmech@aol.com

RexJohnson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I believe what Ken was saying is that you can have 2 tires the same size that are rated to carry the same load with 2 different max pressures. So the pressure numbers need to match the tire and the load.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Very basically, yes!

Ken Hand
Handy Car Care
248 613 8586

Vairmech@aol.com

Comments interspersed.

richard1 Wrote:
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> Maximum tire pressure is the maximum it can withstand without risking a blowout. Air pressure increases with altitude and temperature.
>
Yes, very true for any car.


> Running higher pressure in tires than what gives you the best tread contact will give you less control and more tire wear in the center.
>
This is also true and is the reason I said the tire pressre should be relative to the sidewall max pressure.


> I get the best contact in my Mini with 31 psi up front where the engine and transmission are, and 15 psi in the back where there is nothing but an empty pickup body. But they are the same tires.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Mini is not a Corvair but the same rules apply. And what you have said for tire pressures I almost agree with. You also don't say what brand, (not really important), or what the sidewall max pressure is on your tires.

Ken Hand
Handy Car Care
248 613 8586

Vairmech@aol.com

Quote
A Mini is not a Corvair but the same rules apply. And what you have said for tire pressures I almost agree with. You also don't say what brand, (not really important), or what the sidewall max pressure is on your tires.

Mini tires are Falcon 165/70R-10. Not sure what the max pressures are, and still awaiting its travel from Bolivia. Weight distribution is the reverse of the Corvair, since the transmission is in the oil pan under the engine, in front of the front wheels. it only weighs 1362 lbs

Restoration in Bolivia
Richard's Mini Pickup
Richard's Corvair
Richard's Renault Dauphine

Selection of the Right Motor Oil for the Corvair
Selection of the right transmission oil for the Corvair
How to polish and restore stainless and aluminum trim

Related question. What do you guys with the larger tires use for a spare? The oversize tire will not mount over the engine because of its size.

Thanks, Pete

I throw my spare in the trunk. (When I bother to carry one. )
It's not going to offset your engine, but moving any weight from the rear, to the front, will improve weight bias.

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WA. state, 1 mile south of the Canadian border, I am not at the end of the world, but you can see it from here.

I'm confused about the use the talc method. I guess it would give you a bare minimum pressure but it seems to me it would always give you a pressure that was too low. It gives you a contact patch with only the static weight of the car on the tire. The loads on a tire go up tremendously when you are asking it to get the best traction. Braking puts more weight on both front tires and less on the rear. Cornering puts more weight on the outside tires. If you never brake, corner or accelerate hard then I guess it is ok. Maybe doing it cold is ok since the tire pressure increases with heat.

Joel
Northlake, TX
5 Ultravans, 141 Corvairs and counting...