okay. BECAREFUL when you are putting air in your tires or checking them. always double check it at a different gas station when you are done. DO NOT GET AIR FROM THE GAS STATION MOBIL ON GLENDALE/MONTEREY!! it doesn't work correctly. it's in the City of Glendale. Right next to the 134. Last week I filled my air over there. I always put it on 40psi because of the handling differences. Well today i'm driving on the freeway and my tire warning comes on. Well i pull over and guess that one of them is going flat, which shouldn't be so soon. So i pull over, nothings wrong. I shut the car off then back on and boom its back again. So I go to the nearest gas station and check it with their pump. Well, my freaking psi was at 60! on all of my tires! so i bring them all down to 40 according to their pump. then i drove my butt another 3 miles to another gas station just to be sure. and sure enough it was still at 40. then i went BACK to the original gas station where i got gas, which was on glendale/monterey and i put the pump in and it read 25psi. the guage has been reading the wrong psi which could have caused some serious damage. i'm sorry if this turned out pretty long, but i just wanted to let you locals know about this dangerous situation and to warn you not to go there. drive safely. see ya.

 

NEVER trust the pressure gauge on any gas station air pump. They are notoriously inaccurate b/c of the high wear and tear, lack of maintenance and general abuse they receive from daily use.

Just buy yourself a good tire pressure gauge and keep it in your car.

 

^
What he said.

I always keep my own tire pressure sensor in my car...I bought one from pepboys for like 10 bucks...or you can buy a fancy shmancy digital one for 20.

 

Which is why I bought myself a cordless inflator for $30 bucks. Do it at my own time in the garage. Although these things are loud as hell when turned on.

 

Yeah...they're right....you can't go by those gauges at gas stations at all. I picked up a digital guage @ Radio Shack for $13.....can't go wrong.

 

Always use your own air gauge, the crappy things at the gas stations are NEVER correct.

 

I agree with the others. Use your own gauge and always check your PSI COLD. So much drama for tire pressure bro?

 

Pep Boys has an exellent inflator for less than 40 bux. It is high volume (for a 12V compressor) and well built. Get a good tire gauge.

BTW, Why are you running 40 psi? That would make mine ride like a buckboard! It would also make your tires wear out in the middle of the tread more than the rest.

 

+1

 

I didn't want to make drama. I just wanted to let people like me know who do not have our own guage to watch out. since so many people are recommending it i'm gonnna go pick one up.

I read that 40 psi improves a bit of handling, plus I like the stiffness

 

You're never supposed to check the tire pressure when the tire has been driven; only when it's cold. The best way to add air is at home using a small portable pump and a quality air guage when the tires are cold.

Also, I agree with the other poster that 40psi is way too high and will cause premature wear in the middle of the tire as well as a harsh ride. If you want more performance, I would not go more than 10% to 15% higher than the stock 30 psi.

 

Hey guys (and girls), look into getting Nitrogen instead of regular air. It keeps the tire pressure more constant because it doesn't seep through the threads as much as regular air. All the details can be found at your local Costco and they'll even replace the air in your tire and fill it with N for free!

 

yeah who the heck drives around to gas stations to check tire pressure? buy a pensized guage for <10

 

lol pensized looks weird

prolly why it's two words

 

Ran my stock Eagle GSD's at 38 PSI - best compromise between ride and handling (DID handle best at 40-42 PSI, though). Got 25,000 miles out of those tires, no uneven wear, and changed them out before I had to.

Have Falken Z -rated tires on 2 other cars right now, run them at 38 PSI, no uneven wear and average to good mileage wear, great handling and decent ride.

Running my new Eagle F1 GSD-3's at 38 PSI - have 5,000 miles so far, no uneven wear.

I have a compressor in my garage, and several excellent gauges (some digital, one that "talks"), and check my pressure weekly. Sometimes I use the built-in compressor in the trunk of my '91 Bonneville SSE - it has a braided 30 ft. hose with a real high quality gauge on it, if I can't access the garage compressor easily!

I don't think any one particular pressure is good for all vehicles - it's a situational thing dependent upon your suspension setup, your ride preference (and tolerance for stiffer ride in order to gain improved handling), your car's weight and the distribution of this weight, the construction and tread pattern of the tire itself, atmospheric pressure, etc., etc. The manufacturer's recommended pressure is their engineers' best compromise between ride and handling, with the bias towards ride for 90% of the cars out there (obvious performance cars like a Corvette, Viper, M5, etc. are expected to ride stiffer and rougher, and their engineers compromise much less and lean towards maximizing the handling at the expense of the ride on these cars, knowing that buyers are looking at all out performance as their most important attribute, with ride being secondary to these buyers).

Obviously, overinflating will cause the tire to "crown" and wear more in the middle, while underinflation will yield more wear on the edges (and faster wear overall, plus wallowing and unnecessary tire squeal) of the tire. I've found that there is somewhere between 6-8 lbs. where you can experiment without causing excess wear either way, just gotta experiment until you find the "sweet spot" for you.

My $0.02