# Tire Pressure Monitoring



## Camcruse (Oct 4, 2011)

I usually keep the tires pressure about 38 pounds and during the hotter summer months it can go up to 40-41 when driving.

Now that it's getting cooler outside the pressure drops to 32 pounds while driving.

Is it safe to raise it again to 38 or should I leave it alone as it will self adjust again next summer?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I adjust my tire pressure monthly. You want to keep the pressure "constant" throughout the year, so in the summer it takes less air and in the winter it takes more.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

What obermd said.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Go along with the experts on this subject, all around with tire wear, pounding the heck out of your suspension and your butt, handling. Stay with the sticker value for recommended pressures. 

With high tire pressures, only the center of the tire is giving road traction that may cost you your life and failed to see any improvements in fuel economy. 

Talk about a way overpriced means of checking tire pressures and not very reliable either, another major screw job by our government. Kids six year old vehicle needs four new sensors, his dealer wants 330 bucks plus tax to replace all four.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

NickD said:


> Go along with the experts on this subject, all around with tire wear, pounding the heck out of your suspension and your butt, handling. Stay with the sticker value for recommended pressures.
> 
> With high tire pressures, only the center of the tire is giving road traction that may cost you your life and failed to see any improvements in fuel economy.
> 
> Talk about a way overpriced means of checking tire pressures and not very reliable either, another major screw job by our government. Kids six year old vehicle needs four new sensors, his dealer wants 330 bucks plus tax to replace all four.


Few flaws here - we have proven that for general driving you can run your radial tires up to the sidewall MAX PSI without excessive interior wear. If you spend all our time on relatively straight highways center tread wear can be an issue, but this is also true at the door placard. We also know that car manufacturers are not above putting a lower than optimal door placard pressure on cars. There are three items that you must balance when setting a tire pressure - comfort, safety, and tire life. Comfort is the overwhelming criteria for most passenger cars and safety is only considered from the standpoint of the door placard pressure not being so low that it overloads the tire sidewall. As far as I can tell tire life is targeted to be about 5,000 miles before the standard auto lease agreement expires, forcing the leaser to replace the tires and return the car with new tires.

Finally, your kid is being ripped off. Four replacement in-tire sensors cost me less than $50 when I replaced my tires. The sending unit is part of the sensor.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Best price I can find is 36 bucks each, times four is 144 bucks plus sales tax and shipping. His problem is the batteries are going dead, and really no way to replace them. And this is DIY.

So how can you replace all four for under 50 bucks? Please share.












Unless they just replaced these that are little for a buck each.


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## DECruzer (Jul 19, 2015)

We don't know what model the O.P. has, but the normal Cruze CTD tire pressure is 38 psi, so not sure how any of those negative things apply. Chevy seems to want those pressures and they obviously work, so..??


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Least auto tires struck with the good old fashion reliable Scharder valve that is very easy to replace.

My new bicycle came with presta's, what a joke, only major difference is they replaced the spring with a screw down nut and needed an adapter to fill the tire. Unscrew the cap, loosen the nut on the valve, screw on the adapter, fill the tire, remove the adapter and try to tighten that tiny nut without bumping it, and screw on the cap again.

But was losing about 20 psi everday, was told I had cheap tubes, got the most expensive ones, same problems. Was told they were thinned, BS, finally found a set of inner tubes with threaded valves of the Scharder type, and only had to open the radiius with a drill about 0.025". Least now they hold air for over the summer, not a daily job anymore. 

Guys go nuts over these stupid presta valves. Did the same thing with MVAC, replacing the reliable Scharder valve with a stupid quick coupler port. New Scharder valve was only about 50 cents, and even have a tool to replace a leaky one without discharging the system.

With the quick couplers, use a large neoprene disks that never seats properly, and if it goes bad and they do, have to replace the entire line. Like on a BMW, cost is over 300 bucks. Scharder valves had a metal cap with a neoprene disk inside for a very tight seal, R-134a is using cheap plastic, a tad too tight and they will crack. High side where all the high pressure is, heat cracks that plastic cap.

All this BS came from the EPA in trying to prevent refrigerant leaks, don't dare change this crap, its against the law. Talk about a bunch of idiots.


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## Camcruse (Oct 4, 2011)

DECruzer said:


> We don't know what model the O.P. has, but the normal Cruze CTD tire pressure is 38 psi, so not sure how any of those negative things apply. Chevy seems to want those pressures and they obviously work, so..??


2012 2LT RS 6M...running OEM Continential Tires


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Camcruse said:


> 2012 2LT RS 6M...running OEM Continential Tires


Same exact car and tires as mine, how many miles on yours? Had to replace mine at 40K miles, down close to the wear marks already. For the first time with a brand new car, though I finally got good tires, think again. Found these exact same tires on tirerack.com with an 80K tread wear warranty.

Talked to a good Chevy dealer on this issue, and never had any success in claiming a tread wear warranty, will find any excuse in the book to avoid it, incorrect tire pressures, wheel alignment, how its driven, etc. But this has been my long term history with any new vehicle equipped with the tires they put on and going back 58 years!

Alignment was good, and both my wife and I are very conservative drivers. Never had a flat, pressures were always correct, and talked to many other owners with the same problem with OEM tires. 04 Cavalier was exactly the same, had to replace them at 45K, also in perfect alignment and driven sanely. Second set, Dunlops, driven the same way lasted 95K miles.

I thought the reason for this tire wear was at 2K miles needed the electric power steering replaced and the front tires were never properly aligned, but this wasn't the problem, just crappy tires. For years, OEM tires were 2 ply with a 4 ply rating that were not even available in the aftermarket. 

Ha, next time I purchase a new vehicle, will tell them to keep their crappy tires and give me a discount, so I can start off with decent tires. But been saying this for years.


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## Camcruse (Oct 4, 2011)

NickD said:


> Same exact car and tires as mine, *how many miles on yours*? Had to replace mine at 40K miles, down close to the wear marks already. For the first time with a brand new car, though I finally got good tires, think again. Found these exact same tires on tirerack.com with an 80K tread wear warranty.
> 
> Talked to a good Chevy dealer on this issue, and never had any success in claiming a tread wear warranty, will find any excuse in the book to avoid it, incorrect tire pressures, wheel alignment, how its driven, etc. But this has been my long term history with any new vehicle equipped with the tires they put on and going back 58 years!
> 
> ...



Got 64,000 on the front OEM's before I had to change them and the back OEM's have plenty of tread left and could make 75,000 before needing to be changed.


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## DECruzer (Jul 19, 2015)

Tire warranties are a sham. Why? For one manufacturers won't consider replacement until the tires are worn down to the 2/32nds tread-wear indicators. At that point, you are way past what might be considered safe, especially if it's rainy season. 
If a tire has worn out evenly across the tread well before its estimated mileage limit, it may qualify for replacement under the tread-life warranty. You must show proof of purchase and proof that the tires were rotated properly at the recommended intervals. In this situation, the manufacturer prorates the cost of the new tire based on the percentage of remaining tread on the old tire and the price of the replacement tire.
This prorating method is similar to how companies reimburse owners under car battery warranties. For example, a tire with an 80,000-mile warranty and a person who was only able to get 70,000 miles of life out of it. "You haven't reached the mileage threshold that we think you should have reached, so we owe you 10,000 miles," they say.


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## DECruzer (Jul 19, 2015)

Camcruse said:


> 2012 2LT RS 6M...running OEM Continential Tires


According to Tire Rack, this is a "H" rated tire and has a 60K tread life warranty.


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## Camcruse (Oct 4, 2011)

DECruzer said:


> According to Tire Rack, this is a "H" rated tire and has a 60K tread life warranty.



Guess my tires are the exception.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Tires are only part of the equation, other is road surface, our roads are in very poor condition, huge damage caused by the excessive use of road salt. And a government stealing our road tax dollars for whatever other uses. We could have gotten more mileage out of our Continentals, but one thing we didn't like about them is very poor winter road traction.

No tears were shed when we got rid of them, and consider our lives are far more important. Front tires will always wear out quicker even with careful driving with single wishbone suspension. Every time you hit a bump, plenty of those, camber varies, and worse yet get side scrubbing, tires can move in and out sideways by as much as 0.3 inches. Rotation equalizes that wear, but does not prevent it. 

Being dumped on this planet earlier than most of the guys on this board, could bring up the subject of tube type tires. Major reason given was the tube would rub on the tire causing wear, if this was a problem, never was one of mine.

With tube type and a nail type flat, could remove the valve core, step on the side of the tire to break the bead, and with a couple of pry bars remove the tire, tube and patch it. Yes you always put a chalk mark on the tire by the valve stem to maintain balance.

This end with tubeless, has to be sealed to the rim with glue and takes a super powerful machine to break that bead, also stresses the hail out of the tire. On an 18" rim have darn near 10 feet of rim surface area that can leak and sure doesn't help with even more road salt. Never was a problem with tubes, is now. 

Do remove the tubeless tire, should be soaped on both sides, both the upper and lower beads have to be broken, the rims and the beads of the tire have to be cleaned, and new sealant put on. Sure see guys take shortcuts in this respect. 

First flat I had with tubeless, plugged it, that was a big mistake, hardly drive the car a couple of miles with a major blowout. That plug does more damage than good, since then, insisted on getting the tire removed and having a patch vulcanized on the inside.

Just saying, more problems with tubeless than with tubes from years of experience, and the government has a solution to this problem, make TPMS mandatory. With even a lot more expense to the consumer. Yet, another after the fact solution.

What happened to the full size spare? Ha, on cars like my 30 Olds and Ford, 33 Buick, and 37 Cadillac, had not one, but two full sized spare tires. Sure going backwards in this respect, and a spray can for a solution? You got to be kidding.


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