Tire Pressue

Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mike burns 3

Active Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
173
Reaction score
0
Location
st albans, VT
Can I get the front/rear tire pressure of a 2001 ST? My door sticker is long gone and I'm not sure I have been running the right pressure.
 
I run 36 all around in both ST's...



Todd Z
 
Inflate tires to the maximum allowed(read sidewall) on the front tires. Do 2-3psi less in the back. The reason being as it is a front engine vehicle, the front tires take a beating in cornering/braking. This will improve handling in turns. 2-3psi less in the back, as there is little weight back there and less pressure will allow the tires to flex and grip better. Overall, this will improve gas mileage slightly. The trade off is a slightly firmer ride. JMO, Bob
 
Sidewall pressure is the max pressure the tire can handle... the door tag, realistically, applied to OEM tire brand only... Other brands with the same rating should be ok with the door sticker... The inflation PSI is a function of the weight on the tire exerted from the vehicle. If you inflate to sidewall, more often than not the center of the tread will wear out first, as you will over inflate... What I did is to go on the michelin site, and looked at the engineering data for the OEM tires and backed into a design load for that tire at Ford's door sticker's inflation values... This will give you a weight that Ford enginners arrived at from their testing.. This weight can then be applied to other tires... I run LT lires on my trac because I tow a TT, and the stiffer sidewalls help a lot... When I tow, I inflate to 50 psi... The sidewall is 65 psi... When I don't tow, I drop the pressure to 30, per the engineering data.. If it ran the tires at 50 w/o a load on them, the ride is really harsh... JMHO
 
MikeVT the answer to your question is ... per my door sticker on '01 ST w/production date of 08/00 is 30 psi FRONT & 33 psi REAR w/P255/70R16SL tires [OEM]. I hope this answers your question. Like others I have my prefrences too.
 
I run 35 front and rear in both my Sport Trac and my wife's Explorer. We are willing to give up a little on ride to gain a lot on cornering!!
 
Inflate tires to the maximum allowed(read sidewall) on the front tires

follow side wall



No never. Unless they are 6 ply LT tires. Then It is still not a good idea.



My gen 1 tag says. 32 front, 35 rear. I run 34 front and rear.

Do not inflate your tires to the max on the sidewall. That is the max the tire will safely handle. Once they get hot. If you inflate them to that max when cold. They will go beyond the safe pressure when hot. You will damage the belt positions or cause the tread to split between blocks . Then you will have tread run out. Especialy in the hot summer pavement. Your chance of various types damage. Is even greater if you hit a pothole at speed.



The pressure given by ford and others etc. Is the safe range between max and ride and control. There is no problem with 2 to 3 psi more than vehicle tag. As long as when hot it is below what is on the sidewall.



I will never understand my freinds, that constantly complain about tire damage. When they do it to themselves. By over and over inflation. If they told the tire store what they been doing. It might void their road hazard. over inflation and under is not safe.



For those that have not had a problem. You have been lucky...But it is your car and your life. Do as you wish.
 
The pressures stated on the door sticker is well and good IF your vehicle has OEM tire size, which you do not provide. Keep in mind that those tire pressures are provided by Ford, not the manufacturer of the tire. If your vehicle has larger tires (higher volume), the tire pressure should be reduced.

I am on my second set of 265/65-17s Revos on my 01 and am running 31 front and 30 rear and the wear is excellent.



Beware that many shops will set tire pressure to that stated on the door sticker without regard to tire size. I always write DO NOT ADJUST TIRE PRESSURE. on service orders and deal with it myself.

I have read of several methods for determining proper tire pressure. One is to place a chalk mark across the tread on all tires and roll the vehicle. If the tires are inflated such that the weight on each tire is distributed evenly across the tread, the chalk will remain uniform across the tire (although faint). This method allows you to determine the correct tire pressure for each tire based on the load at the time.



The others are correct when urging you away from setting the pressure at that stated on the sidewall that is the maximum pressure at the maximum load for the tire and far too much for everyday driving.

 
I have always used 33-35psi on both of my Sport Trac's It seems to be the best compromise between good mileage and an acceptable ride quality without bone jarring jolts while crossing over a tar strip on the road. The maximum sidewall pressures only applies if you are fully loaded. The ride will be very harsh but that must be assumed when you are carrying a heavy load.



...Rich
 
Top