Tire pressure

[crause]

I had a fellow vette owner (C3) tell me that the secret to getting the best ride from a corvette was the tire pressure. He said that everybody usually puts too much air in the tires and then complains about a hard ride. Being new to Vettes, I just listened and shook my head. He told me to look inside the drivers door and there is a sticker that gives the GM recommended tire pressure. Sure enough, when I got home and checked the sticker, it recommended 20 psi for front and rear tires. I have never heard of running tires with that low of a pressure. I dropped it to 25 psi and am going to give it a try. I was just wondering if anyone had a comment on this matter.:confused

Andy

 

[froggy47]

Sorry,


I'm having a hard time believing 20psi, can you post a pic of the sticker? My 96 is 35 psi all around. For autox I run the fronts at 42 psi.

 

[rainman]

The stickers in both my 70 and 71 say 24 psi cold and 30 psi hot. The cars used different tires then most of us have today. I don't know the answer to your question but I interested to find out.

 

[brusso]

32 on my 75

 

[C3forME]

The sticker on the inside of your door is probably for either F70x15's or G70x15's which were the stock tires supplied with the car back then. What size tires are you running now? If your running 255/60-15's like most of us you will probably want to run 30-32 PSI, I run 32 PSI in mine and it rides and handles fine. Vettes are going to have a firmer/stiffer ride than your average passenger car, after all it is a Sports/High Performance Car and is designed to handle that way.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

I had a fellow vette owner (C3) tell me that the secret to getting the best ride from a corvette was the tire pressure. He said that everybody usually puts too much air in the tires and then complains about a hard ride. Being new to Vettes, I just listened and shook my head. He told me to look inside the drivers door and there is a sticker that gives the GM recommended tire pressure. Sure enough, when I got home and checked the sticker, it recommended 20 psi for front and rear tires. I have never heard of running tires with that low of a pressure. I dropped it to 25 psi and am going to give it a try. I was just wondering if anyone had a comment on this matter.:confused

Andy

The 20 Psi is correct for the original radial tires your car came with . I assume that these are long gone and have been replaced with modern technology tires. 20psi on modern radials is way too soft, as you'll quickly discover. Try the 30-32 psi most people run today.

 

[crause]

froggy47,

I can assure you that the sticker reads "20psi" I don't have a digital camera but I will try and post something.

Andy

 

[ed_in_pa]

The sticker in my 76 says the same '20 psi front, 26 psi back'. So what I'm understanding from the replys here is that the pressure should be 30 - 32 psi all the around on P255-70/R15? The tire itself says max pressure 35 psi.

 

[Mac]

SAFETY WARNING
crause, the lower tire pressures listed on your tag are appropriate for the original radial tires with which your car came equipped. If you're still using that style of tire, drop your tire pressure to the recommended PSI. I don't think those style of tires are currently being manufactured. Tire makers are producing "look-alikes" for restoration purposes but they're made using modern construction technology.

If you've replaced with a non-original style of tire, you need to inflate to the manufacturer's recommended PSI. If you underinflate your current tires, hoping to soften the ride, you may find yourself in a ditch (or worse) the first time you go around a sharp corner or make a sudden lane change as the tire may roll off the rim.

Completely aside from the safety concerns, underinflation causes horrid handling, irregular treadwear and reduces the lifespan of the tire.

The easiest way to determine the proper inflation is to read the tire- it's normally printed in small print, close to the wheel, next to the load range.

-Mac

 

[brusso]

Running lower pressure, I think, was Fords answer to the jolty ride of the early explorer. I'm sure that you have heard how those tires handled.