Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Inflation pressure: Inflate 'em until they wear even. Forget max sidewall pressure and the door sticker. Go by the tire wear. Nothing else.
Bad advice... go by the door sticker. Unless of course you're driving a race car on a closed course... then use telemetry data and lap times to figure the best tire pressure.
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Maybe you just didn't understand the jist of what I was saying. If your tires are wearing even, that's flat across the tread, then they're inflated properly. Period. This isn't always true when going by the door sticker or the max sidewall pressure. Some car manufacturers set this low, to give the car a better ride. Not saying to go over the max sidewall pressure, but you've got a little leeway there. Some max sidewall pressure is 35, some is 44, depending on the stiffness/quality of the sidewall. Personally, I prefer the 44s.
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Alignment/rotation: A good alignment guy is hard to find. It's mostly bs. If your ft./rr. is out of alignment, slightly, then step up the rotation times. 2500 - 5000 miles will usually hit the sweet spot. Most alignments will do nothing or make it worse.
Also bad advice. Yes good alignment shops can be hard to find... that doesn't mean you should just say "screw it." If in doubt, you could take you car to an automotive school that has an alignment rack. You're almost sure to get a good job done there because the students follow the specifications to the letter cause they don't know how else to do it, and the teacher checks their work. I probably did 10 or 12 alignments in the 6 weeks I was in Steering and Suspension at college.
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I wasn't saying screw it, I was saying "step up your tire rotations". If you've got a vehicle that can't be aligned properly, the "alignment shop" will still do it, and charge you, and hope you don't come back. Tire alignments are "mostly" bs.
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speaking of oversteer/understeer: Correct that w/inflation pressure. After you find the pressures that make the tires wear even, then make small pressure adjustments, ft/rr, to balance the car in the corners. Me, w/rwd, I want that ass to kick a little when I lift. Gotta be hard into it, in third gear, for that to even work, unless you're runnin' your rr tires too low.