Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Last time I bought tires I noticed the Cooper tires were said to wear evenly if set to the correct pressure. I called a tech at Cooper and he enlighted me a little on tire pressure. There is an association of manufacturers and tires are built to standards prescribed for various size and ratings. I went to the Goodyear site and poked around until I found a tech document that included inflation charts for the 255-85/16 tire size that I have been running. I had my truck scaled at the local landfill and guess what, I had already determined through trial and error (and 3 sets of tires) the correct pressures for my truck. I was dead on!
I have since had several friends do this and they are all amazed at the even tire wear they now enjoy. These are all different brands and sizes of tires.
When I bought my last set of Coopers I told the guy to put the fronts at 53psi and the rears at 35psi. Hah! They refused, stating that the tires would come off the rim at 35psi. I asked him very nicely how long he had been in the tire business. I then proceeded to look in his reference manual, from the association, and give him an education. He agreed. On the way out of the lot a well meaning young tech came running out and told me that low pressures were not safe. I thanked him for his concern and told him to ask his boss to show him the table.
A few thoughts have occured to me since that time. 1) Do the tire people want your tires to last you a long time? 2) how many people mask problems by rotating the tires all of time? Think about it. Do you want them to wear a long time or are you happy if wear quickly but in sync with each other? If you rotate them constantly you won't have much luck reacting to wear patterns.
3) How many TDR members know about the inflation charts? My first glimpse of a chart was the one that came with my truck in 96 and I thought it was just for the GY tires on the truck. Forget the sticker on the door jamb.
I have since had several friends do this and they are all amazed at the even tire wear they now enjoy. These are all different brands and sizes of tires.
When I bought my last set of Coopers I told the guy to put the fronts at 53psi and the rears at 35psi. Hah! They refused, stating that the tires would come off the rim at 35psi. I asked him very nicely how long he had been in the tire business. I then proceeded to look in his reference manual, from the association, and give him an education. He agreed. On the way out of the lot a well meaning young tech came running out and told me that low pressures were not safe. I thanked him for his concern and told him to ask his boss to show him the table.
A few thoughts have occured to me since that time. 1) Do the tire people want your tires to last you a long time? 2) how many people mask problems by rotating the tires all of time? Think about it. Do you want them to wear a long time or are you happy if wear quickly but in sync with each other? If you rotate them constantly you won't have much luck reacting to wear patterns.
3) How many TDR members know about the inflation charts? My first glimpse of a chart was the one that came with my truck in 96 and I thought it was just for the GY tires on the truck. Forget the sticker on the door jamb.
The air hose really makes setting the pressure in tires a 5 minute job. 
So I run my rears at 60. I have over 70k on my Michelin XPS street tread 235's. I rotate baby! 
