How many PSI tire pressure for my Van

[StiMan]

Hi, i have a 8 Seater Mitsubishi Starwago Van. This is like those courier vans, (but 8 seats)

i checked my tyre pressures and they were all around the 40psi mark.

these have special 'van' tyres. does anyone here have a similar van, like the toyota hiace, and can tell me what PSI you run in your van?

does these tyres require to run 40 psi?

i am now running them at 34 and when i turned into my drivway, they left a tyre mark and it "looks" underinflated.


thanks.

 

[9c1]

Nothing in your owners manual StiMan? If they are not OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), then the tyre manufacturer should be able to recommend a pressure. In this country tyre manufacturers are required to put the load the tyre can carry at a given pressure on the side of the tyre, generally near the wheel so it is protected from abrasion. They also are required to post the maximum tyre pressure on the sidewall. Thus we can guess at a suitable pressure, and at least we know how high we can safely go. They are also required to post the number of plies and the material of those reinforcing plies on the sidewall. There is a lot of fine print on the sidewalls of tyres in the USA. Is it different in AZ?
Terry

 

[jorton]

I don't have a van, but with all of my cars and trucks I have always had to experiment with different psi's. I usually have 36 - 38 psi front and 33 - 34 psi rear with tires that say "max 44psi" on the sidewall.
Joe

 

[CapriRacer]

In the US, every passenger vehicle and all light trucks have to have a placard that shows the original tire size and the proper inflation pressure for that size. Most vehicle manufacturers, regardless of where the vehicle is sold, have this placard.

It is usually around one of the doors or in the glove box.

Because there are several methods used to determine what pressure is specified, I take what's on the placard as a minimum. Besides, I prefer a vehicle that is a little more responsive steeringwise and am willing to give up the ride to get there, so I use 3 to 5 psi above what the placard says.

Hope this helps.

 

[JTK]

Provided you are running stock sized tires, you should ALWAYS set the pressures per the vehicles' door-jamb label. Those specs are set not only for vehicle safety & handling, but for economy. You put yourself & others in danger if you dont follow them. You dont want to just go by what the tire side-wall says.

G/luck
Joel

 

[TheTanSedan]

Check with the manufacturer as vehicles sold for commercial service often have quite a range of recommendations as to tire type (service use dependent) with a number of possible variations.

Commercial users by no means have a standard; the Class 8 trucks I drove were with companies where tire type, use, etcetera were very carefully monitored, and pressures were set by the company with a full-time (BANDAG or other) professional advisory. We ran 95 psi in the fronts at one company where trucks from competing companies were told to run 105 psi.

After you've gotten what information you can, get a high quality tire gauge (preferably with a bleed valve), check them weekly or in any unusual circumstances. Add a tread-depth gauge to your glovebox as well to monitor tire tread across the tire to best determine rotation and psi.

If there is a door placard, then at least maintain the front/rear balance despite specific psi.

You need best advice, especially if the van is often being driven unloaded. (Calculate the approximate time/miles loaded versus unloaded).
Weigh the vehicle in an empty state (driver, fuel, any tools/supplies ALWAYS carried) and then weigh it again with a typical load. This will give your advisor the best information to work with: Percentage of weight on each axle; total weight on each axle; total weights overall.

 

[CapriRacer]

I forgot to add in my earlier post that I was not familiar with the vehicle and the tire size would have helped us with the discussion.

BUT

It sounds like you have a vehicle that uses high pressure tires. Usually these vehicles use at or near the maximum inflation that is on the sidewall of the tires, (unless you have a dually) so the 34 psi doesn't even sound close, more like 50 to 80 psi.

Hopefully, you haven't operated the tires for very long at 34 psi and hopefully you didn't carry any load, If you did, you may have damaged the tires. The problem is that you won't be able to see the damage until the tire starts to fail, and by then it may be too late. You might want to replace these tires just as a precaution.

Hope this helps.

[ December 07, 2003, 10:14 AM: Message edited by: CapriRacer ]