Help

[Guest Trevor]

Hi All,

I hope one of you can help me out, on my Galaxy I have 17in alloys with low profile tyres (205/50 ZR17 93Y) but the hand book does not give me the tyre pressures and my local ford garage could not help (even if they are genuine ford wheels).

I don

[Guest T120]

Trevor

Are the tyres reinforced? :lol:

The reason I enquire is that I was told by my local tyre depot that they will only reinforced tyres to an MPV. :D

[Guest Trevor]

Hi,

Yes they are reinforced but I still can't find the tyre pressures req for my car.

 

Trevor.

[Masked Marauder]

In my personal experience there is no such thing as "the correct tyre pressure." Different makes of tyre run differently and different driving styles are a factor too. Even the season of the year can make a difference to the more enthusiastic driver.

 

Buy two things, a good quality tyre pressure gauge and a good tread depth measurer.

 

Inflate the tyres to what looks right by eye and go for a drive. If the steering is too light, drop a few pounds out and try again, if it is too heavy then add some air. Always use your own pressure gauge, never trust the garage's one.

 

Once it feels right, it usually is, but use the depth gauge to keep a good eye on tyre wear, if the wear is even across the tyre then you have hit the right pressure. Higher wear on the edges indicates too low a pressure, and higher wear on the middle is too high a pressure.

 

Tyre wear on one edge is either a tracking problem or your driving like a nutter!

[Guest Trevor]

Hi Again,

Sorry to keep banging on but some one out their must know the tyre pressures that I req, PLEASE,PLEASE HELP.

 

Trevor/

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Start off with the same as for 16 inch - 41 front 38 rear IIRC

 

Edited 09:50pm 25-11-2004

I checked the workshop manual for my parents' recently departed Volvo 850 - the difference in pressures for 16 inch wheels over 15 inch is a reduction of half a bar, or about 7psi. So if you find that the normal pressures of 41/38 are giving too bouncy a ride, try lowering them by 7 psi all round.

HTH

 

Ivor

[malcolm.dobell]

My Seat Alhambra has 17" alloys with 225/45 tyres

 

fronts should be 45psi 3 passengers, and 48psi fully laden

rears should be 42 and 52 respectively.

 

Information is on the inside of the fuel filler flap on my car. The Seat 130ps TDI SE comes with these as standard

 

Hope this helps. The high pressures were a bit of a shock!

[Guest Trevor]

Hi Malcolm,

My tyre size is 205/50ZR 17in do you think the pressure will be the same as yours.

 

I have just been given some info from another site all you have to do is :- for every inch you go up in rim size you add 1.5 psi.

 

 

Trevor.

[malcolm.dobell]

I don't claim to be an expert, but I understand that the wider tyres need higher pressure to make sure the centre part stays in contact with the road and there isn't excessive wear on the outsides of the tyre.

 

I've had 3 cars of this type all with different tyres

 

The 225/45x17s take the highest pressure;

196/65x15 took next highest

and 215/60x15 were the lowest.

 

I'd try the pressure for 205/16x55 - a standard tyre on these cars, I think - and add the 1.5psi. Frankly you won't be far out; certainly within the tolerance of the various pressure gauges around!

 

What an extraordinary business!

 

Malcolm

[Phil Neal]

I've played around with tyre pressures at the light end of the car weight range (a beach buggy with some really abnormal tyres sizes!!!) and found that if you put air in so that at the bottom of the wheel there is about 5mm deflection in the side that was generally about right, on the buggy that theory worked for...

 

155/15 (fr 16psi)

195/55 15 (14psi ish)

215/75 15 (fr 12psi)

31x10.5 x 15 (bk 18psi)

 

i'd go along with the steering weight as a guide, this worked on an old camper we had too, steering getting heavy, put some air in...

[Guest Trevor]

Thanks for the help Lads,

I have put in 42.5 in the front & 39.5 in the rear tyres, been out for a good drive round the lanes and m/way, hit the brakes hard on the damp roads and well it stopped dam quick very happy so far but will keep an eye on the tread wear for a while.

 

Trevor.

[Guest Trevor]

Hi All,

I have now done over 1000 miles on the new rubber and I am happy to say I am still happy.

 

Trevor