Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxerFanatic
I agree with most of that, except the longest life bit...
A hard tire has less flex, and thus less rolling resistance...
But an over-inflated tire tries to "go donut" and the pressure in the center of the tread causes the center to wear faster. Conversely, under-inflated tires cup inward at the center, and all the weight and wear kills the shoulders of the tires first, unless camber or toe wears the inner shoulder even faster.
I unfortunately have experience with over-inflation. My previous car was a Ford Ranger pickup, with original goodyears... that had been over-inflated for some time, especially the rear tires. They likely inflated the tires to hold a bed full of stuff, and pumped them way up, then ran the truck with no cargo for a while, with the rear end really light.
The shoulders looked normally worn for the tires apparent age, but the center treat was worn well past the wear bars. It got a new set of dueler revos as soon as I saved for them.
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I can agree that maybe the "longest life" part was maybe a bit much, because if you're not near the max weight rating, then a lower pressure can give just as much life.
When I think of "over-inflated" I generally think of people exceeding the TIRES maximum pressure, which we do also see frequently.