Question on tire pressure on '04 Mustang GT

[JR-04StangGT]

I had picked up my new 2004 Sonic Blue Mustang GT Premium on 10/31/04 and was wondering what tire pressure others are running on their stock tires?
Ford lists 30 lbs. in each tire cold.Should I keep it set at that or is it okay to increase it a bit?
Thanks.

 

[propellerhead]

I had picked up my new 2004 Sonic Blue Mustang GT Premium on 10/31/04 and was wondering what tire pressure others are running on their stock tires?
Ford lists 30 lbs. in each tire cold.Should I keep it set at that or is it okay to increase it a bit?
Thanks.

Help me understand why you would try to find something other than what the automotive engineers determine to be the best pressure for the tires. Why?

 

[fr96ss]

well said... on that note i run 30 in the front and 26-28 in the rear for traction of course

 

[Premium Speed]

32-34 in the front and 28-30 rear for daily driving...

 

[CManT1914]

Wow, I've been running 35 all the way around, maybe I will drop it to 30 now......... or maybe 20!! 30 sounds good.

 

[01MachGT]

they give you the ideal tire pressure so that your tires wear evenly. Otherwise they will go bad sooner.

 

[Juiced87Notch]

I would put it around 32-35 for a stock car... if you want better handling or gas milage put 40 in them... there rated to 44psi when cold, but a mustang doent need that. car companies dont allways give you the optimum pressure for tire wear, its for ride, and in some cases that I've seen they set it wrong so the tire actually wears out faster. I go buy what the tire recomends for the car... but I'm just a tire guy so what do I know

 

[Str8Pimp'n]

I have been using 34 front-32 rear on both my old Mustang and my current ride for the past 15 years with no problems of tire wear.

 

[JR-04StangGT]

First off thank you for the replies everyone.
The reason why I asked is on the car I traded in which was a 2002 SVT Focus the factory cold tire pressure was 32 front and 29 rear which I felt was kind of soft.Having discussed this with others over at Focaljet.com everyone was running higher tire pressures of 38 front and 35 rears which I changed to and felt a big handling and performance gain and no abnormal tire wear.Granted that was a fwd performance car compared to a rwd like the Mustang GT so I wanted to see what others were running here on StangNet.I will bump up the tire pressure to 35 all around and see how it initially responds.

 

[Mustang5L5]

First off thank you for the replies everyone.
The reason why I asked is on the car I traded in which was a 2002 SVT Focus the factory cold tire pressure was 32 front and 29 rear which I felt was kind of soft.Having discussed this with others over at Focaljet.com everyone was running higher tire pressures of 38 front and 35 rears which I changed to and felt a big handling and performance gain and no abnormal tire wear.Granted that was a fwd performance car compared to a rwd like the Mustang GT so I wanted to see what others were running here on StangNet.I will bump up the tire pressure to 35 all around and see how it initially responds.

Tire pressure has more to do with the weight of the car in addition to the surface area of the tire contact patch.

Mustangs are heavy. They weight more than focus and have bigger tires. The tire pressure is more of a factor of the surface are vs weight vs optimal tire pressure to maintain a good tire contact.

If you were to put 195/60/15's on your Mustang, you wouldn't run 30psi, you would have to bump it to 35 or 40psi.

lighter cars with wide tires can run 25=28 psi.

 

[TW/92LSC/SE]

You could follow the factory settings initially; buy a cheap tread depth gauge and check inner to outer differences, say every or every other oil change interval. Then just adjust pressure slightly to account for uneven wear if there is any.

 

[propellerhead]

Here's tip from an old 4-wheeler magazine....

Make a chalk line across the treads of your tire perpedicular to the direction of travel. Drive in a straight line halfway down the block. Check the chalk mark. If it is rubbed off on the outer edges, add more air. If it is rubbed off in the center, release more air.

Or, go with what Ford says.

 

[rjstaaf]

I commute 100 miles a day to work mostly on the highway. I typically keep about 35lbs (measured when tires are cold) all the way around. I am now on my second set of BFG KDWs and with proper rotation (every 5k for me) and keeping the tires inflated consistantly my tread wear has been even across the tread.