[Paul92203]

Hello,


I just checked the tire pressure of all 4 tires for the first time and all were showing 45 to 49 PSI. only had the car for a month and not sure why dealer would do this.


The tire says the max is 44 PSI and the sticker on the driver door jam says 36 PSI.


I lowered all tires to 38 PSI for now.


Anyone else seen this when checking tire pressure for the first time?


Is 36 PSI the best?


thank you

 

[Cruiter]

I keep mine at 36PSI and it works well. Were your tires perhaps warm when you checked them? That would certainly make a difference.

Hello,


I just checked the tire pressure of all 4 tires for the first time and all were showing 45 to 49 PSI. only had the car for a month and not sure why dealer would do this.


The tire says the max is 44 PSI and the sticker on the driver door jam says 36 PSI.


I lowered all tires to 38 PSI for now.


Anyone else seen this when checking tire pressure for the first time?


Is 36 PSI the best?


thank you

 

[lefty]

Sounds like Honda

or the dealer simply overinflated the tires at some point and no one ever checked again. 36 psi seems optimal for handling and ride to me. Since we bought our Clarity our outside temperature has ranged from 95 degrees to -30. The tires seem better than most in holding their pressure in wide temperature variations.

 

[tterag]

I was told in another forum that this is the "shipping" pressure and that the dealers are supposed to reduce it on receiving. They are also supposed to put rubber plugs in the shipping tie-down points on the frame. Mine didn't have those either.

 

[The Gadgeteer]

I was told in another forum that this is the "shipping" pressure and that the dealers are supposed to reduce it on receiving. They are also supposed to put rubber plugs in the shipping tie-down points on the frame. Mine didn't have those either.

This is true on both items. They are suppose to be part of the Pre-Delivery Inspection. Those plugs help reduce road noise transmitted through the body. Makes a big difference on our cars.

Do a search for Honda Clarity PDI to learn more

 

[jzchen]

Sorry for reviving a very old thread. (I am a moderator on two forums and just love to keep a properly titled thread with pertinent info for those that come searching for answers).

I have seen in the past that a car had 40 PSI when I brought it home, (cold pressures checked the next morning). If you look carefully at the wording on tires you may see something to the effect to not exceed 40 PSI to seat the tires' beads on the rims. I guess in that particular case the techs just mounted the tires and then just put the wheels on without adjustment.

Anyways back to topic, I am running around 30 PSI on all four tires, (Touring model if that matters). I have not, nor has my wife, experienced any negative effects of running them that much lower, in fact my wife is currently about 250 mi from home with over 55k mi on the original Michelin tires so I think I'm onto something regarding the tire pressure sweet spot. (I do admit I check in the early morning prior to the sun coming up here in Southern California, otherwise the sun heats the tires up...)

Now onto "Clarity PDI". Thanks never checked for those plugs!

I'll be back when I figure out what I feel would get even wear....

 

[jzchen]

Plugs were there thankfully.

For our Touring still getting center tire wear at 31 PSI. I'm down to 29.5 PSI on a new to me AstroAI digital gauge. The amount of cushion between road and rim is looking a little too thin for comfort. Drove around 70 mi round trip last night felt the tread (half way) and sidewalls (at home). Temp seems good not hot not even warm to the touch.

Will definitely be getting RunFlats for next set of tires should help protect the rims with stiffer sidewalls.

 

[obermd]

Quit dropping your tire pressure. The chart below for Jeeps shows the load rating of tires dropping dramatically as you lower the tire pressure. More below the image.

The OEM tires are rated for 1,477 lbs each at 44 PSI (max sidewall). Honda has already dropped this to 1,428 lbs per tire at 35 PSI. At 30 PSI your tires are now at 1,282 lbs per tire. According to Honda, the curb weight is 4,052 lbs. The chart below shows the load ratings for the Clarity's tires (load rating is 94 on my wife's Touring). The final column is the estimated maximum cargo weight, which includes all fluids, passengers, and luggage. The cargo capacity is based on the available weight (43% on the front tires). Both Clarity PHEV models have 57% of their curb weight on the front and 43% on the rear. At 29 PSI you've overloaded your front tires just by having two adults in the car.

You keep reporting uneven tire wear - get into the habit of rotating the tires every 5,000 miles. This is a four wheel rotation since all four tires are the same size. My experience says that 7,500 miles is too long and you'll see exactly what your experiencing.

 

[obermd]

For those who are curious, the correct tire pressure for all passenger cars is somewhere between the door placard and the sidewall max PSI. Measure pressure cold. What you're looking for is your sweet spot for ride comfort, consistent cornering handling, and tire safety. The sidewall specs (in my wife's case, 94V) assume the tire is running at max PSI (44 lbs in this case). As you lower the tire pressure both the load and speed rating drop. Tire pressures that are too low increase the chance of sidewall failure and in emergency turns I've even seen reports of tires coming off the rims due to excessively low pressure. Low tire pressures also result in lower tread life, but I'm not sure why. I suspect it's due to a larger contact patch with the road. Tire pressures that are too high become rock hard and increase the chance of the tire skipping and thus loosing traction. Auto manufacturers tend to set their door placards too low for consistent handling in corners because they assume Americans don't want to feel the road (many don't).

Due to the way front steer vehicles operate, the wear pattern on tires will tend to wear the edges of the front tires and the centers of the rear tires. This is why a full four wheel rotation pattern is needed. The cross pattern is best because you need to move the rear tires to the front at each rotation and the front tires to the rear. The cross (rear to front or front to rear - pick one and stick with it) ensures the edge wear is consistent from side to side as well. If you wait too long between rotations the wear will become pronounced and won't even out. I recommend going no longer than 5,000 miles as a result. Using 5.000 mile rotations I have actually received longer tread life than the tire manufacturer warrants the tire for.

So experiment with your tires to find the highest pressure that provides the non-emergency ride comfort you want, but don't go above the sidewall PSI when measured cold. Also, ensure you rotate and balance your tires every 5,000 miles (despite Honda saying 7,500 miles). The balancing deals with density variations in the tread that cause the tire's center of balance to not be at the center of spin.

 

[jzchen]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. It is the center of all four tires that are wearing down quickly.

I was in contact with Autel technical support about getting a reading on tread wear transferred to paper. As a work around they had me choose '18 Honda CR-V. It worked, I was able to get a printout of the tread wear concern of mine. I am not a tire expert I just notice all four tires are experiencing the same center tread wear. See attached .pdf.

Suffices to say that 29.5 PSI yesterday at 5:xx am was 30.2 PSI FL and 30.0 PSI FR this morning for the front tires at near 7 am if that counts...

It's not clear:
FL
3.3mm O 2.7mm C 3.1mm I
FR
2.7mm I 2.5mm C 3.0mm O
RL
3.3mm O 3.0mm C 3.2mm I
RR
2.6mm I 2.4mm C 3.2mm O

 

[2002]

For those who are curious, the correct tire pressure for all passenger cars is somewhere between the door placard and the sidewall max PSI.

Actually going over the door placard pressure is not recommended either as it reduces the tire footprint and has a substantial effect on stopping distances. I used to do this in my Prius days, it's something we all did to get higher mpg. But I stopped after reading about some of the tests that have been done comparing stopping distance to tire pressure.

Years ago even long before hybrids, the common wisdom was that car manufacturers gave lower tire pressure recommendations because it gives a smoother ride, and it was commonly recommended even by tire shops to go a few pounds higher than the placard for better efficiency. Thinking seems to have changed about this.

The way I look at this, if they want to experiment with using low tire pressure as a way to extend their tire life in an unusual center wear situation, it's like the people who experiment with running their Clarity gas tank dry. We benefit by getting to see what what happens, without any risk to us!

 

[obermd]

Actually going over the door placard pressure is not recommended either as it reduces the tire footprint and has a substantial effect on stopping distances. I used to do this in my Prius days, it's something we all did to get higher mpg. But I stopped after reading about some of the tests that have been done comparing stopping distance to tire pressure.

Years ago even long before hybrids, the common wisdom was that car manufacturers gave lower tire pressure recommendations because it gives a smoother ride, and it was commonly recommended even by tire shops to go a few pounds higher than the placard for better efficiency. Thinking seems to have changed about this.

The way I look at this, if they want to experiment with using low tire pressure as a way to extend their tire life in an unusual center wear situation, it's like the people who experiment with running their Clarity gas tank dry. We benefit by getting to see what what happens, without any risk to us!

Too much over the door placard increases the stopping distance. Going from 36 to 40 PSI doesn't have that much impact on stopping distance but really helps the car's consistency in emergency braking and cornering maneuvers. I took my Cruze's tires all the way up to 50 PSI (51 PSI max sidewall) and didn't notice a stopping distance issue on dry roads, but they were uncomfortable to ride on.

 

[jzchen]

It's not "they", it's just me. Since my wife took the Clarity to Las Vegas and back (500mi at least) I was wondering why the car was driving funny. Maybe she hit something and caused an alignment issue, but I believe she would have told me. Anyways from 31 PSI down to 30 PSI car is driving much more mannerly. It is not jumping around on the freeway like it has a mind of it's own. I guess Honda picked undersized tires...

I'll need some time to get more miles on the Clarity, gonna be getting about 1/2 the mileage from now on than we had been getting...

 

[obermd]

It's possible she hit a pot hole just wrong and threw one of the wheels ever so slightly out of alignment. Poor alignment also causes uneven wear patterns in tires. I'd take it in to have this checked. Another possibility is that one of the wheels lost a balancing weight - this can be checked with a spin balance of all four wheels.

 

[jzchen]

At 29.5/30 PSI it seems to run normal again. I had the wheel alignment done maybe one or two months ago. I remember they adjusted/added air and so it drove home (short distance though) fine. I dropped them down to 31 the next morning, and remember some jitters on the freeway...

On a positive note I got confirmation from Rolla/Rim Ringz that my order shipped yesterday. (Finally, after offering me a choice of other colors including white, which was out of stock when I originally placed the order, with a $30 discount). I opted for white to match the color of our Clarity but they ended up sending me yellow as I originally ordered, (and kept their $30)...

 

[jzchen]

One week later of running 29.5 PSI

FL
3.2 O 2.7 2.8 I
FR
2.5 I 2.4 3.0 O
RL
3.5 O 3.2 3.3 I
RR
2.9 I 2.8 3.3 O

I continued to drive it 3 more days, then rotated the tires:
FL <--> RR
FR <--> RL

Added 1 PSI to each tire...

 

[jzchen]

Checked this morning (last set at 30.5 PSI)

FL
3.0 O 2.3 2.4 I
FR
2.9 I 2.8 3.3 O
RL
3.0 O 2.6 2.6 I
RR
2.7 I 2.6 3.2 O

 

[jzchen]

I haven't added any air to the tires but pressure may have dropped a tiny bit last month and a half.

FL FR
3.0 O 2.6 2.6 I 2.7 I 2.5 3.1 O

RL RR
3.0 O 2.4 2.6 I 2.5 I 2.5 3.0 O

(Beginning to lose confidence in the accuracy of the Autel TBE200).

Starting to notice some microcracks on the sidewalls, signs, as warned, of overloading, too low air pressure...

 

[EV Nerd]

I haven't added any air to the tires but pressure may have dropped a tiny bit last month and a half.

FL FR
3.0 O 2.6 2.6 I 2.7 I 2.5 3.1 O

RL RR
3.0 O 2.4 2.6 I 2.5 I 2.5 3.0 O

(Beginning to lose confidence in the accuracy of the Autel TBE200).

Starting to notice some microcracks on the sidewalls, signs, as warned, of overloading, too low air pressure...

Just simple aging can cause those micro-cracks, as well. I had to replace tires on my '08 S2000 every five years or so, just because of cracking, not wear. It only had 22k miles on it when I sold it (to my son) less than a year ago. He's already put 10k more miles on it, and is talking about upgrading the wheels and tires. I thought it was already a very fine high-performance toy, with stock tires and wheels.