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Is it hard on tires to run them underinflated?


The Fred

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I don't have ABS on my '90 so I was wondering if it is alright to run the tires a little low on air when it's icy out...

is it hard on the tires?

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I used to decrease the pressure in my tires to increase the contact patch but only for better traction in snow.. As far as I know, nothing other than STUDS helps with ice, not even ABS (that well). And I mean sheet ice, not patchy ICE. Loss of traction is loss of traction and abs can not improve that it will try but its a futile exercise.

Obviously once you are out of the snow, its best to fill the tires to a normal level as you will wear them out, over heat them and get bad gas mileage from the increased rolling resistance.

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Running the tires underinflated will wear the outside edges out. As far as running them that way for better traction, you are causing less traction due to the center of the tire collapsing and creating a void that does not contact the road, just the outside edges are in contact with the road. Overinflating wears the center out and causes less traction. To get the most traction inflate the tires to the recommended pressure. This ensures even wear and full traction.

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Good Point Paul. Maybe I should clarify that I have only decreased pressure to get out of heavy snow to widen the tire, but you bring up a good point with the center of the tire not being pushed down to contact the roadway..

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Good Point Paul. Maybe I should clarify that I have only decreased pressure to get out of heavy snow to widen the tire, but you bring up a good point with the center of the tire not being pushed down to contact the roadway..

I used to do the same thing. Now if I want more traction I buy wider tires and keep them to the right pressure.

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Good advice. One thing to keep in mind is that wider tires improve traction on dry surfaces and narrower tires improve traction in snow.

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