October 16, 20223 yr Hey guys. I have a 2011 Forester with a 2" lift and bigger tires. When I got the tires mounted they were inflated to the stock tire pressure to make the tire sensors happy. I recently inflated them to the recommended pressure on the tire itself (50 psi), but the tpms light is on on the dash now. Is there any way to calibrate that so the light goes off or do I have to deal with under inflated tires from now on?
October 16, 20223 yr 40 minutes ago, Espey16 said: recently inflated them to the recommended pressure on the tire itself (50 psi) that is most likely the "maximum" pressure recommendation. You really dont need (or want) to run that much pressure.. air pressure will increase with driving, so setting pressure to the max on a cold tire is not a good idea - unless of course you want to blow a tire on a hot day... what is the factory recommendation and how much bigger did you go? I would probably run a pressure somewhere in between the factory recommendation and the max pressure indicated on the tire.. Example Factory recommended = 32psi Tire's maximum pressure = 50psi I would suggest 40-42 psi
October 16, 20223 yr Author I don't know what the stock tires were at honestly. I pumped the tires up because the went a little low. And my fuel mileage was garbage. I was getting 21mpgs before now I'm getting about 25.
October 17, 20223 yr Tire pressures are usually shown on the driver's side central door-post. I usually go about 2psi over (measuring the pressure when tires are cold)
October 17, 20223 yr as long as you stay UNDER the max pressure for a given tire size/brand.. yeah, i usually run mine slightly over stock psi as well. doing a quick search, it looks like stock pressures are 32 front & 29-30 rear.. with a max pressure rating of 50, you can easily run 40 or so (cold pressures) but dont take it all the way to 50.. leave a little room for expansion. Edited October 17, 20223 yr by heartless
October 17, 20223 yr Author I want to say the stock tire pressure was at about 35 psi. The tires I have on the car now are truck tires. I'm not too concerned about a blow out or what not. I just don't like having a bright orange light on the dash that says my tires aren't happy based on stock specs. I'd rather not pull the gauge cluster just to remove a bulb, and I don't really care to use electrical tape to cover it up.
October 17, 20223 yr Author Or just file it under I actually have a nice vehicle that I'd like to keep the idiot lights off of. You can live with it, I don't want to.
October 17, 20223 yr 13 hours ago, Espey16 said: Hey guys. I have a 2011 Forester with a 2" lift and bigger tires. When I got the tires mounted they were inflated to the stock tire pressure to make the tire sensors happy. I recently inflated them to the recommended pressure on the tire itself (50 psi), but the tpms light is on on the dash now. Is there any way to calibrate that so the light goes off or do I have to deal with under inflated tires from now on? Have you tried lessening it to like 40? Can you experiment until you find the maximum pressure they'll take without tripping the light? I'd just guess it's around 40 psi. When you find that maximum it will probably also give you nearly identical gas mileage as 50 psi...all things being equal (which they won't be with changing seasons. 50 is probably "maximum", not a recommended pressure. Tire manufacturers don't give recommended pressures because they don't know the final application/vehicle it'll be installed on.
October 17, 20223 yr 6 hours ago, Espey16 said: I'm not too concerned about a blow out you should be... it can happen, even in the dead of winter. again, the tire pressure noted on the tire is going to be the MAXIMUM - tires heat up when driving, yes, even in cold weather... heating increases pressure. thus, you do NOT want to run the tires at the maximum pressure indicated on the tire.. google search says ~25% under or over the recommended pressures of the vehicle... so yeah, about 40 is going to be the tripping point. otherwise, short of taking it to a dealer to have the monitors reset not much one can do.
October 17, 20223 yr 38 minutes ago, heartless said: ...the tire pressure noted on the tire is going to be the MAXIMUM - tires heat up when driving, yes, even in cold weather... heating increases pressure. thus, you do NOT want to run the tires at the maximum pressure indicated on the tire.. Manufacturers allow for tire heating with an ample safety margin so if you inflate to the maximum pressure shown on the tire when the tread is cold it will not be a concern when you go driving later and the tire heats up. Of course most times, there is no need to run at the max pressure indicated on the tire. That decision depends upon the conditions you plan to encounter or loads you may carry. Good info here. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=196
October 17, 20223 yr 7 hours ago, azdave said: Manufacturers allow for tire heating with an ample safety margin so if you inflate to the maximum pressure shown on the tire when the tread is cold it will not be a concern when you go driving later and the tire heats up. Of course most times, there is no need to run at the max pressure indicated on the tire. That decision depends upon the conditions you plan to encounter or loads you may carry. Good info here. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=196 i tend to err on the side of caution more often than not. and I was taught never to run tires at the maximum pressure listed on the tire. Just good practice not to
October 18, 20223 yr 16 hours ago, heartless said: I was taught never to run tires at the maximum pressure listed on the tire. Just good practice not to I don't recommend that either (without good reason) however, it would be completely within the safety limits of the tire if you did. My point in posting was to add clarity your two comments that at no time should hot tire pressures ever exceed max pressure indicated on the tire. It is more correct to say you should never exceed that pressure when the tire is cold but you don't have to worry about the pressure rise when the tire becomes hot while driving. So, back to the topic. Could the TPMS in the OP's situation be calibrated to a new range or is it a fixed setting that even the dealer cannot adjust? I do not know but am curious. I'm fortunate that my newest vehicle is over 17 years old so I don' have those TPMS devices but may someday.
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