brucemac64

Need some advice- 01 with michelin run flats.

Tires in good shape only have about 5,000 miles on them.
max according to tire is 51psi. guy I bought from was running 28psi, I bumped all tires up to 36psi.
I want best ride and tire wear, not concerned with performance. What do you recommend for tire pressure??
Thanks guys and gals-

Evil-Twin

Forget max tire pressure it means nothing.. along with max tire pressure there is also a load number. multiply that load number by 4 and add 51 psi to each tire and that tire will safely carry that Load... with temps in the teens you want to be sure you are not filling them in a heated garage... 30 psi is an OK number, but you want to fill them where the ambient temperature matches the fill.. meaning you don't want to fill them to 30 psi in a heated garage where the temp is 70 F then go outside where it is 17 F, because this will turn those 30 psi tires into 25 psi tires, and activate your low tire pressure warning. Now in the Summer in Georgia on a black top road your tires can see temps in the 140 F range. this can easily take your tires to 38 psi...thats too high and will cause premature tire wear in the center, this will cause poor handling performance characteristics.
Bill aka ET

leadfoot4

FWIW, since I hear that the rears tend to wear a little faster in the centers, compared to the fronts, I run 30 F/29 R. Same tires....

wrmiles

My experience with Michelin Pilot Sport AS ZP's is that for the rears, at least, 30 psi or higher will cause excessive wear in the center. I now run 27-28 cold. Comments on this board confirmed my experience. I went to the tire dealer and Michelin USA with no useful advice or relief received.

bighank

Have Michelin A/S ZP (zero pressure or runflats) and called Michelin before I bought them several years ago. They said to add about 4 or 5 # higher than the 30PSI on the door sticker. Have been doing this for 5 or 6 years and they are wearing evenly. Usually run about 33 to 35 PSI.
NOBODY SANE runs the max rated pressure on the tires. At 55 PSI would feel like you are running on cement wheels.

Evil-Twin

Not if those tires are on a vehicle that can carry 5,000 lbs of gross vehicle weight.

bighank

If your Corvette carries 5000# gross weight it is a mean machine.

Not talking about commercial or dump trucks here.

Evil-Twin

Dude those tires are not made exclusively for Corvettes.. they are designed for multi vehicle applications including trucks.. thats why there is a load rating and a max pressure rating.. that's what DOT requires when a tire is designed.. if tires where made exclusively for Corvettes only, they would cost 24,000 a set like the Bugatti Veyron's tires,
If you hang out on this forum long enough you will learn a little bit about a C5. You obviously know little about tires and their design and applications.
Bill aka ET

brucemac64

Thanks everybody for the advice- I love this forum!!! I think I am going to try lowering my pressure from 36 on all four to 33 on front and 30 on back and see how the ride is.
Thanks again guys!!!

The Big Guy

Owners Manual and door sticker is the proper place to determine correct tire pressures.
With this information supplied by GM it should tell everyone that the proper pressure is 30 PSI cold, front and rear,utilizing a quality burdon tube pressure gauge.
My Michelin Pilot Sport Z/P PS2,s have 42,000 miles and are still good for about another 5000 to 10,000 miles. I check them the first of each month.
The Big Guy !

lionelhutz

For wear you first need the right alignment. Second is to find the right pressure that keeps the wear even. Center wear = too much pressure. Edge wear = too little pressure.

I've always run 27-28psi cold in my rear PS2's, which are larger than stock at 305/30/19 sized, and they have worn very evenly with >40k miles on them just about putting them on the wear bars. The typical complaint with those tires is that the centers wear out quickly. My car rear alignment was 0.3* camber in the left and 0.5* camber in the right. Same toe on both sides. I can see a slight "angle" to the wear on the right tire. So, watch the amount of camber you use if tire wear is important.

_r2h

You are going to get a range of answers. Best thing to do, try several different pressures. Set your pressure, get them heated up, note the max warm PSI and go down a twisty road, bumpy road, smooth road and see which you like. I run mine higher pressures than most, 33cold, and have absolutely no handling issues and even wear. of course depending on your tire, YMMV.

bighank

Posted on the Michelin Web site:

From the track to the street. Michelin is committed to providing Corvette drivers with the fitments they need to
achieve their cars’ full potential. On racing’s proving grounds, we’ve teamed with Corvette to amass 51 ALMS victories
since 2004 — more than any other tire manufacturer. On the street, MICHELIN® Ultra-High Performance tires provide
unsurpassed sport handling — featuring exceptional grip for aggressive cornering and overall outstanding wet and dry
performance. Insist on MICHELIN® tires for your Corvette. And discover how the right tire changes everything.

Y or Z speed rated tires are not made for trucks.

BTW have you ever seen tires manufactured? I did while in Akron but don't claim to be a tire expert. El Cheapo tires might have a max inflation pressure of 55 # but on a passenger vehicle, Hi Performance or Yugo, no one in his right mind would run these tires at that pressure driving down the street.
I ALWAYS learn something from the forum, even if it is misinformation.

ztheusa

Best thing to do is open your door and read what GM specifies for your Corvette, rather than ask advice from amateurs here.

lionelhutz

He should put GY runflats back on the car like GM supplied it with too then.

Rebel 1

NukeC5

30 cold! Im not sure why this is so hard to understand for so many people. I only run less at the strip. Any more than 30 cold wipes out the center, particularly the rears.

thmehr

from the manufacture

http://www.michelinman.com/team-mich.../0/0/0/1/tires

30 psi front and back

DeeGee

I agree. In my experience with both the OEMs and my Michelin AS ZPs was that the rears wore in the center at 30 psi cold. That was over a life of 21k for the stock and 25k miles for the Michelins.

I run 28 cold (at sea level in UK). That gives me about 32 warm and no adverse effect on handling.

I now have Toyos running 28 cold and they seem to be wearing normally.

lionelhutz

Which was most likely just copied or obtained from GM.

It's your call but it seems rather dumb to just blindly run 30psi instead of actually watching your tire wear and making adjustments in the pressures to obtain even wear.

Similarily, you should be watching the operating conditions and adjusting depending on those. It makes no sense to set 30psi "cold" when cold is in your garage and then expect that to be correct for the days you take the car for a drive in 110* air with the sun beating down. Your tire pressure shooting up to 40psi once you're driving will be bad for ride, handling or wear.