Tyres and pressures
We are quite confused about our tyre pressures. The card inside the door says they should be 33psi front and rear normally and 35 psi front and 41 psi rear fully laden.
The car (Suzuki Vitara Auto) is now a year old, but we have only done 3,000 miles, about half of it towing our lightweight 688kg MIRO Trigano Mini Freestyle 290.
When we were about to embark on our first trip in August we checked the tyre pressures and were surprised that they were all set to 41psi, having only just been through a 3 month check with the dealer.
Since then, we have been driving around with tyre pressures corresponding the card inside the door explained above, changing it when towing to the fully laden pressures.
We just had our annual service. We decided to use a local garage who services our other car rather than the main dealer. This is because to be honest we don't trust the dealer that much. The car is fine, but we had lots of difficulties with them unable to sort out our towing electrics properly and ended up having to pay to go to a specialist, which didn't give us much confidence in them and really gave us the impression they didn't really know very much.
Then we had the car serviced by the local garage, the service report said the tyres have worn by 33% already, which seems ridiculous when we have only done 3000 miles. So now we are wondering if the tyre pressures on the door are right.
I have just done an online check for our registration and got this result. I'm so confused now. We are supposed to be going away in a couple of weeks for our first towing trip of the year and now I'm worried the tyres might not be safe for towing.
Any advice would be welcome.
Comments
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Tyres wearing evenly across the width are an indication that your tyre pressures are correct. If they over inflated they will be wearing more in the middle of the tread ..... under inflated will wear a tyre at either side.
I'd take the 30% wear as a pinch of salt ... the garage is probably covering it's backside. (unless of course they sell & fit tyres .... 🤐) Have a look yourself. A new tyre generally has 8 or 9mm of tread ..... is there now around 6mm on your tyres?
I just leave my tyres at the lower pressures when towing & not had a problem.
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There is quite a big difference with my car between unladen and laden pressures - 33psi to 44 psi. I (nearly!) always make sure the tyres are at the higher pressure for towing and let them down when on site (if we are there for any length of time). I tow a heavy (2000kg) van and run with the nose-weight at around 95kg and I have noticed a difference in stability if I have inadvertently set off without increasing the tyre pressure. Running solo with over-inflated tyres increases wear in the middle of the tyre, reduces grip and is quite uncomfortable - so for the few minutes it takes, I always revert back to unladen pressures when required.
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Thanks for the reply. When towing we always change them to the fully laden setting and then change them back at site when using the car without towing. We feel like we have followed all the rules and used the settings on the car. But as advice above we will now have a look at the wear on the tyres as it might help to understand further.
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We used to tow with a Suzuki Vitara nice little tow car as regards tyre pressures what you are towing is very light with a very low nose weight, personally I would leave the pressures along or just add a couple of pounds.
Suzuki dealer servicing no better than 'wheel barrow mechanics' truly appalling.
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The tyre pressures for carrying a load mean full compliment of passengers, luggage etc so you are upto the cars max payload. I very much doubt you are getting anywhere near that. We have a smallish dog, awning and a few other items plus 70kg noseweight when towing. From trial and error the car rides and tows better leaving the pressures as they are when solo.
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