# Recommended tire pressure?



## blitzboi (Apr 13, 2004)

I cannot seem to find the recommended tire pressure for my '05 Altima 3.5 SE anywhere. I looked in the manual and it tells you to find the sticker on the driver's-side centre (B) pillar. No dice... the sticker there tells all sorts of things (VIN, mfg. date, colour code, engine type, etc.) but not tire pressure. And yeah, I have checked all the other door jambs to no avail...

The car is wearing the stock Bridgestone Turanza EL42's in P215/55R17 size, and they're all currently around 30psi. Can anyone tell me where Nissan conveniently hides this information? I don't want to call the dealer and look like an idiot if I don't have to...


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## 0341TODD (Nov 15, 2003)

the answer is ........Yes!


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## 0341TODD (Nov 15, 2003)

oh yeah, and check on the tire dude- itll tell you the max pressure- usually like 5 psi or so under that and you are good. Depends on where and how you are driving- dont worry about calling the dealer to look silly man...........


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## dkocur (Feb 17, 2004)

Mine's an 02, but I don't imagine it's changed. 33 front, 30 rear.


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## blitzboi (Apr 13, 2004)

0341TODD said:


> oh yeah, and check on the tire dude- itll tell you the max pressure- usually like 5 psi or so under that and you are good.


Wrong answer... But just for the sake of argument, the tire sidewall says max pressure is 44 psi, in which case 5 less (as you recommended) would still be 39 psi, which sounds way too high to me. I think dkocur is much closer with his 33 psi front/30 psi rear suggestion.

Does anybody know where Nissan conveniently hides this information? Is it supposed to be on the big-ish (about 3" by 2") sticker in the B-pillar jamb, per the manual, or is there supposed to be a different sticker with this info only that they forgot to adhere to my car. It is an '05 and it was custom-ordered from Smyrna, so perhaps they hadn't quite decided on tire pressures and/or printed the stickers up, or maybe they just blinkin' forgot... who knows!

Anyway, I'm likely heading to the dealer this week for my first oil change (they're doing it for free, ok?), so I might as well ask them then.... *sigh*


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## Bror Jace (Apr 26, 2003)

Ideal tire pressure is something of a black science ... not unlike selection of an ideal motor oil & filter. 

A shop full of road racers near me sells Nokians and fills every tire they install to 30psi. They gave up trying to keep up with every application, load rating, blah, blah, blah ... 30psi is universal ... like changing oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles. 

I ran the tire pressures on my Civic to the max for YEARS. I traded a bit of lateral grip for extra fuel economy but never had a bit of trouble and treadlife was excellent ... 65,000 miles from one set of HR rated tires. 

Typically, manufacturers recommend you set the rears 2-3 psi lower than the fronts so the car will naturely understeer (push) a little. That's safer for most drivers as the rear end is less likely to snap around on you in abrupt maneuvers.

In short, 33psi front, 30 psi rear sounds right ... but that's not chiseled in stone.


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## blitzboi (Apr 13, 2004)

Bror Jace said:


> In short, 33psi front, 30 psi rear sounds right ... but that's not chiseled in stone.


Oh yeah, I knew that.. I just want to know what Nissan's "official" recommended pressure is so that if I do have a problem with the tires and the dealer says I didn't inflate them to spec, I can say I did and quote the proper numbers... 

And yeah, tire pressure specs are pretty vague in general. Some very good friends of mine own a tire store up in the Toronto burbs, and they inflate every tire to around 33 psi when mounting it (depends on the type of tire of course).

And on a side note... in this scenario I don't think I'd want to inflate the tires to their max of 44 psi.. probably would cause a bald spot in the middle of the tread or something... lol


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## dkocur (Feb 17, 2004)

blitzboi said:


> in this scenario I don't think I'd want to inflate the tires to their max of 44 psi.. probably would cause a bald spot in the middle of the tread or something... lol


Not to mention the harsh ride


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## blitzboi (Apr 13, 2004)

dkocur said:


> Not to mention the harsh ride


I probably wouldn't notice... My company car (Protege5) has a pretty choppy ride, and my Altima feels like a Buick in comparison....


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## Afty (Nov 1, 2002)

blitzboi said:


> I cannot seem to find the recommended tire pressure for my '05 Altima 3.5 SE anywhere. I looked in the manual and it tells you to find the sticker on the driver's-side centre (B) pillar. No dice... the sticker there tells all sorts of things (VIN, mfg. date, colour code, engine type, etc.) but not tire pressure. And yeah, I have checked all the other door jambs to no avail...


Posted this in the other thread, but just in case you don't check it...

Check under the center console lid. This is where the info is on my '02.


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## blitzboi (Apr 13, 2004)

Afty said:


> Check under the center console lid. This is where the info is on my '02.


I'd have never thought to look there, but I'll check and see... thx!


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