GaryG:

You've had TC enable itself in rain??? The only way I ever got TC to kick is really press it while driving in snow and cornering in slush!

Over inflation still worries me after have my '97 Ranger's rearend go airborn and sideways on me!

 

I seldom press it in cornering or anytime but I try to maintain as much speed in the turns if I don't have to stop for a light or sign. I've never put the FEH into a slide condition in the rain or dry streets turning corners because that would be plain reckless driving. I did have one time in my '05 without TC I was in a high speed controlled slide at ~70mph and thank God I had 50psi because most likely I would have went off the road and crashed or rolled over or both.

Bill, you still don't know what you hit to go sideways in your '97 Ranger. Blaming tire pressure is all you concluded.

GaryG

 

Oh! You made it sound like the TC kicked in on wet pavement.

Well, on my way home after the oil change, I noticed the pogo stick ride. Before I even made it home the rearend went up and over. Now the Ranger was a 4x4 SuperCab Splash which has a fiberglass box which is light. This may have made it worse, not sure. It was scary. The first thing I checked after getting home was the tires and they were way over inflated.

That's what over inflation can do, transfer road hazards to the vehicle. Never happened again and never thought about since then till this thread came up.

Trying to remember who did the oil change. I only worked 4.5 miles from home and my dealer was a mile further but the dealer had their oil change location right across the street from where I worked. I think that's who done it!

 

I shouldn't admit to this, but for 100% honesty, I will. I have a very good "expensive" pressure gauge I like to use. Well, one time, not too long ago I went on a long trip in my FEH, and left the gauge in my other car.

One tire looked low, so I got some free air at a truck stop.
Having no gauge, and not wanting to shell out $ for a duplicate, I did without. A big no-no I know... So I put a "reasonable" 4-5 second shot of air into one of my rear tires. It looked and felt the same on the drive home, which was 600 miles at 70 MPH.

When I got home, I used my good gauge... it was 71 PSI!

No harm done, and I couldn't feel the difference, and the tire looked the same as the others at ~44 psi.

One Story - Three Morals

1) Always use a gauge
2) Gas stations that also serve semi's have very high pressure air
3) There's a lot more "margin" for safety than some people think

( all four are now at 44 psi )

 

Not to throw gasoline on this fire, but I also recently replaced my original OEM tires with the new Michelin Latitude Tours. The new tires are much better in both ride comfort and noise comfort, I'm very happy with my purchase. The real data that I wanted to share was that fact that I got over 94,000 miles on the original tires at 40-42 PSI and they probably had another 10-12,000 miles on them (I wasn't down to the wear indicators on any of the tires and they had the most even wear I have ever experienced.
I have a 60 mile commute (each way) with about 45 miles of highway and 15 miles of secondary roads and I live in CT, so the roads get pretty chewed up in the winter. I guess that pretty much busts the myth that higher pressures cause uneven wear. In my case, it probably made for better wear!

 

I've never read that higher "will" cause uneven tread wear, only that it "may"! Don't tell us that you got a nice smooth ride at 40-42psi too???

I've been driving 4x4 trucks for 35 years, so I'm use to a rough ride but my '09 FE is at 33psi or 3psi over the door sticker. I can't imagine driving with 10psi more in my tires as it rides harsh now!

 

I know this is an old thread but I wanted to post my experiences with FEH/Continental tire wear since I put my money where my mouth was.

I just replaced the original Conti's on my 08 FEH after 99,402 miles. Tire wear was even across the contact patch on all tires and all 4 tires wore at about the same rate overall. These tires were down to the wear bars and ready for replacement but never failed us in grip during driving. I rotated the tires every 10,000 miles as part of the recommended 10,000 mile maintenance process for the FEH. I did inflated to max-sidewall PSI not long after purchasing the vehicle and kept it there for the remainder of the tire life.

The tires never became too noisy. I did pick up nails/screws in several of the tires over the life of the tires, which is normal and expected for our driving area. In all cases I was able to remove the debris, plug the hole, and later have them patched by a local tire shop. My FEH spare tire has never been on the ground.

I am now running new Continental CrossContact LX20 EcoPlus's at max-sidewall. I'll report back in another 100,000 miles assuming the new LX20 tire is as good or better than the original Conti's.