Guys,

What is the 'ideal' tire pressure to use on a 1973 Charger with modern radial tires? I have the Hayne's manual which lists the factory recommended tire pressures but since tires have changed so much since then, would the ideal pressure change as well?

Car is pretty much stock suspension wise. Only mods are poly bushings, Cooper Cobra tires, and FF stage 3 steering gear. The front end is about 100 lbs lighter than OEM with all the aluminum engine goodies. Would this affect the pressure I need to use or am I over-thinking this?

Thanks!

I always run the max pressure the tire makers suggest for my appication Call them and give them your details and get the best answer from the tire maker

I got Cooper tires on my RoadRunner and I run 32# in the front and back

That might be too low for the fronts.

That is what it says on the tires and it steers good and rides really good too.

Most passenger car tires don't have a recommended operating pressure on them, they just have the maximum recommended pressure and capacity on the sidewall.

If you are happy with that pressure, you may just keep an eye out for shouldering on the fronts. If they don't show any signs of that, then you are probably good to go.



On my A-body Barracuda, the tires have a recommended max pressure of 44#. The rears leave a good even flat patch with about 26# in them. The fronts stand up good off the sidewalls and leave a good even flat patch at about 40#. So that's how I run them.

So it appears that you look at how the tire sits to determine your ideal pressure?

I am guessing the weight of the car on each axle also has a large affect on what this should be. Since most of our cars are not totally stock anymore, these old factory specs may be obsolete..

I have been using the 26/28 rear/front for mine and it did seem the tires always looked a bit deflated. I might try to go up 4 psi on each tire and see how that goes.


Thanks guys!

Contact patch and wear patterns are about the only real way we have to judge the best pressure for our old cars with radial tires.

I ran with 32# front and rear on my 73 charger with no issues.