I normally run about 30 psi and my truck hooks up real well around the corners.

I got my oil changed 2 days ago at one of these little pits, and I noticed one of the mechanics crouching down next to one of my tires, sorry to say that I should of paid more attention to him.

Well at lunch coming out of the parking lot today same left hand turn as always, little bump in the crest of the road, ½ throttle and *****, over counter steer to the right, over counter steer to the left, looped it 180 and nicked a curb. Thank god the road was totally empty, because now I’m facing the wrong direction!

It was 80 degrees and dry, but steering felt like I was on ICE during the counter steering? Did something break? I pull over and I didn’t see the damage at first so off to lunch I go. When I came back I didn’t even inspect my Lightning at all, later I stopped off to talk to a colleague of mine and he ask me what happened to my truck! WHAT do you mean, he said that I should go out and take a look at my truck. Oh ***** about 8” of the lip of my rear wheel is missing. It broke off like a serrated knife and is now digging into my tire. One new tire and rim to go please.

Hey remember that mechanic, well I checked my tire pressure and now there at 36 psi, only a 6 psi difference can do this, so my question to my Lightning friends is, what tire pressure do you run at?

 

I would always run at least 35psi up front since you'll plow in hard steering otherwise (and you get better mileage). In the rear, the lower the pressure the 'stickier' the tires will feel at low speeds. However, at high speeds, it will feel more disconnected and you wont have the 'bite' of a harder tire. If you drive between 0 and 80mph, you might want to stay at 32psi in the rear. If you spend much time at 80-120, you'll probably want the full 36psi.

I recently lost a tire to a jagged curb and took the opportunity to get a new set of tires all around (no more goodyears). Best money I ever spent.

 

I run 32psi all the way around... but thats just my $.02

 

Nathan, what type of tires/size did you change to, and can you elaborate the performance differences. It sounds like you didn't favor the goodyears much, what problems did you have with them?

 

At 32 PSI like the sticker says, the truck handles like a sports car and is absolutely stable at 138 mph. (No room for 140 yet.) I can tell when the pressure is off by 2 PSI or so and it makes an incredible difference in handling. I check pressure at least once a week and keep it + or - .5 PSI. I'm familiar with most all of the theories about tire pressure (and everyone seems to have one of their own), and the only one that I ever found to have any validity was the one about the driving wheels having about +2 to +4 PSI over recommended pressure. In my '93 twin turbo RX-7 +2 PSI in the rear tires made a lot of difference. In my truck 32 PSI all around is just right!

adp

 

Actually I just had the opposite problem.
I couldn't figure out why my steering was
soft. Turns out I had ~29 PSI in the front.
Filled it up to 32 and the problem was gone.

 

I don't know about the Lightning on the track yet, but all of my other cars and track experience always raised tire pressures to 36 - 40 lbs. cold. My guess is that 38 front and 36 rear would be a good place to start for a high performance school. What does SVT say?

 

tgeiger, I think you're describing the plowing that I was referring to with underpressurized front tires.

f1car, see these threads:
https://www.f150online.com/f150board...ML/001493.html
https://www.f150online.com/f150board...ML/001513.html
https://www.f150online.com/f150board...ML/001035.html



[This message has been edited by Nathan (edited 02-11-2000).]

 

I usually run about 34 in the front and 32 in the rear. What Nathan says about pressure is very true. I have had this same kind of experience with my 98z28 and my 95z28. The biggest problem with the extra pressure in the tires is that you may wear out the middle tread area a lot faster.

Paul G.

 

I would like to think everyone that responded to my post, you're a great bunch of persons!

 

One last thing on tire pressure.. if you have even a pound of differnce from right front to left front.. Ls start pulling. I was all over the road and checked my tire pressure.. I was 2 pounds low on the front right.. getting it even really helped the alingment..

Brad

------------------
* 99.5 Black Lightning
* Factory CD Changer
* Class 3 Towing Hitch
* Factory Tonneau Cover
* 8" Bazooka Tubs
* Kenwood 80 watt *2 amp
* 50% Window Tint
* Viper 550 Alarm w/ remort start
* 98 Yamaha Banshee w/ Toomey T5 Chrome pipes often found in the bed..

Injection is nice, but I'd rather be blown. 99 Lightning, the best of both worlds!

 

I run 34 lbs. (measured when tires are cold, of course) all around and it seems to like it a lot.

A related question: What type (i.e., pencil, dial, digital, etc.) and brand of tire gauge does everyone use? I would imagine that type/brand variables can have at least some impact on the accuracy of pressure readings.

I use both Milton pencil-type and Meiser Accu Gage dial-type gauges and have found them to be consistant in their readings. Have tried a couple of digital-type gauges but have not been happy with the results.

------------------
Mike Philpott
Orlando, FL
'99.5 Black Lightning
SVT #2190 - Build Date 6/9/99
NLOC #361
6 CD Changer, Class 3 Hitch, A.R.E. LSII Lid, BedRug Liner, Invinca-Shield/3M Scotchcal protective film, Wyldman's Clear Lexan Fog Light Covers, 16% Window Tint, LoJack, Val-1, Sal's PSP Chip & Air Filter Kit