2008 Toyota RAV4 - What pressure?

I recently had to buy new tires due to an almost blowout on one. They gave me close to 70k miles and were H/T tires which I always put in 44psi according to the sidewall my my vehicles sticker says 32psi and my 44psi the ride was stiffer with great gas mileage and long life, like I said, almost 70k miles out of them. I do live in Texas(southern to mid) and the heat here is usually in the 90’s - low 100’s. So…my new tires are now all season passenger tires and NTB put in 32psi but I feel like that is low cause my vehicle travels squishy. I do have all new suspension and did also get a wheel alignment as well. My question is…Should I stay at 32psi or maybe go up to possible 36-42psi just for a non squishy ride? My old set we Dakota Definity H/T and I now have Goodyear Assurance All Season. I just was a good ride, good lasting tires as my last set and would like to know an about pressure to make them last close to 70k as my last set. Thank you.

Normally I’d say stick with the door sticker pressures. Look on the tire and make sure 36 psi is not too high for the tire and then try that pressure. If you aren’t happy, try 38 psi as long as that doesn’t exceed the sidewall limits

1 Like

If this were my car, I’d stick much closer to 32 PSI.

If your tires weren’t rock-hard all this time, I wonder if you would have needed a new suspension at this point.

The pressure on the sidewall of the tire is the maximum pressure you can inflate it to. It is not the pressure you are supposed to inflate it to. Kind of like the credit limit on your credit card - that’s the maximum you can charge, but it’s not required or recommended that you immediately charge that much.

The pressure on the door sticker is the one determined to be the best for comfort, safety, and handling. That’s the pressure you should be following.

Exactly!
On a human level, if your doctor said that she didn’t want to see your blood pressure going above 130/70, that doesn’t mean that your blood pressure should be 130/70. Just as there is a lower safe level for blood pressure, there is also a lower safe level for tire inflation, and that level can be found on the placard affixed to the door jamb.

If you want to run your tires… let’s say… 4 or maybe 5 psi over the car mfr’s recommended pressure that is fine. However, you should not inflate the tires to the maximum that is imprinted on the tire’s sidewall.

I appreciate everyone’s insight. Yes, I do have all new suspension, change it all out at 150k which was recent. Current pressure in new tires are 44 and I lowered it to 36. It’s the tires that I do not like or maybe I’m just not giving them a chance but they are Goodyear Assurance All Season passenger tires and I guess I have gotten used to H/T tires. They do horrible acceleration and I can feel tires to road resistance. Thank you everyone.

That is not your tires and feeling tires to road resistance is not going to be noticed by the average person . I think you are letting your imagination run away with it self.

New tires have a lot thicker rubber than your 70,000 mile used ones. That alone will make them feel squishy. They are also probably heavier, and larger in outer diameter - both factors will make the vehicle accelerate more slowly than what you’re used to.

Well at my last set when new did not feel like these.

Seeing as how I have had my vehicle for about 6yrs and have had three sets. None of the sets in the past have felt like these. My imagination is just fine and feeling your vehicle to know something is wrong is just have the battle of maintenance. But I appreciate your insight.

There’s a saying in performance car circles. "Your butt-dyno is full of @#$@. "

Kids will put a K&N air filter on their car and then drive it, and then run around saying they can tell the car’s faster now and the filter must have added 20hp. They’re full of it, of course. The only reason the car is faster with a K&N filter is because the driver’s wallet is lighter.

When people make changes to their cars, they tend to misinterpret their impressions of driving it as different. When you add a performance part, you tend to think the car is faster even if it’s not. The only way to tell if your car’s performance is better is to put it on a dyno and see if you have more power than you did before, but most people don’t do that. They just go based on how it feels when it accelerates – the butt dyno.

Conversely, when you take it to the mechanic, you tend to notice a lot of squeaks and rattles that you didn’t perceive before, because of course that jerk mechanic must’ve done something to your pristine ride.

You’ve changed tires and pressures, and now you’re, consciously or not, looking for what that might have screwed up. And so sensations you think you remember from 70,000 miles ago are amplified in your mind such that these new tires could not possibly satisfy you.

That’s something we all experience and eventually learn to ignore.

1 Like

I like that…butt dyno😂. We’ll I’ll give it a few months for all to get settled and broken in. Appreciate it shadowfax. I’m gonna use that butt dyno theory as well.

1 Like

So the end result is…the new tires(Goodyear Assurance All Seasons) have 40psi. I’ll get back in a few months with results to everything. Appreciate all. Butt-Dyno OUT! I think I might change my username to that.