I have a 2003 Chrysler 300M. Sticker on door calls for 30 psi in tires. Tires that came with car called for 32-44 psi and new tires I bought say 51 psi max. So, what is proper tire pressure I should be using?!!!
Only number that matters is the sticker (assuming it’s less than the number on the tire).
Henry6
The door wins!
The door tells the proper tire size and rating and their proper inflation pressure.
Do not set pressure to maximum range printed on tires.
Sticker. Just make sure you’re checking in the morning, before driving (buy a good dial gauge).
“Maximum” is not a synonym for “recommended”.
Yes, as lion9car has suggested, the word “maximum” does not mean the same thing as recommended.
If your doctor stated that “XXX” was the maximum blood pressure that he would want to see when he tests your blood pressure, surely that does not mean that the same number, “XXX” is a blood pressure that would be healthy for you.
Think of it this way–To avoid an explosion of the tires, you should not exceed the mamximum pressure that is listed on the tire sidewall. However, the engineers who designed your car did extensive testing to determine what tire pressures allowed the best combination of good handling and smooth ride, and their findings are listed on the door jamb sticker and in the Owner’s Manual. If you want to exceed their recommended pressures by a couple of lbs., you can get slightly better handling and slightly better gas mileage, but this will be at the expense of a slightly harder ride.
The more pressure that you add to the tires, the greater the probability of causing premature wear-out of the ball joints and the tie rod ends. And, of course, if you exceed the maximum pressure listed on the tire, you risk a catastrophic failure of the tires.
As with virtually everything else regarding your car, the information contained in the Owner’s Manual (and in this case, also on the door jamb sticker) is the correct information.
This is always a source of confusion as the question appears frequently. An old and a new tire of different brands on my car both say 44 psi max. which should at least put up a flag to investigate. Located elsewhere on both tires is a note to refer to the vehicle placard for tire pressure information. I don’t know if all tire mfrs are doing this but the info is there on these particular tires.
Tires that came with car called for 32-44 psi and new tires I bought say 51 psi max.
That word MAX: does not mean recommended. It just means if you try to put more than that in there it may blow up like a balloon.
The tyre manufacturer has no idea what car that tyre may end up on. It is just saying that if the car manufacturer recommends more than what is listed on the tyre, then those tyres are not suitable or safe.