different tire pressures front vs rear tires?

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cypress822

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Can anyone explain why there is such a difference between recommended tire pressure in the rear tires compared to the front tires?

All cars I have ever had has always had them being equal.
 

vivaldi1

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I don't know for sure but a quick guess is that the standing or potential (if towing?) load on the rear tires is greater than that up front?
 

PALR4

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Land Rover, and most suv car companies, recommend higher pressures in the back for safety. Suv's are notoriously bad at emergency changes of direction. More air in the rear adds understeer, which will help keep the rear end from tail wagging during these situations. In addition, they also know that most people won't add air to the rear tires when they load up the back, so they just recommend the highest press. all the time.

I run 36psi front and 40 psi rear in all my Rovers and it works very well-- better turn in and plenty of air for loaded up conditions.
 

Count Laszlo

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It is NOT correct that psi is/should be equal on all four wheels, I'd love to know what cars you're driving that note this. PSI is always less in the front and more in the rear where expected added weight is probable. As stated and recommended by LR, 36 psi front, 42 psi rear.
 

Disco Mike

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It is NOT correct that psi is/should be equal on all four wheels, I'd love to know what cars you're driving that note this. PSI is always less in the front and more in the rear where expected added weight is probable. As stated and recommended by LR, 36 psi front, 42 psi rear.

It is also not incorrect to run equal air pressure front and rear.
Equal air pressure means equal size tires, means equal traction both for stop and traction.
Most of us in the Solihull club always run the same amount of air pressure, usually 40 pounds for a number of reasons. Most manufactures give an air pressure that is intended to give the possible ride along with saftey with no regard to MPG, tread wear, ETC function when needing extra traction and ABS function for stopping.
If one axle has way less air pressure then the other, diameter, traction, tread wear will be different and the end result is unequal grab from out tires which can throw the ABS/ETC out of wack.
My suggestion has always been to run the pressure equally on all 4 tires for the best results. I can say I know anyone, who when wheeling, airs down to 2 different air pressure, the reason is they want the most traction with the less amount of unequal stress on their drive train.
 

antichrist

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I don't know about the LR4, but I'm guessing the rear axle loading is higher in the rear. The greater the load, the greater the tire pressure should be given the same tires.
It doesn't have anything to do with what load you might carry in the rear, tire pressures are always listed as being for "normal" load. If you add a lot of gear to the back, then you need to up the pressure accordingly.
Also, keep in mind the pressures in the manual are for stock tires. If you change the tire size/load rating/brand/type you may need to adjust the pressures.
What's right for one person isn't necessarily right for another unless they are running the exact same tire on the same type vehicle loaded the same way.
 

Count Laszlo

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If one axle has way less air pressure then the other, diameter, traction, tread wear will be different and the end result is unequal grab from out tires which can throw the ABS/ETC out of wack.
QUOTE]

Do you think maybe this statement is best for 4x4s, in off-road condition with no load in the back? From a car perspective, I've always applied the opposite to the statement above. My old e90 M3, as well as my e46 M3, which are both highly tuned sports cars, both have unequal pressure recommendations from BMW (strict at best for extreme track use and speeds above 120 miles an hour) and both of these cars can do the Nurburgring in 8 minutes under these tire pressure recommendations.

I have set my LR to the unequal recommendations, and although the front might have less pressure, once you get some weight in the back, I’m assuming the car is equalized vs. having weight in the back, and having too much pressure up front, in turn making the vehicle un-equalized. I'm wondering if these are off-road technique settings. I’ve seen so many debates on this and would love to know more – any engineers on the forum?
 

aj22

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Somewhat tangentially

Which tires typically wear faster on the LR4, front or rear? Assuming no cargo load for simplicity's sake. I haven't kept track well enough, but I put my slightly more worn tires on front this spring when I took off the snows. When I took my LR4 in for its first complimentary service, they helpfully swapped the worn ones to the back. Before I go make them change them back(I'd do it myself, but they might as well, since I didn't ask for this), I want to find out what's best. I'm just trying to have them wear evenly, as I'll swap all 4 tires at the same time, so I don't want to waste treadlife.
 

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