jaallis <jaallis@ibm.net> said:
>that deter punctures in off-road situations. On a pick-up the best way
>to find proper air pressure is to watch tire wear, especially on the
>rear. The tire should wear evenly across the tread. On my Dak I run
A quick way to determine your contact patch is to find a good, smooth pad
of concrete, slip a piece of white paper behind the tire, and back onto
the paper. You should get a tread-print across the width of the tire.
Too much pressure, and only the center section will touch, too little,
and the curved edge of the contact patch will be almost straight, or you
might even see some tire-edge tread. Ideally you should get a football
shape, but with a whole tread block of the outer edge touching.
Since the big question is really on the back tires (front tires have the
weight of the engine on them - you can keep pressure up), where you
have a straight axle, you can also jack up the rear, place paper, lower,
raise, and inspect paper. This might work in the front, but I've always
noticed that independent suspensions adjust a bit more the first time
they roll after being jacked.
Jim
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