Miata Mailing List: August 1992, Message #24
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   From: (none)
Subject:  tire wear & replacement
   Date: (none)


(My response to Alan's (ctsx!ctsx!alan@uunet.uu.net) response to my post about
tires (huh?) bounced with an "Outside mail not authorized" message, and I
can't get an address for ctsx.celtech.com, so I'll put it on the mailing
list).

Alan, you wrote:
> I don't see what having a slow leak has to do with the tire pressure you
> run.  If it leaks that means you have a puncture.  Running less pressure
> won't help any.  If it leaks, get it fixed.  I used to run about 28 PSI on
> my old stock Bridgestones and it worked fine.  I use the same with my new
> AVSs.  Lower pressure won't make that much (if any) difference in suspension
> wear.

It is a *very* slow leak.  Generally it loses 5-10 psi over 3-5 days, enough
to lower the average pressure, but sometimes will not lose any pressure at all
for over a week.  It's not necessarily a puncture; could be the valve, the
valve stem seat, the bead-to-wheel seat, or (God forbid) the wheel itself.  I
have seen cast aluminum alloy wheels with virtually invisible pinhole leaks
before, by the way.  Because it's not usually a bother, I decided to put off
'fixing' it until new tires are on.

Also, lower pressure in the tires *has to* be related to suspension wear.  Try
driving a car with short, stiff suspension (like the Miata) on a washboard
road (especially dirt/rock/gravel) with nice, firm 'highway' tires.  After
gathering up your fillings, bandaging your kidneys and putting all of the
parts back on the car, pressure down the tires to something like 15 psi and
drive slowly back to the gas station that had the air pump.  =8^) I had to do
this once when driving an MG on a logging road in the Adirondacks.

> Could just be that the right tire is the one that spins when both tires
> loose traction (non-limited slip cars).

This one has the LSD rear end.

> The AVS Intermeditate ($87 or so at _The Tire Rack_, call 1-800 information
> for the #) is a great tire, I have almost nothing bad to say about it.  You
> should run 4 of them, however.  If you think it handles bad now I gaurentee
> that the car will be *evil* with only 2 AVSs, no matter which end they are
> put on.  If you can't afford 4, you might consider the A-509 which is about
> $20/tire cheaper.
> 
> I'd say stick with the stock 185/60 size with the AVSs, it works just fine.

Hmm, thanks for the advice, and the source info.  NTW here in Austin wants
around $110 for a 185/60 AVS.  Do you really think that it would stick that
much better than the Dunlop?  You may be right -- the original Dunlops never
were very impressive, particularly in the wet.

> BTW: sound's like you didn't rotate the Dunlops that well.  Try to rotate
> (Front->Back) every 5-10000 miles or so.

Yes, I'm guilty.  I thought I'd be putting 'good' tires on a lot sooner than I
have, and so neglected to rotate.

_________________________________________________________________

  James Miller -- developing Unix software at (!) IBM -- Austin
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  Internet:  jamesm@voyager.austin.ibm.com
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