The RMA Rubber Manufacturers Association wants to fight PSI level definitions, because it is not a one size fits all.

Many things go into deciding proper inflation and PSI levels depending on such things: snow handling, wet & dry braking, braking & traction requirements, stopping distances, rolling resistance, fuel economy, noise, vibration, harmonics, comfort of ride, uniformity of tread ware, balance, cornering capabilities, , rotation interval specs, endurance ratings, tread ware tests, high speed performance, residual alignment torque, ease of mounting on production equipment, etc.

You can see the issues manufacturers have with this. Many times customers will ask you can you check the tires, some shops are saying “no” while this is the best policy for not getting sued it is not good to keep telling customers “No” when:

A.) You can charge them for it and;
B.) They are willing to pay you for it and;
C.) You can make a good profit doing it.

After all with the increased news articles on tire ware and the significance of the firestone media frenzy, tires are on people’s mind more than the ever increasing oil change intervals propaganda from Auto Manufacturers to sell more cars and their particular brand of in house oil. The problem concerning tires has much to do with: ice, snow, rain, mud, highway speed, dirt roads, gravel, canyon driving, off road driving, speed bumps, gas mileage, traction, etc.

The manufacturers are at odds with a government regulatory body dictating their specifications on a tire which may perform many different duties on the same car within it’s life time.  

Manufacturers of tires are concerned with all these things and those listed above and also have to worry customers which modify vehicles, over load tires, drive monster mudders on freeways causing vibrations, harmonics, warped rotors, bent tie rods, bent steering rods, severe wear to breaking systems, cracked rims which in turn cause excessive ware including scalloped tires, radial separation, increased tire rotation intervals-some 4 X 4’s as little as 3000 miles when usually 6000 is recommended.

Not to mention human kidney issues. This offends people and causes stereo’s to buzz and tires to roar into the night. When a recent survey came out on a scale of 1-10 tire noise was rated. Aggressive and dedicated Tire Engineers found that Cadillac, Mercedes, Bentley all scored high in the 7.5 range. Where high performance cars such as the Corvette, Mustang 5.0 and even the little Miata scored down into the 5 to 5.5 range. Stiffer tires gave better over all handling performance, great stopping and good grip, but were noisy.

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