Tire Pressure When New - AKA Do I Even Know How My Truck Rides?!

This is funny. Kinda: Bought my 4R new in June and have put 1300 miles on it so far, including from a 600 mile road trip in one day.

I've bought a lot of new cars over the years and am usually anal about this kind of thing, but for whatever reason I didn't check the tire pressure until today. Wow. Between 52-54 PSI all the way around. Double checked it with a second gauge -- same readings.

Yes it's hot as blazes out today, but the truck had been out of the sun in a garage, and not driven for almost 24 hours.

So now I'm like, LOL do I even know this truck? Do I even know how it actually rides?!?!?

Took the pressures down to 36, cause I didn't want to shock the hell out of the poor thing by going all the way down to 32 More seriously, I'd rather be a bit on the high side and account also for the extreme temps today.

But holy cow! All that driving on around 50 PSI!!!!

Can't wait to see how much different the thing feels now!

 

UPDATE: Drove it around town yesterday on the 36 PSI. Wouldn't call it night and day, but definitely a bit softer and maybe a bit bouncier.

Will be interested to see how it might differ on the highway. The only issue I noted on my highway trips with the 50-plus PSI is a bit more steering correction than I'm used to. I'd chalked that up to it being a truck -- high center of gravity, lots of wind resistance etc. But maybe the crazy high PSI played a role too? 52-54 PSI cold is pretty darn high.

 

Wow, 50 psi is very high. That would wear the centers down quickly. What does Toyota recommend?

 

Since the tires were 52-54 when cold yesterday, imagine how high they'd gotten a couple weeks ago when I drove a few hundred highway miles at high speeds in 90-plus temps!

Wouldn't be a bit surprised if that contributed to the need for steering correction.

Sticker on door jam says they should be 32 PSI cold.

 

I had the same problem when I bought my 2020 ORP. We took it on a trip the next week and I thought it wandered. Tires were at 46 all the way around. Lowered to 32 and it drove much nicer on the highway!

 

Sounds like you need the chalk pressure test:
https://youtu.be/FabWgDAulGg

 

Always feel pissed off after dealer service, where they always pump them up to the high 40s, even though I ask them to leave it down at 32 cold. Truck feels harsh jolting and difficult to control on rough unpaved roads above 35.

 

they over pressurize them because shipping and sitting on the lot. your dealer failed to check and adjust them when they sold it to you. go by the door post sticker

 

Totally. I get why they were set high at the factory and/or dock or by the dealer when the truck arrived there. But a SMH fail by the dealer when it came to delivery. So much for the "Pre-Delivery Checklist." That's really the point of my original post. This is the kinda thing that happens when you don't double check for yourself. I'd checked the oil level right after delivery but didn't bother with the tires until I'd already driven 1300 miles. So I ended up doing a lot of driving that was less safe than it should have been.

 

PS -- fixer, how's your Limited been and how many miles you got on it? Any adventures?

There aren't many of us with Limiteds on the forum -- most folks seem to have an OR.

 

coming from a tacoma i love the limited. no problems at all so far at 26000 miles. i do a fire road here and there, dont flog it much, avg 70 to 80 highway speeds, only mod is michelin tires. i will probably get an extended warranty soon because as we know the xreas will fail at higher mileage and i love the way this handles over the others. no wishy washy feelings on this one. the only downside to the 4runner is the always dirty back window lol

 

This. I am very OCD about tire pressures on my 4Runner and Shelby. My dial gauge is always handy. Each time I take the 4Runner in for service, and the tires have been rotated, they always pump them up WAY more than the door jamb instructs.

 

My tires were 50+ when i took delivery - after compiling to the service manager it was uncovered that they never did the initial inspection and asked me to bring it back. Unfortunately it's just another example of crap service from dealers. Makes you wonder when you take it in for an oil change if they take the skid plate off and change the filter as well.

 

Toyota says 32 in summer, 35 in winter (STOCK). I work for Toyota, follow my advice without question.

 

Thanks fixer. Totally agree on the benefits of XREAS -- just keeping my fingers crossed on longevity. I suppose I'll see extended warranty offers as I get into my third year of ownership. Usually I assume they're BS, but I imagine there are some good ones out there too.

Which Michelins did you go for? Besides the poor halogen headlights on this, the stock tires also stand out as quite sub par.

 

No idea what my OEM tire pressure was. Right after I drove my 4Runner off the dealer's lot, I took it over to Discount Tire and had Falken Wildpeaks put on.

 

Well, just picked up my 4R ORP yesterday. While driving home, I thought the truck felt bumpy... I haven't driven a truck before for decades so I said... well, it's a truck... then when I reached home, I checked tire pressure on the dashboard then on my phone... look

 

make sure you get the factory ext warranty before you hit 36000 miles. i had the dealer put michelin premiers on before i took delivery with no extra charge. was the only one in that size then. now the defenders are available.. theyll be next for me. search this site for the warranty sellers.

 

Nice job getting the Premiers for no charge! And thanks for the tip on the extended warranty. If it's from the factory and clearly includes the XREAS, I'll definitely be interested. I admit to being skeptical regarding the exclusions and other catches in extended warranties, and about third-party warranties generally.

 

It's a freaking epidemic!

 

So the TPMS was displaying incorrect pressure or you just never checked it?

 

Until this thread I didn't realize you could check the TPMS readings for each wheel from the My Garage section of the Toyota smartphone app. And I haven't noticed a way to check those readings from the infotainment system or dashboard. I figured I'd just get an idiot light warning if I was low.

As I said in my OP, I didn't check with a gauge until I'd already driven 1300 miles. No particular reason, I just didn't. Only checked the oil etc. after delivery.

FWIW, two days ago I set my tires to 36PSI per the gauge, and today the app says they're at 38. It's no warmer today, and I haven't driven since yesterday. So they aren't warm from use.