I have a 2001 Pathfinder & the recommended cold pressure is 26 psi. I seem to remember in 2002 they raised the recommended pressure... even though I believe the vehicles are identical. This was around the time of the whole Firestone/Ford Explorer blowouts. Anyway, I'm trying to find the Nissan recommended cold tire pressure found on the placard for 2002-2005 Pathfinders. This should be an easy one. Anyone?

My 02 says to fill it to 30 psi.

It should be on the side of your tire. If you still have factory originals, I suggest you get new tires. Rubber (even vulcanized) gets old after a while and tires are one of the major safety points.

You might find the max pressure on the tire but you wont find the RECOMMENDED pressure. If your tires are wearing OK why dont you leave it at 26 psi like the engineers at Nissan recommend.

^ Yup.

But given gas prices, wouldn't you rather have max tire pressure for best gas mileage?

But recommended tire pressure will provide the smoothest ride.

We are splitting hairs. But yea it makes sense that the softer a tire is the better it will ride and the harder a tire is the easier it will roll. But, honeslty anything between 10 and 50 psi you'll never feel the difference. The tires want wear worth a crap though. How the enginerds come up with a compromise between tire wear and comfort with a pressure must be pretty important or Feds would make em make a sticker for it.

I've always kept them at 26 psi... like the engineers recommended. But a pressure that low does cause tires to wear faster. What's interesting is that "the engineers" raised the recommended pressure to 30 psi the very next year on the exact same vehicle. In my opinion they only did this because of the Firestone/Ford Explorer problems. It's not that 26 isn't safe... but that people don't check their tire pressure as often as they should & 26 doesn't leave much room for error. Before you know it you're driving around with 15-20 psi. Oh, and no I'm not still on the original tires... been through several sets. And wow... who would use the pressure on the side of the tire. You must be bouncing all over the road at 45-50 psi.

35 cold front and rear. Still rides good but rolls a lot better. If you go that low you will wear the sides of your tires out and get poor gas mileage. I never go under 35 on anything. Funny at 40 the thing transforms to teeth rattle

I am not sure about Pathfinder, but in certain years like 2002, QX4 has 16" tire as "standard", and 17" as an option. If I remember right, 16" and 17" have different recommended pressures. Mine is 17", recommended at 30 pounds. Normally I keep them at 32.

For the record, I have no idea what the placard says for the '02-'05 rigs.

I have a lot of towing/hauling experience and in that arena tire pressure is critically important to provide solid handling, promote long wear, and prevent blowouts. Since people rarely have stock wheel sizes or styles, we use an easy calculation to determine air pressure. This is super easy for passenger cars where you only have two axles with two tires on each. This calculation appies to the TIRES ONLY. It does not determine if the axles, suspension, or drive train can handle the load.

Here's the math:1) Identify the maximum weight each tire will carry. (TMax)2) Identify the maximum air pressure rating for the tire. (PMax)3) Multiply that by two to get the max tire capacity for each axle. (AMax)4) Weigh each axle to determine how much weight it is carrying. (Awt)5) Divide Awt by AMax to determine the percentage of maximum load you are carrying. (Pct)6) Multiply TMax by the Pct to determine how much air pressure you need.

Example (This is my pickup):1) Based on the sidewall, each tire is designed to carry a maximum of 2,900 pounds.2) The weight capacity is based on a max pressure of 65psi3) Given that there are two tires on the axle, this axle can carry a max of 5,800 pounds.4) When weighed, the front axle weighed 4,600 lbs.5) Based on this information, my axle is carrying 79.3% (call it 80) of its maximum tire capacity. (4600/5800 = 0.793)6) 80% of 65psi is 52psi, so I should air my tires to 52psi to accomodate the load.

Proper tire inflation is all about creating the proper volume of air inside the tire to allow it to maintain its shape under specific load conditions. Too much pressure causes pulls the sidewall away from the road causing it to roll faster, but wear in the center. Too little pressure allows the tire to droop causing wear on the outer edges of the tire. Any tire the tire face is not square with the pavement, heat is not distributed properly and the tire material can soften and rupture (blow out.)

For the sake of handling, a vehicle's suspension is engineered to respond to specific driving conditions created by a properly inflated tire. A tire which is too rigid will relay more shock than intended and the tire can lose contact with the road resulting in a loss of traction. A tire which is too soft will absorb too much impact which will not allow the suspension to respond properly which can lead to unpredictable behavior and over-correction by the driver. Severely under-inflated tires will not even hold their shape well enough to remain on the rim.

nice post

Very nice post... thanks everyone for the replies.

I just go by my tire. I hate the low MPG of my QX, and with all season snow tires (yes, there is such a thing Good Year Fortera TripleTred) max psi on tire is 40psi.

I fill mine up to 35 and leave it all year (Nitrogen filled). So when it gets hot during the summer, it gets to about 38, and in the winter it gets to about 30-32. Been a year and a half, and still doesn't need a top up (I check every week, it's amazing!)

My tires wear perfectly fine at 35psi - been about 40k on the tire. Still even wear

vliou wrote:My tires wear perfectly fine at 35psi - been about 40k on the tire. Still even wear

That's not surprising. Most passenger vehicle applications are intended to be between 75%-80% of max.

I applaud you for checking your pressure regularly! Regular air checks and rotations will make your tires last twice as long as a neglected tires.

Very nice posts so far...I hate to be "bottom line guy", like "bracket guy" to Jim Rome's Clones, but here it is:

Go with the recommended pressure or maybe a pound or too over; never under.

That pressure is engineered in part for the weight of vehicle, size of tire and contact patch of the tire that actually contacts the road. The "feel" / suspension / ride aspect is a complementary effect of the above factors plus environmentals (i.e. air temperature).

You roll an underinflated tire at highway+ speeds and the internal temperature absolutely sky rockets. Too much pressure can theoretically harm some suspension components, and let's face it some Pathys have those issues already, not to mention your contact patch has been mimimized oh so slightly. But even 1/4 square inch matters in inclement weather. And over inflated tires WILL also wear as fast as under-inflated, just in a different manner. The gas saving of going over or way over recommended pressure don't add up folks - don't fool yourselves.

My 2002 QX4 recommends 30 psi. I put in 31 (cold of course) all around because I notice a slightly different feel than with 30 in the way the front end handles the cr*p roads here in Omaha. I notice when the pressure drops to 28 or less BG TIME. Check 'em once every 2 wks or so. I've only put in air twice this winter.......

Later and keep up the great Q and As.

Nick in Omaha

Tire inflation pressure recommendations from the Manufacturer should always be followed - not strictly but as a guideline. The most important issue is the differential (if any) between front and rear tires. This differential exists to balance tire response times in 'lane change' types of situations. Under inflation (except for off roading) should not be allowed. Excessive over inflation will cause center wear and a 'twitchy' feel in normal straight ahead driving situations. I like to add 2-4 PSI to the placard recommendations. I just got my '01 Pathfinder and I'm experimenting with 29 PSI to see how it feels. When I purchased the vehicle it had 35 PSI and when I questioned the Nissan tech who had 25 years experience he recommended leaving them at 35. I spent 16 years with Goodyear and a good part of that time was as a vehicle ride and handling engineer. I'm sure the 35 PSI is unsuitable because I'm getting significant wander rather than consistent tracking on the highway.

90minutedog wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:11 am

I'm sure the 35 PSI is unsuitable because I'm getting significant wander rather than consistent tracking on the highway.

That could also be due to old steering rack bushings. If you are also getting considerable sawing of the steering when going over bumps & driveways at an angle, then the rubber bushings are hard and compressed - and the rack is able to move from side to side.)