fudger

Guys, now that I have changed to 18" wheels, how do I know what pressure to set in the tyres Would like help on fully loaded V unloaded.

The car is a CLK430 with 18" Kleemann wheels with 225/40 front and 255/35 rubber on the rear. The tyres are Goodyear Eagle F1's.

I have posted here rather than wheels and tyres due to the specific nature of the set-up on a W208. I am sure our friendly mods will move otherwise

byip25

your goodyears should have the recommended psi on the side wall. i usually stay within +/- 15% of the recommended psi.


B

Newbie

32/33 is what's recommended by the factory, and it took my dumb *** over a year (and thousands of $$ in lost wheels) to realize that those numbers aren't appropriate for me. I dented and broke so many wheels on even small potholes with that pressure, so now I've got them at 43/44, with no problems at all. I know people with 20s who have to keep their pressure around 60psi to prevent pothole damage .

911Jose

What is the recommeded tire pressure for the CLK 55 with the monoblock II wheels and the Michelin Pilot tires? front and back.

thanks

karl k

F=38 R=35

Newbie

Just a reminder, these numbers are handily supplied by MB on the sticker inside the gas door.

fudger

Thanks Guys, sounds like this is not as straight forward as I expected especially with real world problems encountered by Newbie and friends.

Newbie, i'll try 38/39 or something in that region and see how I get on. The roads are not very good where I live so I need to consider ride comfort too.

techbike

I use 43 front and 40 rear on CLK55 cab riding on 19's. Unfortunately, with low profile tires and rims, the opposite applies in that if you ride on rough pothole-ridden roads, gotta UP the pressure! Much rougher ride but you'll save those rims. When I drive into NYC, I use 45/45 PSI.
Also, with a heavy V8 up front and the usual single driver, you'll wear out the sides of the fronts quite faster at the factory-recommended pressures (lower up front) Thread wear on mine with higher front rire pressures are pretty even, although I get a more pronounced understeer in any kind of spirited cornering.

karl k

That sticker is confusing and WRONG!

It recommends 33/33.
That's why my front Michelin Sports wear on the sides: UNDERINFLATED.

To compensate, I am going w/38-40 front and 35 rear after having followed that misleading gas-door sticker for my first virgin 8,000 miles.

Mark D.

what about for 1/4 mile time....Is it better to have more air in the fronts then in the rears?
like 45 in the front 35 in the rears?

Newbie

I didn't say it was right, wrong, or otherwise. Someone asked what the recommended pressure was, and I told 'em where they could find it. The fact that MB's full of ***** with those numbers is another story.

Newbie

Yes- deflate the rears to a pressure you would NOT want to use on the street (18-24psi), and bump the fronts up to 50+psi.

I'm sure plenty of people will tell you not to listen to this advice, or that it's dangerous and wrong, but go to the track and you'll see that everyone does it this way.

My best 1/4 mi. times at the track were achieved with the lowest rear tire pressure.

techbike

Mark, try 28PSI in the rear. It will probably give you a .5 sec. gain in the 1/4.

Mark D.

even on 18's?? that low tire pressure for the rears?

Newbie

I have 18s and I've gone as low as 12psi in the rear. It was an extreme case, though, because I was drag racing at freezing temperatures up at LACR, the highest altitude and coldest track around ( ). I raced a supercharged '00 mustang GT who was running 9lbs in the rear, and kept trying to smuggle a friend into the back seat for more traction, lol. Anyway, this board is hilarous. You guys seem so afraid of damaging your cars .

karl k

I did not say YOU were wrong, I said:

Originally posted by karl k

mmgrad

I to was naive enough to leave the tire pressure at the factory recommended setting (those listed on the fuel door), and now, after 10,000 miles, I'm noticing serious camber wear on both the inside and outside (which states that it is underinflated).

So, for a CLK430... what would you suggest I adjust the Psi to be for the front tires? If I adjust the Psi to about 38-40 for the fronts, how much harsher of a ride am I looking at? I do mostly highway/freeway driving in the Los Angeles area (basically like city driving).

The rears look fine, all evenly distributed thread wear, but the fronts are way screwed.

Sorry if this is kinda repetitive (but most responses for this thread were from owners of CLK55s and modified 430s), whereas I am running on the stock rims/tires for now.

Thanks for all/any input!

karl k

I have no mods, original Michelin Sports:

After I experienced excactly what you did on the front tires, I increased the pressures around 9,000 miles.

F=38/40 R=35/37

mmgrad

Do you think this would be considered a warranty repair/replacement?

I'm thinking about complaining to the local Benz dealer about this 'Factory Recommended' setting. It is causing excessive tire wear on my fronts (almost more than my rear tires).

Anyone here ever considered having the dealer swap them for new ones?

techbike

I don't think it'll fly with the dealer. "Recommended" tire pressures is the opreative word. It would be a tough case to pursue.

SoCalCLK

I would say 36 Front and 35 Rear? Assuming all is stock?

Or 37 Front and 36 Rear?

whiteyford

keep in mind that the sticker is for stock rims and not low pro's. Low pro's almost always require a higher psi

SoCalCLK

Are the OEM 17" AMG Monoblocks (that come with all CLK 430s) considered stock or low profile? I believe the tire depth is 40 series. Thanks, WF!

mmgrad

And I was referring to the stock 17s that came with the car...

If you keep it at the suggested 32/33 listed on the fuel door panel, this is what you will get:

Under Inflated tire after 10,000 miles


Even tire wear:

SoCalCLK

The pics really help. I was sure you were referring to the 17" AMGs.
Comparing the even to the uneven is really helpful. So 36 Front and 37 Rears is good?