Re: Tire pressure question

Posted by HH56 On 2020/6/16 8:56:04

I remember reading an article on the 58 Stude and Packard models and how styling wanted to have the cars appear as low as possible since lower and longer was becoming the styling craze of the day.

Article stated that styling convinced engineering to go with 14" tires because they would immediately lower the cars an appreciable amount and then wanted to go even farther on the Hawks and Coupes. In addition to the styling bits with chrome placements giving the illusion of sleek and long, they pressured engineering to lower the tire pressures to the absolute minimum that would be safe to use. That change would lower the cars another fraction of an inch.

The tire pressure change appears to be what happened because the 15 inch tires on the 57 and one 58 bare bones model that kept them had a recommended pressure of 26 front and rear while the 58 models that went to a 14 inch tire had a recommended pressure of 24 front and 20 rear for ordinary use. It is interesting what might be considered ordinary use (one driver and showroom maybe??) because in the service manual there are caveats to the recommended low pressure. 4 passengers it went to 26 front and rear and if there was expected to be sustained high speeds, up to 30 psi. I guess the long and low look was not important when the car was actually being driven.