Tire Pressure - '10 Cobalt LS

My '10 Cobalt now has 9300 miles on it. I've been meaning to put more air in the tires and just haven't gotten around to it. I pulled into a Sheetz today where they still offer Free Air (most places around here you have to pay). Anyway, the air has an automatic pressure reader - I had to put 8 lbs of air into each tire to make them at 35lbs. Is that typical, for 9300 miles ? I haven't had any issues. Curious how often and how much air other people have to put in.

It really depends on the weather in your area and the kind of tires you have. Here in Minnesota, the weather from night to day changes from about 40-75 degrees, which means there's condensation in the air in the morning with the dramatic air pressure and temperature change. And keep in mind, the dealer might not have filled them up before you got the car too. As the day gets warmer, the air in your tires expands. And that means that it's gonna be a higher psi. Some aluminum rims can corrode from the inside because of the oxygen and condensation that comes into the tire, which can cause a corrosion and little air pockets between the tire and the rim itself. That could be a possibility if you have aluminum rims. But those are probably the only things you have to worry about. If you have to put that much into your tire again, find out if there's a leak somewhere. Or just bring it back to the dealer and have them fix it since it's probably still under warranty.

I check my tires once a month and the balt is the same as the other cars.
They tend to drop a pound a month.
I always check them in the morning when the tires are cold.
I also use a digital sears tire gauge.

AmyF said:

Anyway, the air has an automatic pressure reader - I had to put 8 lbs of air into each tire to make them at 35lbs. Is that typical, for 9300 miles ? I haven't had any issues. Curious how often and how much air other people have to put in.

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Time is what causes air loss, checking and putting air in your tires often is a basic maintenance requirement if you don't want blowouts.

Less than 30psi WILL cause blowouts and premature tire failure, if you don't want to check your tire pressure often (my 010 tells me what it is all the time on the dash) just put in 45-50psi all the way around. Your mileage will go up about 4mpg also if you do this, then in 9000 miles check it and repeat.

Your tires depending on luck of the draw are rated at either 44psi or 50psi, I have 50psi ones on my car. A little bumpier but it is FAR safer to overinflate than underinflate.

Cheers
Ryan

rmay635703 said:

Time is what causes air loss, checking and putting air in your tires often is a basic maintenance requirement if you don't want blowouts.

Less than 30psi WILL cause blowouts and premature tire failure, if you don't want to check your tire pressure often (my 010 tells me what it is all the time on the dash) just put in 45-50psi all the way around. Your mileage will go up about 4mpg also if you do this, then in 9000 miles check it and repeat.

Your tires depending on luck of the draw are rated at either 44psi or 50psi, I have 50psi ones on my car. A little bumpier but it is FAR safer to overinflate than underinflate.

Cheers
Ryan

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That is WAY too high. The Balt is rated at 30psi. You can probably safely put in 35psi but I wouldn't go above that.

steve333 said:

That is WAY too high. The Balt is rated at 30psi. You can probably safely put in 35psi but I wouldn't go above that.

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that's not exactly true.....it depends on the size of the tire.....yes the 15's are rated at 30 but larger tires means a larger psi

RedDead said:

that's not exactly true.....it depends on the size of the tire.....yes the 15's are rated at 30 but larger tires means a larger psi

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I've got the 16's and its also 30spi. My mother's Impala has 17 inchers and 30psi is also recommended. Not sure how they figure it out but its based on the car and suspension, etc.
Those high numbers were based on the MAX tire pressure that the tire can handle. You don't base recommended tire pressure on those numbers. The recommended psi is on the doorjam of each car. It's OK to go a little above that but the ride will be rougher.