Reference guide
Recommended tire pressure by vehicle type
There is no such thing as a correct pressure for a tire. There is only a correct pressure for a tire on a particular vehicle carrying a particular load, which is why the number lives on the car and not on the rubber. The table below gives the typical cold range for each class so you can sanity-check what you find — and the sections after it explain how to find your actual number, and the four situations where the typical figure is the wrong one.
Typical cold pressures by vehicle class
Every figure below is a cold pressure: the car has sat three hours or been driven under a mile. Ranges reflect the spread across mainstream models, not a target you should pick from.
| Vehicle / tire type | Typical cold PSI | Where the real number is | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compact & midsize sedan | 32–35 | Driver's door jamb placard | Front and rear usually identical |
| Full-size sedan, EV | 35–42 | Door jamb placard | EVs run high — battery weight plus efficiency |
| Compact SUV / crossover | 33–36 | Door jamb placard | Often the same platform pressure as the sedan |
| Full-size SUV | 35–38 | Door jamb placard | Rear may be higher when a third row is fitted |
| Minivan | 35–38 | Door jamb placard | Loaded-vehicle figure often printed separately |
| Half-ton pickup (P-metric or LT) | 35–45 | Door jamb placard | Rear commonly 5 PSI above front |
| HD pickup, load-range E | 60–80 | Placard, then the tire load table | Unloaded rear can drop 15 PSI below the max figure |
| Travel trailer / fifth wheel (ST) | 65–110 | Tire sidewall max, per the trailer plate | ST tires are the exception: run them at max cold |
| Class A / Class C motorhome | 80–110 | Manufacturer's load-inflation table by axle weight | Weigh each axle, then look the pressure up |
| Motorcycle | 28–42 | Swingarm or chain-guard sticker, owner's manual | Front and rear almost always differ |
| Scooter / moped | 26–32 | Frame sticker | Small volume — 2 PSI matters more than on a car |
| Road bike, 700×25c | 80–100 | Tire sidewall range, adjusted for rider weight | Heavier riders and rougher roads go higher |
| Gravel bike, 700×38c | 35–50 | Tire sidewall range | Tubeless allows the low end of the range |
| Hybrid / city bike, 700×35c | 50–70 | Tire sidewall range | Comfort improves noticeably below 60 |
| Mountain bike, 29×2.4 tubeless | 20–28 | Rider weight and terrain, not the sidewall | Front typically 1–2 PSI below rear |
| Compact spare ("donut") | 60 | Printed on the spare itself | Check it twice a year — it is the one that must work |
| Utility trailer, small | 50–65 | Tire sidewall max | Same rule as ST tires: cold, at max |
How to read the door-jamb placard
Open the driver's door and look at the B-pillar, roughly at latch height. On most vehicles you will find a yellow-and-white label listing the original tire size and, beside it, COLD TIRE PRESSURE figures for front, rear and spare. Some manufacturers put the label inside the fuel door or on the glovebox lid instead; a handful of European cars use a chart with two rows, one for normal load and one for full load or sustained high speed.
Two habits make the placard useful. First, use the row that matches how the car is loaded right now, not the highest number on the label. Second, note that front and rear can legitimately differ — copying the front figure onto the rear of a pickup is a common and consequential error. If the placard is missing or unreadable, the owner's manual repeats it, and the reasoning behind how those numbers are set is in the tire pressure guide.
Sidewall max is not a target
The pressure moulded into the tire sidewall — typically 44, 51 or 80 PSI — is the maximum the casing may be inflated to, established by the tire maker with no knowledge of your vehicle. It is a limit, not a recommendation, and inflating a 33 PSI sedan to 44 gives you a harsh ride, a crowned contact patch, and centre-tread wear. Can you overinflate a tire? covers what actually goes wrong and how far above placard is genuinely risky.
Trailer tires are the honest exception. ST-rated trailer tires have no vehicle placard describing a suspension's behaviour, and their load rating is only valid at their maximum cold pressure, which is why the convention is to run them there. Motorhomes are different again: pressure comes from a load-inflation table keyed to actual weighed axle loads, and guessing high costs you traction and ride while guessing low costs you heat margin. The procedure is in how to inflate RV tires.
Load adjustments — when to add air
- Fully loaded car or roof box: use the "full load" row if the placard has one; if not, add 3–4 PSI to the rear and return to placard when unloaded.
- Towing: add to the rear of the tow vehicle per the placard's loaded figure. The trailer's own tires stay at their cold maximum.
- Motorcycle with a pillion or luggage: most manuals specify a separate two-up pressure, usually 2–4 PSI higher at the rear.
- Sustained high speed: European placards often list an autobahn figure a few PSI above normal. It exists to limit sidewall flex and heat, not to improve grip.
- Cold snap: pressure falls about 1 PSI per 10°F drop, which is a change in reading rather than a change in target — see winter tire pressure.
When "typical" isn't yours
Four situations make the class average misleading. Staggered fitments on sports cars run different sizes and different pressures front to rear. Plus-sized aftermarket wheels change tire volume, so the placard pressure no longer produces the load capacity the vehicle was designed around; a tire shop should recalculate it from the load tables. Load-range E tires fitted to a half-ton truck are the most common trap — the tire's 80 PSI max has nothing to do with the truck's 35 PSI placard, and running 80 empty gives you a skittish rear axle and a strip of centre wear. Finally, tubeless bike tires are set by rider weight and rim width, not by the range printed on the casing, and the difference between 22 and 26 PSI on a mountain bike is the difference between a burped bead and a harsh front end.
In every one of those cases the placard is a starting point, not an answer. Adjust in 2 PSI steps, check cold each time using the method in how to check tire pressure, and judge by tread-wear pattern over months rather than by feel over minutes.
Matching an inflator to your numbers
Anything on this page below about 45 PSI is within reach of a basic 12V unit. Above that, the pump's ceiling and its airflow at pressure both start to bite: budget units move only 0.3–0.5 CFM at 35 PSI and several stop at 70–90 PSI outright, which rules them out of the truck and RV rows entirely. The explanation is in PSI, CFM and duty cycle explained; the units that cope are in best for trucks and best for RVs. Bikes are their own problem — a Presta head and genuine high-pressure capability, covered in how to inflate bike tires.