Does Higher Tire Pressure Shorten Tire Life?

That depends on how much. I've got just over one year and 17,000 miles on my Yokohama Avids and they look very even to me. I haven't measured, though.

 

Not to my knowledge. However, lower tire pressure will trash your MPG. I run 41psi in both my 2004 and 2010 Prii.

 

Years ago, I was told by my tire dealer that the door jamb numbers are designed for comfort, not tire wear. Running higher pressures can extend tire life.
Notice on Gen 4, they specify higher door jamb pressures for the same tire to help increase their mpg rating.
Trim Two: 36 front 35 rear
Trim Two Eco: 39 front 36 rear

I am running 39/39 on my 2017 Trim Two. Max psi on my tires is 44 so I do not want to go much higher.

 

Consider what motivation the tire employee might have had in telling you that. My advice is to read all you can about tires and inflation and wear, and extending their life and make up your own mind. PriusChat is a great resource since most of the folk hereabouts are not only knowledgeable, but don't have a vested interest and are only to willing to demonstrate their superior knowledge! "search" is your friend. Good luck, and hope this helps - Wil

 

Never over inflate a tire beyond the maximum on the sidewall of a tire. Under inflation will wear a tire out faster because it generates more heat than an over inflated tire. Just don't go crazy with it. lol
He was probably talking about over inflation wearing out the center of the tire but the max pressure should be fine.

 

Plenty of hypermilers using higher pressure find increased tread life. In my case, on a past car, the door jamb label turned out to be too low for both hydroplaning and tread edge wear, higher pressure helped.

That center wear issue was on old technology bias ply tires. Virtually all passenger cars have been on steel belted radial tires for a very long time, and they very rarely suffer this problem. Those steel belts under the tread have almost eliminated center 'ballooning' under pressure.

 

In a word: NO.
Quite the opposite. Low pressure will reduce the life.
But it depends on how MUCH higher.
Adding up to 4 PSI won't hurt the tire life.
Jacking it up 10 PSI or more might.

Why were the two of you discussing the subject in the first place ??

 

The oem tires are not steel belted, the pressure on the sidewall is 1/2the bursting strength, the car will start and stop better with 38-39 lbs, turn better, track better, and smile more.
This web site sucks using an iPad , it redirects every time I touch the screen

 

i haven't touched my tires on my 2.5 month old prime. should i bump up to 39psi? also i heard in another thread that the tires are factory filled with nitrogen. should i bump to 39psi with a air compressor or a shop with nitrogen? if the tires are filled with 100% nitrogen, i dont want to introduce yucky oxygen

and dont apple. maybe surface?

 

I've been running 42lbs. front and 40lbs. rear since my first 2004 Prius. My original Prius tech back then said to do it for better mpg's and since the Second Gen. Prius eats tires. Just got 60k. miles on Avid Envigors running that Pressure on my 2012 Prius and there was still plenty of thread left. they were down to 3/32.

 

i got 50k out of my oems at 42f/40r and there was still plenty of tread left. 'tire employee' says it all, i think.

 

Oem tires are not nitrogen filled unless a dealer did it, some have found the factory pressure to be very high, a good pressure gauge is a great investment, checking monthly is wise, air is always seeping, especially when tempurtures swing.

 

Factory pressure is high to prevent flat spots during transport. The dealer is supposed to set them as part of the vehicle prep.

 

If you top them off with air you are putting 78 % nitrogen in the tire anyway. If it makes you sleep better go for it. lol
If it's good enough for me to breath (cough cough) its good enough for my tires. By the way they use nitrogen in airplane tires.

 

42F/40R here on my 2010. Great mileage, handling and tread wear .

 

Even with always running 40F/40R on my 2010, the tire dealer still complains that I run them under-inflated. They just can't wrap their heads around the fact that I get heavy cornering wear the way I drive. Don't pay too much attention to what the tire dealer says.

 

Was the employee a PhD in mechanical design with experience in finite element analysis, or a guy named Goober with a lip full of chew, a plaid shirt, pointed-toe cowboy boots and a massive exposed butt crack? Just sayin'! because one of these dudes isn't like the other.

 

Morons. You need a different "tire dealer".

 

The one thing that I have positively determined is that what is the most common issue that leads to tire wear is driving. I keep 'em pumped, and pumped high. Check them every week and throw a plug in them unless the puncture is in the vertical part of the sidewall. They still wear out. Because I drive on them.