CapriRacer wrote: "The 1996 Ford Contour? Only the SE
version had that pressure split. All the other versions used
the same pressure front to rear. (Source: The Old Timers Tire
Guide)"
ERRRR - Wrong!
My GL also had that Front/Rear pressure difference on its B-pillar placard, and I went by it.
So I suppose you'll accuse Ford of putting the wrong tire decal on the wrong trim-level Contour.
Yes, I was using USTA arbitrarily - If you suffered the damage I did during youth you might, also.
So exactly who determines those max loads, and thus max cold pressures(35, 44, 51, etc) that get stamped on tires?
By the way, your load tables link is more a text book explaining load theory. I was expecting an actual table where I could look up my specific tire size - or that on my friend's Subaru - and glean some actual load data from it.
It just shows an example of a load table, which helps only those whose tires happen to be listed in that excerpt.