Ok. So while old, this is somewhat relevant to my newer question. My wife and I are debating the issue of tire pressure and what cold means.
I have a compressor at home, so can fill my tires to the right temperature before leaving. I have a 2007 RT Adventuress. The pillar says 55 Front and 80 rear. So ignoring whether those are correct for the moment, I assume I fill my tires to those specs before driving. After I've driven a while, the dash can show the tire pressure. Obviously, the pressure will be higher than those amounts when the tire is hot.
Up until now, we have been driving with the tires 'under inflated' before being heated, and the dash shows this. The tires will show at 70 or maybe 75 when I first get a reading, and as I drive them they reach 80 and hold there. Same with the front set. Maybe starts at 45 and raises to 55.
Now that I have the compressor, I can actually set the tires to their correct cold rating, which is at 55 and 80 respectfully. However, this now means they will be higher than that once on the road.
What is the correct situation? Should I fill to 80 (if that's actually correct, your post here seems to show it isn't), while cold and drive with the tire at say 90 according to the dash?
Obviously, temperature affects this situation. A cold tire, meaning in a cold climate, will compress the gas more, and a hot air condition will expand it. So if I've not driven the van for a week, and the air temp is 35. The pressure might be showing at a lower pressure (40 maybe rather than 45 at 'cold' gauge).
So what's the right thing to do here?