# New Tires on 09 Routan feel "Squishy"



## descartes (Oct 16, 2011)

I replaced my stock Bridgestone Turanza's on my 09 Routan SEL with Michelin Energy Savers. I immediately noticed that the new tires feel squishy for lack of a better word especially when braking and cornering. I enjoyed the stiff ride I used to have and now am not certain if I made the right tire choice. The ride now feels similar to other minivans. I have driven approximately 40 miles on the new tires. Do the tires require a breaking in period or are they going to be like this? Anyone else have experience with the energy savers? Thanks.


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## linus96 (May 9, 2010)

It`s possible they didn`t fill them to the recommended 36psi when they mounted them, a lot of places always put 28psi.


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## micah360 (May 19, 2010)

wouldn't the tire pressure warning light come on if they were this low?



linus96 said:


> It`s possible they didn`t fill them to the recommended 36psi when they mounted them, a lot of places always put 28psi.


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## 58kafer (Jun 27, 2007)

Check the rating of the tire, sometimes even in the same family of tires there are different load/speed ratings thus changing how a tire handles/feels, but I would see if they have atleast the same rating as the old Turanzas. It could also be a tire compound issue, they may alter it for fuel economy, something you may have to deal with. These vans are HEAVY and some guys on chryslerminivan.net have been running their tire pressures in the Turanzas around 40 PSI per tire for better wear.

On tirerack, the Goodyear Assurance Comfort Tread have a service rating of 102H which has a load rating of nearly 110 pound per tire more rating and a speed rating of 130 MPH that is 12 MPH higher than the T rating of the energy savers, but more improtantly bumps the tire into the sport sedan and coupe rating. On the downside, these ratings are gonna run you an extra $200 bucks!!!!!!!!! I'm not saying you didn't buy a good tire, just trying to help shed some insight. On tire rack you can filter the energy saver tire by vehicle make, there is one Town and Country, but you may want to cross it over to the Oddesey and Sienna, but take that with a grain of salt because you are not really comparing apples to apples. When I put tires on my Passat I filtered the results by make and everyone with a Mazda hated the Khumo's I put on it, but the VW owners gave them good reviews, so whats good for one vehicle might not be for another. 

Here's a thread on the Energy savers (sorry bad news):
http://forum.chryslerminivan.net/sh...-S-won-t-balance-looking-at-Latitude-Tourings

I'm just posting this as information, but you may already know this. (from discounttiredirect.com)

Reading the tire sidewall

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/brochure/info/tmpInfoReadingSidewall.jsp

Selecting the right tire

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/brochure/info/tmpInfoSelectingTire.jsp

Here's more from tirerack.com (they list the Service Description)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=35

:thumbup::beer:


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## Volvos Rock (Oct 13, 2011)

coming from the land of a 4800lb sedan/wagons... If you want to firm up the ride go to a higher PSI, but not high enough for bad wear (center first wear). But different tires will feel different.


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## VWroutanvanman (Feb 12, 2011)

*Flat tire*

I had a flat on my SE earlier this year, and the low air light didn't come on until the tire was probably down by 50%, so 28 lbs. shouldn't turn the light on. Even if the tires are properly inflated (and still feel squishy), try going up on the air pressure to see if that makes a difference. A couple of months ago I put on 4 new BFGoodrich Touring tires (size 225/60-17), but I had the opposite problem, they rode much too hard, so the tire dealer swapped them out for Goodyears (Assurance Touring) in the stock size, and were much better, but still rode slightly harder than the stock Bridgestones.


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## redzone98 (Jun 10, 2004)

descartes said:


> I replaced my stock Bridgestone Turanza's on my 09 Routan SEL with Michelin Energy Savers. I immediately noticed that the new tires feel squishy for lack of a better word especially when braking and cornering. I enjoyed the stiff ride I used to have and now am not certain if I made the right tire choice. The ride now feels similar to other minivans. I have driven approximately 40 miles on the new tires. Do the tires require a breaking in period or are they going to be like this? Anyone else have experience with the energy savers? Thanks.


I have the Exact same tire, and I noticed that the ride is quite the opposite !

I have 36PSI in the tires, and they ride quite hard. Infact too hard for a new tire. I will lower the pressure down a bit and see what happens


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## cscsc (Jun 14, 2009)

VWroutanvanman said:


> A couple of months ago I put on 4 new BFGoodrich Touring tires (size 225/60-17), but I had the opposite problem, they rode much too hard, so the tire dealer swapped them out for Goodyears (Assurance Touring) in the stock size, and were much better, but still rode slightly harder than the stock Bridgestones.


When changing tire size, it's very important to pay attention to the RPM of the tire. Tire Rack has the RPM for most tires listed in the specs for a particular tire and size. The standard size Bridgestone Turanza 225-65R17 is rated at 731 RPM. Make sure any different size is very close to that number to avoid speedometer and fuel economy errors. Going to a 60-series tire would require a 235 or 245 width to get approximately the same RPM. More simply stated, the new tire should have the same rolling diameter as the original.

FYI, I run 40 lbs pressure in my tires and it appears I will safely get 40K before I have to replace them. Considering the BFG Advantage T/A in the stock size. Any advice??


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## VWroutanvanman (Feb 12, 2011)

*Tire diameter*

Yes, I knew how the difference in tire diameter would affect the speedometer (and computor readings), but I was looking to lower the van, albeit slightly, so it would be easier for my wife to get in and out, but the BFGoodrich TAs just rode way too hard, so going back to the stock size was recommended by the tire dealer (or they wouldn't replace the Goodrichs). Our '10 Dodge Grand Caravan sat lower than the Routan, probably due to the DGC having 16" tires. Running a higher air pressure than stock seems to work well on our heavy vans for increased tire life, but you have to put up with a harsher ride. I just don't understand why Chrysler chooses to put undersized tires on the vans. The Dodge Journey has 18s stock. Must be a marketing decision (stooopid one).


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