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I live in Tampa Bay, and some relatives of mine are in Naples for the month, so I drove to see them. I've had my tires over 44 psi since I got them 16,000 miles ago. They are the cheapest tire carried by Tires Plus that fit my car (my stepdad paid for them, I would have bought more expensive LLR ones, but I was broke) - they cost about $40 each 2 years ago.

Anyway, on the way to Naples, everything was great, I had a rather efficient drive even at about 70mph, with some wind from the west (see breeze).

On the way back, there was a 15-30mph wind from the west (strong see breeze), and I was holding the steering wheel more to the left than I ever have for a straight section of road. It was like this for the 3.5 hour drive back. Last time I inflated my tires, I pumped them to between 60 and 65 psi. That was about 5 months ago, but it's Florida and there's little temperature difference so they probably didn't drop much.

Important part of the story: After about 20 minutes of driving, my car slowly began to shake more and more. At 60mph was the worst, and it shook less at lower/higher speed. It got so bad that I turned off the interstate about 30 minutes away from home to a slower road with a 45mph PSL. When I got home, I checked out the car and the back left tire seemed warped. I took it to Tires Plus (my mom got 4 new tires yesterday anyway) and they said there was "a lot of tread separation" and then joked about how crazy it was for tread separation to occur on a PrimeWell tire (full of sarcasm). Luckily the warranty was pro-rated based on tread left and I got a new tire for 75% off; it cost about $30 including labor to get a replacement.

I really want to inflate my tires to about 50-55 psi, and I would, however I have very low quality tires and I think I(or you) should think twice about inflating past max sidewall on LOW quality tires. I can't confirm my problem was even related to my high inflation, nor do I think it would do any harm on a high quality tire, but think about it before you inflate your $50 tires to 60 psi.

Hi Sulfuric-
In my experience tires fail, including tread separation, because of one of three reasons:
1. Poor quality
2. Overheating (underinflation, overload, or extreme speeds)
3. Impact

You didn't happen to hit a pothole or curb a while back? Though that usually causes different type of damage. Since you last checked your inflation, the tire might have lost a lot of pressure through a small leak, poor valve, impact, etc. This could have caused overheating- especially since you were on a high speed trip- and separation.
The fact that the retailer knows that brand of tire has a history of tread separation points to poor quality. We'll never know, but I could argue that high inflation kept a junk tire around much longer than normal.

The concern of overinflated poor quality tires is their ability to weather impacts like potholes and curbs. Though this doesn't seem the case here.

Very glad to hear that you didn't have complete tire failure, and that the retailer honored the warranty.

Keith

Please don't inflate the tire over the max sidewall pressure. The mpg difference between 44 psi and 55 psi is minimal in most cases. Remember safety first.

My highway car Volvo 960 with Michelin MXV's I run 42 psi all the way around with zero problems. At 44 psi side wall max the car get squirrely in the rain. Over-steer is the problem and that is something I don't want to deal with on the interstate in the rain at 60-65 mph.

BTW Volvo recommends 36 psi all the around.

Wow, I'm glad I got rid of that one PrimeWell piece of garbage I
had on the Prius for a while after losing one of the Michelins to
an irreparable puncture. It rolled and handled okay while I had
it, but its sidewall pressure rating was lower than the rest and
of course it was a different size than the other three making my
hack-TPMS thing go nuts.
.
_H*

Please don't inflate the tire over the max sidewall pressure.
Better yet, please please please get yourself some safer tires!!!! Say they cost $25 additional each: isn't your health worth $100???

But I have 75% tread left on 3 of them, and 99% tread left on the other (brand new!)
I REALLY want some LLR tires, and they are about $30 more per tire, but I can't drop that kind of cash right now, especially with plenty of tread left. My tires will be OK. They are now at about 45 psi, give or take a few psi. We'll see how it goes.

Please don't inflate the tire over the max sidewall pressure. The mpg difference between 44 psi and 55 psi is minimal in most cases. Remember safety first.

My highway car Volvo 960 with Michelin MXV's I run 42 psi all the way around with zero problems. At 44 psi side wall max the car get squirrely in the rain. Over-steer is the problem and that is something I don't want to deal with on the interstate in the rain at 60-65 mph.

BTW Volvo recommends 36 psi all the around.

Sorry, I don't really want 36 psi all around. I can sacrifice some comfort for better FE and longer tire life.

My tires' warranty covers 40k miles.
I drove 16k. That's 40% of the warranty.
(The tires had about 75% tread left. However, tires need to be replaced before they have 2/32" tread left, so I get 30/32" of usable tread, and 75% of 30 is 22.5!)

I used 25% of my tires when I should have used 40%. Higher inflation = longer life, usually.

They will stay less than 50psi now, though, just to be safe.

But I have 75% tread left on 3 of them, and 99% tread left on the other (brand new!)
I REALLY want some LLR tires, and they are about $30 more per tire, but I can't drop that kind of cash right now, especially with plenty of tread left. My tires will be OK. They are now at about 45 psi, give or take a few psi. We'll see how it goes.

It rarely makes economic sense to replace something that still has good life left in it. Tires, vehicles, appliances, etc. When it comes time to replace them, though, it often does pay to spend more on the better one. In your case, I'd likely do the same - wait it out.

Better yet, please please please get yourself some safer tires!!!! Say they cost $25 additional each: isn't your health worth $100???

Great advice. I totally agree.

Since you are cash strapped, you are probably smart to try to run through some of the mileage left. Regarding tire pressure, You will get most of the benefit from higher pressures by just pumping up to the max sidewall number. Sure, there is more to be gained by going even higher, but it is a matter of deminishing returns once you reach the max load number printed on the sidewall. I've tested it, so I speak from experience.

I put Primewells on my car not to long ago. I have been running 50-60 PSI in them. Never had a problem with any of them, aside from a puncture. I got them for the same reason you did. No money for a good set of tires. So what I am doing this year is using some of my tax money to get tires with 80-100k mile treadlife and holding on to them until the current tires wear out.