I am not sure if its because I am used to rock hard truck tires but why do these feels so soft on sidewalls?
air pressure is at 16psi in front and 22(still playing with it) in the back but both just feel so soft even compared to kendas, I think.
All radial tires tend to 'look' a little flat at the optimal pressure they require for carrying the load placed upon them, and if they
don't look a little flat & bulgy at the sides in comparison to heavy duty truck tires or any bias ply tire, chances are they've been well over-inflated!! But like Mike (Blueknight911) wrote, you really can't go by the way a radial tire looks, and it'll probably even 'feel' a bit soft & spongy if inflated 'correctly'! :shocked:
Radial tires need to look (& feel!) like that because of the way they are designed, having softer sidewalls with radial plies that help to keep more of the tread surface in the contact patch area actually ON the road while the tire rolls along, twisting & squirming as you drive, corner, accelerate, & stop etc! The Quatrac tires do that even more so than many other radials because they are designed to keep
even more of the rubber blocks that make up the tread surface actually ON the road than many other tires. PLUS there's their design intention to make all those little cuts & sipes you can see in their tread's surface flex & 'grab' onto the road surface as the tire rolls, with the blocks acting like little gripping fingers that hang on tight while the flexing of the rubber makes the 'gaps' formed by the cuts & sipes work as little pumps to push out any cushioning air, water, or even snow/ice! This is especially so at the leading & trailing edges of the contact patch - and the Quatrac tires have a bunch more of those little cuts & sipes that need to 'work' a bit as they roll onto the road's surface, keep working as they form the contact patch, then finally flexing even more to add to the whole gripping & pumping effect! And the 'rubber compound' of the tread is intentionally designed & intended to, amongst other things, help make all this gripping & flexing & pumping work even better at keeping you safe!!

hyea:
Besides, if you pumped a radial tire up hard enough so that the sidewalls didn't 'look' bulgy, then yeah, you might get an easier roll (less contact patch area means less grip, traction, & easier roll) possibly even a 'more direct' or 'precise' feel in the steering (at low to middling speeds!) you might even get marginally better fuel economy if you drive/ride to maximise that (over-inflation is just
one of the tools used on those ultra-economy runs!) but you'll also be making the tire significantly more prone to internal damage, your ride will be a lot harsher than intended by the tire's design, AND you'll be adversely affecting steering, traction, & grip, especially at higher speeds, thru stopping the tires & their specially designed tread pattern & compounds from working to their best as designed to keep you & your ride safe!! :gaah:
When it comes to radial tires looking & feeling 'bulgy' &/or under-inflated, appearances & feel
ARE deceiving - you
NEED to use a tire pressure gauge to check for the correct pressure in them, the correct pressure will be lower than in a similar sized heavy wall/truck/bias or cross ply tire, and the Quatracs especially are
MEANT to look a little bulgy & feel/ride a little softer at their correct pressure for whatever load they are carrying! :thumbup: