widnert
Lil-Rokslider
This was only slightly brushed over above but, I think it deserves much more attention from folks, when discussing a tire's ride and longevity.
Most tire shops will inflate tires to their Max PSI rating. Now, on cars, and some SUVs, this is okay. On trucks, pretty dumb. This wears out a tire from the center first, creates abnormal wear on your front tires and causes a more harsh ride on your truck. Why? Just about every tire shop does max-out the tire pressure though. How many of you load up your truck bed every time you drive, to it's max capacity? Most likely, most of you hardly have any load at all in your truck bed, most days. Why would you max out the pressure in your rear tires? Or, even your front tires for that matter?
Go to the tire manufacturers websites directly and read up on their recommendations. You might surprise yourself what you find. A lot of them are referring folks to the vehicle manufacturers label on the vehicle, in the door jamb. Even that doesn't provide "good" info a lot of times. It seems the Firestone tire tread separation issues from the late '90's got everyone scared so now they just don't tell you or, tell you to max-inflate your tires.
As a reference, I have a 2011 F-350. Stock tire size is 275-70/R18. Calls for an "E" load rating. I currently run BFG KO2 all terrains - stock size. On the sidewall, I read that the max load capacity for each tire is ~3700lbs @ 80psi. That's 7400lbs combined, per axle. The back of the truck only weighs ~3000lbs empty. Why would I want to max out my tire pressure and run up on the center of the tread and give myself a harsh ride during day-to-day driving? When the truck is empty, there is less than half the carrying capacity sitting on those back tires.
I drop the rear tires to 55-60lbs psi. Makes them run with a nice flat patch on the ground and wears them evenly. On the fronts, I run 65-70lbs psi. Diesel engine adds some weight up there. Again, looking for nice flat patch and as much even wear as possible without being too flat. Basically, 3 to 4 treads on the ground when sitting still.
When I load-up the slide-in truck camper, then I go to max pressure because it loads up the truck to just under it's max carrying capacity. All tires go to 80 psi. Then, the patch of tire touching the ground matches what I see when the truck is unloaded.
Under-inflation is very bad so use your noggin' when doing this. Too little pressure and your tires will run hotter than they are supposed to. A little experimentation as you figure out the best pressure for your tires on your rig, is something everyone should do. You'll improve your ride and get the full life out of each set of tires by spending a little time working through this. Back in the day, this was common knowledge at all tire stores. Now, not so much.
FWIW - I've been running the BFG's on my rig since the stock set wore out at 26k. I get 50-60k out of each set doing this. Just some advice, take it or leave it.
Most tire shops will inflate tires to their Max PSI rating. Now, on cars, and some SUVs, this is okay. On trucks, pretty dumb. This wears out a tire from the center first, creates abnormal wear on your front tires and causes a more harsh ride on your truck. Why? Just about every tire shop does max-out the tire pressure though. How many of you load up your truck bed every time you drive, to it's max capacity? Most likely, most of you hardly have any load at all in your truck bed, most days. Why would you max out the pressure in your rear tires? Or, even your front tires for that matter?
Go to the tire manufacturers websites directly and read up on their recommendations. You might surprise yourself what you find. A lot of them are referring folks to the vehicle manufacturers label on the vehicle, in the door jamb. Even that doesn't provide "good" info a lot of times. It seems the Firestone tire tread separation issues from the late '90's got everyone scared so now they just don't tell you or, tell you to max-inflate your tires.
As a reference, I have a 2011 F-350. Stock tire size is 275-70/R18. Calls for an "E" load rating. I currently run BFG KO2 all terrains - stock size. On the sidewall, I read that the max load capacity for each tire is ~3700lbs @ 80psi. That's 7400lbs combined, per axle. The back of the truck only weighs ~3000lbs empty. Why would I want to max out my tire pressure and run up on the center of the tread and give myself a harsh ride during day-to-day driving? When the truck is empty, there is less than half the carrying capacity sitting on those back tires.
I drop the rear tires to 55-60lbs psi. Makes them run with a nice flat patch on the ground and wears them evenly. On the fronts, I run 65-70lbs psi. Diesel engine adds some weight up there. Again, looking for nice flat patch and as much even wear as possible without being too flat. Basically, 3 to 4 treads on the ground when sitting still.
When I load-up the slide-in truck camper, then I go to max pressure because it loads up the truck to just under it's max carrying capacity. All tires go to 80 psi. Then, the patch of tire touching the ground matches what I see when the truck is unloaded.
Under-inflation is very bad so use your noggin' when doing this. Too little pressure and your tires will run hotter than they are supposed to. A little experimentation as you figure out the best pressure for your tires on your rig, is something everyone should do. You'll improve your ride and get the full life out of each set of tires by spending a little time working through this. Back in the day, this was common knowledge at all tire stores. Now, not so much.
FWIW - I've been running the BFG's on my rig since the stock set wore out at 26k. I get 50-60k out of each set doing this. Just some advice, take it or leave it.
