Psi Recommendations For New Tires

[[email protected]]

hey everybody, just wanted to know if any one has any suggestions on what tire pressure i should be running my new tires at, my chev is a 1500 and i just put on mickey thompson baja atz's. Max tire pressure as most of you already know for 33" off road tires is rated at 80 psi. i just want to get the best mileage i can since i drive 85% highway. I think i heard a guy mention he runs 65 front 60 rear or vice versa, please let me know what you think, right now im running them on 40 psi all round, thanks, any help or suggestions you may have is greatly appreciated.

[twavor]

What does it say on the sidewall of the tire for max pressure? I've got an old pair of 33" Mickey Thompsons out in the barn that recommended no more than 35 psi or something like that. 80psi is usually for a 10 ply tire.

 

Travis

[[email protected]]

What does it say on the sidewall of the tire for max pressure? I've got an old pair of 33" Mickey Thompsons out in the barn that recommended no more than 35 psi or something like that. 80psi is usually for a 10 ply tire.

 

Travis

 

 

says max 80 psi from what i could see, should i bring them back down to the vehicles recommended 35 psi max?

[Matt_]

I ran my ATZ's at 32-33 rear and 38ish up front (or 40F and 35R for nice round numbers).

 

When towing, i'd bump the rears up to 50.

 

You definitely DONT want to run them at max PSI... that's for a fully loaded HD truck, not a 1500

[[email protected]]

Thanks guys, appreciate your help

[358429]

I ran my ATZ's at 32-33 rear and 38ish up front (or 40F and 35R for nice round numbers).

 

When towing, i'd bump the rears up to 50.

 

You definitely DONT want to run them at max PSI... that's for a fully loaded HD truck, not a 1500

 

Matt, what are you basing this on? GVW? Is there a reference that relates GVW to appropriate inflation pressure?

[Matt_]

Its based on my experience and knowledge.

 

I could always tell when someone was running too much pressure in their tires based on tread wear. From the hundreds of 1500 series trucks that I've worked on (and almost all my customers were repeats), I've found that anything over 40psi is overkill for an unloaded 1500 series truck. I've also found the sweet spot is to have the rear tires about 5-10 psi lower (this helps in both ride quality and tread wear).

 

I've also been through a lot of tires on my vehicles and have had great results in terms of handling, traction, tread wear and ride quality.

 

There is no direct correlation between psi and gvw because tire size is a variable in the equation. However, if you try using linear interpolation on most D and E rated tires based on the manufacturers data sheet, I've found that 50 psi in the rear is plenty for the max load that a 1500 light duty truck can carry.

[358429]

 

Thanks, I know I've asked you the same question several times. I have trouble accepting information given to me without some sort of evidence or factual justification. Just a result of bring an engineer in an unrelated field I guess. From reading your posts it seems like you have a fair amount of experience, so thats why I keep asking the questions. Thanks.

[Matt_]

Thanks, I know I've asked you the same question several times. I have trouble accepting information given to me without some sort of evidence or factual justification. Just a result of bring an engineer in an unrelated field I guess. From reading your posts it seems like you have a fair amount of experience, so thats why I keep asking the questions. Thanks.

 

What field is that? I have a Mech-E degree & an aerospace certificate if it makes you feel any better