Fully Inflated Tires..

[jro909]

just curious i have my tires pumped up to i want to say 35 psi or 40..can't remeber its been a long day..anyway just out curiosity does it pose any damaging effects besides ride quality?

[tanked_darren]

just curious i have my tires pumped up to i want to say 35 psi or 40..can't remeber its been a long day..anyway just out curiosity does it pose any damaging effects besides ride quality?

 

 

35psi is what you want. Its on the door, or pillar. Effects of over or under inflation are: abnormal tire wear, rough ride, apparently it effects MPG's

 

 

The only reason to ever go over 35 is for hauling, also check your tires, most 1/2 tons dont have "LT" tires and only are rated for 35 psi anyways

 

 

I should add when I was a wee lad my old man told me to inflate my tires on my first car (a mustang) to 30psi, he was wrong it should have been 35. Long story short my tires wore funny, it really does effect the wear over time if you consistantly have them at the wrong pressure.

[jro909]

part of the reason i keep my tires fully inflated is for mpgs and normal wear, i was just curious if its taking a toll on my suspension and bilsteins

[redvett]

Keep you tire pressure as close to the MFR recommended PSI, over pressure will wear the center of the tread out sooner.

[Matt_]

Over inflated tires=

Increased tread wear

Harsh ride

Increases wear on suspension (harsh ride for humans is also a harsh ride for suspension....)

Reduced traction

Reduced maneuverability

Increased breaking distace

 

Proper tire pressure is very important. Under inflation will also cause bad tread wear, reduced MPG and increased likelihood of damage or tire failure.

[kawtoy_77]

The max tire pressure on the sidewall of my tire is 44psi, the door says to inflate to 35psi. I run my tires at 40psi because if I run them any lower they look like they are flat. If I run them higher, ride quality suffers, and they are over the max psi on the tire after they are warmed up. I wouldn't recommend running the tires at their max psi, but I wouldn't recommend running them at what your inner door says either. My tires don't wear funny at all.

[KMGZ400]

i inflate to about 42-43 PSI to lower rolling resistance when i go to the track to race, but i keep them at 35 everytime else.

(just the fronts)

[jro909]

i went out and checked...35 psi and the tires seem like they are made of rock lol...

[ChevyTech77]

General's and Cooper's feel like rocks no matter what the tire pressure, imo.

[jro909]

General's and Cooper's feel like rocks no matter what the tire pressure, imo.

 

 

so no worries?

[ChevyTech77]

General's and Cooper's feel like rocks no matter what the tire pressure, imo.

 

 

so no worries?

 

 

Nah, not really. I'd keep them set to the pressures listed on the tire label, on the truck and drive it.

[Slabi]

Stick to the psi listed on the door sticker, It's what the truck was designed to run at.

[tyhuck]

Well, Ive been out of the business for years now, but when I was in high school and college I worked at 2 different tire stores. Our recomendation was always to match the factory specs on the door. But, we had several customers that would run tires that were a higher weight rating than the stock tires were. So, we always told them to run a happy medium between the factory specs and the max pressure on the tire.

 

Example, factory = 35psi, and tire rating = 50psi. Thats a 15psi difference so we would recomend half of that. We would suggest you run 42-43psi. That should get you where you need to be as long as your truck suspension was in good shape and properly alligned.

[Matt_]

Guys, there is actually a steadfast way to determine what pressure to run your tires at if you changes sizes and/or load range. You simply look at what load the OEM tires can handle or (which i prefer) the GAWR of the rear axle (which is always higher than the front GAWR) and divide that by 2 to get the required load.

 

Then you simply look at the TRA (North American Tire and Rim Association) chart to figure out what pressure is recommended.

 

FYI: in almost every case i've seen, 40 PSI more than covers the load requirements for a 1500 series truck. Even 35 PSI is good for most tire sizes for an un-loaded 1500 daily driver. I always bump the rear pressures up to 48-50 when towing/hauling just for added sway control (you don't want to go too high or else you'll reduce your contact patch and thereby reduce traction, which can be extremely hazardous while towing)

 

This is a Toyo link, but the TRA tables are NOT brand specific (other manufacturers have the same charts): http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/loadinflationtable.pdf

(The LT inflation charts start on page 20 of 23)

 

If someone wants me to do an example for them, post up your stock tire size & pressure, your GAWR and your new LT tire size.

[stlavsa]

Matt made a lot of good points.. especially for towing a load. For unloaded vehicle you want the contact patch to be flat that way the tires wear evenly..

 

Too much pressue and the center wears, too little and ur mpg suffers and I guess the sides would wear.. U can do a test with chalk or spray paint..