Just got new tires.....question

ron mexico75 · July 21, 2015

So I just got some new BGF AT KO2's. They look really good. 4th set of BFG AT's but these are the new tread pattern. Got a great price on them at Costco. By the way, these are on my 2002 2500HD. I've always had load range D and have driven them at around 35-39 PSI unless I'm hauling dirt, rock or towing something heavy. I always remember the max psi printed on the tires as 65 psi.

Well the tech at Costco backed my truck out and I got in and drove away. Once I go onto the road and got up to 45-50 my teeth were vibrating at every bump in the road. In addition,the truck felt like I was driving on ice when I came into any curve or turn. Well I get home and look at the tires to measure the psi. First and foremost they have green caps on them and Costco said they were filled with nitrogen. Second, I measure the psi and in the front they are at 55 and the back 80! That's what the label on the driver side door jamb says. I'm like, why would they do that when I know the max psi is 65 which I'm sure the tires have always said going on 10-12 years now.

I happen to look closely at the tires and the load range says E to my surprise! It also says max psi is 80! I'm blown away at this point. I didn't know they made load range of E. The max weight rating says 3750 and I believe the old BFG's I had were around 3200 or so.

So this is what I did and I need to know if it's not good or if it's ok. I let a lot of air out of the rear. Took them down to 40 psi. I then took some air out of the front and took those down to 44 psi. On all 4 tires I ended up taking them down lower than I wanted to, so I added more regular air to them but they already had nitrogen. Is that a problem?

The truck feels like it rides really good now. No more knocking my teeth around and it feels like a nice smooth ride. No more feeling like driving on ice. Maybe that's because Costco filled them to max psi and I wasn't towing or hauling?

I filled the front up 4 more pounds than the rear because of the extra weight up front. You think that's ok? 44 up front 40 in the back?

Just checking on those 2 things. The psi I took them to and adding regular air into the nitrogen filled tires. Also, when I tow or haul I definitely add air to the rear to at least 65-70 psi. Any help is appreciated.

kstruckcountry · July 21, 2015

Nothing wrong with running them at a lower psi. Nitrogen is a joke, no worries filling them with regular air.

ron mexico75 · July 21, 2015

Nothing wrong with running them at a lower psi. Nitrogen is a joke, no worries filling them with regular air.

Ok , I didn't think so but I wanted to see if that seemed too low, 44 in front 40 in back when the door says 55/80. I know that's for the stock tire which was like a 245 or something.

kevin_nj · July 21, 2015

I wouldn't run them that low, it will kill your mpg, kill the tread life, and increases tire temps, which will also shorten the tire life.

I run 65F/70R, which is door spec. Newer truck, but still 2500HD, and same tire.

I'd be leaning towards one or more tire not properly balanced. You want them road force balanced, and get the print out showing it was done and in spec.

ron mexico75 · July 21, 2015

I wouldn't run them that low, it will kill your mpg, kill the tread life, and increases tire temps, which will also shorten the tire life.

I run 65F/70R, which is door spec. Newer truck, but still 2500HD, and same tire.

I'd be leaning towards one or more tire not properly balanced. You want them road force balanced, and get the print out showing it was done and in spec.

Damn, I've been running them that low for almost 12 years now. I've always gotten around 50,000 miles out of them. I don't think it's a balance issue because the truck runs fine. To vibration or wobble or noise. The slick hard ride was due to max psi in an empty truck I think. This happened with my old BFG's too when a tire shop did the same thing.

kstruckcountry · July 21, 2015

Actually running full psi in an empty truck will be bad for the tread wear. The pressure needs to be adjusted based on the weight the pickup is carrying.

kevin_nj · July 21, 2015

You said older tires were lower load range, they run lower psi.

ron mexico75 · July 21, 2015

You said older tires were lower load range, they run lower psi.

Oh yeah I know that. But you still don't run max psi, would you? The old were 65 max psi, I ran them upper 30s to around 40 for many years. Now these new BFG's have a max of 80. I'm just wondering if anyone else on this site has them or can advise a good range to run them in. I got a few answers here was wondering if I could get more input or someone who's had the tires before maybe post?

Is there a specific formula to use? Like weight that's on the tire versus the max load and max psi?

kevin_nj · July 21, 2015

I do not run tire max, I run door spec, which is generally less than tire max.

My preference.

ron mexico75 · July 21, 2015

I do not run tire max, I run door spec, which is generally less than tire max.

My preference.

Yeah, but if I do that it's causing an issue, at least I'm pretty sure it is. My door says 80 for the rear tires. However, the BFG tire sidewall says MAX psi is 80????

ron mexico75 · July 21, 2015

Well I ran the D range BFG's for many years that had a max psi of 65 at 40 all the time. Maybe these new load range E tires with a max psi of 80 I should run at 55 all the way around?

I would call Costco but I think that might just give me a headache and piss me off. When I asked the tech yesterday before leaving, he said we inflated the to what the inside of your door said.

I thought o myself later, why would you do that considering my door says 80 for the rear and the MAX written on the tire is 80! Why would I drive around 24/7 at MAX psi???

ron mexico75 · July 21, 2015

Just spoke to a guy at my work. He has BFG AT's in load range E and I never knew that. He said he has ran his at 50 psi in all 4 for several years and they have worn fine and the truck drives fine. Guess I'll go that route and see.