How much air ?

BAD2500HD · September 1, 2005

Was wondering if anybody could help me out with this, my son owns a 1994 chevy 1/2 ton with LT 265/75/16 tires on it, now does anybody know how much air we should run in them? what does factory say? the tires say max i think is 60psi which is way to much, now i know there is the tab on the drivers door but it has been kind of worn off and is very hard to read. the GM dealer said 35psi or look in the book ,well nothing in the ownwers man. so he asked his auto shop teacher and he said that he set's everything at 35psi but to me this doesn't sound right and the tires are starting to wear on the outsides and on the insides but the center seems good, i told him he should ad some air in them and that might bring it back to were it wears even (40-45psi) any help would be great ! thanks.

redvett · September 2, 2005

Check the sticker on the drivers door for the correct pressure for your vehicle.

99silveradoz71 · September 2, 2005

now i know there is the tab on the drivers door but it has been kind of worn off and is very hard to read.

I'm guessing RedVett didn't see that. I upgraded from the P265's on my 99 to LT265's, which allow for a max pressure of 55. I had been running 40 in them, but recently upped it to 50 thinking that might help with some inside cupping(I'm not a tire guy, so I just assumed 40 was too low)and even things out. I'd probably go somewhere in between the door sticker(likely 35psi) and the tire's max.

dgood · September 2, 2005

35psi is too low for the LT tire, that will only apply to the stock P265. You need to check the load range of that tire with the manufacturer to see what the recommended inflation is. Although I can't guess what it should be since I've never run LT tires, but if you're wearing more on the sides you're obviously underinflated. I'd raise it to at least 50psi until you find out for certain what you should be running.

MS3DALE · September 2, 2005

I've run nothing but 35 psi in all my LT265/75R16 Tires (All Goodyears by the way) for the past 12 years (Four different trucks-'93-'94-'97-'99) and always got great wear!

I run 35 psi in my '04 with LT265/70R17 Tires and I'm getting excellent wear on those too!

dgood · September 2, 2005

Here's one ref for ya:

http://www.goodyear.com/truck/pdf/databook/loadInflation.pdf

All depends on the load. 35psi will work but if you're seeing tire wear, gotta adjust it.

MS3DALE · September 2, 2005

Good article dgood! (Plus its from Goodyear and thats the only tires I run)

I should have mentioned that I don't haul or tow much so 35 psi is fine for me,but It's not a bad idea to increase it if your hauling or towing heavy loads.

dgood · September 2, 2005

Good article dgood! (Plus its from Goodyear and thats the only tires I run)
I should have mentioned that I don't haul or tow much so 35 psi is fine for me,but It's not a bad idea to increase it if your hauling or towing heavy loads.

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Thanks Found similar info published by Michelin/BFG as well:

http://www.michelinman.com/assets/pdfs/doc_ltxms.pdf

BAD2500HD · September 2, 2005

Thanks guys, i'm going to have him start with the air up to 45psi and see if that helps i said the samething 35psi is way to low but you know 17yr olds they would rather do what somebody else said then what the old man said , i told him before i would go to 45-50 but? not sure what it saids on the tires, but there cordoven , came with truck when he got it, not to great a tire anyhow, not good in mud and sure isn't in the snow ! so he might be going to something diffrent sometime soon . does anybody know what GM does say on the sticker on the door ? 1994 chevy 1/2 4wd extra cab? thanks again glad to see there are people that are still willing to help !

MS3DALE · September 3, 2005

does anybody know what GM does say on the sticker on the door ? 1994 chevy 1/2 4wd extra cab? thanks again glad to see there are people that are still willing to help !

I had the same truck ('94 K1500 1/2 ton 4x4 Z71 Ext.Cab) and I think it was 35psi.

As a matter of fact the guy who bought the truck off of me is a buddy of mine and still has it,I'll have him double check it over the weekend and get back to you if its any different.

93Stocker · September 3, 2005

does anybody know what GM does say on the sticker on the door ? 1994 chevy 1/2 4wd extra cab? thanks again glad to see there are people that are still willing to help !

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For the '93 in my sig below the tires on the door placard are LT245/75R16C with a recommended cold inflation pressure of 45 psi. (I don't have the Z-71 option). You can get OE tire spec information by entering your vehicle into tire recommenders on most tire manufacturer's websites. As can be verified by dgood's Goodyear Link, P-metric and LT-metric tires have different Load and Inflation Tables.

az'03Silverado · September 3, 2005

Just pump 'em up 'til they look fat.

Just kidding. I used to work at a golf course and that's what my boss told me to do with all of the equipment when I asked him for a tire pressure gage. But, seriously, if the max pressure is 55 I'd say 45 or so should be safe. It will help a little (and I mean little) with your mpg.

robot225 · September 3, 2005

Used to fun 45-50 in my C rated 265s on my '93. Got over 50k on a set of michelin atx's

MS3DALE · September 6, 2005

does anybody know what GM does say on the sticker on the door ? 1994 chevy 1/2 4wd extra cab? thanks again glad to see there are people that are still willing to help !

I had the same truck ('94 K1500 1/2 ton 4x4 Z71 Ext.Cab) and I think it was 35psi.

As a matter of fact the guy who bought the truck off of me is a buddy of mine and still has it,I'll have him double check it over the weekend and get back to you if its any different.

Well,I had him look for me and the label is unreadable,He says he runs 35psi in them.

Buy the way the tires he runs are the factory LT265/75R16 Load Range "C" Goodyear Wrangler TD's on the stock wheels in the winter time and in the summer he runs P265/75R16 Goodyear Wrangler RT/S's on custom wheels.

BAD2500HD · September 8, 2005

Thanks MS3Dale told him to go up to 45 and try it just see how it feels and see if there is any wear diffrents, ms3dale are you a Earnhardt fan? i am got a 3 with Dale's name tattoo'd on my arm ! see ya ! and thanks again !