Tire Air Pressure Qustion

[Beebe]

I have found a wealth of great information here, and decided to ask some of your opinions. I have a 2000 Chevy 1500 4x4 that the previous owner body lifted, and had BFGoodrich LT295/75/16 All-Terrain TA KO tires mounted. What I was wondering is what air pressure should I be at? A friend, and mechanic, says to inflate to the max. psi posted on the tire. In this case 65psi. I had the front end alighned this week, and they told me that I am over inflating them, and I should be at 35psi. The placard says 35psi, but for stock tires, which are 265/75/16. Thanks.

 

Dave

[66nova]

I have found a wealth of great information here, and decided to ask some of your opinions. I have a 2000 Chevy 1500 4x4 that the previous owner body lifted, and had BFGoodrich LT295/75/16 All-Terrain TA KO tires mounted. What I was wondering is what air pressure should I be at? A friend, and mechanic, says to inflate to the max. psi posted on the tire. In this case 65psi. I had the front end alighned this week, and they told me that I am over inflating them, and I should be at 35psi. The placard says 35psi, but for stock tires, which are 265/75/16. Thanks.

 

Dave

 

 

This depends entirely on the tire, wheel, weight, etc. In other words we cannot tell you exactly. But I will give you my opinion. I would say based on that tire size and your truck you should be somewhere in the middle of those two pressures. I don't ever run max pressure unless I am towing or hauling a lot of weight. It would ride too damn harsh unloaded and the tire will wear too much in the center. To me 35 sounds low for that tire. I would start somewhere around 45 make adjustments based on wear and ride. You want a nice even wear pattern across the entire width of the tire.

 

Wearing on the outside = Too little pressure

 

 

Wearing in the center = Too much pressure.

 

Hope this helps

[04SILVRADO]

I have found a wealth of great information here, and decided to ask some of your opinions. I have a 2000 Chevy 1500 4x4 that the previous owner body lifted, and had BFGoodrich LT295/75/16 All-Terrain TA KO tires mounted. What I was wondering is what air pressure should I be at? A friend, and mechanic, says to inflate to the max. psi posted on the tire. In this case 65psi. I had the front end alighned this week, and they told me that I am over inflating them, and I should be at 35psi. The placard says 35psi, but for stock tires, which are 265/75/16. Thanks.

 

Dave

When I had 285's on my 04 Silverado same brand tire as you have. Mine were comfortable @ 40 all the way around.

[Zembonez]

I have found a wealth of great information here, and decided to ask some of your opinions. I have a 2000 Chevy 1500 4x4 that the previous owner body lifted, and had BFGoodrich LT295/75/16 All-Terrain TA KO tires mounted. What I was wondering is what air pressure should I be at? A friend, and mechanic, says to inflate to the max. psi posted on the tire. In this case 65psi. I had the front end alighned this week, and they told me that I am over inflating them, and I should be at 35psi. The placard says 35psi, but for stock tires, which are 265/75/16. Thanks.

 

Dave

When I had 285's on my 04 Silverado same brand tire as you have. Mine were comfortable @ 40 all the way around.

 

+1

 

You DO NOT want to run the tires at MAX Pressure for several reasons. For one, the tires will wear out in the center at a very fast pace. Second, the darn things will ride like rocks. I've always run 35 pounds in my BFGs and had really good results with the ride, handling and especially wear. Max pressure is to be used when the tires are being worked at or near their limits. Carrying or towing super heavy loads, etc.

[2000DV4.8]

I have found a wealth of great information here, and decided to ask some of your opinions. I have a 2000 Chevy 1500 4x4 that the previous owner body lifted, and had BFGoodrich LT295/75/16 All-Terrain TA KO tires mounted. What I was wondering is what air pressure should I be at? A friend, and mechanic, says to inflate to the max. psi posted on the tire. In this case 65psi. I had the front end alighned this week, and they told me that I am over inflating them, and I should be at 35psi. The placard says 35psi, but for stock tires, which are 265/75/16. Thanks.

 

Dave

When I had 285's on my 04 Silverado same brand tire as you have. Mine were comfortable @ 40 all the way around.

 

+1

 

You DO NOT want to run the tires at MAX Pressure for several reasons. For one, the tires will wear out in the center at a very fast pace. Second, the darn things will ride like rocks. I've always run 35 pounds in my BFGs and had really good results with the ride, handling and especially wear. Max pressure is to be used when the tires are being worked at or near their limits. Carrying or towing super heavy loads, etc.

 

 

Agreed.

 

I simply can't understand why so many seemingly knowledgeable people recommend inflating to max PSI, it is almost never the right answer.

 

What load range are the tires on your truck? (should be D or E).

[Beebe]

Thanks for the info all.

My load range is D. And I have noticed that it does ride like it's on rocks. I think I'm gonna drop down to 45psi and see how that rides. 35psi just seems low for that tire in my opinion.

[RyanbabZ71]

I run 52-55 in my 285s

[Zembonez]

Thanks for the info all.

My load range is D. And I have noticed that it does ride like it's on rocks. I think I'm gonna drop down to 45psi and see how that rides. 35psi just seems low for that tire in my opinion.

Well, everybody has an opinion but I've put several hundred thousand miles on BFG All Terrains at 35 psi. Never a single problem. They ride great and last forever. Look at your truck's sticker and see what is recommended pressure.

[cujo8]

Another reason not to fill your tires to the max tire pressure is because when you fill them to max pressure when they're cold they will be over the max pressure when they're hot .

[66nova]

Another reason not to fill your tires to the max tire pressure is because when you fill them to max pressure when they're cold they will be over the max pressure when they're hot .

 

 

While this is true. The pressure posted on the side of the tire is Max Cold pressure. Tire company's realize pressures will increase with heat.

[DBVille]

Another reason not to fill your tires to the max tire pressure is because when you fill them to max pressure when they're cold they will be over the max pressure when they're hot .

 

 

While this is true. The pressure posted on the side of the tire is Max Cold pressure. Tire company's realize pressures will increase with heat.

 

+1

 

Pressures in tires, unless you are racing, are always specified cold.

 

Also, to repeat, the maximum pressure on the sidewall is the maximum, not what you should use!! Wear, handling, and load all go into selecting what pressure you should run. If approaching the maximum load on the tire, it needs to be near maximum pressure. Otherwise whatever works for wear and handling is fine.

[Spurshot]

Also consider using a lower pressure in the rear tires when lightly loaded. I run 65psi in the fronts of my 2500 (load range E) and about 50-55 psi in the rear. This combination has given me the best tread wear/handling combination over the 200,000 miles I've had the truck. When I load it up for a long hunting trip, I increase the rear tires to 65 psi.

 

For your truck/tire combo, I'd agree with the range suggested by the guys above...maybe push the fronts up to 50 ish and rears down to 40 ish depending on what load you're carrying, then watch the wear and see how you like the handling. Too high, you get the center wear mentioned above, plus the harsher ride, too low and the truck will feel squirmy, steering response is sluggish, etc. The trick is finding the balance for the way you drive, your truck as loaded, etc..

[2000DV4.8]

Also consider using a lower pressure in the rear tires when lightly loaded. I run 65psi in the fronts of my 2500 (load range E) and about 50-55 psi in the rear. This combination has given me the best tread wear/handling combination over the 200,000 miles I've had the truck. When I load it up for a long hunting trip, I increase the rear tires to 65 psi.

 

For your truck/tire combo, I'd agree with the range suggested by the guys above...maybe push the fronts up to 50 ish and rears down to 40 ish depending on what load you're carrying, then watch the wear and see how you like the handling. Too high, you get the center wear mentioned above, plus the harsher ride, too low and the truck will feel squirmy, steering response is sluggish, etc. The trick is finding the balance for the way you drive, your truck as loaded, etc..

 

I'd say 50 in the front is definitely too high for a half ton. In theory, since the BFGs have a higher load rating and stiffer sidewall than the OEM tire, you could run a lower pressure. Now I definitely wouldn't recommend that, but there's no need for 50psi in any tire on an empty half ton.

 

The chalk test is a good way to find out what pressure is appropriate. Put a little more air in the tires than you think is necessary, draw line of chalk across each tire, and drive around the block (obviously avoiding any water). If the center is the only part of the chalk line that is gone, deflate, and try again until all of the chalk is worn off.

[03blackz71]

On my truck I run 45 psi front and 40 rear. And this has been working well for me. It is the best I have found for my truck for handling and ride. And I always run lower psi in the rear just because I have no weight back there and when I do have a load I just inflate them up to match the front.

 

Also in the winter I run lower psi for traction. Usually 40 front and 35 back.

[alwcurlz]

On mine, which are Bridgestone Dueler A/T, 265/65R18, it shows a max of 44psi for load rating of 2,469lbs. I keep all four tires between 40-45psi. Lower tire pressure means more work the vehicle must overtake with the extra drag. One way to see if you're getting even tread wear would be to get a tire tread depth gauge and check the tread depth over time. Increased tire pressure will make the vehicle feel lighter and more responsive which will improve fuel economy, although it's a rougher ride obviously. Each style of tire responds quite differently depending on it's design. It's a good rule of thumb to keep tire pressures between the standard vehicle min and tire max.