Tire pressure

[caryain]

For everyone running 315/70 BFG's.



I have been experimenting with different tire pressures (unloaded) for wear, ride quality and noise and I am curious what pressures everyone else in general is running in these tires.



I started out with 46psi in the front and 44psi in the rear. The ride was harsh and the truck wanted to wander on the road. I also noticed that the tire did not seem to be making full contact with the road (slight rounding due to min. rim width).



I have ended up at 38psi in the front and 36psi in the rear. This gives me a very stable ride. The ride is also much smoother. The tires now appear to make full contact with the road. I was a little concerned with heat in the tires but I haven't noticed any increase in tire temps. The roads get extreemly hot here in Houston in the summer and most of my driving is on the freeways.

 

[Northerner]

This is a subject that raises many opinions. I run 35 35 without any problems without a load. raise it to 40 40 with a light load. and still no problems.

 

[sarj]

Originally ran 36/34 before the bilsteins snuck in. now running 42/38 empty & 46/42 pulling... the shocks are worth it.

 

[Bertram65]

I've been running 50psi front and 50psi rear, I could go lower in the rear but the front appears to have a pretty flat contact patch at 50psi. I would think the mileage would suffer if you drop below 45 and the tire would be buldging quite a bit. There is 4440 lbs on the front axle, that's about 2/3rds of the tires capacity at 50psi, apply the brakes hard and I think you can easily overload the tires at the lower presures.

 

[caryain]

That's an excellent point Bertram. These trucks do carry a lot of weight empty and a hard stop is certainly something to consider (especially here in Houston with all of the "mentally challenged" drivers). However, I haven't noticed any tire bulging with the lower pressures. I have only noticed that the tire now contacts the road across the full width of the tire.



As for the mileage, I have noticed a slight decrease with the lower pressures. I lost 1-2 tenths mpg.