tire pressure

[lumberjack98]

I only commute and occasionally haul and was wondering what tire pressure you are running i have 285-75-16's and am at 50psi seems ok but tread is wearing on the middle? thanks

 

[TowPro]

in my 98. 5 I waisted 1 set of tires following dodges recomendations (centers wore out in rear). Dodge said "when we say empty, we really mean there are still some tools in the bed).



I put the truck on a scale to get the true weight of the rearl axle. Knowing the weight on each rear tire, I looked up the PSI in the tire/weight tables that came with the truck. I think I was running 25psi in the rear empty. Truck stopped hopping on bumps and road real well. Next set of tires lasted 60K miles.

 

[lumberjack98]

no noticible wandering? (side to side sway into corners) seems low but there isn't much weight there. I bought my truck used and have no manual how can i find these tables you refer to? also front bulges a bit at 50psi. Thanks Ken

 

[TowPro]

Here is one from Goodyear. On my 02 Dually I took the rear weight devided by 4 and the charts did not go that low!



No, there was no wandering. In fact it worked better, no more sliding around corners When your tires are over inflated, the actual contact patch of the tire is very small, giving less traction.

 

[SnoKing]

I run around 56-58 in the front all the time, and let the rear down to 42 or so empty and around 70 towing the 5th wheel. Bobtail with 65-70 in the rear greatly decreases the handling and ride of the truck. Klenger has the inflation chart on his site, but it will not open for me. http://www.klenger.net SNOKING

 

[cwsoules]

I follow Dodge's recommendation of 50 psi front and 70 psi rear. It works well both when towing or not towing. I'm at 115,000 miles with no complaints.

 

[GP]

tire psi

I agree with TowPro. I have been tracking my wear closely so I can get the max mileage out of new tires (285 ProComp's) and the best psi, empty, seems to be about 35 front/30 rear. With a light pop-up in the bed, I go up to 45/45 to get the ride to feel right.

A friend did his "calibration" with a very light patch of water on his driveway. Drive through and check the tread pattern on the dry, looking for a consistant contact patch. He uses the same 35f/30r that I came up with by checking tread wear at decreasing pressures.

 

[SnoKing]

I follow Dodge's recommendation of 50 psi front and 70 psi rear. It works well both when towing or not towing. I'm at 115,000 miles with no complaints.

Man, you should try 42 or so empty and see the improvement in handling. SNOKING

 

[TowPro]

I forgot about the Chalk Method , its even cheeper then getting the truck on a scale.

 

[lumberjack98]

I'll give it a try seems low for the front as mine bulges with 50psi but heck what do i know. thanks for the info.

 

[TowPro]

I'll give it a try seems low for the front as mine bulges with 50psi but heck what do i know. thanks for the info.

that was something I had to "get over" in the late 70's when i was a mechanic. Bias plies have flat sidewalls, radials have a bulge when properly inflated. Its learning how big that bulge should be is the hard part. It stumped the Ford Engineers several times