what kind of tire pressure ar you guys running?

I am running 50 in all four on stock tires and wheels.

 

Right now I have 70 lbs in the front on 305 BFG's. (They are a 65 lb max tire)

Dodge says you have to run maximum air pressure in front to avoid death wobble (TSB 25-006-05 is that correct? going by memory here)

My BFG's are oversized, so I got a load pressure chart from BFG. To match the loads on my original 265's I only needed to run about 25lbs in the rear and 35 in the front. I usually run full air in front and 45 in the back unless I load the truck, then I adjust pressure accordingly.

So it depends on your tire and your load to do it right.....

 

55psi front, 40psi rear.

MikeyB

 

Running empty 50 psi front,40 psi rear

 

you guys have stock tires?

 

Running 35" Toyo MT's that are E rated with very stout sidewalls allow me to run 42 front and 35 rear, just like you would on a half-ton truck.

 

Humm I may try dropping the rear down some then and see if it ride better in the rear. The front at 50 lbs looks as if it could use a little more air.

 

Discount Tire recommended 70 in front and 80 in the rear of my stock 265 BFG AT KO's.

 

That is gonna give you a hard rough ride if you are not loaded down. Plus will wear down centers of tires a lot faster. I run 60 front/40 rear on my stock BFGs. The drivers door pillar of my truck has three tire pressure charts with different recommended pressures depending on how much trick is loaded. the highest tire pressures were for fully loaded trucks.

 

I was told it would be fine for tire wear......at those pressures it rides like a caddy.......better for fuel economy also.

 

I run 80 in the front on both trucks because the weight of the engine has no problem fully pressing the tread of the tire to the road, plus it's best for fuel mileage. On the 06 I run 45 - 55 in the rear's since it's a DRW. This also works well for fuel mileage and the centers of the tires haven't worn out. I run about 60 in the rears on the 92' since it's a SRW, and again this is a good compromise for mileage. I don't really worry about ride quality, both trucks tend to ride about the same. If I had wanted a plush ride I would've bought a Cadillac.

 

Stock size E rated tires, summer 65psi front, 50-55psi rear. Winter 50-55psi front, 40psi rear. All unloaded pressures. Never really towed or hauled heavy, but I'd bump the pressure (rear especially) up accordingly.
On my 285 D rated (God forbid!) tires. 50psi front, 35-40psi rear. Only ran them in the winter though.
I've aired the 285's down to 20-25psi in deep snow off road. Helps a bunch with traction. Didn't drive too bad getting home, but I took it slow.

 

Not being a smart azz, but there's something you guys have to understand about tires.

Tires are a balloon that holds air. The manufacturer designs the tire to perform under certain parameters.

When the tire has lots of air in it, it gets hard yes, but the contact patch is smaller (load / PSI = size of tire patch on ground) the tire flexes less and the center may bulge.

With less air in it the contact patch gets bigger, the tire flexes more (and heats up more) and is softer.

Now follow me closely..... the tire designer wants his tire flex and contact patch just as designed. These two things are controlled by pressure and weight. If you hold less weight, you should have less pressure. More weight needs more pressure.

The sticker on your door is for stock size tires. Change the tires, and that sticker is junk. Do yourself a favor and call your tire manufacturer's tech line and discuss this with them. Get past their initial reaction to follow all manufacturer's recommendations, as you have a different sized tire.

Weigh your axles and look at the tire manufacturer's load index chart. At any given load on the tire, the designer will specify the correct air pressure to run that tire to give maximum performance as designed.

Michelin LTX 265/70/R17
Load Index Chart
PSI / Lbs Capacity

35 1890
40 2075
45 2255
50 2470
55 2595
60 2760
65 2910
70 3005
75 3100
80 3195

BFG 305/65/R17
Load Index Chart
PSI / Lbs Capacity

35 2205
40 2385
45 2590
50 2835
55 2955
60 3075
65 3195


The door sticker on my truck says my stock LTX tires should run at 50psi in the front. That would be a carrying capacity of 2470 lbs each. To match that with the BFG's I should run about 42 pounds of air. In the rear I would be at about 35 psi with the BFG's to match the original LTX 40 psi. Note that these numbers are high! There's no harm running excess pressure in tires, but running a tire low is devastating! This is why Discount Tire always tells you you need more air in the rear than in the front. The rear weighs less, but they want to cover their butts if you load your truck and don't add rear air pressure.

I have weighed my front axle at 4,200 pounds. The rear is at 3,500. I can look at the chart and see exactly what pressure to run. (Of course you divide the axle weight by 2 to get individual tire load! )

Now for the wrinkles!!! Tires are supposed to have the designed rim width, and my BFG's would run better on a 9" rim. On my 8" rim the center wears out faster because the tire is being pinched. Also, you will not hurt the tire running higher pressures! Michelin actually issued a statement that their trailer tires should be run 10 psi higher than the maximum stated on the sidewall. Dodge has issued a TSB stating all trucks with the solid front axle should run maximum air in the front at all times.

 

I think if I follwed their TSB, I'd be bouncing all over the roads.

Bumps and asphalt filled potholes are all over here on city streets. My Toyo's do not need anymore air than the way I have them now at 42/35. Because of their sidewall, I could airdown further to 38/30 or so. When I had the D rated Toyo AT's, I had to max them out at 50psi, and they still looked like they wanted more air. Not so with the E rated Toyo MT's. They look plenty full at 42/35. But, I don't tow. I just throw 2 or 3 dirt bikes in the back once in awhile.

To each his own.

 

On stock 60 front 45 rear