Tire Pressure

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leroys73

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I run 65 front, 70 rear.

Yep, the factory setting is 80 psi in the rear of my 18 RAM 2500. I said wtf, that is max for max load which I have never carried. It even states on the tire max weight at that setting. My alarm would go off somewhere between 75 and 70. I gradually lowered it to 70 and got by with it. The other day when I drove it the pressure was in the high 60s on the rear with temps in the 30s. No alarm notice.

Our Town and Country and Challenger will at times show a flat tire then after a couple of hundred miles it fixes itself. The T&C will start with one "flat" then two, three, four flats. 200 or so miles later they are all fixed.

All of this idiot lights, warnings, and automatic stuff I could do without most. I do like my trim level so much of those things comes with. I do like, at times, the front and rear warnings when I get close to an object. Anti Lock brakes are OK too.

I have only been driving for 57 years in 20 countries, all kinds of weather. Also average 15,000 mile per year while riding a motorcycle in all states and most Canadian provinces. So what do I know?
 

TorqueWagon

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There is no specific pressure answer to this question. Every rig is different. Tire sizes, loaded weight, tongue weight - all are different in each situation for each truck. I have found that the best way to set your tire pressures, is to do a "chalk test" (Youtube has some videos on this). You rub chalk across your tread face from side to side and about a foot longwise around the tread face circumference. Drive straight forward a few yards on dry smooth asphalt or concrete. Look at the chalk on the tires. The goal is to see even contact across the tread face from inside to outside. If pressure too high, chalk will be left on the inner and outer edges. It sounds like a crazy thing to do but it works perfectly. Actually, with my 12" wide BF Goodrich AT KO2s, I don't even have to apply chalk. If I drive on a dusty street or driveway, I can see the same thing on the tread with just the fine debris from the driving surface. For my 3500 cummins, my rears with no trailer run about 48 with any empty bed (light load) and the fronts about 60 with that diesel weighing down on front. When I trailer with about 900 lbs tongue weight, my rear tires have full even road contact with about 53-55 PSI. Tires also wear great if you do this. you use ALL the tread and spread out the wear, thus longer tire life. A final thought- those TPMS gadgets.... forget about them. They misleading and drawing you to do the wrong things. They don't have all the information to get you to the correct tire pressure. Get a good tire guage and check your tires "in person" once in a while. While you're doing that, LOOK at the tire and inspect for damage or anything unusual. Just sayin......
 

JS4024

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When running my snow tires I run them at 60 front and 65 rear. Summer 70 front 75-80 rear. Ride does not seem to change much unless you are hitting a rail crossing at high speed.
 

JS4024

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I don't know how you guys can run lower than 70 psi in rears, cause one of the software "upgrades" throws an alarm below that. Previous software was 60 psi. The official FCA reasoning was "truck is designed for that".

My ass - the lawyers mandated it to dummy-proof from owners forgetting to air up when loaded.

I don’t think that is necessarily true. If you run the fronts up to 70 and the rears up to 80. Drive it around the block to clear the TPMS alert, then drop your pressures down to where u want them it should be fine. Mine has 60 front and 65 rear right now and I am getting no alerts. I believe the TPMS looks for differences between the front set and the rear set, and looks for one tire to go drifting.
 

HEMIMANN

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I don’t think that is necessarily true. If you run the fronts up to 70 and the rears up to 80. Drive it around the block to clear the TPMS alert, then drop your pressures down to where u want them it should be fine. Mine has 60 front and 65 rear right now and I am getting no alerts. I believe the TPMS looks for differences between the front set and the rear set, and looks for one tire to go drifting.

Thanks I'll try that, but think that's what I did the first time when I got the truck back from a recall where they revised the software and aired the tires up.
 

Timsdually

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I run about 70-75 on the front and the rear duals at about 55.
 

lpennock

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I run about 70-75 on the front and the rear duals at about 55.

If you running the stock 235r80-17 you are right at load rating on the tire so you may want to move it up a bit on the front. My 18 needs 72psi to match the actual axle load according to the TRA tables so I try to stay at least 75psi.

For the rears you could possibly drop to 35psi as that will give 6280 GAW for the duals or around 3000 lb of payload.
 

ridgeracing

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Bought truck (2020 2500 Tradesman 6.4) 3 months ago. Left dealership and truck was horrible driving, felt every bump through out! I drive 12000 mi a year, less than 1000 is hauling camper 3 times a year. I air up accordingly then. I lowered it to 65 Frt and 50 Rr and it rides 10 times better. Of course the tire low light and message/picture popped up right away. I took it into dealership at 3000mi for 1st oil change and requested the technician to fix/adjust my parameters. Service righter tells me after service is done that the cannot adjust TPMS because its programmed like that! Ridiculous!!! So I have to drive around with these lights/symbols on my new truck. I called RAM and put a claim in on issue, awaiting there response. There is no reason for an empty truck to drive around at (there minimum 65 PSI).
 

lpennock

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Bought truck (2020 2500 Tradesman 6.4) 3 months ago. Left dealership and truck was horrible driving, felt every bump through out! I drive 12000 mi a year, less than 1000 is hauling camper 3 times a year. I air up accordingly then. I lowered it to 65 Frt and 50 Rr and it rides 10 times better. Of course the tire low light and message/picture popped up right away. I took it into dealership at 3000mi for 1st oil change and requested the technician to fix/adjust my parameters. Service righter tells me after service is done that the cannot adjust TPMS because its programmed like that! Ridiculous!!! So I have to drive around with these lights/symbols on my new truck. I called RAM and put a claim in on issue, awaiting there response. There is no reason for an empty truck to drive around at (there minimum 65 PSI).
Go read post 19. You will have to use AlfaOBD to reset warning pressures.

Sent from my SM-T500 using Tapatalk
 

Riccochet

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I'm no rocket surgeon, but why would you be running higher pressure in the rear when unloaded?

All your weight is up front when not towing/hauling. You'd want higher pressure in the front, lower in the rear.
 

ridgeracing

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I'm no rocket surgeon, but why would you be running higher pressure in the rear when unloaded?

All your weight is up front when not towing/hauling. You'd want higher pressure in the front, lower in the rear.
That's my thoughts as well. I am fine running 65 in front. But my truck rides horrible being empty with 65 psi in rear. Take it down to 50 psi and it rides much better and tire still has no sag as compared to frt. Not to mention it gets better traction VS bumpy/chatter in rear
 

SniperDroid

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It was 5*f this morning when I went out to the Truck. Threw the low air pressure warning because it went below 60 pounds in one rear tire. Had to run it up to 70 psi to clear it. Ill be looking into AlphaOBD to clear this one up. I like to run about 65 in the front and 60 in the rear when empty. Bump the rear to 70 when towing the travel trailer at about 7500 pounds.
 

loveracing1988

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Lowering your tire pressure might/might not give a noticeably softer ride, but it could cause faster wear and reduced steering capabilities. Lowering tire pressure will also increase the amount of time rubber stays in contact with the road, increasing heat build up in the tire. A top reason for premature tire wear is improper inflation.
Yeah, this is true on a half ton truck, but when at 80psi my rear tires are missing half of their contact patch I consider that a bigger safety issue.
 

ridgeracing

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After dealership blowing me off saying they cant do anything I called RAM. Talked to a glorified secretary that passes information to engineering etc. she called me back and said they cant do anything either! Very upset that they do this to a 50K truck and I have to either feel every Pennsylvania bump etc. or deal with a warning light and gauge showing low rear tire pressure. The truck is empty going down the road, no reason for 65+psi!! My rear tires are not going to wear wrong because I have 50-55psi in them as well as no weight in bed or towing!
 

ridgeracing

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Guys - read back........it's not FCA's fault - it's the NHTSA mandating this.
Copy, just frustrated. Just seems ridiculous to make a setting so high, not every 3/4 ton truck drives around loaded. And even with 55-60 psi in rear it can haul axle/weight according to tire manufacture well above empty weight of truck.
 

Scotts26

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Copy, just frustrated. Just seems ridiculous to make a setting so high, not every 3/4 ton truck drives around loaded. And even with 55-60 psi in rear it can haul axle/weight according to tire manufacture well above empty weight of truck.

Just spend the $150 bucks and get the AEV Procal Snap and be done with it. 5 minutes and no more TPMS light. I’m running Falken 35’s on my 2020 Power Wagon at 45 PSI front and 40PSI rear.
https://www.aev-conversions.com/product/procal-snap-hd-ram/
 

ridgeracing

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I purchased AEV Procal Snap , installed in minutes and took care of TPMS. Works great!
 
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