Assistance with tire pressure

[My2ndgen678]

Hello, I recently purchased a 1996 Ram 2500 for my son. It was in need of new tires so I took it today for install. I purchased the Goodyear Ultra Terrain LT 265/75/16. The door says 80 psi on rear and 65 for front so that's what the guys at the shop put in. This seems very high to me since my son will not be hauling or towing anything. My question is, can the tire pressure be lowered to make it even on front/back? Does anyone have recommendations on this? I am just concerned with the ride on the road as well as even wear on the treads. Again, he will not be hauling or towing. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[GTyankee]

are the tires "D" or "E" rated
also look for the PLY Rating

 

[crash68]

My question is, can the tire pressure be lowered to make it even on front/back?

Lots of people run a lower tire pressure in the rears and sometimes the fronts too for a better ride. If he not hauling/towing anything, can probably get away with 60 psi.

 

[My2ndgen678]

its an E rated tire , I just checked after it sit over night the front are dead on 60 and rear are 74 . Again just looking for the best ride and even tire wear for him. The only thing he may haul would be a few bags of garbage. LOl. Thank you !

 

[Daniel Ortiz]

@My2ndgen678 , can you take a picture of the tire pressure placard and post it here? I'd be curious to see what it says.

 

[zrock]

you can adjust them down for comfort if not hauling heavy loads. That PSI rating is for max load on the truck. I used to run them around 45-50 with no issues or unusual wear

 

[My2ndgen678]

View attachment 524095

 

[My2ndgen678]

 

[Daniel Ortiz]

@My2ndgen678, I have no experience with heavy-duty trucks, but it seems your truck is set up to utilize every bit of load-carrying capacity of those rear OEM LT245/75R16 tires called for on the placard (E-rated tires carry a maximum pressure of 80 psi). At bare minimum, I would think if you are totally unloaded, you can easily air both front and rear to 65 psi and be completely fine, since the front will always be heavier than the rear when the truck is unloaded.

If you're willing to be a little riskier, I would hazard a guess that 55 psi front and rear would also be fine when completely unloaded, but then you're getting into speculation territory, and as I said, I have no experience with HD truck and major towing. See if some of the other HD truck guys here can weigh in on that.

Also, keep in mind the above pressures I'm discussing are assuming you have the OEM tire size. Because you have a different size, you can use this handy calculator to determine what the tire pressure should be in the alternative size given the input parameters it asks for, to maintain the same load-carrying capacity. Experiment with it a little bit to get a better sense of the pressure equivalencies.

Also make sure you read though all the threads on this topic on the forum. I'm sure there are many. It just take a while. Good luck!

 

[My2ndgen678]

I found the tire pressure guide sheet for 1996 in the owners manual packet ,It appears Zrock was dead on as it showed a pressure for Max load which was on the sticker in the door jamb then it showed one for light load which it deemed 2 passengers and up to 200 pounds in the back. The pressure it gave was 40 all around plus add 5 for his being a club cab so 45 PSI. The only difference is that was for a 245 E rated and we put 265 E rated on the truck which is what the original owner had on when we purchased it in March. I believe that I will run 50 PSI all around and call it a day unless someone tells me otherwise ,as he will definitely not be towing or hauling anything .

 

[06 Dodge]

Did not see if you have a diesel or gas engine, if you have the diesel engine based on my 06 2500 with the 5.9 diesel, 60 front and 50 rear empty, not towing or carrying weight in the bed...

 

[Daniel Ortiz]

@My2ndgen678 , I ran your numbers in the calculator I mentioned and it came up with 39 psi all four corners for your LT265/75R16 tires, based on maintaining the same load-carrying capacity as your OEM LT245/75R16 E-rated tires set to 45 psi.

So, you could go even lower if you're totally unloaded, and be perfectly fine. Good to know!

 

[My2ndgen678]

@My2ndgen678 , I ran your numbers in the calculator I mentioned and it came up with 39 psi all four corners for your LT265/75R16 tires, based on maintaining the same load-carrying capacity as your OEM LT245/75R16 E-rated tires set to 45 psi.

So, you could go even lower if you're totally unloaded, and be perfectly fine. Good to know!

View attachment 524185

Thanks for all your help, I had found that tire pressure guide as the original owner had taken care of the truck and had all the paperwork including the original 96 window sticker but I did not know how the change in tire size would effect the PSI. I truly appreciate your willingness to help out, Thank You!

 

[Robhughes292]

My E rated tires also call for 80 psi , also thought that was a lot and run mine 55 PSI , give or take a couple depending on temperature . Haven’t had any uneven wear or issues and ride is nice. I would have to think without a load bearing on the truck riding with them at 80 psi I would hate to hit any kind of pot hole or drive up onto and over a bridge or something lol

 

[Robhughes292]

Also not a HD truck though but don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to at 60-65 without any issues.

 

[craigsez]

Dont run whsts on the xoor,thats so generalized its almost no good....Tire sidewall has psi or good ole google tire of choice orrr email tire manufacture of said tire...

 

[97RedRam]

50 psi cold is a good number for your truck.

 

[Yeret]

I currently have 10-ply Duratracs on mine and run 'em at 40 psi. I used to run 45, but it seemed like the center treads were wearing faster than the shoulders, so I backed them down.

I aired them up to 50 once and my truck steered like a greased weasel. Of course, my steering components have never been great, so maybe that would be different with new parts.

 

[yrraljguthrie]

You might want to look at the info on the driver's door frame labels. Mine says inflate to 36psi. I would think 50-60 is too much and will be rough riding. Today's tires need to be inflated according to the tire, not the truck. By that I mean tires need to be inflated so that they have a profile best suited for the tire. Over-inflation will cause premature wear. Typically the tires will look a little low visually, when inflated correctly.

 

[LugsLeadOut84]

Just my opinion - I respect what you're doing and it's nice of you, but maybe you should introduce your son to the forum so he can get involved, surf the threads, ask questions and learn a few things....