Tire air pressure

[Shawn Burns]

I have a 16 Rebel. The door sticker recommends 55 front and 45 rear for the air pressures. The truck came stock with Toyo Open Country A/T. I now have Falken Wild Peak's on there with an 80 lb. max. Should I stick with what the door label says or increase them closer to the max? I've been running them at 60f and 50r when I town, just as I did with the Toyo's. The ride is improved since I switched to the Toyo's. Thanks in advance.

 

[danielmid]

What size Falkens? I run my Wildpeak 35x12.5R17s at 40psi whenever I'm not towing or heavy loaded. No reason to run near max, and I can't imagine how bouncy the ride must be with 60/50 all the time.

 

[Daw14]

The door sticker is what you should use for pressure regardless of brand . Sometimes slight adjustments can make for a better ride.

 

[Daniel Ortiz]

@Shawn Burns , if your new tires are the same size specification as your old tires, use the same pressures you were using before.

If the size is different, you can use this handy calculator to get a reasonably good modified pressure based on load carrying capacity.

Both gentlemen above are correct, in a way. Your door sticker pressures are the "official" pressures you should run your vehicle at, and take into consideration load-carrying capacity, handling, and wear. But, recognize if you have a good reason to run a little lower, you can, because you probably aren't carrying maximum load in your vehicle. But doing so also reduces vehicle handling (especially in emergency manuvers). So make sure your reason is a good one (like going over bumpy roads, added traction at slower speeds, etc.). Also remember running tires TOO low (on the order of 10+ psi too low) will cause them to heat up more than normal at higher speeds, and if they heat up too much, they will start to degrade (damage) internally, and end up weaker than when you started.

Understand that the maximum psi labeled on the tire is the tire's MAXIMUM pressure at which point the tire is at it's maximum load-carrying capacity (within safety factors). But if your truck can't even carry that much load (it can't, at least officially), you don't need to air them up that high. Basically, when considering load-carrying capacity alone (not considering handling or wear or toughness), you only have to air up a tire to the pressure corresponding to the load you need to carry. For your truck's maximum loading capacity, that pressure is probably close to the pressures on your door sticker. Hence, if they are the same size as your previous tires, you can continue to use the same pressures as before. If your previous size was also stock size, the door sticker pressures are a good reasonable place to start.

 

[Kootbiker]

I ran the door sticker pressures on the original Goodyear Duratracs, 45psi rears and 55psi fronts, ride was very good. Just replaced the worn out Duratracs with Coopers equivalent tire. I am trying 43 psi in the rear and 53 psi in the front because the Duratracs lost most of their tread from the center of the tire which makes me think they were overinflated.

 

[John Jensen]

@Daniel Ortiz said it all very well.
The two factors I use are:
1 - Best ride pressure
2 - The minimum pressure required for the load
When towing my 10,000 trailer I always go to 70-80 psi on E rated tires.

 

[RAM DRVR]

I run 42F and 40R on my Toyo ATIII's the pump them up to 45F and 55R when towing my 8K lb toy hauler. Works well for me.

 

[gofishn]

The sticker is the recommended pressure for the OEM tire's size and rating.
You have changed the tires, to a much stringer side wall. so the tag really does not apply, any longer.

Find your tire, in the chart below, which comes from RAM themselves.
Do no forget the weight of your truck. Add what you normally haul, carry or tow,
to the trucks weight, then find your tires, and see what pressure Ram says you should run.

hear is a link to RAMs tire pressure charts:

http://www.rambodybuilder.com/2004/docs/intro/tirecharts.pdf

here are the charts themselves.
Remember, your tires, at whatever pressure you run, must still handle the weight of the truck.






Running tire pressure, too low or too high, will affect tire wear. darn quick.
So, check your tires, regularly, once you decide on a pressure, to make sure your tires are not getting chewed up.






Good Lucka nd come back with what you find the best pressure to be so the next guy, with your same issue, can fidn the answer with teh search tool.

Luck

 

[Dean2]

The tire pressure required is strictly determined by the tire and the load being carried. Over inflated is every bit as bad as underinflated. This link has all make and sizes of tires. Match your tire and and the weight you are running your truck at. On my 2500, I run way less pressure empty about 45 psi and go up in pressure as I increase the load to about 70 psi at max load. My door sticker says 60 front and 65 back for the stock OEM Firestone Destination ATs of the same size.

Also, don't forget the effect of heat and cold on the actual pressures you are running.

https://tirepressure.com/lt275-70r18-tire-pressure

 

[Shawn Burns]

Thanks for all of the responses. That is very helpful. FYI, I kept the same size and load of the original tires. They are 285/70-17 10 ply, E rated 121 load index.