Tire air psi- BFG A/Ts recommendation

[yortnodnarb]

https://simpletire.com/goodyear-p275-60r20-183934492-tires

 

[corneileous]

https://simpletire.com/goodyear-p275-60r20-183934492-tires

Kudos to you for finding a listing that actually shows what the ply is because all the tire sites I knew of don’t tell you what ply the tires are, just the load range letter(s).

It’s kinda ****** tho; I think that if I woulda known I was gonna be making such a jump going from a 4-ply tire to an 8-ply tire, I probably wouldn’t have bought these BFGs. I really didn’t need this gnarly of a tire anyway for street use, I just wanted them because they look cool and have always thought of them a great off-road tire.

Something tells me my next set of tires is gonna be at least a 6-ply.


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[yortnodnarb]

BFG K02's have very stiff sidewalls compared to many other tires. That's why you see them on so many heavy duty trucks and guys that haul a lot. It's great for preventing lateral movement when hauling trailers or loads in the bed, but isn't ideal for providing cushion when driving down the road. Regardless of tire pressure.

 

[BTD07]

BFG K02's have very stiff sidewalls compared to many other tires. That's why you see them on so many heavy duty trucks and guys that haul a lot. It's great for preventing lateral movement when hauling trailers or loads in the bed, but isn't ideal for providing cushion when driving down the road. Regardless of tire pressure.

I have no complaints on them, and I dont tow. I like how meaty they are, especially since a piece of metal cutting into my SRAs was the reason I made the overhaul a few months ago. Plus it was a street tire vs a slightly larger AT, so the rides not going to feel as soft and thats always a given. Its piece of mind to me that I have a very heavy duty tire, and if that sumbitch pops, its gotta be from a worthy opponent.

 

[corneileous]

BFG K02's have very stiff sidewalls compared to many other tires. That's why you see them on so many heavy duty trucks and guys that haul a lot. It's great for preventing lateral movement when hauling trailers or loads in the bed, but isn't ideal for providing cushion when driving down the road. Regardless of tire pressure.

Well I sure am glad you told me to call up BF Goodrich because uh, after the rep made a quick phone call to his corporate office or wherever it was, he told me that with my vehicle, I really shouldn’t be running these tires with any less than 55 pounds of pressure. That it was a safety concern, no less.

I guess I just all the sudden went from thinking I knew something... about tires to not knowing a whole helluva lot because I just still don’t see how these heavier tires are going to ride any smoother by putting another 16 pounds of air pressure in each one but then again; even though I still don’t necessarily get it, he said that 55 psi is what’s needed to properly support the truck. I dunno, I guess it’s just that whole, 4-ply vs 8-ply thing that’s throwing me way the hell off. LOL.

And unless it wasn’t properly implied, he told me that the truck should run a lot smoother at 55 than a 39 so we’ll see.

Oh, and I might add that when I expressed my concern about the tread of the back tires possibly not making a full contact patch with the road at that pressure, he assured me I wouldn’t have that problem because considering unlike before on my old 98, I had way too big of tires for that narrow 7” wheel and he said that low and behold if that did happen, that I could bleed about 5 pounds out the rears but he strongly recommended against running these tires below 55 psi.

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[corneileous]

I currently have my KO2s 275/65/20 at around 55 cold, but I am going to be letting out the pressure as with the TX heat over the weekend they were getting to 60 and it sure felt like it. Will most likely bring down to 50 all around since its cool out today and go from there.

In light of my newly found information, where you running 55 psi in yours just because you wanted to, or because you were advised to? The discount tire where I got mine at never said a word about that when I bought these tires. They just asked what I wanted them inflated to and I said hell I don’t know, just inflate them to whatever the door sticker says. Lol.

But I’m curious tho. Since running your rears at 55 also; does the full width of your tread still make 100% contact with the road? That BFG guy I talked to assured me mine still would but I figured asking your experience would be greatly appreciated. Lol.


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[audiophile]

Damn, you run 10 ply tires on a half ton??...lol. Why? 10 ply are what most people run on 3/4 tons and 1 tons that do a lot of towing.. I would never dream of running that heavy duty of a tire on that light of a vehicle. That second generation Ram that I had that I was talking about, it came with load range D BFG AT’s on it when I bought it and it rode like a tank. Put much softer C range Yokohama Geolanders on it and rode like a Cadillac after. Those BFGs might not have been D tires, but I do remember them having a max inflation of 65 psi. The Yokos was only 44. I don’t remember what the stockers on this new truck are, or what the max pressure is on them.

I’m assuming your truck still rides smooth with 50 psi in those heavy tires? Fuel mileage is one thing but I’ll take a little bit smoother ride over mileage. Lol.


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My 2016 1500 Outdoorsman came factory with E rated tires. LT265/70R17E. I believe the Rebels also have LTs from the factory.

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[corneileous]

My 2016 1500 Outdoorsman came factory with E rated tires. LT265/70R17E. I believe the Rebels also have LTs from the factory.

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Wow... and the 20’s that came stock on my ‘18 1500 Limited were just a 4 ply standard load.

Well, I guess this will be the last time I buy tires like this, I spose. Or at least it won’t be the BFG’s anymore. I will admit that at least by inflating them to 50 pounds helped some, but these 8 ply’ers still ride way too rough for a half ton pickup. Even with my air suspension.


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[audiophile]

And why would you think that taking out 3-4 pounds of pressure wouldn’t make at least a little difference? Just like you said, after a good long drive in the heat, they’ll fluctuate quite a bit from parked cold to full heated, driven on temperature. Mine will will run all the way up to dang near 45 psi where they sit now, on a hot day so, I would really think that 3-4 psi would help out quite a bit.


Sorry but all the way up until I started this discussion, I had never really thought about it and how all this time that more than likely the tire sticker on the door jamb was really only applying to the stock tires the factory puts on.

I don’t think the factory SRA’s are a 4 ply, though. I could be wrong but I’m thinkin they’re at least a 6-ply.

But yeah, that’s a good idea about ringing up the folks over at BF Goodrich industries and asking what they think. I did call up a Discount Tire yesterday- not particularly the same one that sold me the tires but the dude I talked to said 35psi should be fine.


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The factory SR-A from Goodyear are a standard passenger rated 4 ply tire. To the best of my knowledge there are only P rated and E rated tires on the 4th genes from the factory. Some older gens had D rated on the 3/4 tons and E on 1 tons.
My 2016 1500 Outdoorsman came with factory LTs that are E rated and stated as such on the tire placard.

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[Gary2]

How do ya like the BFGs at 55? I firmly believe they were doing nothing but protecting their self by telling you 55lbs. Naturally at 55 you can haul more weight than at 35 but the truck is only a half ton and I bet it probably could not haul what those tires are capable of at 55 so why drive around in an empty truck with rocks for tires. 55lbs is just subjecting your empty truck to far more pounding than needed to live a long life. I don't care what BFG or any other Mfg says I will never run 55lbs in any tire I would put on a Ram 1500 , but thats me .

 

[corneileous]

How do ya like the BFGs at 55? I firmly believe they were doing nothing but protecting their self by telling you 55lbs. Naturally at 55 you can haul more weight than at 35 but the truck is only a half ton and I bet it probably could not haul what those tires are capable of at 55 so why drive around in an empty truck with rocks for tires. 55lbs is just subjecting your empty truck to far more pounding than needed to live a long life. I don't care what BFG or any other Mfg says I will never run 55lbs in any tire I would put on a Ram 1500 , but thats me .

I tried mine at 55 but I quickly lowered them down to 50. Prolly gonna lower the damned things down even lower to about 45 or 40.

But yeah, that was kinda my impression as well, was that they were just most likely covering their backside. I dunno, maybe some Bill Nye the science guy dude on here can bust out the slide rule, and the overhead projector for me and explain why a heavy duty 8 ply tire needs at least 50 psi of air pressure in it to support the same weight as a 6 ply tire at 39 psi can do.


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[audiophile]

I tried mine at 55 but I quickly lowered them down to 50. Prolly gonna lower the damned things down even lower to about 45 or 40.

But yeah, that was kinda my impression as well, was that they were just most likely covering their backside. I dunno, maybe some Bill Nye the science guy dude on here can bust out the slide rule, and the overhead projector for me and explain why a heavy duty 8 ply tire needs at least 50 psi of air pressure to support the same weight as a 4 ply tire at 39 psi can do.


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How do ya like the BFGs at 55? I firmly believe they were doing nothing but protecting their self by telling you 55lbs. Naturally at 55 you can haul more weight than at 35 but the truck is only a half ton and I bet it probably could not haul what those tires are capable of at 55 so why drive around in an empty truck with rocks for tires. 55lbs is just subjecting your empty truck to far more pounding than needed to live a long life. I don't care what BFG or any other Mfg says I will never run 55lbs in any tire I would put on a Ram 1500 , but thats me .

Mine is placarded at 43 psi from the factory. It has Goodyear Wranglers. My daily commute gets them up around 47-49 psi and no complaints about ride quality.

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[Gary2]

Is that good year wrangler a 10 ply 60 some lbs tire ? I doubt it just as my little OE 275-60-20s didn't have anywhere near the load rating as a 35-12.50-20 KO2, thats a whole different animal

 

[corneileous]

Is that good year wrangler a 10 ply 60 some lbs tire ? I doubt it just as my little OE 275-60-20s didn't have anywhere near the load rating as a 35-12.50-20 KO2, thats a whole different animal

I dunno, he said his Outdoorsman came with 10 ply 265/75/17’s. Yours and my 20’s are just a P-rated standard load.

I really don’t understand what all this nonsense is with these heavy-assed e-rated tires.


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[corneileous]

Mine is placarded at 43 psi from the factory. It has Goodyear Wranglers. My daily commute gets them up around 47-49 psi and no complaints about ride quality.

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Well hell, if your 10 ply Goodyear’s are factory placarded at only 43 psi, then I guess I don’t feel so bad now at running these 8-ply BFG’s down to 45psi. I had them at 50 so before I drove it home today, I just bled about 5 pounds out of each tire. I think it helped a little bit.


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[Gary2]

I tried mine at 55 but I quickly lowered them down to 50. Prolly gonna lower the damned things down even lower to about 45 or 40.

But yeah, that was kinda my impression as well, was that they were just most likely covering their backside. I dunno, maybe some Bill Nye the science guy dude on here can bust out the slide rule, and the overhead projector for me and explain why a heavy duty 8 ply tire needs at least 50 psi of air pressure to support the same weight as a 4 ply tire at 39 psi can do.


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They have our money and are covering their ass. The load capacity of each tire is written on the side wall along with the required air pressure needed to support that weight. If you know the weight of your truck as it sits as a daily driver you can calculate what air pressure is required to support that weight. On Jeep Forum we frequently getting newbies on their complaining how rough their jeep rides with 35LBS of air in the tires, DUH. To avoid ******* matches as who knows more some just tell them to calculate the air pressure based on the info on the side wall that states how much weight the tire can support and at what air pressure . Weigh your vehicle now you have all the info you need to calculate how much air is required for your vehicle , works on any vehicle. You would be amazed at how little air is needed just to drive down the road safely . If my 99 ,01,03,07 Rams all ran 35-12.50 tires at about 34-35 lbs I bet this 2014 will be just fine too , all were reg cab short bed lifted 4x4s. I didn't increase the pressure in the tires the few times I did load up the trucks either. This is the only truck that I was foolish enough to stick with 20" wheels and rides worse than any of them including a F350 thrown in there . Been using BFG ATs on all of my daily drivers either in 33s or 35s since they came out in the later 70s and never an issue and never over 35 lbs mostly much less . Dont get me started on the Rams tpms .

 

[corneileous]

They have our money and are covering their ass.

Yeah, I kinda chuckled a little to myself when that BFG guy told me that at 39 psi(factory recommended pressure for the stock SRA’s) was a safety issue....lol.

The load capacity of each tire is written on the side wall along with the required air pressure needed to support that weight. If you know the weight of your truck as it sits as a daily driver you can calculate what air pressure is required to support that weight. On Jeep Forum we frequently getting newbies on their complaining how rough their jeep rides with 35LBS of air in the tires, DUH. To avoid ******* matches as who knows more some just tell them to calculate the air pressure based on the info on the side wall that states how much weight the tire can support and at what air pressure . Weigh your vehicle now you have all the info you need to calculate how much air is required for your vehicle , works on any vehicle. You would be amazed at how little air is needed just to drive down the road safely . If my 99 ,01,03,07 Rams all ran 35-12.50 tires at about 34-35 lbs I bet this 2014 will be just fine too , all were reg cab short bed lifted 4x4s. I didn't increase the pressure in the tires the few times I did load up the trucks either. This is the only truck that I was foolish enough to stick with 20" wheels and rides worse than any of them including a F350 thrown in there . Been using BFG ATs on all of my daily drivers either in 33s or 35s since they came out in the later 70s and never an issue and never over 35 lbs mostly much less.

It’s funny you say that because I was actually kinda wondering about how that BFG guy came up with 55psi.

I don’t know if I got this right or not, or if I’m just totally and completely way off base about it but, it seems to me that since these tires are load rated at 3000 pounds of weight capacity per tire that- at 65 psi- that, basically at 32.5 psi which is half that pressure, they should all safely hold 6000 pounds of weight as a whole, or 1500 pounds per corner, correct? Is that how that works? Am I right or am I all screwed up?....lol.

I wouldn’t run mine at 32 or 33 psi, I’d just run them at the factory placarded pressure of 39 or so.

But so far, 45 seems alright. It’s much damn better smoother-ridin’ at 45 than it was at 55, or even at 50.

By the way, I’m guessing the crew-cab, shortbed 1500’s are probably only tipping the scales at 5500, 6000 pounds, ain’t they?

Dont get me started on the Rams tpms .

Um....lol.



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[markusaf81]

I run my 10ply tires at 54psi, they feel smoother then the stock Wranglers with 30k on them.

Dealer always lowers the PSI to 39 and it drives me nuts

 

[corneileous]

I run my 10ply tires at 54psi, they feel smoother then the stock Wranglers with 30k on them.

Dealer always lowers the PSI to 39 and it drives me nuts

What do you have?

Hmm, I dunno what the deal is, then. Even when I was running my 8 ply BFGs at 39 psi, I could definitely tell a difference in increased ride stiffness after I went from the stock SRA’s to those. Bumping them up to the recommended 55 psi helped as far as responsiveness, braking and cornering but damn, that’s when they really felt like a solid rubber tire with no give at all, whatsoever.


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[Cardhu]

If I'm doing highway running or towing I'm at 40psi. I have no issues running lower. I'm also 17's and 10 ply and they don't need that much pressure to be flat across the tread. I"m also 285 on a 7 inch rim. I could probably get away with 30 and offroad i'm sure i'd be able to get to at least 12psi. try that with 12.5's on a 12 inch rim.