Tire pressure! You make the call.

[corneileous]

Yeah, that makes sense to me too, and I’m gonna go that way. But we’ve all been told over and over since the beginning of time, to always go by the manufacturers recommendation on the sticker no matter what. Lol


.

I’ve heard that a time or two but it doesn’t seem to me that people knew totally what exactly that sticker was referring to.


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[corneileous]

I will typically use the door jamb sticker as a starting point, then chalk and adjust from there.
I’m running 35x12.5’s, and usually end up a little lower than the jamb sticker to get even chalk results. Just have to remember to bump the pressures up a bit when I’m towing or hauling any substantial weight.



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Well of course you’re not gonna get to follow that jamb sticker with anything 35’s. That door jamb sticker ONLY applies to the same exact type, ply and size of tire that was put on there from the factory. Even the BFG’s I pulled off my truck a couple of weeks ago- couldn’t go off the jamb sticker because they were an 8 ply LT tire. 39 psi was dangerously low for those tires. That was why BFG told me I needed to be running them at 55, or no less than 50.

But if you’re running 35’s, they’re most likely an 8 or 10 ply tire and if you’re running pressures even lower than what’s on the door jamb, you’re probably at risk of tire failure but hey, it’s your truck, you run them at whatever you want. I’m sure the manufacturer of your tires would disagree with that low of pressure.



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[runamuck]

I dont see how one could go wrong using the tire mfr's numbers over the vehicle mfr's numbers. who would know better about their product. I have the Falken 20's and they have a max rating based on 51# while the doorjamb sticker provided by the truck mfr. calls for 32#..I doubt if I will ever run em with 32# unless off roading maybe. I keep 36# and go to 40# if I am hauling or towing anything....YMMV

 

[corneileous]

I dont see how one could go wrong using the tire mfr's numbers over the vehicle mfr's numbers. who would know better about their product. I have the Falken 20's and they have a max rating based on 51# while the doorjamb sticker provided by the truck mfr. calls for 32#..I doubt if I will ever run em with 32# unless off roading maybe. I keep 36# and go to 40# if I am hauling or towing anything....YMMV

Well, again, a lot of people don’t seem to realize - including me at one point, that the sticker on the door jamb only applies to the tires that were on your vehicle when it rolled outta the factory, and only to future tires that are of the same size, load range and ply, unless the manufacturer says it’s ok to run them at that pressure.

Whenever I would go play up in the mountains of Colorado back when I lived there, I’d air my tires down to 20psi to help with ride, traction, and resistance against rock punctures.


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[6.7CumminsDrvr]

Currently running my 35x12.50x20 Matercraft Courser MXT’s @ 42 psi and they are wearing perfectly as they near 23k miles.

Got the 42 by looking up the tires in the Load Inflation table...........


If you want to get really crazy, go weigh your vehicle to get your front and rear axle weights then use the load inflation table to determine the PSI required to carry the weight and go from there.........

 

[muddy12]

Well of course you’re not gonna get to follow that jamb sticker with anything 35’s. That door jamb sticker ONLY applies to the same exact type, ply and size of tire that was put on there from the factory. Even the BFG’s I pulled off my truck a couple of weeks ago- couldn’t go off the jamb sticker because they were an 8 ply LT tire. 39 psi was dangerously low for those tires. That was why BFG told me I needed to be running them at 55, or no less than 50.

But if you’re running 35’s, they’re most likely an 8 or 10 ply tire and if you’re running pressures even lower than what’s on the door jamb, you’re probably at risk of tire failure but hey, it’s your truck, you run them at whatever you want. I’m sure the manufacturer of your tires would disagree with that low of pressure.



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evidently my memory isn't what it used to be, I thought the sticker in my truck had a much higher pressure listed on it. I just went out and checked the sticker, and it calls for 35psi both front and rear (with stock tires).
I'm running 45psi in the front and 42psi in the rear with my 35's. When I said I was lower than what the sticker called for, I believe I was confusing the sticker in the truck with the sticker in one of our other vehicles, which calls for much higher pressure.

 

[corneileous]

evidently my memory isn't what it used to be, I thought the sticker in my truck had a much higher pressure listed on it. I just went out and checked the sticker, and it calls for 35psi both front and rear (with stock tires).
I'm running 45psi in the front and 42psi in the rear with my 35's. When I said I was lower than what the sticker called for, I believe I was confusing the sticker in the truck with the sticker in one of our other vehicles, which calls for much higher pressure.

Are your 35’s 10 ply or 8 ply?


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[tbone63]

I start high and go lower based on how the truck feels. You can tell when the tires are over or under inflated.

 

[muddy12]

Are your 35’s 10 ply or 8 ply?


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they are 10 ply.

 

[JV Ram]

I have Mastercraft Courser HSX tour tires (275/60-20) and run them at 40. Should I run them higher? They say the max PSI is 44 on them. I’m new to this whole tire thing so I could use some advise. Drive a 2016 1500 SLT V6. What would be recommended for best tread wear and fuel efficiency? Thanks.


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[corneileous]

they are 10 ply.

I’m just curious but what pressure does the manufacturer of your tires say to run them at, or have you even asked? I’m only curious because my brain thinks that because I was told to run my 8 ply bfgs at 55, that your 10-ply’ers would be even higher.


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[corneileous]

I have Mastercraft Courser HSX tour tires (275/60-20) and run them at 40. Should I run them higher? They say the max PSI is 44 on them. I’m new to this whole tire thing so I could use some advise. Drive a 2016 1500 SLT V6. What would be recommended for best tread wear and fuel efficiency? Thanks.


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I would think 40 would be fine, if those are pretty much the same tire type of tire as your Goodyear’s you took off of there.

I may be wrong but since the size is all the same as original that you’re not gonna have the typical irregular tread wear from overinflation running them at the max. You’ll probably get better mileage but they might be awfully bumpy too. Definitely will ride rougher, and might make the back end kinda squirrelly on rough highways.

I’d run them at 39. That’s what Michelin said to run these defenders at.


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[JV Ram]

I would think 40 would be fine, if those are pretty much the same tire type of tire as your Goodyear’s you took off of there.

I may be wrong but since the size is all the same as original that you’re not gonna have the typical irregular tread wear from overinflation running them at the max. You’ll probably get better mileage but they might be awfully bumpy too. Definitely will ride rougher, and might make the back end kinda squirrelly on rough highways.

I’d run them at 39. That’s what Michelin said to run these defenders at.


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Ok thanks. I’ll get them all set at 39. They ride fine as of right now but I see what you mean on the bumpiness. They where a little higher but it got cold real quick here and took the PSI down.


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[muddy12]

I’m just curious but what pressure does the manufacturer of your tires say to run them at, or have you even asked? I’m only curious because my brain thinks that because I was told to run my 8 ply bfgs at 55, that your 10-ply’ers would be even higher.


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I never bothered to contact the manufacturer. the tires I have at the moment were never meant to be long term tires. I got them because I needed tires fast and cheep. They are Maxtrek MUD TRAC. I Iaven't decided what I'll replace them with specifically, other than that they will be name brand, and more of an AT tread design.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I learned a long time ago, not to just take someone's word for it when it comes to tire pressure. I had tires put on at a tire shop years ago, and they said to always go by the vehicle manufactures recommended pressure, regardless of the tire size. In the 20 miles trip home, the tires were heating up, and the outer edges of the tires were already showing wear from being under inflated. That's when I learned about chalking the tires.

And just a few years ago, at the dealership where I bought my ram, they had the tires (had 35's at the time, but a different brand) inflated to the max pressure listed on the side wall. When I questioned the service tech about it, his response was, "Oversized tires need more air pressure." I'm guessing the previous owner thought this as well, because the center tread was worn almost bald on all 4 tires, and the outer edges still had plenty of tread.

In short, I'm of the opinion that there are too many variables for anyone to say "you need to run xxPSI." I'll stick with chalking my tires, and just know that if I have a failure, it's on me.

Also, How long have you had your BFG's? Have you noticed any accelerated tread wear in the centers?

Edit:
I could be wrong, but it was my understanding that the higher the ply count, the stiffer the sidewall. and that with a higher ply count/stiffer side wall, you also got a higher max pressure rating and higher weight capacity. But along with all that, when unloaded, the stiffer sidewall meant that you could run lower pressures than a similarly sized tire with a lower ply count.?

 

[corneileous]

I never bothered to contact the manufacturer. the tires I have at the moment were never meant to be long term tires. I got them because I needed tires fast and cheep. They are Maxtrek MUD TRAC. I Iaven't decided what I'll replace them with specifically, other than that they will be name brand, and more of an AT tread design.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I learned a long time ago, not to just take someone's word for it when it comes to tire pressure. I had tires put on at a tire shop years ago, and they said to always go by the vehicle manufactures recommended pressure, regardless of the tire size. In the 20 miles trip home, the tires were heating up, and the outer edges of the tires were already showing wear from being under inflated. That's when I learned about chalking the tires.

And just a few years ago, at the dealership where I bought my ram, they had the tires (had 35's at the time, but a different brand) inflated to the max pressure listed on the side wall. When I questioned the service tech about it, his response was, "Oversized tires need more air pressure." I'm guessing the previous owner thought this as well, because the center tread was worn almost bald on all 4 tires, and the outer edges still had plenty of tread.

In short, I'm of the opinion that there are too many variables for anyone to say "you need to run xxPSI." I'll stick with chalking my tires, and just know that if I have a failure, it's on me.

Also, How long have you had your BFG's? Have you noticed any accelerated tread wear in the centers?

The only time I’ve ever ran oversize tires on anything was on my first full-size Ram, my 1998 1500 SLT that I had years and years ago. When I bought it, the previous owner had put 285/75/16’s on it and, I decided to replace the old worn out BFG A/T’s that were on it with some of the old school Yokohama Geolander AT/2’s.

Stock tire size for this truck was 245/75/16, 3 sizes smaller than what was on it when I bought it. Since those stock rims were only 16x7, those big 285’s were a little too wide for those wheels which played hell figuring out proper air pressures for the back tires so that they’d wear right, instead of making them look like they were gawd-awfully overinflated.

Maybe that chalk truck woulda helped, but it really didn’t take me long to figure out that about 26psi was what it took to flatten out the treads enough to get full contact patch.

You’re right, a lot of times you may need a custom pressure. Even more do when you start drifting away from your stock size, and start going up in load range and ply.

This weekend I’m going to try to get my BFG’s outta storage so I can get pictures of them so I can get them sold to get a little bit of my money back for the cost of the new Michelin’s and, I plan on taking quite a few tread depth measurements just to show potential buyers that they still have quite a bit of tread left on them but, they wore pretty evenly. As I said before a long time ago in a different thread, the contact patch with these tires didn’t change much whether they were at 39 or 55psi.


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[corneileous]

I could be wrong, but it was my understanding that the higher the ply count, the stiffer the sidewall. and that with a higher ply count/stiffer side wall, you also got a higher max pressure rating and higher weight capacity. But along with all that, when unloaded, the stiffer sidewall meant that you could run lower pressures than a similarly sized tire with a lower ply count.?

I didn’t see your edit but yeah, I used to think that way too which is why I still thought it was strange that BFG said I was at severe risk of tire failure running those 8-ply tires that low on pressure. I mean, I could see them needing the full 65psi to support the 3000 pounds they were rated at but I still don’t see why they needed 55psi to support the same weight those Goodyear’s could when the truck was in its lightest state. Doesn’t make sense to me.


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[indept]

If in doubt go with the chalk test.
If you under inflate them the tire can overheat due to too much sidewall bulge and damage the tires and you. The tire manufacturer is the best source for proper pressure based on their tire and the truck weight. As Corneileous has stated door sticker is for stock OEM tires.

 

[BOWERSFJ]

It’s pretty simple ... The door jamb doesn’t mean anything unless you’re still rollin on stockers ... Beyond that, you go by the aftermarket tire manufacturer’s recommendation ... They all have websites, and there is the info on the tire sidewall, and the chalk test to verify ... Pretty simple


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[tbone63]

Don't forget the pressures listed on the tires are always MAX PRESSURE for big loads, towing etc.

 

[PolarisCobra]

I prefer to run them a bit on the hard side for all my vehicles. Somewhere between the door sticker and the tire sidewall. I think the handling is a bit crisper, and a little less wallowing.

Also, I think I get a little better sidewall and rim protection from potholes. I know off road is different.

The stock tires on my '17 BigHorn are at 40 - 41.