Tire psi

[12yukphil]

Hey everyone
Question.
I have the hd tow package which allows 8200 lbs of towing.
I ride on Falken wildpeak at3w with a sidewalk of 80psi max cold.
The door jamb states 35.
What should i be riding on during normal driving and more importantly what should i inflate to while towing.
I notified that towing with 35 psi was not ideal
Thanks for the reply’s

philip

 

[Larryjb]

When I tow I inflate up to 40 or 45, the trailer tires up to 60 psi.

One guy who tows says he chaulks the tires and drives over. A board or something to see the tread pattern, then adjusts the pressure according to the tread pattern. (It should be evenly distributed. )

Keep in mind, this is truly not an exact science. Your tire pressure will increase quite a bit once the tires warm up. you want a minimum pressure for safe driving and tire wear, but dont start fussing about getting it within a single psi It will vary as it warms up

 

[wjburken]

Chalk, or playing cards on the sides are two methods I have heard. With the playing cards inflate so a playing card can just barely slide under the outer thread of the tire.

that being said, I’m with @Larryjb in that I’ll go up to 40-45 PSI but it’s more of a feel and how the tires look than a particular pressure.

 

[gat0r]

make sure tires are warmed up before using which ever method mentioned above.
given tires will warm up 4+ pounds from cold w/ just regular driving

 

[drakon543]

your running the lt version of the at3w ouch. i thought the regular at3w were harsh compared to my regular tires on my old tahoe. do you feel every pebble you run over?

 

[swathdiver]

Hey everyone
Question.
I have the hd tow package which allows 8200 lbs of towing.
I ride on Falken wildpeak at3w with a sidewalk of 80psi max cold.
The door jamb states 35.
What should i be riding on during normal driving and more importantly what should i inflate to while towing.
I notified that towing with 35 psi was not ideal
Thanks for the reply’s

philip

The door sticker is for P-Metric tires and you have LT tires, totally different animals. You'll not need to exceed 42-46 PSI to meet your steer and drive axle load limits. That advice assumes you are running stock size wheels and tires. Set the air pressure in your tires when they are cold, before the sun heats them up in the morning or well after dusk when they have had time to cool off. If you can get them all within a 1/2 pound of each other, they will ride real nice.

 

[12yukphil]

your running the lt version of the at3w ouch. i thought the regular at3w were harsh compared to my regular tires on my old tahoe. do you feel every pebble you run over?

Honestly I’ve had 3 pairs of this tire so far and I love them. So i couldn’t tell you the feel compared to others by now. I am going to air up a bit however and see how that goes.

 

[12yukphil]

The door sticker is for P-Metric tires and you have LT tires, totally different animals. You'll not need to exceed 42-46 PSI to meet your steer and drive axle load limits. That advise assumes you are running stock size wheels and tires. Set the air pressure in your tires when they are cold, before the sun heats them up in the morning or well after dusk when they have had time to cool off. If you can get them all within a 1/2 pound of each other, they will ride real nice.

Is this the same as when towing my trailer?

 

[12yukphil]

When I tow I inflate up to 40 or 45, the trailer tires up to 60 psi.

One guy who tows says he chaulks the tires and drives over. A board or something to see the tread pattern, then adjusts the pressure according to the tread pattern. (It should be evenly distributed. )

Keep in mind, this is truly not an exact science. Your tire pressure will increase quite a bit once the tires warm up. you want a minimum pressure for safe driving and tire wear, but dont start fussing about getting it within a single psi It will vary as it warms up

The reason for this question in the first place is that I was towing the other day with my tires at said door jamb psi and i noticed the tears bulging. While driving my transmission temp went up to 225 and engine coolant to 230 (although this reduced quite quickly). It was very hot out, 100 plus in hilly terrain with stop lights and about 7 miles of freeway driving. I’m thinking the engine and tenant were working harder due to under inflated tires

 

[swathdiver]

Is this the same as when towing my trailer?

Yes, if your rear axle supports 4200 pounds, then the tires don't need to be inflated much over that amount to support that weight. 41 psi on a C, D or E tire supports 2115 pounds. 45 psi supports 2255 pounds. 48 psi supports 2385 pounds and 50 psi supports 2470 pounds per tire. The curve is not linear.

I have stock size 17" KO2s on my truck and wore them down pretty good by under-inflating them the first few months or so of ownership. Then I put them up to 49-50 psi for about 35K miles and they wore down a 1/32 more in the center (slightly over-inflated) and finally BFG revised their recommended pressure for our trucks from 50 PSI to 42 PSI. I keep mine at 46 PSI cold for a little bit better economy.