Author Topic: any truck tire experts ? (Read 3984 times)

udontknowme · « **on:** August 24, 2014, 01:49:50 AM »

put some new tires on my tacoma. originally it had light duty bfgoodrich. p265/70r16. side of the tire says max pressure is 35psi. tires i put on have quit a bit higher load rating. 80psi max. i dont hardly carry much weight. 500lb at most. bought em mostly because it has a good offroad tread pattern that i wanted. anyways im wondering what pressure to use. right now i have 55psi. dude at the tire store said i should be fine at 45psi but im not sure. tires aint my thing so im kind of lost what pressure to use. i wouldnt think i need 80psi because theres hardly no weight in the truck

TRX250RACER · « **Reply #1 on:** August 24, 2014, 02:13:09 AM »

Sounds like you put a set of 10 ply tires on your truck. I am thinking you put on some LT265/75R16.
45 psi or 55 psi are both ok. The more air you put in those tires the harder the become, the rougher the ride will be. If you put too little air in them, they will tend to look like they are flat and that causes more resistance and poor gas mileage.
Not sure how clear my response is. Hope this helps.

udontknowme · « **Reply #2 on:** August 24, 2014, 02:39:11 AM »

they could be 10ply. cant recall off the top of my head without going outside. theyre actually 245/75r16. the reason im wondering about air pressure is not so much for a smooth ride but i want the tread to wear as even as possible. wasnt sure if pressure to low or high might cause more wear on the outside or middle but maybe theres a large window where the pressure can be set ?

Fear250r · « **Reply #3 on:** August 24, 2014, 02:48:03 AM »

Load range E? Gotta be like riding in a brick shit house.

I've had BFG's, load range D on my cummins with no problems. You definitely don't need that kinda tire on your Tacoma.

jfwyatt1 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 24, 2014, 09:03:02 AM »

those tires were never ment for a small truck. to make sure the are wearing evenly just get some chalk and make a few good lines across the tread then drive around the block to see how they wear adjust pressure as needed or you can use a concrete driveway and wet just the tires then roll forward a few feet and do the same thing. i would say run no less than 40psi in those tires if they are 10 ply.

udontknowme · « **Reply #5 on:** August 24, 2014, 01:05:46 PM »

theyre load rang E. couldnt see where its says the ply. anyways im well aware the load range is well beyond the trucks capabilities. 265/70r16 isnt a real common size with a ton of selection. lt265/75r16 is very common and they do physically fit on the truck but to me they dont look proportionally correct. i guess ill try the chalk around the block idea

broken1 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 24, 2014, 01:20:38 PM »

The weight of the vehicle needs to be considered as well. My 79 fj40 weighs just over 4k & i always ran 35psi in my 35" bfg mud terrains & got excellent tread wear at that pressure. Under inflated will cause the outside of the tread face to wear excessively & overinflated will wear the center of the tread face excessively. I'm not trying to pick on you jfwyatt but doing the chalk line won't tell you much unless the pressures are extremely high or low. 45psi should be just fine for your truck.

udontknowme · « **Reply #7 on:** August 24, 2014, 02:06:59 PM »

seems like i have 55psi in now. 45psi probly be just as good i suppose. havent put 13k miles on the truck in last 5yrs so theyll probly weather rot before they wear out anyways

chadlwa · « **Reply #8 on:** August 25, 2014, 09:52:13 AM »

I do work in the tire business, and i own a 2001 Tacoma as well. I also run a 35/12.50-17 10 ply, which is def overkill. I run 26 psi in all 4 and it rides great and wears evenly. I run Toyo MT's , and they crack out before they wear out. I put less than 6000 miles a year on the Taco

GO OVRIT · « **Reply #9 on:** August 25, 2014, 10:25:32 AM »

The simple math is to divide the total weight of the truck and load by four. Divide the weight rating by the psi (3xxxlbs/80psi). Divide the first number by the second to get the minimum psi for those tires on that truck. Of course there's other variables like rim width, temperature, driving style etc... But that will get you close. That being said, I probably would still run at least 35-40 psi in your situation.

jfwyatt1 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 25, 2014, 11:45:47 PM »

Quote from: broken1;41666

The weight of the vehicle needs to be considered as well. My 79 fj40 weighs just over 4k & i always ran 35psi in my 35" bfg mud terrains & got excellent tread wear at that pressure. Under inflated will cause the outside of the tread face to wear excessively & overinflated will wear the center of the tread face excessively. I'm not trying to pick on you jfwyatt but doing the chalk line won't tell you much unless the pressures are extremely high or low. 45psi should be just fine for your truck.

that is just what i have done over the years and it has worked well. i have run an alignment machine for the past 16 years and have found that the E rated tires seem to wear better when run at at least 40 psi. on another note i have found that running 45psi in the lower profile tires seems to wear better. this is just my opinion and can be taken for what it is. and this opinion does not apply 100% of the time just kinda the average of the cars i see over and over again thru the years.