Tire pressure revisited

After reading with great interest yesterday all the comments on tire pressure I walked out from work to see a roofing nail sticking out of my rt rear tire. Went to my favorite tire shop to have it fixed “Joes tires”. While he had the tire off I asked him to rotate them criss cross front to back. I’m sure I was over due to rotate them. The sticker inside the door says to run the front tires at 60 psi and the rears at 80 psi cold. And that is what I have always done. By the way it is a 08 ¾ ton Chevy ext cab short bed. The truck has always had a very harsh ride. On a smooth road if you hit a gravel you feel it in the seat of your pants. On a rough road you can forget about taking a sip of your beverage because it will be all over you. As soon as I pulled out from his shop I noticed a much smoother ride. I didn’t hear my change rattling in the console and all the squeaks I have become accustom to. When I got home I checked my pressures and he had the fronts at 68 psi and the rears at 74 psi. On the way to work today I could not believe the difference it made on the roads I drive everyday. I am not advocating this or saying I will leave them like this when I’m hauling stuff but I thought I would share what a difference in the ride that it made.

Oh sure,

Make those tires work for ya. If you're just "commuting" drop 'em down even further...like 40-45 pounds.

The tires can absort one heck of a lot of "bounce" just by flexing that sidewall.

Allan

Well it is like this, Where is all the weight on your truck?? For the most part it is on the ft. as most of the time you are running around empty . Ever since 1973 i have had 4x4 3/4 ton's till 1990 when i got my first one tone. I use to run 12x16.5's on my 3/4 tons and ran the ft. tires at max pressure at 45 lbs. and rears at 30 . when snow season came on and the extra weight went in the bed for plowing i would pump the rears up to 45 if i did not do this then i would have sway. On my one tons they have 235x85x16'swith a load rating of e or 10 ply rating . And the max tire pressure is 85lbs. The ft.'s are at 85 and the rears are at 50 unless i am going to load her to the max. then they go to 85 . The truck i have now is a 95 3500 Dodge cab and chassie with a 11000 GVW. I have found i get the best tread wear this way. My one close friend has a 3500 4x4 Dodge like mine but a few years newer and he insists on running all the tires at max , he goes thru two sets of rears each year because he wares the centers out , fist off he has a aluminum flat that is one step above a roll of tin foil for weight on the back of his truck and his way of driving also does not help with his full throttle take offs so he can see it smoke . His rides like a log wagon slips and slides on wet payment and has to use the 4x4 out in a dry field. Try running your ft. tires up a bit and drop you rears a little like down to fifty lbs. when your just running around and with light loads. You will find you may pick up a little on fuel mileage and the ride will be better.

I have the same truck. I run 50 in the front and 80 in the rear. It rides rougher than heck as far as I'm concerned. I have Goodyear wranglers on it, a size larger than stock.

I have a 1998 Chevy Heavy 3/4 ton 4by4 regular cab and hauling a livestock trailer I run 70 in the fronts and 80 in the rear. If I have no load I run 50 all the way around. and enjoy the ride and the tires wear better.

Paul, Guys, Since 1980 I have been running less than the recommended Tire PSI in my pickup tires When I am not hauling heavy loads.
My 80 Chevy 3/4 4X4 was so ruff one could not ride in it on a gravel road without having to peal your head off the inside of the cab.
So since then I have run 35&40 PSI on gas trucks and on my 01 F350 DSL 4X4 Crewcab longbox, I run 40&40 PSI just Bobtailing around up & down the highway.
Only when I an pulling a really heavy load do I air up tight! 65 PSI +.
There is just no need to air up to max air specs to Bobtail around not really working.
The Namebrand tire stores are going to tell you to air up to specs to C.Y.A.!!! But a stiff sprung pickup ride can be helped to some degree by lowering tire PSI. but only to a point.
My $.02 here!
Later,
John A.

Vet, your mention of the 3500 Dodge is interesting. I have a 98 3500 long frame with a steel flatbed. It does ride like a lumberwagon. The flatbed is rusting out pretty bad now, sills, floor, and everything else so it needs to go sometime. I'd thought about aluminum but I'm afraid it'll ride even rougher, and it's a 2 wheel drive and it can't go through much snow. Jim

That's been my experiance.

As long as you aren't running with a load pretty much anything over 40 PSI just makes the truck ride rougher. Unless you have a diesel (much heavier engine) then I'd run at least 50 psi.

You still running the factory Bridgestones?? Mine rides like a buckboard on the backroads I commute on. but on the hwy they do pretty good for a 10 ply tire?

Yes I still have the factory tires with about 33,000 miles on them. It is duramax. I love the truck but it does ride harsh. And it will get stuck on wet grass if in 2 wheel drive. My old 86 truck I almost never had to use the 4wd but it didnt have near the torque this one does so that may be why it slips around.

Those tires, Duravis, are junk as far as treadwear goes. Ive got about 34000 on mine, and the center is wore to flat, not because of pressure, but because of the design of the tire. Like they are, I can probably get another 15000 out of them, but Im am almost scared to to drive them in he rain. As soon as I get tthe money up, Im puttinga set of Generals or Nittos on there, just havent made up my mind yet.

I put load range C on my 2000 Chev. 3/4 ton truck 35# front 40# rear, seldom drive more than 25 miles a day. I do air them up to haul a trailer or haul something heavy. Just me but I do not like hard tires. I have gotten stuck, get out and drop the tire pressure down to 25# and drive out of the mud or snow, just my way I guess.

You are wearing the centers out because of too much air not tire tread. At that high pressure the center is all that is touching ground unless you haul a lot of weight all the time.

If you are talking to me, NO, its the tire tread design. The tread is not cut deep in the middle of the tire. New, it was only about half as deep as the outside tread. Now the outside still looks OK, but the middle is basically smooth, but each tread has near the same depth. Understand?