Tire pressure related to ride comfort

[Ebuss]

I recently purchased a 2018 Silverado 2500 to tow my 26’ Sunset Trail. The truck has a very stiff ride, and it will be months before I can test the ride while towing my trailer here in Wisconsin. The tires came from the dealer with 61 lbs. in the front and 70 in the rears, matching the plate on the door. I’m wondering if it’s necessary to have 70 in the back when I’m not towing? Would like to soften the ride if possible while I’m not towing. Appreciate any input.

[onechaddude]

Originally Posted by Ebuss

I recently purchased a 2018 Silverado 2500 to tow my 26’ Sunset Trail. The truck has a very stiff ride, and it will be months before I can test the ride while towing my trailer here in Wisconsin. The tires came from the dealer with 61 lbs. in the front and 70 in the rears, matching the plate on the door. I’m wondering if it’s necessary to have 70 in the back when I’m not towing? Would like to soften the ride if possible while I’m not towing. Appreciate any input.

I have a 2016 2500 Silverado D/A 4x4. I run about 60# in the rear of mine. I think at 58# the tire pressure light comes on so I keep it just above that. It's definitely a better ride but still pretty stiff. Just part of the deal with a heavy duty truck.

Chad

[BFlinn181]

Have your truck weighed loaded as you would for a trip. Then look on the tire manufacturer website for inflation tables. The numbers on the door plate are the pressures needed to support a truck loaded to its capacity. Pressures to safely use the truck with less than maximum capacity will be lower.

[Old-Biscuit]

I have a 3500 and tow 14K 5th wheel

Front tires.......60# towing or not
Rear tires........45# not towing & 80# towing (max load rating/max psi)


I get 60K Plus out of tires and I do not rotate because tires wear evenly

Door data sticker......
Front 65# and Rear 80#


80# NOT needed for an empty truck bed/weight
Tires will have small contact patch, increase ride harshness and wear out in center



Quick/easy DIY tire contact patch test

Take some sidewalk chalk
Rub it across tire threads

Drive forward 25' then back up 25' and check were chalk on tires have been scrubbed off
Outside edges.......under inflated
Center..................over inflated
evenly across thread.......just right

[JIMNLIN]

My '03 2500 Dodge/Cummins came with LT265/70-17 E and door tag pressure says 50 psi front and 70 psi rear. This had the front tires rolling over severally on turns and the rears simply had too much prssure for a empty truck.
I've found 65 -68 psi in the fronts and 45 psi in the rears work best for this truck. Ran the OEM Michelins AS for 115k miles......82k on the 2nd set of ATs. I'm all rural highway out here so I have no city to drive in.
I've used the chalk line method for finding the just right wear pattern on all my vehicles.

[FastEagle]

The following is a verbatim quote from Michelin.
If there are any special circumstances they will be described in the vehicle owner’s manual.

“The vehicle manufacturer selects the size and type of tires for their vehicles. They perform the necessary testing to establish the vehicles’ optimized operating tire inflation pressures which can be found on the vehicle placard (located on the inside of the driver's door) and in the vehicle owners’ manual.”

“If the tires on your vehicle are the same size as the original equipment tire, inflate them to the pressures indicated on the placard.”

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by FastEagle

The following is a verbatim quote from Michelin.
If there are any special circumstances they will be described in the vehicle owner’s manual.

“The vehicle manufacturer selects the size and type of tires for their vehicles. They perform the necessary testing to establish the vehicles’ optimized operating tire inflation pressures which can be found on the vehicle placard (located on the inside of the driver's door) and in the vehicle owners’ manual.”

“If the tires on your vehicle are the same size as the original equipment tire, inflate them to the pressures indicated on the placard.”

Not true. Old-Biscuit gave sound advice and a way to determine proper inflation. Every Tire Inflation placard I've ever read say to "See owner's manual for additional information"

"This number represents the tire's maximum pressure, not the vehicle's recommended PSI range. Remember to always check the owner's manual or tire placard for your vehicle's correct tire pressure."

"The pounds per square inch (psi) pressure number branded on the tire's sidewall identifies the maximum cold inflation pressure that specific tire is rated to hold. However, the tire's maximum pressure is not necessarily the correct pressure for every vehicle upon which the tire can be used (almost all vehicle manufacturers' recommended tire inflation pressures are less than the tires' maximum pressure)."

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...e.jsp?techid=8

[cruzbill]

Hate to disagree, but that pressure listed on the sidewall is the MINIMUM pressure required to support the MAXIMUM load on the tire, as printed on the tire's sidewall.

It is NOT the pressure, if exceeded, that will cause the tire to explode!

Put some ballast in the truck bed and enjoy the ride.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by cruzbill

Hate to disagree, but that pressure listed on the sidewall is the MINIMUM pressure required to support the MAXIMUM load on the tire, as printed on the tire's sidewall.

It is NOT the pressure, if exceeded, that will cause the tire to explode!

Put some ballast in the truck bed and enjoy the ride.

From Discount Tire:

"Overinflation causes tires to suffer adverse effects, including a harsh ride, poor handling, and irregular wear. Overinflation occurs when tires are inflated with pressure exceeding the recommended PSI. Some drivers may even mistakenly overinflate their tires after reading the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall. This number represents the tire’s maximum pressure, not the vehicle’s recommended PSI range. [/U]Remember to always check the owner’s manual or tire placard for your vehicle’s correct tire pressure."

[FastEagle]

Original Equipment tires that are described on all vehicle certification labels have their recommended cold inflation pressures set exclusively by the vehicle manufacturer. Those recommendations will also be described in the vehicle owner’s manual and on a tire placard.

The standard that directs the vehicle manufacturer to set the recommended cold inflation pressures states that the recommendations displayed on the certification label MUST be appropriate for that specific fitment to that vehicle. Because the standards are written to conform with minimum safety standards it is never - under normal circumstances - recommended to use less inflation pressure than what has been recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.

Inflation pressures for OE tires may be adjusted between what has been recommended by the vehicle manufacturer and what is depicted on the tire’s sidewall to attain it’s maximum load capacity. Again, it is never recommended to use less tire inflation pressure than what has been recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.

Read what the tire manufacturers have to say about you tire’s inflation. See page #11 in this reference. RV tires are discussed in chapter #4. MHs & Trailers.

https://www.ustires.org/sites/defaul...TruckTires.pdf

[Old-Biscuit]

Tire Placard for my truck 80# on rear tires..........
Running 80# on a EMPTY pickup truck is asking for handling issues and excessive tire wear.

Tire Placard is MAX PSI for the CCC listed on Tire Placard NOT for every day driving needs UNLESS you run max Payload all the time

I do NOT need 80PSI for 3200# rear axle weight running empty but DO when rear axle is at 6200#

Common sense........what has happened to it

[kedanie]

Ol' SlowCrow couldn't be more wrong on this one if he tried. The pressures listed on the door tag are for a fully loaded truck. When empty is perfectly acceptable and recommended to lower pressures. The chalk line recomendation is an excelent one. Like Jimlin, our previous truck would also tend to roll the front tires so it needed to be somewhere around 70 lbs but the rears were 45-50 for the best ride and much longer tire life.

Keith

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Tire Placard for my truck 80# on rear tires..........
Running 80# on a EMPTY pickup truck is asking for handling issues and excessive tire wear.

Tire Placard is MAX PSI for the CCC listed on Tire Placard NOT for every day driving needs UNLESS you run max Payload all the time

I do NOT need 80PSI for 3200# rear axle weight running empty but DO when rear axle is at 6200#

Common sense........what has happened to it

Folks that blindly believe that the numbers on a 50-word placard must be the absolute solution to meet all driving conditions don't want to be bothered by common sense. I saw it in my teaching career. You couldn't just deal in facts, you had to make the student care to find out WHY. Make them observe, wonder, think, then the facts would be self-evident.

The OP observed that at maximum PSI, he had a rough ride. I suggested a way to safely choose a better pressure, you offered a method to determine safe PSI with a bit of chalk and observation. Sadly, others chipped in with falsehoods that muddied the waters and distracted from the simple truth.

[Cumminsfan]

My 12 Ram CTD says 65 front and 45 rear. The front axle weight is right at 4800 lbs. Rear empty is around 2800-3000 lbs. 45 psi is all thats needed for that weight.
When towing I run 70 in the front and 70 in the rear. My loaded rear axle weight is the same at 4800 lbs. My tires are wearing pretty close as reported from my last rotation.
PSI should be adjusted according the weights on the tires and the conditions being used.