Alright guys. I hate to start yet another tire pressure topic, but all the ones that came up in the search were locked...
Ive got Cavalier Sport Kings A/T 285 Load D tires. Nice tires, though they do like to pickup,store, then throw rocks and mud once up to road speed...
Anyways, me and a friend were talking tires and pressure and got to checking them. All 4 of mine were spot on at 54psi(Chevy dealer installed and set/balanced, and have about 2500-3500miles) Anyways said friend thought that was too much as his 285 revos (less than 500 miles) were only 35 front/40 rear. He dropped them to 50front/45 rear.
Well i went on like maybe a 35 mile roundtrip adventure, and i dont know forwhatever reason, the truck just didnt seem the same. I dont know if it was just my mind having fun w/me or what. It seemed like it felt softer, and steering just seemed different.
I dont see myself towing any very heavy loads(7,8,9k lbs) or if i do it wouldnt be farther then 10-12 miles....In the winter id be towing a 2 place aluminum enclosed snowmobiler trailer, but i doubt that weights in at more than 1500-1750 lbs...
Side note: Before anything was changed the rear tires had a little mudline on the outside(id guess maybe a 1/2" at most) where it appeared as though it wasnt contacting the rd like the rest of the tire...The fronts had a similar line, but was under 1/4" wide. Again, on the outside of the tire, unfortunatly for whatever reason didnt think to check inside of the tires....
i guess through all this blubbering, im looking for what possibly would be causing my intial line on the tires, and how does everyone feel about 54psi???
Man, when i get this all figured out, im gonna put a 10ft perimeter around my truck so that i and noone else will be able to tamper w/em....Sorry for the length, and thanks in advance for the tips...-Adam Edited by: Polarbear

I/m runing BFG's, 285's I run them at 65psi front and rear.

I've got 285 revo's and Firestone said to run them anywhere between 50 and 60 psi. So I try to keep them at about 55.

I don't know about other tires, but the BFG's say 65lbs but remember, that is at MAX load. So if your not running with a heavy load, don't torture yourself with a rougher ride and lower them. I run my BFG's at 38lbs cold and have had multiple sets of them on multiple trucks. Comfy ride and i've never had any inconsistant wear or the inner or outter sides wear first. I would guess that on most tires, the high tire pressures are for when your loaded.


Ken

Ken said it! If you don't carry that heavy load you do not need the max tire pressure to carry the max load the tire is designed for.
In Australia I found a funny formula for tire pressure, but it worked for me, try it:
If you measure your tire pressure on a cold tire and you drive 1 hour you should measure an increase of approx. 4 PSI for normal driving (65 miles per hour) not carrying a load. This figures are changing as follows: High speed for 1 hour (75 miles per hour + 8 PSI from cold pressure), Speed and Load (65 miles per hour + load = + 8 PSI, High Speed and Load (75 miles per hour + load = + 12 PSI from the cold figure. To carry the max weight you need to increase the pressure to the max accordingly (Nitto Terra Grappler example: 285/75/16 @ 3305 lbs. = 65 PSI. In theory you could carry 13.220 lbs (all 4 tires at 65 PSI, includes vehicle weight, cargo in bed etc...) but as Ken put it you only need the 65 PSI to carry the 13.220 lbs

Frank

And one more thing too... If you do run them at their max psi. and your not loaded, you may even have premature wearing in the center of the tires (kinda kike if your laying rubber all the time and you burn out the centers of your tires) because their aired up so much. If you want to see a good example of that, look at your tires after you've washed your truck. If you get your tires real clean on the tread and then say roll it right from your driveway into a dusty garage or something like that, you'll probably only see dust or dirt stuck to the center of the tread and not the outsides. Thats the part of the tire that will be rolling down the road, and thats the part of the tire that will wear first.


Ken

And one more thing too... If you do run them at their max psi. and your not loaded, you may even have premature wearing in the center of the tires (kinda kike if your laying rubber all the time and you burn out the centers of your tires) because their aired up so much. If you want to see a good example of that, look at your tires after you've washed your truck. If you get your tires real clean on the tread and then say roll it right from your driveway into a dusty garage or something like that, you'll probably only see dust or dirt stuck to the center of the tread and not the outsides. Thats the part of the tire that will be rolling down the road, and thats the part of the tire that will wear first.


Ken
Ken- That sounds almost exactly what i was talking about in my intial post, before anything was touch. I drive on quite a bit of gravel and dirt, so when i run down the rd, and get out its pretty obvious. Granted its only, id say outside 1/2" in the rear...fronts seemed pretty good(prolly due in part to the weight of the engine) Would the stated drop in pressure be something youd notice pretty obviously?? Truck seems a little looser or something sense then....http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

On my 285 Buckshots the tire guy said 35 psi...

On my 285 BFG's I have 55 front-45 in back. Visually my tires seem to have a good flat contact patch.

3 sets of 285 BFGs at 42PSI. Seems to be the best balance for me between load and ride. Wear is great as long as you keep them rotated. I have pumped them to 65psi and the ride is horrible, like a lumber waggon. I don't know how you guys stand it!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

Polarbear, with the tires pumped up that high, you'd definitly notice a harsher ride and the steering would probably be pretty easy. With the pressures down, you may notice having to put a tad more effort in the steering and it may sway a bit more as far as handling goes. I would stay around the 36 to 42 range cold. I think that gives the best overall ride. But if your gonna tow a really heavy load, I would definitly pump them up to the higher pressures.


Ken

I have 285 Nitto's, and I run 40 all the way around. When I tow/haul something I'll up the fronts 5-10 PSI and the rears 10-20, depending upon how much weight I'm moving around.

I run 42psi with my 285 also