Tire choices

RDieselKid84

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I run 62 psi all around, but old blue is a service truck with a reading body and a tommy lift. I would run at lest 60 psi they are raded @ 80 psi with a full load, just don't over pressure them dad had a set put on in the 90's @ Good Year and on his way home he couldn't keep it in the road,so he went back to Good Year and they had bad air gauges. They had put over 100psi in them. Just put the Tommy lift on last year I told my dad we shouldn't have did it thirty years ago. We had one on the half tons for sixteen years and we traded it in for a new f150 4X4 to ride in when we took a trip. And yes new bilsteins will be a plus for the ride, the old ones are twenty six years old.
 

RDieselKid84

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I missed the back tire pressure you said you were running 40psi, I would run 50psi back there and try it. If it doesn't bounce to bad and holds the road I'd go with that.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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Glad you found something you like!

+1 on the Bilstein HDs, youll think it's a different pickup after install(if you had OEM shocks still like I did)
 

austin92

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I ran 40 front 30 rear on the bfg’s. I just kept dropping until I felt warm side walls after driving then brought the psi back up like 5psi. Rears go up to 75 when towing.

Not sure if the shocks are oe or not. Truck feels solid but I want the nice new shocks since it doesn’t have sway bars


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nelstomlinson

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Ok here we go, why do all the aircraft tires have nitrogen in them. It doesn't change it's pressure with the change in the temperature ...

Of course it changes pressure with changes in temperature. It just changes a little less. Why do they use it on aircraft? Because aircraft owners have stupid money.
 

nelstomlinson

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Any properly inflated 235/85-16 has enough sidewall to haul around an unloaded pickup, especially one as light as in the original post.

My Kubota M4800 has 235/85-16 load range E tires on the front. They hardly need air - the sidewalls are stiff enough that I don't see them bulge until the pressure hits zero. I do air them up before I use the tractor, but I probably wouldn't have to.
 

austin92

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My Kubota M4800 has 235/85-16 load range E tires on the front. They hardly need air - the sidewalls are stiff enough that I don't see them bulge until the pressure hits zero. I do air them up before I use the tractor, but I probably wouldn't have to.
Are you using bias ply though?


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renjaminfrankln

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Of course it changes pressure with changes in temperature. It just changes a little less. Why do they use it on aircraft? Because aircraft owners have stupid money.

Nitrogen is dry, inert. Shop air is moist and reactive (oxygen).

Weight is at a premium on aircraft so the parts are designed as light as possible. Meaning something that we would consider light corrosion compromising maybe 10-15% of the thickness of metal, would ruin an aircraft part.

One example I can think of, many propeller hubs are charged with nitrogen (springs are heavy, so use air instead!). Then placed into service for a decade or more and thousands of hours. Hot temperatures and freezing cold temperatures before being overhauled again. You don't want your propeller hubs corroding from the inside out!
 

RDieselKid84

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Remember max infaltion is 80 psi and I wouldn't run my tires at half the rated pressure. That would be like running a tire that says 32 psi at 16 psi. It will heat up and rupture.
 

DrCharles

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That max inflation is intended for max load, too. If you're running empty or just a couple hundred pounds in the bed, 40 psi in the rear works just fine. I drive around at that pressure and nothing's heating up or rupturing... still rides plenty rough on our crappy dirt roads on 265/75R16's.

The size of the contact patch varies with pressure... if there's 1600 lb on a tire, and it's inflated to 40 psi, there must be 40 square inches of tire on the ground. Increase that to 2400 lb and you need 60 psi to keep the same size contact patch. Sidewall flex will also be reduced with the higher pressure, which is a good thing with the heavier load too (so it won't heat and fail)...

Yes, underinflation will definitely cause problems, especially if it's so soft that potholes/rocks are overstressing the belts and the contact patch isn't flat on the ground, but a flat statement that "half the max pressure isn't enough" is way oversimplified.
 

chillman88

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Remember max infaltion is 80 psi and I wouldn't run my tires at half the rated pressure. That would be like running a tire that says 32 psi at 16 psi. It will heat up and rupture.

That's all well and good... Does that mean you won't drive your F250 unless it's loaded at or close to the 8600lb gross vehicle weight rating?

I'm not being a jerk, just illustrating a point. Maximum is just that. MAXimum. It just means don't go over that. The sticker on the door of my F350 says to run the tires at 52 psi if I recall correctly. That's not too far away from "half the rated pressure" but it is what it is designed for.
 

MtnHaul

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Justin B

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I'm no rocket surgeon, but there's plenty of information available about tire pressures and why/why not to run nitrogen. Here's my $.02..

Maximum tire pressure is directly related to maximum load capacity. Lower your tire pressure and you reduce the ability of that tire to carry the rated load. If you're not concerned with maximum capacity, that opens up a whole range of tire options.. however, I prefer the E rated tires, in the stock size, which require 80 psi for max capacity. Tires are expensive and I want the longest life I can get out of them so I stick with 80 (truck and tire mfg reccomendations).

On the nitrogen note.. aircraft operate in temperature extremes. At 10,000 ft the temperature is 23F, 30,000 feet the temp drops below -60F. A jet waiting for takeoff might be sitting on 100+F tarmac. It makes sense for them. I would think it would also make sense for an OTR truck that cruises from Death Valley over the Rockies weighing in at 80,000 lbs and needing every bit of load capacity. In an old beater that you use for around town business the nitrogen looses it's attraction to me. It's a heck of a lot easier to just put plain old air available at most gas station and service centers.

I just bought a set of Pepboy's specials for my truck that will be doing some light duty towing. $340 for the set (285/75-16), $20 shipped straight to my house. They're 40,000 mile tires and the jury is out if I get that mileage from them, time will tell. My purchase wasn't entirely based on me being cheap.. I just feel that there are safety standards set for tires that even the cheap ones have to meet. The Futura's are Cooper's just branded for Pepboy's exclusively.
 

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