RE: Terrible ride, mostly solved
80 in the rear of my X and 70 in front. mine doesn`t ride rough and the tires wear perfect.
What works for some may not for others!
Thanks, dodge guy. Yeah, my post certainly wasn't saying you can't run the psi that you are comfortable with. I was just trying to help others that may be in the same boat as I was. I even tried to defend the truck when the DW said to me as we bounced down the highway "something is not right".
I just had the mindset that tires should always be in the 60-80 psi range. Never did I think I was overloading the tires. I had looked at the tire's max many times (3640 lbs at 80psi) but never thought to adjust the psi to the actual weight on the axles.
I happen to have very heavy tires for a 3/4-ton. My rear unloaded weight calls for only 35 psi in the rear, I'll adjust it up to 55 when towing.
I think it now rides like a 3/4-ton truck should ride, I know there's no getting away from heavy springs, E range tires, etc. But at least it doesn't ride like a grain wagon anymore.
RE: Terrible ride, mostly solved
Found Michelin LTX M/S pressure chart here
PSI for 265/75R16E
Load psi
1910 35
2100 40
2280 45
2470 50
2625 55
2790 60
3000 65
3105 70
3260 75
**this is from another forum board and should not be used unless verified with your tire manufacturer.
RE: Terrible ride, mostly solved
I just called Michelin and was told by them that I need to refer to the door sticker on my truck for proper inflation. I'm thinking I will call back and see if I can get someone a little more knowledgeable...
Edit - called back and spoke with another gentleman and he was not able to provide the information. He transferred me to his supervisor and he told me that since I had larger tires than stock (265 vs 245) they were unable to answer any questions for me and that I would need to talk to Chevrolet for any inflation questions.
Post your tire size/type, I'll call around for you as well.
RE: Terrible ride, mostly solved
I have run 80 PSI on every Ram I have owned since 1997. I get normal wear and 90K with Michelins. Present truck is a dually that had firestones rather than the normal Michelins that come on Dodges. Out of round failure at 60K. Put the Michelins on and am now at 152K with tread left. And as for the rough ride you need a 1500/150. A 2500/3500 rides rough because it is built to handle a heavy load. Stop trying to make them ride like the family car. Go buy a 1500 or a car.
My post was an attempt to be helpful to those that may be suffering from a terrible ride as another avenue to check. Extreme over-pressure will cause an absolutely unacceptable ride, especially with 3640 lb tires. My family can testify to that.
Your 'go buy a 1500 or a car' comment is unhelpful and of no benefit to the thread.
RE: Terrible ride, mostly solved
It is required by law that the door post provide tire inflation information that will handle the GVWR or your truck. When you're not LOADED to GVWR there is no need to carry that much pressure. EACH tire manufacturer will have it's own inflation chart to compute the minimum required pressure for all situations.
**An important distinction here, that sticker will be for the OEM tires that were designed to be on the truck, any deviation will alter your requirements.
RE: Terrible ride, mostly solved
I had to enter a 'contact us' email on BFGoodrich's site, they called me directly to give me the weights for my tires.
I could not find anything other than the 80 psi load on-line.
RE: why is a simple answer so hard to find?
I had to enter an email request on BFGoodrich's site to get an answer regarding my tires specific load range at different psi.
I was also told that any authorized dealer should have access to the load chart for any tire they sell.
Terrible ride, mostly solved
Hope this helps others...
I've been dealing with a terrible ride in our 2008 2500HD crew GMC. The DW has opted to drive herself and the baby to the campground. I had road force balanced the tires, alignment, new Bilstein shocks, checked the torsion bars, TONS of research, etc.
The main culprit? Tire pressures, way too high.
Come to find out, for my tires/weights I should be running 55 psi in the rear and 40 psi in the fronts.
Talked to a BFGoodrich tech and he said there is a common mindset among dealerships, tire shops, RV shops, general public, forum boards, etc., that you always need to be on the high side for inflation rates. My door sticker said to run 72 psi, which I always did. When I got my first camper the RV tech wanted 80 psi in the rears (with no knowledge of my current setup).
Their recommendation is to run thier tires according to the weight they are supporting. Ignore the truck mfg door sticker, ignore forum board experts, etc. His rule of thumb, every truck/setup should be treated separately, it needs to be weighed and adjust psi accordingly.
Current weights, fully loaded:
Front: 4240
Rear: 5260
Trailer: 8320
Full: 17820
Tire load ranges (BFGoodrich 285/65/18 A/T KO):
80psi - 3640 lbs.
75psi - 3470 lbs.
70psi - 3305 lbs.
65psi - 3195 lbs.
60psi - 2965 lbs.
55psi - 2790 lbs.
50psi - 2600 lbs.
45psi - 2425 lbs.
40psi - 2235 lbs.
35psi - 2035 lbs.
Long story short, adjust your tire pressures according to your fully loaded weights, your back (and family) will thank you. Unless someone has your particular load ranges for your tires and knows exactly how much your rig weighs, don't listen to them.
