Tire pressure
 

Hi All,

I have Trail Guide E rated tires that came with the truck. The tire says 80 psi but I never carry that much weight, so I keep them around 40 psi. Question is do I sacrifice a softer ride and pump them up to 80 and maybe the tire will last longer? Perhaps maybe get a little better MPG as well? Can't complain on the gas mileage really I'm getting 18ish.

Thank you,
Gary

I'm assuming you have a F150. The wheels on a F150 aren't designed to stay together at 80 PSI. You have E rated tires designed for vehicles that weigh more when empty than your trucks GVWR. You don't need or want 80 PSI in them.

For general driving around 40 PSI is usually about right, maybe 45 PSI if you're loaded heavy. Even guys with 3/4 ton trucks with 10,000 lb GVWR's usually keep 50-55 PSI in their trucks and only go to 70-80 PSI when loaded heavy.

Go find a tire shop that will trade them for the appropriate load range tire.

Definitely switch back to p metrics if you don’t need an LT load E. The p metrics will ride so much better and get better fuel economy.

80 is max PSI and you will never need anywhere near that on a half ton.

From my time here it seems like most guys with E load tires on their F150's run PSI at or similar to that 40 number.

If you pump them "up", for unloaded driving, 45 is high. Do not get anywhere near 80 even loaded up


I ran E rated Ridge Grapplers on my '19 and if I recall correctly generally went for about 42 lbs front and 40 lbs rear, cold, after trial and error, empty daily driving type, and maybe 44 around with the family and luggage/dog etc loaded up for interstate travel

Is your truck a “heavy half ton”? How many lug nuts do you have ?

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Thanks for the info. I bought a makita cordless inflator that’s how this whole thing got started.

The psi you set should be matched to the weight the tires are carrying. Too little psi and the tires prematurely wear out on the edges, too much psi and they prematurely wear out in the center. Generally, 37 rear and 40 front psi is ballpark for an unladen half-ton truck with LT tires. Rear can go up to 45-50psi max for when your truck is heavily loaded (and i mean right up against your gvwr). Anything above 50psi is overkill always. Those pressures support loads meant for superduty trucks that you will never carry as you would exceed your gvwr (exceeding your firame, axle, and wheel load capacities). You can use a website like https://tirepressure.com/tire-sizes to help you find the correct psi.

Sorry to differ on your rim opinion above but I have bought quite a few ford trucks starting from the model 7700 (a 2003 7 stud) to my latest two 2016 6 stud trucks & they came factory with E rated tires on alloy rims ...
Some trucks (3) had the 7 stud axles & the other 4-6 had 6 stud axles..All high mileage...........Some had regular steel rims & some were aluminum.....I have always run E rated tires on above rimes & have had no rim problems....As stated somewhere between 40 to 50 lbs is the usually all the air pressure you would need....Personally I run 50 lbs with a constant 600 lbs in the box at all times & I assure you you I get excellent wear & tire mileage...Might be a little rougher ride but works for me !!
My 2016 came E rated with the door post stating 35 lbs pressure but I found it to be too squishy especially cornering ....pumped it up to 40 lbs & rode like a truck....Now it's a work truck with that 600 lbs in the box @ 50 lbs !!