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I hate to be all elementary..

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But I'm confused... So while I was at the auto parts store, I remembered that my tire pressure gauges were not adeqaute enough to test the trucks tire pressures. Got home and decided to give it a whirl. Looked on the sidewall and it said 80psi max. Okay, so I tested it. All my tires come out to about 50psi! They don't look flat, but dang! 30psi from max inflation? 'Am I missing something here? Is there something I'am missing when I got into the truck world?I have always ran my tires at about max inflation... This makes me wonder.

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But I'm confused... So while I was at the auto parts store, I remembered that my tire pressure gauges were not adeqaute enough to test the trucks tire pressures. Got home and decided to give it a whirl. Looked on the sidewall and it said 80psi max. Okay, so I tested it. All my tires come out to about 50psi! They don't look flat, but dang! 30psi from max inflation? 'Am I missing something here? Is there something I'am missing when I got into the truck world? I have always ran my tires at about max inflation... This makes me wonder.

If you look on the drivers door info sticker you will see that Dodge wants 50 in the front 60 in the back or some such nonsense. I beleive it is to improve the ride quality, of the grocery getters. if you are going to tow or haul I would put the max. in since the number one cause of blowouts is the sidewall heating up from under inflation.
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    On my sidewalls it says "Max load 3415 pounds at 80 psi". That means to safely carry 6830 pounds on that axle you should inflate to 80 psi. I am no where near that as the truck is drvien with out my trailer. Right now i am running 60 all the way around. Mike had a link to an air pressure calculation based on weight here a while back. If you reun 80 in them all the time youwill wear out the centers of the tires very quickly, not to mention how hard the tires will be.

    That's true, but I'd rather replace them at a tire dealer than on the side of the road grossing 22k.

    I am grossing 22.5k and this last trip I cut my pressure back to 70 on the rear and 65 on the front. I kept a close eye on them and the tires never heated up. They were just warm to the touch, nothing out of the ordinary. I have always driven with 80 psi in all four when towing until this last trip. I do wear the centers of my tires out before the outsides. One problem is remembering to lower the pressures after the trip. I am not good at that so it contributes to the wear.

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    I am grossing 22.5k and this last trip I cut my pressure back to 70 on the rear and 65 on the front. I kept a close eye on them and the tires never heated up. They were just warm to the touch, nothing out of the ordinary. I have always driven with 80 psi in all four when towing until this last trip. I do wear the centers of my tires out before the outsides. One problem is remembering to lower the pressures after the trip. I am not good at that so it contributes to the wear.

    Well, before this truck I was driving a 1/2 ton. Really never do much with it. I think the max tire pressure for them was like 40psi. Ran them at max. Had really even wear on them. Thanks for the heads up with all this, guys. I never given it much thought and when I did, I couldn't make sense of it. How are you able to gross 22.5k? Is it because yours is a long bed, 6 speed? I would'nt think our trucks would even be able to gross out over 18k!

    My 02 is rated for a GCW of 20k with the 6 speed. I believe the 5 speeds are the same. Autos of that year were only rated for 16k as I remember. Techniclly I am 2.5k over weight. The rear axle is rated for 6084#. I weighed on my last trip and the rear axle weight was 6080#'s according to the cat scale. The truck will handle the extra weight, stopping the load is my biggest concern. I seen alot folks here that pull more weight than I do, alot more often than me. That is another reason to keep your trailer brakes in great shape. Mine need some adjusting.I once hauled 6k in the bed. 2 cubes of brick. The truck road like a Cadilac. Other than that you would not have known they were in there. I have no idea how much weight was on the rear axle, but I am sure it was alot more than 6080#. I only did it out of nessecity and hope to never do that again.

    running empty and not pulling..65 up front and 32 in the back...and when i get somwhere i always look at the tires to see how they are wearing...like wearing in the middle..or if they need air or something....i visited with a person one time...he was not running much air p.s.i. up front..i told him at least put 60 to 65 in there sir..i said cause rounds numbers "OUR" engines weight 1,100 pounds.

    • Owner

    Simple way to figure out what you need. First for scale your truck...Now do some math...Like my front axle weight is 4,400# so now divide by 2 to get weight for a single tire. So you'll get 2,200# for a single tire. So now look at the weight capacity on the tire typically load range E's are 3,042# so now divide 2,200# by 3,042# should turn out a decimal number of 0.72. Now take the max inflation pressure of 80 PSI and multply it. you'll get 57.6 PSI required for that weight.(axle weight / 2) / tire capacity weight) x max tire pressure = Inflation pressure(4,400# / 2) / 3,042#) x 80 = 57.6 PSIJust do the same for the rear axle weight... :wink:

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    On my 2500 rigs I run the fronts at 55 psi all the time no matter what and the rear I run at 55 psi for daily driving and general use but I adjust it up from there depending on the load and trailer I have on back.Never had a problem and have met or beat the mileage rating of the tires I run and that is with a large amount of gravel which the tire manufactures claim 1 mile of gravel is equal to 10 pavement miles.On a dually I would have to experiment with the rears to find the sweet spot though.

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