This may sound stupid but, the tires on my F 350 say 80psi cold and the door tag says 60 psi cold. What do I go with?

 

I always go with what the door tag info states.

 

I run 75 in mine. BF Goodrich Radial A/T LT285 75 R16 tires.

 

See i go with what the tire wants just because the air pressure in a tire determans how it wears. Ford didnt make the tire so their 60psi may not be enough for an 80psi tire. I would say you wanna be within 10psi of what the tire is saying it needs.

 

It depends on the load, when I have the camper on, I run 80 psi front and rear. When empty, 80 in the front and 60 in the rear

 

Yes, it is very load dependant.

 

I personally run 75 psi in all six of my tires but, I use it to haul 80% + of the time. The tires on my F350 say 80psi max cold (10 ply) and the door tag says 60 psi cold. Now, if I recall the truck came with 8ply tires hence the 60psi max cold. Hope this helps.

 

I agree with wonderdonkey. if you want them to last go with 70 to 80.

 

I AGREE WITH YOU FORD DID NOT MAKE THE TIRE!!!!!

 

While I don't argue with you that Ford didn't make the tire, they did design the vehicle to perform around a specific tire pressure. Everything I've always read about tire pressure says to go with what the vehicle manufacturer reccomends, not what the max pressure says on the tires. IMO, 60 psi is more pressure than necessary unless you're fully loaded, and could cause the tires to wear faster in the center. FWIW, I run about 50 psi in my tires.

Oh, and off topic, but I didn't forget about your tow hooks, things have been busy for me this past week. I should get them out to you to you either Monday or Tuesday.

 

didnt firestone get into a bit of trouble over fords recomended tire pressure?

 

Yes, I believe they did. Reccomended too low of a pressure for that weight of a vechicle (Explorer), causing excessive heat which lead to tire failure. All done in the name of ride comfort. The 60 psi Ford reccomends for our trucks is for load hauling capacity, because we all know these trucks aren't known for thier silky smooth ride. I think Kwik said it best - it's very load dependant.

 

The MAXIMUM cold inflation pressure marked on the tire sidewall of an LT tire is really the MINIMUM cold inflation pressure required to carry the MAXIMUM rated load. For example, my LT 265 75R 16 LRE tires have a MAXIMUM rated load of 3415 lbs which requires a MINIMUM cold inflation pressure of 80 psi. If I have them inflated to only 79.9 psi, they're UNDER INFLATED, and can't safely carry their rated MAXIMUM load of 3415 lbs.

Since even small changes in temp, barometric pressure, or altitude, cause the inflation pressure to increase or decrease by several psi, I always inflate my rear truck and all four trailer tires to 83 psi, and I check and adjust them often to account for significant changes in temp and altitude. In order to provide a safety factor above the MINIMUM cold inflation pressure, the specifications by the tire and rim association allow for all LT tires to be inflated up to a +10 psi higher pressure than the so called "MAXIMUM cold inflation pressure" marked on the tire sidewall. If this +10 psi cushion wasn't allowed, it would be impossible to safely operate a tire that required a MINIMUM of 80 psi, but also had a MAXIMUM inflation pressure of 80 psi.

The following quote is from the official document on LT tires.

"INFLATION LIMITATIONS
Light Truck Tires
The inflations shown in the load tables are minimum cold pressures for the various loads listed. Higher pressures should be used as follows:
A. When required by the speed/load table, table 1 on Page L-2.
B. When higher pressures are desirable to obtain improved operating performance.
The combined increases of A and B should not exceed 10 PSI above the inflation specified for the maximum load of the tire.
THE MAXIMUM RIM CAPACITY MUST NOT BE EXCEEDED"

 

Anybody try the nitrogen inflated tire routine? I hear it helps keep tire
pressure steady over varying temp,altitude...etc.

 

We use nitrogen in our race car tires and they only grow about 1or 2 pounds on a long green flag run. The nitrogen does't have moisture in it like regular air does and doesn't expand and contract as easily too. What little bit of change we get is due to high breaking and scrubbing the rubber in the turns.....I have seriously considered nitrogen in my truck and camper tires, but I only have one more trip this season, but will most likely change everything out before Daytona....