Tow Vehicle Tires

[Gene]

No Dana, that doesn't sound right for a good tire. The Goodrich tires that were the OEM tires on our Tundra looked like they'd last about 25,000 miles (we replaced them before then). The Michelin LTX A/T2, LR E, we replaced them with are at 65,000 miles and still have a few more miles on them, though not much.

Last time I had Bridgestones was when they came on an SUV a couple of decades ago. I think they, being OEM tires, didn't last all that long. My impression, possibly coming from mythology, is that OEM tires, even with the same name (these were Desert Duelers), are made to not last with the hope you'll buy replacements of the same brand soon to make up for how cheaply they sell them to the auto manufacturer.

Of course, there could be alignment problems, but usually that means one side wears before the other. Or air pressure which means either the center or the edges wear first. But if they are wearing evenly, I suspect it is telling you to buy another brand.

Gene

[c_lewis77]

I agree with you Gene, something sounds awry. I have Bridgestone Revo 2's on my Excursion... This will be my 5th set of Bridgestone Revo all have gotten high miles even considering daily 4x4/off road and towing use. Not saying all Bridgestones are equal or that other tires are not as good or better, but I have had great luck with these. They have enough tooth to grip off road, but not enough to be really noisy on the highway.
Whatever tire, they should wear evenly. I have oversized tires on my Excursion... I have to physically check each tire when I have either new tires or Rotate/ Balance one to ensure the proper inflation. The recommended inflation listed in the book is for the skinny stock tires. The last time I bought tires, when the truck was pulled out of the garage, the tires were all inflated to a consistent 32#....25# underinflated. So I learned it is always good to double check!

[Goal15]

So even though the sidewalls on these Bridgestone Duelers say 44 psi max, the door post on the Tundra Double Cab says 30 front and 32 back. the Service Advisor who has a Tundra says he used to run his Bridgestones at 38, (but now runs Michelins because they are made of "harder" rubber and last longer) making a bit of a rougher ride but to keep them from wearing on the edges because of the softer rubber and sidewall that the Bridgestone Duelers have....

any thoughts on this? c_Lewis, are you saying that the 32# is actually 25# underinflated? or that it was 32 front and 25 back?

[Goal15]

I've probably been running them underinflated then because he said the edges were wearing evenly not one side or the other..... so i guess i will research what psi I can run....

[c_lewis77]

Originally Posted by Goal15

So even though the sidewalls on these Bridgestone Duelers say 44 psi max, the door post on the Tundra Double Cab says 30 front and 32 back. the Service Advisor who has a Tundra says he used to run his Bridgestones at 38, (but now runs Michelins because they are made of "harder" rubber and last longer) making a bit of a rougher ride but to keep them from wearing on the edges because of the softer rubber and sidewall that the Bridgestone Duelers have....

any thoughts on this? c_Lewis, are you saying that the 32# is actually 25# underinflated? or that it was 32 front and 25 back?

I must first say that i am no expert on the subject...just what I have learned from my own truck.
My bridgestone revo 2's or the biggest tire that will fit in the wheel well without rubbing. 285/75 r16 load range is E on mine. The max psi on my tires is 80psi. That makes 32lbs a little less that what is needed.

[Gene]

The recommended pressure for the Tundra is for when you use it like sedan with a LR C tire. Load up cinder blocks or lots of lumber, and you should increase the pressure. When changing to LR E tires, some increase is good for those tires, but not to 80 psi.

I called Michelin a couple of times when I switched to the LR E tires and the consensus was that for just driving around, 42 front and 45 rear would be good. For towing with our trailer, increase each by 3 psi. I often forget to let out that extra air pressure when we come home from a trailer trip.

Tire wear has been even across the tread.

Gene

[c_lewis77]

Agreed gene, i was not implying that 80# is appropriate, just noting the max pressure is listed at 80# not 40# for my particular tire.
I run my tires at about 55#.
From both a safety and tire wear perspective it is important to do your homework to make sure you are set up right. The tire shop couldn't give me any info beyond what was in the book for stock tires. I ended up calling bridgestone to get the info i needed.

[Phoenix]

When we still had the OEM BFGoodrich Rugged Trails on our Tundra, I ran 44 psi front and rear, especially when towing. I determined that 44 psi was appropriate by using the method described below. (Also, the Rugged Trails were passenger car tires; and 44 psi was the maximum pressure printed on the sidewalls.)

When our 2002 Prius was new, I experimented to determine what tire pressure would give the best fuel economy and still allow the tires to wear evenly. The Prius is a much different setup from the Tundra, as there is a lot of weight on the front two tires from the gasoline engine, a big electric motor and a special, computer-controlled, torque transfer case that switches between the two. This extra weight causes the front tires to wear much faster (and unevenly), especially if they are under inflated.

Here in Phoenix, since we get very little rain, our driveway has a light coating of very fine dust on it that looks like sand-colored baking flour. When you drive on it, the dust sticks to the rubber tread; and you can tell exactly which parts of the tire are touching the ground.

If a tire is under inflated, dust is deposited over the shoulder and onto the sidewall. If it's over inflated, the edges of the tread that should touch the ground are clean, with no dust. (Basically, the dust allows one to view the tire's contact patch.)

On our Tundra, I adjusted the front and rear tire pressure until dust was deposited only on the flat portion of the tread, and not over the shoulder. The tire pressure when this was achieved was 55 psi in the front tires and 65 psi in the rear (with our Bambi attached). After these pressures were determined, tire temperatures were monitored during a weekend camping trip to ensure that the tires were not heating up while on the road.

The tires on both our 2002 Prius and 2008 Tundra are wearing evenly. Our Prius has had three sets of Michelins on it, since it was purchased new; and all of the tires wore evenly until they were replaced.

[JBinKC]

Everything I've read says to stick with the automaker's recommended tire pressures for best performance and tire longevity. So I stuck with the Chevy recommended tire pressures on the original 17-inch Bridgestone Duravis tires on my truck: 72 psi rear and 60 psi front. I rotate every 5,000 miles and I'm going to get 50,000 miles out of this set. Hard to beat that. The downside is that at those tire pressures my rig rides like a ... well, like a truck.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Here in Phoenix, since we get very little rain, our driveway has a light coating of very fine dust on it that looks like sand-colored baking flour. When you drive on it, the dust sticks to the rubber tread; and you can tell exactly which parts of the tire are touching the ground.

Not wanting to move to Phoenix, I bought a tire tread gauge at the local, overpriced auto parts store for about $10 or $12. I check tread periodically to see how the tires are wearing, check for alignment issues and tweak tire pressure. Everyone should have one unless they live in Phoenix. I suppose you could put flour down on the driveway and after you finish checking tires, add some water and bake it in the sun and have matzos or tortillas (I'm not much on bread making).

I assume when you talk about using 55 psi and 65 psi that is for the Michelin Rib tires—if my memory is correct, that is what you have. That is a quite different tire than the LTX series tires and those may work better with higher pressure.

This isn't worth much, but I drove a Silverado pickup 75 miles—maybe 6 years old—because a friend couldn't bring it home after being in the hospital. It felt very much like a truck with wooden tires perhaps—maybe it had high pressure in the tires. It made me appreciate the Tundra even more.

Gene

[SteveH]

I've done extensive observation of my tires over all sorts of road surfaces, and I've found that only the bottoms of my tires touch the road surface.

[switz]

When I picked up my new pickup, it had Michelin LT265/70R17E tires which saved the expense of buying them from the get go. The dealer had the pressures set high. That generated a bone jarring ride. When I got home and studied the door label, I dropped the rear tires to 45 psi per the door label for no load from 70 psi full loads (also the axle rating of 6,010 pounds). Then I set the dash switch to inform the on-board computer tire monitor of that decision. The front tires stayed at 60 psi. The ride was immensely improved.

I use the tire pressure chart for LT truck tires to set the pressure. Currently, with the trailer attached and looking at the rear axle load from the scales of about 3,500 pounds, 50 psi is adequate for the load.

80psi - 3,195
70psi - 3,005
60psi - 2,760
50psi - 2,470
45psi - 2,255

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by switz

When I picked up my new pickup, it had Michelin LT265/70R17E tires which saved the expense of buying them from the get go. The dealer had the pressures set high. That generated a bone jarring ride. When I got home and studied the door label, I dropped the rear tires to 45 psi per the door label for no load from 70 psi full loads (also the axle rating of 6,010 pounds). Then I set the dash switch to inform the on-board computer tire monitor of that decision. The front tires stayed at 60 psi. The ride was immensely improved.

I use the tire pressure chart for LT truck tires to set the pressure. Currently, with the trailer attached and looking at the rear axle load from the scales of about 3,500 pounds, 50 psi is adequate for the load.

80psi - 3,195
70psi - 3,005
60psi - 2,760
50psi - 2,470
45psi - 2,255

Switz, I think you will find, and it has been my experience, that although 50 psi in your rear tires may carry the weight you have, it may be insufficient to adequately stabilize the truck and trailer under less than perfect conditions. Lower pressure tires on the rear of the TV tend to be "mushy" in respect to side to side movement, and higher pressure tend to be more stable.

For this reason, I carry 80 PSI in the same tires as you have, and yes I can certainly feel the difference in stability.

[Goal15]

Well I'm glad ya'll are happy with your Michelins... now I just have to figure out how much air i need to run in my Bridgestone Duelers to handle towing AND increase tire life as much as possible. sidewall says 44 psi, door jamb says 33/30.

[slowmover]

I stay within the range the vehicle manufacturer gives. Though I may be higher than the door sticker, depending . . . . There are instances where handling is compromised by higher than what load vs. pressure demands and braking is negatively affected (according to my own experience and what RMA publishes).

The first set of MICHELINS LTX A/S on this truck went to 120k with 4/32's remaining following this path. The second set failed (internal) with less than 70k on them, but MICHELIN ponied up for LTX M/S 2 this time around.

If I were starting from scratch I'd go with BRIDGESTONE commercial LT tires.

.

[c_lewis77]

Originally Posted by Goal15

Well I'm glad ya'll are happy with your Michelins... now I just have to figure out how much air i need to run in my Bridgestone Duelers to handle towing AND increase tire life as much as possible. sidewall says 44 psi, door jamb says 33/30.

If the tire size/specs match the factory tires, i would think the mfg recommendations would be good. In my case, my tires are well beyond the stock size so the inflation recommendations from the mfg do not work.
Try calling bridgestone and get their recommendation. Get it from the horses mouth so to speak.

[Gene]

Dana,

44 psi on the sidewall means you have Load Range C tires. The vehicle manufacturer recommends less though somewhere in the owner's manual it may say to increase pressure for heavy loads.

Most (maybe all) of the more recent trailers have Load Range D tires with a maximum of 65 psi. Many of us are using Load Range E tires on our trucks and trailers with a max. psi of 80.

For driving around town with the truck, follow the manufacturer's recommendations. If you pick up half a ton of bricks, increase pressure to 44 lbs. When you tow, check tables online to see how much to increase pressure for the extra load—probably you are fine with 44 psi with your present tires. If you upgrade tires to LR D or E, then check tables and/or call the tire manufacturer to get their input.

And, someday, you may be blessed with Michelins.

Gene

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by Gene

.........44 psi on the sidewall means you have Load Range C tires................

Sorry, but 44 psi on the sidewall means the tires are P type Standard Load tires. LT metric Load Range C tires would have 50 psi on the sidewall (with a few exceptions.)

[rodsterinfl]

although 50 psi in your rear tires may carry the weight you have, it may be insufficient to adequately stabilize the truck and trailer under less than perfect conditions.

Greetings

Last Monday I had four new Michelin LTX M/S2 tires installed on my F150. Same size but E rated instead of the D rating that my previous General Tires that were OEM they replaced. Mind you that I NEVER had a bit of sway with them and I ran them 10 lbs under the max pressure.

On my 600 mile trip towing my AS that I just returned from, I am happy with the new tires for all reasons BUT the sway. It was, at times, frightful. Most times I could not let go of the wheel. I can only conclude that it must be the psi. I checked it at 65psi at each tire. The max is 80psi on the Michelin.

I share this Moosetags as I shopped and the Michelin LTX M/S2 is one of the highest rated load tires. They are certainly quiet and the ride is good. I may not be out towing again for a while but next time I will increase the psi.

[TG Twinkie]

I have P type Bridgestones on the Tundra. Max pressure is 44# for 2601 pounds of load carrying capacity. Which puts them in the load range "D" category.
I run the Tundra specs when the truck is empty and not towing. 30 front, 33 rear. Increase to 34 front and 39-40 rear.