Running BFG T/A KO's on my 2006 F-150.
LT 285/65R20

rating says 80 psi but I tend to run them between 45-50. On the higher rated tires, any comments?

I'm interested in the responses. I've got the same tires on my truck and have wondered the same thing.

Silveradolover over on the auto board could help. The man knows tires.

It is most likely because they are load range e tires. (1-ton truck tires) therefore for those truck which use closer to the full capacity while towing/hauling stuff need the psi in order to obtain the max load rating. I don't know if there is a table out there showing the load rating vs psi for those tires but that is what you would.want to make sure they are not under inflated for what you are doing.

Example my F350 has load range e tires, I did the chalk test to make sure I was getting even wear across them and when I am not hauling and want a comfier ride and better tire wear I reduce the pressure from 65 down to 45-50 in the front and 40-45 in the rear.

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Running BFG T/A KO's on my 2006 F-150.
LT 285/65R20

rating says 80 psi but I tend to run them between 45-50. On the higher rated tires, any comments?

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PSI rating on the tire is NOT what you should be running your tires at. That is the MAXIMUM cold psi you can run in the tire. The PSI you should actually run with an unloaded truck is much closer to what will be posted on the sticker on your door. Will likely be close to 35 psi.

I would fill to about 40 psi. 50psi if you plan to tow.

From what we were taught in the engineering safety class, when I was at A&M. When the roads are wet or a little slick, tires inflated to near max rating will grip the paving better and are less susseptible to hydroplaining than lower inflated tires.

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From what we were taught in the engineering safety class, when I was at A&M. When the roads are wet or a little slick, tires inflated to near max rating will grip the paving better and are less susseptible to hydroplaining than lower inflated tires.

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I think the better way to explain this is that properly inflated tires will channel water out of the way better than under-inflated tires.

Found this link on Tire Rack: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=3

80 is max psi, no reason to get close to that. I have those same tires on my land cruiser and run 38-40

On a half ton 50lbs is too much for daily driving. It will make your tires bouncy and rough handling, If you plan on towing heavy id air up to 50-55 but you dont need more than 40-45 for a daily driver

I run higher on my new bfg's then what I did with my stock wranglers. No reason other than my dad has used them on all his work trucks and swears he gets an extra 20,000 miles running them with more air.

If you want them to last and be the safest they can be, inflate them to the manufacturers recommendations which is on the sticker on the drivers door frame. This is especially important when towing trailers. My F250 says 65psi

Not exactly the same tire... but I run BFG Rough Terrains P275/60R20 on my Dodge 1500 4WD. Manufacturer says 35, I run a 40. Like them as is.

Best way is to get a piece of chalk and draw a thick line perpendicular to the tread (across the tread). Then drive around the block. If the chalk is worn in the middle only you are too high. On the sides too low. You want an even wear across the tread. That said, my F150 super crew with BFG TA KOs ran best at 35 psi. YMMV...literally!

Have been running E-rated tires on Ford 3/4-ton trucks (diesel) for 15+ yrs..got great tread wear using 60psi front, 40-45psi on the back unless hauling heavy load.

But now with a 2012 model....
Anything less than approx 64psi triggers the low-tire pressure light. And the dealer quickly refused to lower the trigger point. I'm assuming lawyer-based: the advertised truck rating GVW is based in part on full rated tire capability (door sticker 75psi).

Michelin has a load rating vs tire pressure chart, indicating to me they are fine with running less than max pressure, as long as the operator is aware of the reduced load rating.

Go with the door placard. The tires are only one piece of the entire automotive system. The car is designed to run at that pressure. Altering the pressure will effect the handling, ride, cold and wet weather traction, as well as the calibration of your speedometer, ABS, VSC and traction control.

Run the same tires. 45 psi.

There are some around that will do it, but only if the tires are no longer standard. Some of the trucks ranges are a lot smaller now to keep the dealers from lowering them too much as well.

I run 10 ply BFG rugged trail on a 2012 2500HD. I keep them at the PSI on my door frame, 60 in the front, 75 in the back.

I run 40 in a half ton with load range e tires. The only time I'd put the max 80 psi in is when I'm also loading the pickup close to the maximum load marked on the tires. Run 80 unloaded and you'll wear the tread center out in no time.

Just to clarify...I never had any intentions of running 80 psi. These are very different from the tires that came stock (hated those on the 20" FX4 rims), so the recommended pressure on the door placard is wrong. Probably keep them in the 46 psi range but I do plan on doing the chalk test. The ride feels fine.

Just ask Obama what to do. He's a tire pressure expert.

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Just to clarify...I never had any intentions of running 80 psi. These are very different from the tires that came stock (hated those on the 20" FX4 rims), so the recommended pressure on the door placard is wrong. Probably keep them in the 46 psi range but I do plan on doing the chalk test. The ride feels fine.

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Yep, those saying to follow the door placard are dead wrong. That placard is only applicable for P rated tires on a half ton.

I have 275/65/R18 tires on my fiddy. I called BFG and they recommended 55 psi. I bump mine up to 60 and they still pass the chalk test. Bumpy ride though!

I'd call BFG and get their answer.

The better question is why are you running LT tires on an F150?

If they were P-rated and the tires were the same size, the door placard would be correct. As has been noted, the PSI on the side is a MAX rating.

The whole point is to get here:



I would imagine it would not be much greater, and may even be equal, with what your door placard says.

Chalk your tires.

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I run higher on my new bfg's then what I did with my stock wranglers. No reason other than my dad has used them on all his work trucks and swears he gets an extra 20,000 miles running them with more

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How does he know that his getting 20,000 mile more if he run them on all of his vehicles?

This nothing more than a myth..... And I worked out DTC for 6 years (high school through college)

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Go with the door placard. The tires are only one piece of the entire automotive system. The car is designed to run at that pressure. Altering the pressure will effect the handling, ride, cold and wet weather traction, as well as the calibration of your speedometer, ABS, VSC and traction control.

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Ding ding ding! Winner winner.

Personally, I would inflate the tires a little higher to say around 40psi, but no more.

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Just to clarify...I never had any intentions of running 80 psi. These are very different from the tires that came stock (hated those on the 20" FX4 rims), so the recommended pressure on the door placard is wrong. Probably keep them in the 46 psi range but I do plan on doing the chalk test. The ride feels fine.

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Yep, those saying to follow the door placard are dead wrong. That placard is only applicable for P rated tires on a half ton.

I have 275/65/R18 tires on my fiddy. I called BFG and they recommended 55 psi. I bump mine up to 60 and they still pass the chalk test. Bumpy ride though!

I'd call BFG and get their answer.

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Not if you're f150 came stock with LT tires..... Then the pressure is 40psi.

You can run whatever PSI you want, but 55 is absolutely outrageous. That same tire on an f250 with a diesel motor requires about the same amount of psi with about 3000lbs additional weight. Why would that tire need that psi without the added weight?

And you wonder why you're ride Is bumpy.........

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Not if you're f150 came stock with LT tires..... Then the pressure is 40psi.

You can run whatever PSI you want, but 55 is absolutely outrageous. That same tire on an f250 with a diesel motor requires about the same amount of psi with about 3000lbs additional weight. Why would that tire need that psi without the added weight?

And you wonder why you're ride Is bumpy.........

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Not all LT tires are created equal. LT tires cover a range of load ratings and widths. Usually a higher load rating means higher pressure, a wider tire means lower pressure.

For example, the stock Raptor tires are D rated LT315/70R17 with a max of 50 psi. The tires we're talking about in this thread are E rated with max psi of 80. Apples to oranges.

The reason I called BFG in the first place is because I took a 2 hour trip immediately after getting my tires. Horrible fuel economy, 15.5 mpg with tires at 40 psi. Jacked them up to 60 psi on the way back and got 19.5 mpg.

But by all means, if you think you know better than the tire manufacturer, you should probably call up BFG and tell them they're giving out bad information to people.

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Not if you're f150 came stock with LT tires..... Then the pressure is 40psi.

You can run whatever PSI you want, but 55 is absolutely outrageous. That same tire on an f250 with a diesel motor requires about the same amount of psi with about 3000lbs additional weight. Why would that tire need that psi without the added weight?

And you wonder why you're ride Is bumpy.........

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Not all LT tires are created equal. LT tires cover a range of load ratings and widths. Usually a higher load rating means higher pressure, a wider tire means lower pressure.

For example, the stock Raptor tires are D rated LT315/70R17 with a max of 50 psi. The tires we're talking about in this thread are E rated with max psi of 80. Apples to oranges.

The reason I called BFG in the first place is because I took a 2 hour trip immediately after getting my tires. Horrible fuel economy, 15.5 mpg with tires at 40 psi. Jacked them up to 60 psi on the way back and got 19.5 mpg.

But by all means, if you think you know better than the tire manufacturer, you should probably call up BFG and tell them they're giving out bad information to people.

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First of all,

Even the same load range can have varying max cold air tire pressure, depending on size. The taller and wider the tire, the lower the max cold air pressure.

For example:
LT 285/70/17 (D) = 65psi
LT 315/70/17 (D) = 50psi

LT 285/70/17 (E) = 80psi
LT 305/65/17 (E) = 65psi

we are specifically talking about load range Es on a half ton, for this particular thread. In this size and configuration, maxes out at more than double the manufacture's recommended tire pressure (for a slightly different size). If you think that running 1.5 times the recommended operating pressure will help with the ride, fuel economy, and tread life simply because you have added 4 plys, is just wrong.

In regards to your application..... There are way to many variables to account for the change in gas mileage on one trip, to simply contribute all to an adjustment of tire pressure.

And for the record, MMA knows a lot about tires and their applications, but their opinions don't supercede the manufacturer on how it will impact the overall performance of the vehicle. I have talked to plenty of people at MMA, not BFG. BFG is owned, produced, and represented by Michelin. Let's just say that not everyone there knows exactly what they are talking about..... Not much different than any other company's cutomer support department.

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If you think that running 1.5 times the recommended operating pressure will help with the ride, fuel economy, and tread life simply because you have added 4 plys, is just wrong.

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What is the recommended operating pressure you're referring to? Does Ford have a recommended operating pressure for E rated 275/65R18 tires? If not, the only recommendation available is from the tire manufacturer. I do also doubt the customer service rep I spoke with was knowledgeable, but I'm sure she was quoting me numbers from a database that was probably populated with data determined through some process more substantial than just a guess. I may be wrong there, I don't know.

Ride quality would be way better at 35-40 psi, but I never really expected good ride quality with E rated tires. Fuel economy absolutely is better at higher pressure though. A harder, more highly inflated tire ALWAYS means lower rolling resistance. You're right that my fuel economy reading certainly had other influences, but that's the widest gap I've ever had between a to and from trip. And as far as tread wear, the chalk test indicates my contact patch is still good at 60 psi, so I don't think I'll have a problem. I'm 10,000 miles in, looks good so far.

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The better question is why are you running LT tires on an F150?

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For me, it's a 1/2 ton silverado. And if I never left the pavement, I'd probably stick with P tires. But because I use a pickup for actual pickup stuff, like dirt roads, fields, and work on the farm, I use LT tires. Tires last 10x longer with 1/10 the flats. The extra plies just stand up to dirt/ruts/debris/stalks/load better.

Because after not getting good life out of them for a couple years he had discount start putting more air in them.

Also, my dad does so much work at discount everyone at the local stores know him. He actually hired one of the managers to work for him. That said manager fought my dad on increasing the tire pressure and was surprised when they got more life out of them.

And just to clarify my dad owns a company with about 10-15 company trucks, depending on variables, that put on 60-70,000 miles a year. So you can compare and see results pretty easy in his company.

I run mine at 65-70 psi year round and have since I started driving. It's not an issue.

I run e rated tiresults on my half and 3/4 ton.

Your dad sounds like a smart man that takes good care of his vehicles. So I assume he rotates and balances the tires regularly, checks/maintains alignment , and he obviously checks tire pressure frequently. He probably does so more than any other guy in the fleet.

Which brings up two possibilities of why your dad gets 20k more out of his tires:

Your dad has found the perfect air pressure for the truck and that is the sole reason he has such longer tread life than others in his company.......

Your dads maintenance of the vehicle (rotations, balancing, alignments, air pressure) all contribute to the to longevity of the tire life......

Which is more likely?

And I am not trying to be argumentative, I have just heard this argument used on a number of occasions by customers at DTC when I used to worked there. The reality is, if you have the right tire for your vehicle, with the right tread compound and regularly rotate, check pressure, and maintain alignment, you will extend the life of the tire..... Sometimes dramatically.

However, just because you get 70k miles out of your Michelin LTXs (a tire that will more than likely make 70k without even rotating) doesn't mean you have cracked the code on perfect air pressure. And I have heard the argument for BFGs in the same way.