BFG AT T/A KO2: What pressure do you guys recommend?

Huh, I may have to up my pressure to 50. I just put in 41 yesterday. I need some chalk.

 

Those Toyo tables are not for Toyo tires--those tables are for ALL tires, regardless of brand. Toyo puts those tables on its website but they have nothing to do with Toyo tires specifically. Those tables are standards for all tires.

A quote from those tables: "Load & inflation tables for passenger cars and light trucks are based on various standards including The Tire and Rim Association, Inc. (TRA) (North America), The European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) (E.U.), and The Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association (JATMA)."

Also note that above the tables is the following: "TRA P-Metric Load & Inflation Table"

 

oops. my mistake. That just shows how much I don't know.

 

I have nitrogen and still get my free services from the dealer. They use the PSI rating on the door sticker and won’t give me a pound over 37. I had Goodyear get me up to 44 and when I went for an oil change Toyota put me back at 37. If you’re doing maintenance yourself I guess you don’t have to worry about that.

 

No problem. I am just providing information from my own research. I figure that it will be helpful to someone--not just to the OP but to other people who are searching for the answers in old threads, etc.

 

I never knew so much went into tire pressure ratings and such. On my Tahoe I just filled the tires when they were low. Go figure. And I was pulling a 21ft Baja boat.

 

Toyota always puts the wrong pressure in my tires now that I have a door sticker that does not match the rating of the tires. Even when I tell them what pressure to put in the tires, they get it wrong. The communication gets lost between what I tell them and the tech putting the pressure in the tires.

 

Something I don’t understand about this. Why would you need more psi in a tire with a stiffer sidewall for it to be comparable to the OEM tires?I never went off of The door jam recommendation. Always ran between 38 and 40 psi in the P metric tires. I run a little less in the rear so I’m getting about the same contact patch as the front, that’s caring the extra weight. Doing the Same thing now with my BFgoodrich KO2s. Running about 38 to 40 PSI in the front and around 32 to 35 PSI in the rear unloaded. Probably pump them up if I go on a road trip and add a little to the rear if I’m going to carry some weight. They definitely ride more firm than the P metric tires. And they actually corner much better with very quick response to steering input. I’m very hesitant to run 50 psi. I feel that the more rockhard your tire is the faster it’s going to wear out ball joints and such. And without doing a chalk test it would seem the center of the rear tire is going to wear out quickly if I have them inflated too much as well as The front tire wearing out the outer edges if not inflated enough.

I realize I’m rambling LOL

 

Love how the powder coated wheels turned out! First ko2 set for me! loving them so far!

 

I use 40 psi all aro8und, just saying

 

I found this useful and much easier than the charts. Going from stock Michelins to 10-ply (E) KO2s.

Stock TRD Off Road Wheels
Old: P275/65/R18 - 30 PSI Front, 33 PSI Rear
New: LT275/65/R18 - 42 PSI Front, 45 PSI Rear

 

I run 45 to 50 in my KO2s. OEMs were 285/55/20. The replacements are 275/60/20. My door sticker states 46. I don't think they ride rough. It may be that I am just use to running a heavy tire.

 

Probably for this reason.

OE pressures typically account for dynamic full load IIRC, so gross. If a P rated tire has vehicle full load at 75% of MAX PSI (ambiguous number) then an LT, which has high load rating at higher PSI, will probably follow in linear fashion. If that makes sense.

You can take true weight in static form and calculate a lower PSI.

Max tire load x 4 = Y
Vehicle weight / Y = %
Max tire PSI x % = PSI of new tire

 

I've been running 36 front and 38 rear with almost no load most of the time. I may bump up to 38 front and 40 rear after reading a little more but so far no issues with wear or ride quality where I am currently.

 

I currently run 39 in the front and 42 in the back cold though I may drop it a bit since I live in a hot area, when they get fully up to temp, my pressures get to like 44 and 48 which I feel is too high, the ride gets pretty jarring. Although I have noticed slightly better mileage. I just used the tire pressure calculator online.

 

That is what Toyota recommends per my door sticker with D rated BFG KO2s.

 

I wonder what they determined is the standard increase of pressure after you start driving. It is probably lower on average than a hot climate.

 

40psi all around for me and it seems fine. I should probably do the chalk test at some point.

 

I run 42 ish

 

Okay, now we're cooking right along; how far down do you air down for longish offroading? Do you air down at all if riding in early morning, pre-plowed snow on paved roads?

 

I air down to about 18psi when offroading (slow paced). I don't normally air down on paved roads given that I have never got "stuck" on paved roads before, but if its ice and I want to air down on paved road, i am probably going to air down to 20-25psi ish.

 

I go down to 18-20 psi for offroading, havent needed to drop any lower than that.

 

Interesting; much obliged.