Hello. I have a 2000 1500 Z 71 Silverado. I bought new Lee Ridge Runner tires. LT265/75R 16. The P.S.I. rating on the tire states 65 (cold). I am getting conflicting information as to what pressure I should keep them at (highway use). The shop that installed them said 65, every other tire dealer I asked said 35. Why such diversity in what seems like a standard question? Now, after a few month at 65, I am starting to notice over-inflation tire wear and constantly have to add pressure (reseating the tires and valve stem replacement has be done twice so far!). What is the SAFE andACCURATE rating for theses tires? I am pissed that I may have been riding on tires at an unsafe P.S.I. and I damaged them.

 

if they say 65psi cold, i would put 60 in the back and 50 in the front. you dont need to put the max in to be safe.

 

Thank you for your reply. Why would the owner's manual and Chevey's tire pressure spec. (inside of door) state 35 P.S.I (cold) and not just refer to the specific tire manufacturer's ratings?

 

because all they care about are factory tires. Put 35 in them and watch them. anything over 35 is safe, but if you buy heavy duty tires that can hold more wieght they are going to need more PSI.

 

because factory tires are p rated and those are rated at 35. you have LT tires which are more ply and require a higher pressure in them. so far ive been running 50-55 in all of my tires (theyre LTS) and i havent noticed any unever wear and no inflation differences other then air temp changes.

 

mine say 55 psi but I've been putting 35 in them, I'll put more air in them next time, At least on thestreet that is.

 

If the tire size is large for the rim width and/or you use excessive pressure for weight of the vehicle, they can tend to wear in the center. I wouldn't run more than 4-5 psi more than GM recommends.

There may alsobe a limit to the pressure rating of the rims. Somewhere I saw a post from a Ford owner who had rim separation, but not sure if that was too much tire or too much pressure (Ford apparently recommended passenger car tires for that year).

3/4 ton trucks are a different story, since they run higher load rated tires at higher pressure (2008 GMC 2500 ext cab 4WDrecommends 50 front/80 rear)

 

yes those are 265 75 16s or 17s which we both have. the lt requires higher psi because of the other plys and its load range. step down to a p tire and the load range is lower so its a weaker tire so doesnt need as much pressure to inflate. and the of course you have to inflate to full range for hauling but i dont haul in mine so i keep it around 55 all around.

 

For the best wear overall, you have to do some math. I don't know the numbers on the tires you have, so I will pick some numbers for easy math. First you need to know the weight of your truck. Then, If the tire says it can handle 4000 lbs at 60 psi, you figure out how much weight your truck is putting on that tire, then do the math to come up with the tire pressure. For example lets say the truck weighs 6000 lbs, then you divide that by 4 to get the weight per tire (1500lbs in this case). Then divide the max weight by the max psi to give you the lbs per psi (66.7 in this case). Then divide the lbs per tire by the lbs per psi and you have your answer. (22.5 psi in this case). Remember to never go below the minimum tire pressure rating on the tire even if the math comes out lower.

 

You should really keep them at 35