2011 Ram 2500 w/ Diesel - Trail Tire Pressures - 35 front, 25 rear?

[High_Country]

Hey guys,

I did search and found this thread from last month or so.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ons-on-trail-tire-pressure?highlight=air+down

It was helpful, but I wanted to ask for a bit more focused or specific advice. I have a 2011 Ram 2500 crew cab turbo diesel 4x4. I specifically call out the diesel due to the weight they put on the front axle.

I'm getting ready to do a trip in southern colorado through one or more of the passes. I would like to air down PRIMARILY for occupant comfort, not so much for enhanced traction - they are mostly just rocky/bumpy trails.

The truck will not be significantly loaded (gear for a family of three - perhaps 700-800lbs) in the bed. I am running Toyo Open Country ATII's in 285/75/17 - E rated. NORMAL street tire pressures are about 55 on the front axle and 40 in the rear for 'light load' no trailer.

After reading the previous thread, I was thinking that 35 psi for the front and 25 psi for the rear might be a good balance between achieving some rider comfort vs the risk of rolling a tire off the bead or something. I do have on-board air and will NOT be driving at these pressures on the street. I will air back up.

I'll obviously throw a 'low tire pressure' warning light, but can deal with that.

Does that sound appropriate?

 

[Flys Lo]

That's fine. If it's rocky terrain, often the lower the better, as you are less likely to slice a sidewall open on a sharp rock.

I get down to ~18psi (cold tires) all round with my superduty with no bead locks in sand/rocks, and have never rolled a bead. Just don't do high speed in hot weather for a long period of time (can cause delamination)

 

[98dango]

I also run 15-20 on a superduty depending on the area. However last year and the year before I ran Colorado in my old Chevy at 28 for every thing street and trail. With the weight I would think 25-35 front and 10-25 rear. I would just say start dropping the front dill you see a bulge that you feel comfortable with.

 

[coder]

I use 20/20psi on my truck and it works great for a fully loaded vehicle

 

[Jr_Explorer]

I do 25/20 with nothing in the bed with load range E BFG A/T's. Much more than that and they don't even start to deform.

 

[bob91yj]

My last Death Valley trip I ran the 315/75/16 BFG's on my truck at 25 psi, ran some graded dirt roads at 50+ MPH, and a 25-30 mile stretch of twisty two lane black top with no issues.

The truck is an '06 Duramax with a slide in camper, so it's no lightweight.

 

[Texan1983]

I ran mine at 15 psi with full bumper, winch, loaded with camper, fuel, water, and gear. no issues last trip out to Moab. Trust me go as low as you can, bumpy trails wear on you fast. Lower pressures do so much for comfort...

 

[Jr_Explorer]

My last Death Valley trip I ran the 315/75/16 BFG's on my truck at 25 psi, ran some graded dirt roads at 50+ MPH, and a 25-30 mile stretch of twisty two lane black top with no issues.

The truck is an '06 Duramax with a slide in camper, so it's no lightweight.

Bob! So that's your "Beast"! I don't think I've seen as good a pic of the whole set-up. Nice! I got my Flippac on mine now.

 

[bob91yj]

We'll have to get some "full size" runs set up soon.

After our travels through Death Valley last season I'm a little more confident in getting the truck through more technical trails. I'm still not comfortable with it in off camber and technical situations, flopping the Jeep over on it's side is generally not that big of a deal (relatively speaking), laying the truck and camper over...well it'd be all over but the crying!

Here's a shot of it at the other extreme, my Jeep and all the tools and parts I could carry are in the trailer, loaded for a week in Silverton, couldn't be a pound over twelve thous...I mean 9998, says so right on the shiny plate on the tongue!:sombrero:

We can argue truck brands all day long, but if I could only have 1 vehicle, it would be my truck (or an Brand X 3/4 ton), it's a jack of all roads, but a master of none!