Redline
Likes to Drive and Ride
Yep, there it was in black-and-white, the 35-psi load rating of 1920-lbs; I missed it 
Of course I agree with Toyo's P-Metric/LT-metric load & PSI warning. The common, negligent attitude of many drivers toward the care and maintenance of tires is scary. A short personal story regarding tire safety is appropriate here. It involves motorcycle tires, which are required to do even more over their relatively short life (compared to truck tires), but it illustrates 'the attitude' toward tires.
A couple weeks ago I was on a long, spirited, 4-day motorcycle ride with three friends. All of these men are very well trained riders, but well trained doesn't mean disciplined or safety minded. One of my friends started the 1,300-mile ride with a rear tire that I would not have used to ride across town; it had a 'bald' center section. When this was noticed at one of our stops on the first morning, and we chastised him and only half-jokingly stated that there will have to be a 'tech inspection' for this invitational ride next year. The rider laughed-off the condition of his tire.
At the end of our second day as we rode into a small town for a dinner and motel stop-over, another friend who had been riding behind 'bald-tire-man' noticed exposed cord and metal coming through the tread. The rider who noticed this used to be the manager of a large tire retailer. He and I told bald-tire-man that his tire was not okay! An emergency! Three hours earlier we had been in a medium sized town where bald-tire-man could have purchased a tire. Since we were now in far northern/rural California, his only option was to retrace our steps the next morning, during a light coastal rain, returning to the same town to buy a tire. His plan was to meet up with us midday if possible, while the three remaining riders charged forward on our longest/best day, 350-miles of mostly tight mountain twisties. We didn’t see him until dinner at the end of the day. Rain, forest fires, detours, and a lack of communication prevented us from finding each other during the ride.
A couple weeks before our departure I had tires that 'could have' have made this ride, my rear was probably around 5/32". But I thought it better to start the trip with new rubber front & rear even though I didn't really have the $450.00 to spare for a new set of skins (installed).
Again this is a bit of apple-oranges, comparing car/truck and moto tires but the lessons are universal in my eyes. The Tire Rack video below is one example of how important good tread depth can be. I may have posted this before in another thread but here it is again for those that want their eyes opened. Just one example of how important tires are.
http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=5
Of course I agree with Toyo's P-Metric/LT-metric load & PSI warning. The common, negligent attitude of many drivers toward the care and maintenance of tires is scary. A short personal story regarding tire safety is appropriate here. It involves motorcycle tires, which are required to do even more over their relatively short life (compared to truck tires), but it illustrates 'the attitude' toward tires.
A couple weeks ago I was on a long, spirited, 4-day motorcycle ride with three friends. All of these men are very well trained riders, but well trained doesn't mean disciplined or safety minded. One of my friends started the 1,300-mile ride with a rear tire that I would not have used to ride across town; it had a 'bald' center section. When this was noticed at one of our stops on the first morning, and we chastised him and only half-jokingly stated that there will have to be a 'tech inspection' for this invitational ride next year. The rider laughed-off the condition of his tire.
At the end of our second day as we rode into a small town for a dinner and motel stop-over, another friend who had been riding behind 'bald-tire-man' noticed exposed cord and metal coming through the tread. The rider who noticed this used to be the manager of a large tire retailer. He and I told bald-tire-man that his tire was not okay! An emergency! Three hours earlier we had been in a medium sized town where bald-tire-man could have purchased a tire. Since we were now in far northern/rural California, his only option was to retrace our steps the next morning, during a light coastal rain, returning to the same town to buy a tire. His plan was to meet up with us midday if possible, while the three remaining riders charged forward on our longest/best day, 350-miles of mostly tight mountain twisties. We didn’t see him until dinner at the end of the day. Rain, forest fires, detours, and a lack of communication prevented us from finding each other during the ride.
A couple weeks before our departure I had tires that 'could have' have made this ride, my rear was probably around 5/32". But I thought it better to start the trip with new rubber front & rear even though I didn't really have the $450.00 to spare for a new set of skins (installed).
Again this is a bit of apple-oranges, comparing car/truck and moto tires but the lessons are universal in my eyes. The Tire Rack video below is one example of how important good tread depth can be. I may have posted this before in another thread but here it is again for those that want their eyes opened. Just one example of how important tires are.
http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=5
ashooter said:Redline,
Actually that table DOES show the load rating of 1920 lbs at 35 psi... So as usual, The Tire Guru (aka "Imelda Marcos of Tires") is correct.
I am just more comfortable running these at 42psi since it equates the OEM load rating for most 80-series Cruisers... and my guess is they will wear better at that pressure. Strangely enough, my '92 originally came with 235/75R15's, but that was just plain silly on Toyota's part, so I'm basing my numbers on the later FZJ80 specs. One thing that always nags at me when people talk about running what I consider "low" pressures (35psi) on the highway is what is in the link above on Pg 71:
"WARNING! Please note that size for size, LT-metric tires require higher air pressures to carry equivalent loads of P-Metric tires and that any failure to adjust air pressure to achieve the vehicle’s load requirements will result in tire fatigue and eventual tire failure due to excessive heat buildup. Due to the higher PSI requirements of LT-Metric tires they may not be suitable for replacing O.E. P-Metric tires because of the ride harshness that results from higher PSI."
Heat buildup down here where it's between 90F and 105F about 6 months out of the year just seems like something not to take any chances with. 35psi on a 100F day at 75 mph for four hours just seems like a bad idea to me!
Also, in case you were curious - these 255/85 Toyos seem to ride softer at 42psi than my 265/75 load range "E" Bridgestone Revos did at 40psi. Only reason I can think of why that would be the case is that the 255/85 sidewalls are taller. Kind of interesting, whatever the reason.
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