BFG AT inner and outer edges worn.

Purchased my 99 Taco from the original owner recently and he was extremely meticulous and great about keeping everything in perfect working condition. The truck sits on 33x10.5R15 BFG AT's that he purchased about 11,000 miles ago. He has rotated and balanced them every 3k. The only problem with them is the inner and outer edges have worn leaving a noticeable raised center tread area compared to the edges. Could this be from him running pressures around 30 lbs or so for these first 11,000 mi. I currently have them at 40 psi and the dirt and dust on the tires (chalk test) says I'm finally riding on the center of the tire. I'm trying to wear the center down to be even with the edges at which point I can find an optimal pressure where all the tread will wear the same. They are a load range C tire with 50 psi max listed on sidewall. Is it possible that 30psi or so that he ran gave this edge wear. Again it is both the inner and outer edges. Thx!

 

If the edges are worn more, the tire pressure has been too low

 

Yes I understand that low pressure will cause edge wear instead of wear in the center but outside of low tire pressure that the original owner may have ran for the first 10k, would there be anything else that is wearing just the edges and both inner and outer to be exact. All tires are exactly the same. Also, would it be wise now to just run a higher pressure to even the tread out?

 

I'd run the tires at a good pressure and just drive. Rotate them when you feel necessary

 

Are you running stock wheels? Wide wheels could cause that.

 

No they are the stock rims. Really weird but hopefully it was just the low pressure he was running but in all honesty 30lbs doesn't sound low enough to get that edge wear. I have it at 40 now and I'm most definitely not on the edges anymore so hopefully it will even it out. Could it also be a case of bad tires just wearing weird?

 

30 is pretty low. Not sure if that's low enough to cause outter wear, but I bet it's close

 

Did he have 5000mi of too much then 5000mi of to little camber? Could have wore them down that way.

 

For 33s I usually run 35psi FWIW, that's all around and frankly is probably right at the midpoint of "too high for the back" and "too low for the front" so I just rotate them every so often.

 

30x9.50's I run 30-32 in the winter(depending) and 34-35 in the summer. Keeps the tread square that way. 150lbs in the back all the time

Reads like the orig owner was under psi and liked to excitedly carve corners.

If you carve corners,,rotate more often. If you carve corners with alot of weight, then no one can save you.

All you can do to save money and get some better tire bite back,,is exactly what you have decided to do. Add some weight to the back,,to proportion your brakes more evenly and get the tread face scrubbing down. 150-200lbs or so. Some would disagree with that,,and that's fine.

If the truck is fine,,then the both inner and outer wear was from a tire flip probably. He was awarded some edgewear he didn't like,,so he flipped the tires on the wheels. vualla!,,now both tires are shirked on the outer tread blocks and they hook the ruts.

Your 50 psi is at your full load rating for that tire. All of the suggestions are good as far as psi now.

 

I just had a tire shop mount some tires on my stock rims and when I got home I checked the pressure and they had 42psi in 'em. So I checked the sticker inside the drivers door and the recommended pressure for stock 265/70/16's is 30psi which is what I have them set at. They ride better and aren't so harsh on the dirt road I travel on everyday. If the recommended setting would cause edge wear why would they list this psi as the standard setting? Should I run a little more in 'em?

 

The factory door stamped recommendations on air pressure are just a starting point for a empty truck basically. Toyota cannot control how or where you drive your truck, so they give you a test track air pressure setting for generally good mileage on the factory tires. We all drive our trucks a little bit differently, load them different, look at them different, ect. Not all trucks are created on the same work shift either. They all have there own uniqueness,,lets say.

Once you get high mileage and loose pieces on your suspension and if one chooses to ignore that fact, all bets are off as far as tire wear and mileage. That is also a HUGE piece of the tire wear puzzle sometimes, that sneaks even the best of us.

I read that the original owner of this truck in question was meticulous about his ownership.
When was the last time the alignment was checked?.

 

30 is definitely on the low side for a load range C skinny tire. That's the same tire size I have had most of my 16 years with the truck. I usually run 40 to 45psi myself.

 

Heck my c range tires are 35psi max.

 

Wow! C is normally 50psi max...

 

PSI is PSI... 50 seems too high, unless you're hauling some heavy shit

 

Hoosier PS radial speed 6 plys on my buddys "34" 3 window show/fast car. 15.50 wide. 25 psi max. A very firm 6 ply. He runs them at about 12-15psi for the better mileage and hook.

anyways,,

No set-in-stone psi standard,,for anywhere in the industry it seems for that rating because of the variables,,endless variables.

 

PSI totally depends on the needs/preferences of the user, and 50psi is quite high for a Tacoma. I was simply stating that standard light truck C rated tires are normally 50psi MAX. If bry838 has C rated tires that say 35psi max, they must not be LT tires.

 

<mind, blown>