air pressure/ gas milage

2008 tacoma 6 cyl. 6 speed. 265 - 75R 16 BFGoodrich all terr. tires.What pressure should I have in tires for best gas milage?

 

best mileage 50+ psi. But I would recommend 35 psi

 

Do not put anything in your tires over the recommended air pressure labeled on the side of the tire!!!!

Check the side of your tire and bring it to the max PSI.

 

Yup if you run high you will get better mpg. But tread life will go way down. If you do you will notice tread in the center will wear down fast.

 

No...do not bring it to the max psi!

My BFG A/T'S in that size are e rated. The pressure labeled on the side is for the max pressure (either 80 or 90 psi.) You'll never want or need to go even close to that psi. For a unloaded bed to light load go with around 34-36 psi. The chalk test will confirm this.

 

Chalk test.

 

I was more concerned about the lower rated tires for safety reasons. ^ is a valid point as well.

 

38.5.... good middle ground ive found.

 

If you pay attention, you will also notice a huge decrease in traction, as well as poor handling. If you loose control of your vehicle because of overinflated tires, you will wish you left the tire pressure closer to the recommended range (or chalk tested), and did whippersnapper's tach/speedo mod for fuel economy instead.

 

The sidewall max is not the max pressure for the tire.
It's not even close. The max pressure is simply an indication that "At XX psi, the tire will carry YYYY pounds"
That's all it is. At pressures lower than "XX", the carrying capacity drops. At pressures above "XX", the capacity does not increase.

The sidewall rating is not the max pressure, it is the max load.


You may or may not see the tread wear increase.
I have always run my tires at high pressures. My Ford Escort used to get 60k out of a set of Sears cheapies that were rated 40k. I ran the sidewall max, and even at that, the tires wore on the edges before the center.

I ran BFG KO's on my Silverado. Bed was not loaded heavy. Ran them at 70psi. At 35k, tread depth was dead even across the tire on all 4 tires.

Handling is improved due to the reduction in sidewall flex and tread squirm.
Tire life is improved due to cooler running temperatures because of the reduction in sidewall flex and tread squirm.
Navy tests at Pax River showed that the speed at which a tire will hydroplane is directly proportional to it's inflation pressure. I don't recall the exact formula, but a 28psi tire will hydroplane at 55mph. At 35psi that moves closer to 70.

Dry traction in dirt, gravel, and under other marginal conditions does suffer, but dry traction on clean pavement is improved.

Understand, I am NOT referring to the extremely high pressures often used by "hypermilers" (the 50+ comment above).
But going over the sidewall stamp is not going to cause the sky to fall as many would have you believe.

I've been running at or slightly above (5-10psi) above sidewall max for 20 years. I run my Tacoma tires at 40psi (215/70-15, 5-lug).

 

Interesting...

 

I run 50 psi with even wear.

 

i run 40 on 265/75/16 duratracs, no real complaints here. i also drive like im in nascar...

 

When I had got my truck the dealer had it down to 29 psi. I checked them not long after and because it was winter the psi went down to 20. I had upped it to 36 and my mileage went up. I was going from 420 kms a tank to 480 kms a tank, while running 87 octane.

Check on the side of the tire and see what the manufactures suggest. That's my best recommendation.

 

In my truck Manual, it recommends that you increase the recommended tire pressure by 3 PSI front and rear if you drive above 100 MPH (But not exceed the pressure on the side of the tire). How many people drive their Tacoma's above 100 MPH?

 

There's one or two people here that drive the autobahn from time to time. I imagine cruising at 4000 rpm in 6th gear would make about 150 miles to empty

 

I'd recommend mid 30s for BFG AT tires too. LT tires aren't built like radials. It's the P-rated tires that you can run 50 psi and still get even wear year after year.

 

You can fvck around with chalk or just use this