F350 tire airing down ranges w/ truck camper

LosAngeles

Active member
F350 tire airing down ranges w/ truck camper

Hi all

I’m doing research and getting opinions and info about airing down pressure ranges (I know it varies a lot depending on tire, load, rig, conditions, etc)

We have a 4x4 F350 (2020) CrewCab with 8’ bed - single rear wheels (SRW) ….. plus a truck camper about 9.5 feet long on the back.

Tires are the shoes it came with - Load range E - GOODYEAR WRANGLER - “ALL TERRAIN ADVENTURE” LT275/70R18

(and overall i am very happy with them, for what it is worth. I do NOT want to change tires - they ride great, very quiet on pavement, and decently knobby, etc)

Total weight (wet, loaded) is 11,300

Now obviously we won’t be doing any hardcore wheeling…..

and I won’t seek out soft sand or soft deep snow……

and maybe I never need to air down, ever….

but in the future - if we suddenly found ourselves in a position where we wanted / needed to carefully drive off-road, on soft snow, soft sand, and wanted to stack the deck in our favor, I could air down somewhat to make the contact patch bigger.

I believe with these stock rims and these tires I should not go below 20 psi (does this sound about right for this rig?)

and I do know i’d need to air back up before highway driving. :)
and yes I’d have a capable air compressor with me….. to air back up….
and likely air back up for any road driving of more than a 1/2 mile or so…..

but any suggestions, just for future reference?

Thanks!
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Thx for posting this inquiry.

I hope you (we) can get some helpful advice here on this, not so much from the “well, I’ve always heard...” folks but from experienced members who actually have made a practice of doing tire air downs.

I have had the same type of question about airing down our F350 Tiger because of it’s weight. Probably the only times I would need to consider doing this is when driving on dirt washboard forest roads, but still...
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
With our heavy SRW, we rarely air down.
We always dump the bags (rear load leveling bags) when off the pavement,
but only air down if we are scheduled for at least 50 miles or so of continuous off pavement travel.

I'm always more concerned about the time needed, and capability of our OBO to get aired up properly, than any increase in comfort or grip lower PSI brings.
With a heavy SRW, there is typically PLENTY of grip, almost regardless of conditions/surfaces.

We run a high capacity 35" Toyo (4080lbs per) on our setup.
Wet and loaded we are all of 12k

Summer months, we run 55-60PSI in the front, 65-70PSI in the rear.
Winter is about 10PSI less.

Off the blacktop I drop them to 35PSI, no less.

50199183173_455b5d5077_b.jpg
 

Regcabguy

Oil eater.
That sounds like the lowest psi for your load and go slow while you're at it to minimize tire temperature. I'd be more comfortable with 30 psi. A 295-70-18's out there when your tires wear out. They'll still handle well and will afford more flotation.
 

Photobug

Well-known member
My truck 'only' weighs 9000 lbs. I have all terrain tires, nothing too aggressive. I don't carry traction devices although I have a set on the way. I live in heavy snow country but not much time in the dessert. I have never had the need to air down.

I also have a new heavy duty 12V compressor on the way but hope to not have to use it, if I don't have to. My new rig is even heavier and top heavy but I still hope to rely on good driving technique and proper route finding to avoid airing down. I would guess it would take 20 minutes or more to air back up and I am not a patient man.
 

blacklbzbeauty

Active member
OP
I think you are on the right track. I would not go under 20 psi with your rig unless absolutely necessary. A good rule of thumb is to air down in your drive, go around the block a few times and see what 40-35-30-25 psi looks and feels like. How much flex are you getting from your side walls and how much room do you have from the ground to the rim of your wheel at each pressure? Do not be surprised if the front and rear pressures will need to be different based on the weight distribution of your vehicle.
I will say from experience, there is a world of difference between 65psi and 25-35psi on a HD rig such as yours. So much more comfortable on rougher tracks not to mention the vehicle sympathy aspect.
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
With our heavy SRW, we rarely air down....With a heavy SRW, there is typically PLENTY of grip, almost regardless of conditions/surfaces.

Good info, thx. I myself was wondering more about ride quality than grip.


My truck 'only' weighs 9000 lbs. I have all terrain tires, nothing too aggressive. I would guess it would take 20 minutes or more to air back up and I am not a patient man.

Is there a risk of the air compressor overheating if you run it for that long? My small portable, slow 12v compressor gets too hot to touch after running it for about 10 mins. I have to let it cool off usually before completely reinflating all 4 tires at 65-80 psi. Sometimes I actually use a small 12v portable fan set next to it to help with cooling it. But then again, it’s a cheapie, so maybe that’s why.


I will say from experience, there is a world of difference between 65psi and 25-35psi on a HD rig such as yours. So much more comfortable on rougher tracks not to mention the vehicle sympathy aspect.

Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m hoping for.
 

Photobug

Well-known member
Good info, thx. I was wondering more about ride quality than grip.

I think it is more of a grip thing. I seldom use 4WD. The one place I do is on washboard. I find it smooths out the washboard's attack on my fillings.



Is there a risk of the air compressor overheating if you run it for that long? My small portable, slow 12v compressor gets too hot to touch after running it for about 10 mins. I have to let it cool off usually before completely reinflating all 4 tires at 65-80 psi. Sometimes I actually use a small 12v portable fan set next to it to help with cooling. But it’s a cheapie, so maybe that’s why.

It can't be that cheap. My cheapie did not even get one of my trucks tire's filled before blowing up this summer and it was not even off-road low. All but the highest quality one have a time limit like 10 on 10 rest or something like that. The ones you need are continuous use. I would expect my new one will still take 20+ minutes to fill all 6 tires on my new ride.

I bought this on my delivery road trip but don't think it will work with my storage needs either at home or in my truck or RV.
2 Gallon 135 PSI Ultra Quiet Hand Carry Jobsite Air Compressor (harborfreight.com)

I got this one for my offroad needs.
Viair 40043 400P Portable Air Compressor | Quadratec

If you are going to need a compressor, I would hate for it to fail 100 miles from a gas station.
 

LosAngeles

Active member
Update - I was directed to this detailed article that has lots of good info, for anyone who is interested in reading it.

The author Mellow Mike is quite experienced with truck campers.

 

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