TSL Radial Pressure at Highway Speed

[hellrazrblade]

I'm going to be moving the blazer out to the ranch, so its time for some highway driving. What pressure should I run the Super Swamper TSL Radials at? They are 38x15.5R15 with about 50% tread left. The max pressure according to Interco is 35psi, but what pressure (cold and hot) should I be aiming for?

I tried googling on it, but couldn't find anything. Truck specs are down below - pretty much the stock '71 drivetrain with 4.56 gears swapped in and new driveshafts.

Thanks!

I just installed 3 point seat belts, which makes me feel a bit better driving the beast around.

[Jtrux]

From what I know you should air the tires up to the max rating on the sidewall. Do this before you drive it. Once you drive on the tires for about two miles they are considered to be "warm". The tire pressure will be affected once the tires are warm so fill them up to max pressure when they are cold before it's been driven. If it says to fill them to 35, then fill them to 35 in the morning before you leave and you should be fine.

[vtblazer]

At 35psi you'll wear the centers bald really fast if you drive a lot of highway miles.

You need to "read" the tires and inflate them for even tread wear.

When I had my 39.5's running the roads, I ran 15psi with good results.

[Yukon Jack]

I've always ran my 35x12.5x16 Super Swamper SSR's at 24 psi on my 69 K20. They have worn pretty eveningly. Airing up to 35 psi with a 15.5" tire will wear the center out like mentioned above. 35 psi recommended by Interco I believe is more for max weight carrying ability, rather than ideal psi for a specific vehicle.

If you are really wanting to dial it in and have some time, go to a flat parking lot and start out at say 25 psi and put a thick line of chalk marking on each tire from side to side across the tread. Drive straight forward and stop occassionally to see if the chalk is wearing off eveningly. More wear on the center equals too much pressure. More wear on the edges equals underinflated.

[hellrazrblade]

Thanks for all of the tips! It was surprising how hard it was to find information on inflation - I guess it's because its a bit of an art, as I've seen from the responses. I'm going to air them up to 30psi in the morning before I head out, and i'll monitor them as i progress down I-10. There's probably going to be plenty of stops, the bugger is loud and tiring on the highway (3000rpm at 65ish)! It'll help to have a tail and a cb as well.

[hellrazrblade]

FYI: 30psi worked as well as I could expect - pretty good road manners for the 250 miles!
For you picture lovers:

[Mike C]

Nice pics. Where about is your ranch? From the look of things, it's not far from my part of the world!

I always ran my 35 14.5 Mickey T's at 21 psi and my BFG 35 12.5's at 24. I put lots of miles on the highway and that always provided nice even wear.

Some other examples of how widely it can vary is my MB runs the tube-type bias tires at 14. At 30, they pounded you to death, but at 14 ride is pretty reasonable. And in my Duramax, I run them at 75, (Load Range E, max load at 80 psi) trying to get the least rolling resistance for mileage, but not totally wearing the centers.