Tyre pressures for on road driving - 2004 110

[Mellow Yellow]

G'Day All,

I recently put a set of BFG Mud Terrains on Peril and didn't check what the tyre guys had put in them them until I went off road recently and aired down.

They had put 36psi in the front and 45psi in the rear (might explain the harsh ride unladen around town!).

On the front is a winch bar and winch. At the rear is a cargo barrier, tow bar, 160 litres fuel tank (half full around town), two auxiliary batteries and a drawer system (empty around town). On top a full length Rhino Rack.

The Defender hand book says 28psi front and 48psi rear under all conditions. I find this odd as :-
(a) the rear is 20psi higher than the front.
(b) the load is typically only the driver and not much else or loaded up with a passenger, frig, recovery gear, spares, tools, camping gear, full fuel tank, food, clothes, etc and towing a trailer - so why not an unladen recommendation and a laden recommendation?
(c) 48 psi is very high in my experience.

I would have thought 32psi in the front whether laden or unladen. For the rear, 36psi unladen and 40psi laden.


I'd appreciate knowing what tyre pressures others run (and why)?

Ta!

[Fraz]

I have a 130 with BFG ATs (soon to be MTs ), and I put 40 psi in front and rear, as they look flat when sitting there - unladen.

When doing bigger trips with alot of gear in the back, Ill put the back to 45psi, which improves the ride considerably. It doesnt feel like jelly, and they look just as they would when unladen.

Ill be interested to see what others use though, and how different these pressures are for 110 v 130.
Fraz

[stig0000]

i have 265/70 i think MTR muddies,, and run them at 35 allround,, and do a rotate balance and alingment every 5k, all of them are wering perfict, iv done just on 25k i recon with the muddies, and with alot of 4wding and road driving and still no were near half worn, i cant be more happy, im expecting 60-70k easy out of them,

[Psimpson7]

I run 255/85 r16s BFG MT's at about 32psi front and rear

[dmdigital]

Towing the Kamper on sealed roads I run my rears at 64psi and fronts at 40psi

Off road I drop them to 28psi when towing. Or less if conditions dictate.

Normal daily drive 32psi all round. 45psi rear if loaded up.

I'm still running the General Grabber TR's on the Boost alloys on the Puma.

My Tdi I run at 32psi normally - Cooper ST's (I think they left two letters out of the ST) on steel rims.

[Blknight.aus]

big red runsBFG AT at 32 front 42 PSI for round town work.

36 46 if Im going to be doing sustained periods of 100Kph plus or If Im loaded to near GVM

32 46 if I have the trailer on for an extended trip

40 50 if Im going to be going fast with a full load (think NT)

[BilboBoggles]

Isn't the lower pressure in the front deliberately set to reduce oversteer in severe situations? I remember reading that somewhere, the threah also stated that by running the tyres the same pressure all round the vehicle tends to oversteer in emergency situations and roll on it's back. Does that sound right? I know on mine that if the rear's get soft it tends to flick it's arse out around roundabouts.

(this came up in a thread discussing excuses insurance companies used to get out of accident claims, or other ways to end up in court over an accident)

[Benny_IIA]

Towing the Kamper on sealed roads I run my rears at 64psi and fronts at 40psi

Off road I drop them to 28psi when towing. Or less if conditions dictate.

Normal daily drive 32psi all round. 45psi rear if loaded up.

I'm still running the General Grabber TR's on the Boost alloys on the Puma.

My Tdi I run at 32psi normally - Cooper ST's (I think they left two letters out of the ST) on steel rims.

[Allan]

Isn't the lower pressure in the front deliberately set to reduce oversteer in severe situations? I remember reading that somewhere, the threah also stated that by running the tyres the same pressure all round the vehicle tends to oversteer in emergency situations and roll on it's back. Does that sound right? I know on mine that if the rear's get soft it tends to flick it's arse out around roundabouts.

(this came up in a thread discussing excuses insurance companies used to get out of accident claims, or other ways to end up in court over an accident)

I dont think any Defender is up with a Nissan GTR at a round about drift demo. I am more likely to think the change in tyre pressure is load oriantated. No beem axle vehicle is ever going to handle and a Defender, At the end of the day is a tidy truck. Around town my son sets his tyre pressures on his BFG muds at 35 all round, the s1 Disco short wheel base doesnt like high pressure, in fact at 45-50 its un driveable on the road. My SVX with 8 inch rims and big mud rubber is happy at standard pressures. I think its all to do with your chassis/suspension setup

Allan

[Psimpson7]

Isn't the lower pressure in the front deliberately set to reduce oversteer in severe situations?

Wouldn't work IMO. Harder front tyres would increase the likelyhood of understeer, removing oversteer.

My 90 will drift quite amusingly on the brakes. It used to be hugely entertaining but the 2" lift has made it more rolly.