Tire Inflation and Lifetime Monitoring via Tread Wear (BFG 37")

[jzweedyk]

Off trail, I have Method bead grips and yesterday went down to 12psi. Great ride and no problems, even when way off camber.

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[Braptor23_CO]

TL/DR: Looks like ideal warm tire inflation pressure is about 32-33 psi for the BFG 37".

I used the chalk test posted here long ago (link) to determine that 35 psi is very good for our rigs.

I'm about 85% street and 15% mixed aggressive off-road. Hoping to up that ratio...

The factory pressure of 38 psi is surely highly driven by EPA/mpg concerns. Wear and comfort (noise not sure) are better lower.

I'm now at about 17.5k miles and here are my tread depths, wear and expected wear:

Conclusions:

1. Need to lower to 33 psi warm (I've been shooting for 35 warm, city). My 35 warm/city will be closer to 38 warm/freeway and I don't typically get that warm unless continuous 75-80 mph for some time on the freeway. I know warm measurements aren't as standard as cold, but they are more meaningful/accurate/useful and super easy to monitor on our rigs.
2. I'm being easy on the tires for a replacement mileage of 50k. Looks like I'll be getting right about 70k out of these.
3. One can see the RR was the most recent tire to get into the 5 tire rotation from being the spare.

Hope there is some useful and actionable data here for others.

(P.S. The mod here put this old (and irrelevant) picture into my thread as a banner, it wasn't me...)

I keep mine at 38 except off road. I’m not highly technical about tires excuse my ignorance. I have 70 K on my 2023 Braptor I budgeted/planned on replacing tires at 50k and at 70 K the tires have a little less than half the original tread depth. i’m pleasantly shocked, but when I mentioned I was going to replace them before snow season here in the northeast, everyone I showed the tires to looked at me like I was crazy. They said the tires are fine.

 

[swamp2]

I keep mine at 38 except off road. I’m not highly technical about tires excuse my ignorance. I have 70 K on my 2023 Braptor I budgeted/planned on replacing tires at 50k and at 70 K the tires have a little less than half the original tread depth. i’m pleasantly shocked, but when I mentioned I was going to replace them before snow season here in the northeast, everyone I showed the tires to looked at me like I was crazy. They said the tires are fine.

I suspect 38 psi is almost for sure going to cause more wear in the center of your tires and less on their edges. The pressure bulges the center more and the stiff sidewalls restrain bulging on the inner and outer edges, hence the wear in the center.

You are getting fantastic mileage. You must drive very gingerly. There is absolutely no reason to replace your tires at half wear regardless of the vehicle/tire/season etc. The only reason I could see doing so would be a chalky or cracking tire from simply running it for many years with sun exposure.

 

[roadsterlife]

I keep mine at 38 except off road. I’m not highly technical about tires excuse my ignorance. I have 70 K on my 2023 Braptor I budgeted/planned on replacing tires at 50k and at 70 K the tires have a little less than half the original tread depth. i’m pleasantly shocked, but when I mentioned I was going to replace them before snow season here in the northeast, everyone I showed the tires to looked at me like I was crazy. They said the tires are fine.

70k miles on a 2023?!?!

 

[Braptor23_CO]

70k miles on a 2023?!?!

Yes

I suspect 38 psi is almost for sure going to cause more wear in the center of your tires and less on their edges. The pressure bulges the center more and the stiff sidewalls restrain bulging on the inner and outer edges, hence the wear in the center.

You are getting fantastic mileage. You must drive very gingerly. There is absolutely no reason to replace your tires at half wear regardless of the vehicle/tire/season etc. The only reason I could see doing so would be a chalky or cracking tire from simply running it for many years with sun exposure.

I commute a lot. I’m a pretty aggressive driver gingerly has never been used expressing my driving lol

 

[swamp2]

Updated some numbers and calculations. Definitely nerding out here... Observations:

1. Decreased tire pressures did exactly as desired and evened out wear. Coincidentally, ended up with pefectly balanced wear down to all decimals (pure luck).
2. Ran tires in the range from high 20s to low 30s cold to low to mid 30s warm (i.e. during/after driving).
3. Since wear caught up for and "overtook" prior overinflation, they have been just a hair too low.
4. Going to be aiming for very low 30s cold and below 35 warm. This is pretty easy to remember, basically always 30-35, cold or warm.

Thanks @Discount Tire for all of the free digital depth measurements!

 

[BeersBurgersBagels]

Wandered in here after the same link about running 35 psi normal on Braptors. I've been running 34 and it feels much better over the inconsistent and bumpy streets of Los Angeles

I'm okay sacrificing a little mpg if it means wayyyy improved ride comfort (felt like overinflated basketballs at 39 or 40 psi from the dealer) and even tire wear.

Following!

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