New 4runner owner tire question

[El Lobo Feliz]

Hey everyone

I purchased a 1999 4Runner a month ago, and had a tire question.

I have General Grabber HTS on it. Size is 265 70R16.

I live in North Dakota, and lately we have been seeing temps around -10 to -20.

Currently the tires are set at 27 psi (or at least that is what they said this morning when I checked them cold). The inside of the door on my 4runner says 29 psi, and the tire max that is printed on the tire is 40 psi.

I am looking to find the optimum pressure for fuel efficiency and safety. Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle/tire combo?

Also, it looks like the previous owner had these tires Nitrogen filled (they only have 6,000 miles on them).

I have usually just used a compressor to top off my tires in the past. Will it hurt to just use regular air to change them? Isn't the atmosphere 78% Nitrogen anyway?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SR5Runner97]

I've got 285/75/16's cooper at/3's and I fill them up to sbout 35. I had that tire size on my ford ranger and I had it at about 33 or so. putting normal air isn't gonna hurt, or atleast I don't think. it's what I use.

 

[3rzrunner]

I run 32psi when its summery for fuel efficiency and 28 in the winter( snow and ice) for traction

in simpler words Lower pressure= more traction Higher pressure= More fuel efficiency

 

[Canuckrz]

Kind of a pita to do at this time of year but the chalk test is the way to go. Though those tires look like they would suck pretty bad on ice and snow.

Pumping normal air into the tires wont hurt anything, all it will do is lower the % of nitrogen in the tires.

 

[El Lobo Feliz]

Yeah I'll have to see how they do ice wise. I had Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor's on my pickup. Can't afford new ones at the moment.

 

[JB.]

Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle/tire combo?

The vehicle engineers who prescribed the tire pressure definitely do.

It's hard to beat the door sticker for an answer providing you're using the same size that the door sticker references, although small changes won't have much effect so usually nothing wrong with a little experimenting.

It sounds like your door sticker is referencing the P225/75/15 which the manual specs at 29psi. The other tire size that came on the vehicle is P265/70/16 which the manual specs at 32psi.

As long as the cold pressure you're referencing is not from a heated garage or something, you can't go too wrong in the ballpark of 30psi.

 

[El Lobo Feliz]

Maybe I should give that 32 psi a shot, given the manual?

Nope...my garage is unheated. In the process of insulating it as we speak...so maybe someday

 

[541joseph]

The tire manufacture puts the best of everything on the tire so if it says 40 I'd go to about 35 psi just because you'll get a little more traction without to much fuel loss. Good luck

 

[Canuckrz]

The tire manufacture puts the best of everything on the tire so if it says 40 I'd go to about 35 psi just because you'll get a little more traction without to much fuel loss. Good luck

40 is the max psi, not a recommended level for all applications. The proper PSI rating will change based on numerous things, vehicle weight and weight on each axle, towing, rim width differences etc etc.

If its the stock size and not an LT tire just go with whats on the door pannel. Once its spring and the roads dry you can chalk test it to get the perfect psi if you so desire.