Mickey Thompson Tyres - Advice on Pressures

Hi there Barn,I've just had the same tyres fitted to the patrol. We just spent 3 days and did 270 k's through the Wadbilliga National park area in southern NSW, towing the CT and so far very pleased with them.
You'll find that most of the tyre shops put that type of pressure in to allow you some "spare air" to adjust to your own desire. We ran 36 rear and 34 front, just for starters, to see how things went and had a mixture of road surfaces. I dont really have a favourite tyre brand myself, just got a fair deal at the time, as we buy all our tyres from the one local bloke. But overall, pleased with them so far cheers mate.unc

Hey Barn,

I also purchased a new set of Silverstone 285x75R16 AT's on the 80 series just last month. They were also returned to me with 40-42 PSI, which surprised me. After asking, he said that when on the black stuff it's recommended to run at tire max rating on tire to reduce friction and therefore fuel consumption (particularly on 110kms). I figured as long as it doesn't ware the centre of the tire unevenly i'll try anything to reduce fuel consumption of the petrol 80 series.

Alex

I am running the MTZ's and I run at 40 around town

I've got the FC-II's in 305/70/16 on my 105 series Landcruiser.

I've found that pressure is a personal and pretty variable decision... and depends on load, speed, and surface you're playing on.

Yours may be different, but I always try to pick the pressure for the circumstance by:
- feels solid and doesn't "wallow" changing direction (ie responds well)
- doesn't heat up the tyre
- doesn't walk/crab sideways

If after running for a while at a particular pressure, I get out and check the temp of the tyres - if they're too hot then they're underinflated and I chuck some more in.

I run them at 40psi for most things, I've only ever aired them down to 25psi.
I've had them at 45psi rear and 42 front for highway loaded up, feels fine and looks to be wearing evenly.

40 around town, highway and dirt roads works for me.
Soaks up enough potholes and bumps, but enough pressure to keep them cool and handle OK.

Hope that helps!

Nick, Canberra
2002 FZJ105R GXL

Hi Barn,

my work collegue has MT FC-11 285/75R16 on his 80 series and runs the following pressures:

ROAD 34 psi
SAND 18 psi
HIGH COUNTRY 28 psi

Hope this helps.

44 seems extreme unless you have a very heavy load.

Call up the local distributor and see what they say. I think they'd like to know if dealers are giving crap advice.

Hi Barn,

I have 265/75x16s on my Pajero. I changed to them from BFG and found that I had to run much higher pressures on the road since the sidewalls are not as stiff. I was running 32 back and 30 front with the BFG and am now running 38 back and 36 front with the FC-IIs. I always found the ride way too stiff with the BFG if I went even a couple of pounds above those pressures but find the FC-IIs are fine at the higher. I would drop them down to around thirty for normal dirt roads. I find them to be pretty good tyres but it is worth dropping the pressures right down if you are in mud. I have gone down to 18 to get up a hill that others got up fairly easily but on the sand have not needed to go below 22-24. Like all tyres there should be no reason why you couldn't go down to lower pressures if needed for a short while. They do bag out more than the BFG but I have not had any issues with that.

Hope that helps.

Tim.

Hello Barn. Just thought that I would tell you about a certain article that I read recently by some tyre guru, I think in one of the 4wd magazines.

Just forgetting about off road tyre pressures for a moment, he suggested that the best way to tell whether you are running the right pressure in your tyres for its given load/work was to measure it's cold pressure and then again after say half an hour of driving measure the pressure again.

He said that ideally there should be 4psi between cold and hot.

If your hot temperature is more than 4psi over your cold pressure then the tyre did not have enough air in it before your started. Alternatively if the difference is less than 4psi then you had too much pressure. Adjust the cold tyre pressure accordingly depending upon how much it varies from this 4psi difference.

I actually haven't tried it myself but sounds logical to me.

He didn't mention (I think) off road pressures because of the many, many variables
that other forum members have highlighted.

Hope this can be of some help to you to get the most out of your Mickey Thompsons.

Cheers GU. (now Navara)

Thanks everyone for your input, greatly appreciated. l will be trying all the advice when l load up next week on my ALP trip and will be asking the tyre distributor later this week about his views and advice and l will post what he rekons is the right pressures or his best guess is.

Cheers Barn.

I used two sets of Mickey Thompsons and found they chip to easy on stones, little pieces chip out of the tread, they seem to be too soft for our conditions, BF Goodridges give me good service