Quick question about Super Swampers

untchabl

untchabl

I like rocks
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Location
Bear Creek, NC 27207
I just got an 87 K5 Blazer that has 38.5x16x15 Super Swamper TSL's on it. I was wondering what tire pressure should I run in the tires? Mainly going to see pavement only but will have some mud thrown at it from time to time. Also, I need to rotate the tires badly. Interco's website says to rotate tires front to back only, not to criss-cross them. However I've always had good luck criss-crossing tires when I rotate them. What is the preferred method? Thanks for any info you can give me. Just trying to get as much life out of the tires as I can.
 
I was always told. radial, front to back, bias, criss cross.
If you are going to see mostly pavement, I suggest selling them and buying something else. TSL's were not designed for long life on the pavement.
 
15k miles would probably be 2 years or more of driving for that truck. But I'll keep my eyes open for a good deal on another set of tires for daily use. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll criss cross them when I rotate.

Any suggestions on tire pressure?
 
If you're going to run it on the road alot, I would adjust the pressure until the contact patch of the tire is flat against the surface of the road so it doesn't wear the middle of the tire.

I would also suggest getting new ones. If it takes you two years go go 15,000 miles, those tires would dry rot and not hold air well before you wear them out!
 
Checked the air pressure in them today. Were anywhere from 14-18psi, so I pumped them up to 35psi. Gonna try that for awhile and see how they are wearing. Planning on rotating them this weekend also.
 
Check the side wall for max PSI, some don't recomend very much at all. Also, the heavier rig will allow more PSI than a lighter one. On my CJ I never ran more than 20lb.
Like said above check your foot print. Easy to do, spray a little water on the tire with an old spray bottle, back up or pull forward to check the footprint. Repeat till it seems uniform.
 
Ok, I'll check it tomorrow. I aired them up today while I was at work, so I was kind of in a hurry to get them done and I didn't even look at the max psi on the sidewall of the tire. I'll check the footprint this weekend, basically working 2 jobs during the week right now so not alot of freetime except for the weekends. Thanks for all the info from everyone so far. I'll report back after this weekend and let you guys know what I figure out.
 
Find a straight 1/4 mile of road or so...somewhere you won't be turning. With a piece of regular chalk, mark a line across the tire. Drive the stretch. Adjust tire pressure until chalk is worn evenly across the tire.
 
I run 18-20 in my bias boggers on the street in an 86k5.

YMMV
 
I have found with my 2 Door Montero (close to 4,000lb truck) with my TSLs 26lbs keeps them wearing evenly. If you keep a very close eye on the tire pressure (check every week), rotate/balance them religiously (some do it every oil change or sooner), and avoid highways/highway speeds when possible you can get a decent amount of life out of them. If your running up and down the highway going in the 60mph + range they are going to wear quicker, and if your not keeping an eye on the PSI while running 60mph+ you will have a much higher risk of blow outs. Just keep that in mind. :beer:
 
Well, I looked at the sidewall on them when I got home from work tonight. Max psi is 30, so I'll be airing them down tomorrow. I'm going to drop them to 30psi for now and then I'll do some testing and figure out the ideal pressure this weekend when I have enough time. I typically drive about 20 miles a day in the truck, and all of that is 60mph or less. Thanks guys.
 
I would think you will need to be in the 19 - 24 psi range, thats what we are running in our 84 suburban on 38.5" tsl-sx's on the road, and dropping to 14 when offroad. I ran 11 psi in my 44" boggers on the road/trail all the time, wore even and got decent traction for not having beadlocks, but thats on a 5k lbs YJ.
 
If you were to criss cross wouldnt the tread pattern be backwards. Unless you took off the rim and rebalanced every time.
 
untchabl said:
Regular TSL's aren't directional.
Click to expand...

Thats what I thought, Criss crossing will definitely take out the cupping if there is any.

Setting you air pressure to wear evenly across the tread is the key. Ive gotten over 40k miles before on a set of tsl-sx's and the were just above the wear bars, evenly across when I sold them. They were 15.50s on 10" wide wheels on a 4k lbs YJ, and seriously worn completely even across the tire. I was running about 15 psi in them then. I rotated about once every 5k miles or so.
 
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