new tires and issues with wet highways

[E350]

flyfisher: We've recently had some very heavy rains in Northern California and, although it is not my E350 EB, my Bronco with Michelin LTX AT's has done fine on the freeway at 55 up to 65 mph driving in to work at 6:30 this morning. And just now another 30 miles back home on the freeway at 50 to 55 mph at 9:00 pm. When I mean heavy, I mean wipers at full speed and still sometimes not being able to see clearly and with cars spun out in the bushes (from hitting puddles in the right lane at speeds). I will check the tire pressure the van when I get a chance and when it is not raining and edit this post so you can compare.

[soaringhawk]

Yes, I had an incident of the tires losing grip. Not the same tires they are LT225 75 R16 Michelin on a older Dodge RB with about 10,00 miles on the tires. For the lighter RB I run 45/55 lbs. On a very smooth wet road coming up to a stop sign at 25mph the front tires broke loose and slid into the intersection. I'm pretty light on the brakes. Certainly road conditions contributed although it had been raining for a couple of day and no oil was on the road. I've never felt completely secure under wet conditions with these tires. I'll probably do some research and buy tires that are rated higher for wet road conditions when replacing, even if it means a softer lower milage tire. Not knocking the Michelins, they handle and ride well and last a long time. There are always a lot of variables involved in wet road conditions.

Terry

[TexomaPowerboater]

Originally Posted by 1der

I think you should check your air pressure as well. 55 F / 60 R seems at least 10 psi too low for our vans and E rated. This may contribute to the wandering as the tires may actually be running more concave than they are designed to thus trapping water instead of shedding. Weight of the 6.0 on the front tires is not going to help either if under inflated.

Would love to hear what others think / are running. I find 65 front and 75 to 80 rear works well for us.

+1 Have a chevy Quigley, but running like 50 on front and 75 on rear. PSI is too close together IMO. I have run at same psi and symptons were fairly similar to the OP's post.

[Nick]

I'm running 70 PSI on my BFG AT 295 and its a bit harsh ride, what the best presure for these tires. I have an 06 DSL at I guess 9500 lbs

[REF]

Hey Nick, Just try dropping your fronts to 65, or a bit below, see what that does. If Poncho needs a little softer ride in the back, do the same in the rear(although I have a feeling he's right up front with you!) A few Lbs. do make a difference, take a day to play around with a few different pressures to find the best balance that works for your rig.