Firestone Destination ATâ€™s 245/70/16 - What PSI do you run?

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:27 am

I finally replaced my stock tires after almost sideswiping another car after a recent rain. I now have a set of 4 Firestone Destination AT’s in 245/70/16. I only have 80 miles on them so it’s not enough to give a good review but here are some things I noticed right away…

No rubbing (I have not tested full flex but lock to lock the front wheels are fine.)
Small road vibrations seem to have been reduced and the ride feels smoother. Feedback from small road gaps is reduced.
About the same amount of road noise as stock tires (that were very worn out) so I guess it’s a pretty quite tire (windows up, it was cold out.)
In deep sand (beach driving) they are much better. Most likely it’s the extra width more than the tread pattern. I’ll know more the next time I actually drive the beach a little further and have to take a few turns and dips but the little I did was a dramatic improvement.
As for the mpg, coming home I had the cruise control set at 65 and was about to get 22mpg according to the overhead consol computer, I’ll let you know more about that after a few tanks to get a real world read.
At 65 mph on the speedo the GPS said 66, mph so it’s really not off that much at all, the tire is only a ½” taller. I wish I had measured the ride height before and after but I guess it only changed ¼”. I’ll take it.

Hopefully I’ll get another snowfall to see how they do. Oh, they look great and really fill out the wheel well a lot better. I went with the white letters out.

EDIT - What PSI do you run these at?

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:42 pm

I was looking at them today and I'm not sure they are inflated correctly which would explain why they feel a little better of small bumps. They are at 35 right now. If you have the same tire, what do you run them at?

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:43 pm

When I had mine (245-70X16 Destinations I ran 35 all the time wore good at that pressure, had them on for over 30,000 and still were going good, just got tired of that size :wink:

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:11 am

I just got some Bridgestone Dueler AT REVOs in the same size last month. The Destinations came in second in my decision process. I'm very happy with mine and I'm also glad to hear that my #2 is doing well. Are you lifted at all? It might just be me, but the REVO 245/70s seem to fill out the wheel wells MUCH more completely than the stockers. Perhaps it's just because the old tread was so much milder.

Dan

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:35 pm

I just had to move the car (alternate sides and the joys of living in the city…) and looked at the tires again. The side wall seems more bent/deflated but after some thought I think it’s just the extra width of the tire on the same size rim. Naturally that extra width is going to make sidewall look like it’s flexing more right? That was my thought anyway.

So then I tired to look at the contact area of the tire on the ground front to back. I’ve honestly never looked at that are the tire to often so I’m not sure if it’s changed much. The tire is an extra ½” tall and about another ½”+ wide so it should have a slightly larger contact area front to back but… I’m not sure what to compare the difference to which doesn’t help me.

So I guess trial and error will need to be used. Right now all 4 are at 35 psi and I like the ride and feel. (I kept the stock Wranglers at 33 psi.) I think I might try to run them at 38 this weekend and see how I like it. I’m just a little worried that if I over inflate them it will take me too long to realize that I wearing down the center of the tire unevenly compared to the outer edges.

Dgesit… The tops of the tires are still inside the wheel well. It’s the front edge of the tire and the rear of the tire that’s a little bit more exposed because the leading edges of the fender flares (front and rear) taper in towards the Jeep so those area are a little more exposed but when flexed everything still fits inside the wheel wells. The result is just a little more mess on the lower door sill in the rain and mud. Personally, I like the look of that little mess. I haven’t been in any mud or rain yet, just small puddles on a dirt road going very slow.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:44 pm

FYI - standard chalk test - tire cold - draw chalk line across tire - drive about 20-30 feet - at least 2-3 full tire rotations.
if the chalk is gone in the center of the tire - pressure is too high - lower it.
if chalk is gone on outside edges - pressure is too low - raise it.
you want the highest pressure that the chalk disappears across the entire tire.

The chalk is equivalent to the tire wear you will see later.

also if the outside or inside edge of the tire clear first - get an alignment.
- the easiest way to do this is to start with the pressure too high - in 50psi range - then you can just lower pressure to get it right.

it's common for the front tire - with engine weight to need more pressure than the rear - but that varies with the load.

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:05 am

Thanks, that's a great idea. I got an alignment done when I had them put on the wheels. It was done with lasers, and checked 3 different angle points (left right, up/down and toe or something like that. I never new you needed to get your rear wheels aligned as well with a solid axel (or anything that doesn’t turn for that mater) but they said you did. My front was off quite a bit on the toe or pitch, probably from the shocks getting worn and even the rear wheels were off slightly.

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:34 am

scoobysnax wrote:

Thanks, that's a great idea. I got an alignment done when I had them put on the wheels. It was done with lasers, and checked 3 different angle points (left right, up/down and toe or something like that. I never new you needed to get your rear wheels aligned as well with a solid axel (or anything that doesn’t turn for that mater) but they said you did. My front was off quite a bit on the toe or pitch, probably from the shocks getting worn and even the rear wheels were off slightly.

There is no alignment points on the rear of the KJ. I run mine @ 35 PSI cold.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:34 pm

The recommended psi for the liberty is 33psi.

I run 34-36psi. Mostly 36psi for mpg reasons.

Cobalt-60 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:54 pm

I run 35 psi on mine and appear to be getting fairly even wear.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:09 am

I run my 235/70/R16 Destination AT's at 40PSI. A tad higher than what is required on the door, but the ride is nicer and the MPG hit isn't very bad. Going on about 10K miles so far on these tires with no noticable wear.

Firestone Destination ATâ€™s 245/70/16 - What PSI do you run?

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