BFGoodrich KO3 Tire Pressure Chart | Street To Trail

Most KO3 setups work best around 32–38 psi on pavement, then lower off-road only when load, speed, and wheel setup allow it.

A BFGoodrich KO3 can feel planted and quiet at one pressure, then stiff, skittish, or sloppy just a few psi away. That’s why a one-size-fits-all number never works well. The right setting depends on your truck or SUV, the KO3 size, the load range on the sidewall, how much weight you carry, and where you drive most.

So this chart is best used as a starting point, not gospel. Use it to get close, then fine-tune from real tread contact, ride feel, and how the tire wears over time. A light 4Runner on C-load KO3s won’t want the same pressure as a diesel pickup on E-load rubber, even if both wear the same tread name.

What Changes The Number

Three things move the answer more than anything else: vehicle weight, tire construction, and speed. A heavier rig needs more air to hold the tire up. A stiffer KO3 with a higher load range often wants a different street pressure than the softer tire it replaced. And once speed climbs, heat climbs with it.

Tire size matters too. A wider KO3 can spread load across a bigger footprint. A taller sidewall can flex more. Even two 17-inch KO3 setups can need different cold psi if one is an LT265/70R17 E and the other is an LT285/70R17 C or D.

Start With The Placard, Not The Sidewall

Your first stop is the driver-door placard or owner’s manual, not the maximum psi molded into the tire. BFGoodrich says the measured pressure should be checked cold and matched to the number on the vehicle sticker or in the manual, not the sidewall figure in its tire-pressure steps. NHTSA says the same thing through TireWise, since the placard is tied to the way the vehicle was built and loaded.

That said, many KO3 owners change size or load range from stock. When that happens, the placard is still the baseline, but it may not be the finish line. A light truck that moved from a softer P-metric tire to a heavier LT E-load KO3 may ride better with a small tweak, then a road test, then another small tweak.

Why KO3 Pressure Feels Touchy On Some Trucks

The KO3 has a stout casing. That’s part of its appeal. It helps on sharp rock, rough gravel, and hard trail work. But on a lighter daily driver, that same casing can make the truck feel choppy when the psi is too high. The center of the tread can also carry too much of the work, which trims grip and can wear the middle faster.

Go too low and you get a different mess. Steering gets lazy. The shoulders do extra work. The truck can feel vague in sweepers, and heat builds faster on pavement. The sweet spot is the pressure that gives the tread a flat contact patch while still keeping the KO3 crisp enough for the way you drive.

BFGoodrich KO3 Tire Pressure Chart For Street And Dirt

Use these cold-start ranges for stock-weight to mildly loaded rigs. They are street and trail starting points, not hard limits. For towing, bed loads, slide-in campers, or desert-speed running, move back to the placard, scale weights, and load-table math.

KO3 Setup	Cold Street PSI Start	Low-Speed Dirt/Rock PSI Start
P-metric or SL KO3 on midsize SUV	32–35	24–28
LT C-load KO3 on midsize truck	34–38	22–26
LT D-load KO3 on midsize truck	36–41	24–28
LT E-load KO3 on midsize truck	38–45	26–30
LT C-load KO3 on half-ton pickup	35–40	24–28
LT E-load KO3 on half-ton pickup	40–48	26–32
LT E-load KO3 on 3/4-ton truck, empty	50–60	30–36
Heavy towing or bed load	Use placard or weighed-load target	Do not air down until load drops

If your truck spends most of its life on pavement, start near the middle of the range. If the KO3 feels too sharp over broken city streets, drop 2 psi and drive it for a few days. If turn-in gets mushy or the truck waddles in lane changes, add 2 psi back.

How To Trim The Chart To Your Truck

Street tuning works best in small moves. Two psi is enough to feel on a KO3. Bigger jumps make it hard to tell what actually changed. Always check cold, which means before driving or after the truck has sat for hours.

Read The Tread

• More wear in the center usually means too much air for that vehicle and load.
• More wear on both shoulders usually means too little.
• Feathering can point to alignment, not just pressure, so don’t blame psi for every odd pattern.

Read The Steering And Ride

• A darty, busy truck often wants a little less air.
• A lazy front end that leans and pushes often wants a little more.
• A KO3 that feels fine solo may need extra psi when passengers, gear, or a trailer show up.

Weather can throw you off too. A pressure that felt right on a cool morning can read a few psi higher after a long highway run in hot weather. Set pressure cold, then track how the truck behaves over a few weeks instead of chasing every hot reading.

What BFGoodrich Load Tables Tell You

The biggest lesson from BFGoodrich load tables is simple: load jumps fast as psi rises, and common KO3 sizes do not all respond the same way. That’s why copying a friend’s number is shaky, even when both trucks wear KO3s.

Common LT KO3 Size	Load Shown At 50 PSI	Upper Rated Load Point In BFGoodrich Table
LT245/70R17	2205 lb	3000 lb at 80 psi (E)
LT265/70R17	2470 lb	3195 lb at 80 psi (E)
LT285/70R17	2755 lb	3195 lb at 65 psi (D) / 80 psi (E)
LT265/65R17	2270 lb	3085 lb at 80 psi (E)
LT275/65R17	2405 lb	3195 lb at 80 psi (E)

That table is the reason a light SUV rarely needs the same cold psi as a loaded work truck. The tire may be able to carry far more weight at higher pressure, but that does not mean your vehicle needs that pressure day to day. Most daily drivers ride and grip better well below the tire’s upper load point.

When To Air Down

Airing down helps the KO3 stretch its footprint and conform to rough ground. On rock, washboard, and sand, that often adds grip and ride comfort at once. But speed has to drop with it. Lower trail pressure is for slower work, not a 70 mph blast back to town.

For many weekend rigs, dropping into the low-20s is enough to feel a clear gain. Heavier trucks and E-load tires often stay a little higher. Bead retention, wheel width, sidewall height, and terrain all matter here, so move in steps and stop if the tire starts folding too much or the steering feels vague.

Once you’re back on pavement, air back up before any long highway run. BFGoodrich also notes that higher-speed driving calls for added inflation and load adjustment once speeds push past 100 mph, which is another reminder that pressure is tied to both weight and speed, not tread name alone.

Getting To Your Final Cold PSI

The cleanest way to land on your number is this: start with the placard, compare it to the chart, make one small change, then let the KO3 tell you the rest. The right pressure gives you even tread contact, steady steering, and a ride that feels settled instead of wooden or sloppy.

If you changed size, load range, or wheel width, take a little extra time here. The KO3 rewards that effort. Get the pressure right and the tire stops feeling like a guess and starts feeling like it belongs on your truck.