trailer tire pressure

[Whatswrong]

My son in law and his step father seem to obsess over things like tire pressure in their 5th wheel campers .Is it that critical or am I over neglectfull I figure if it is round it is good whether presure varies 3 4 or i0 pounds.

 

[Soundguy]

imho.. if you are getting contact patch and side wall deflection looking correct, you are likely good.. though I like same pressure in each side.

if it was a tractor I'd eye it and go.

something on the road? take the 5minutes and throw a gauge on it and be SURE

soundguy

 

[art]

I'd say being ten lbs low on air pressure on a trailer tire is wrong!

 

[ducks13]

Being underinflated can case tire failure, especially, it seems to me, on a trailers. Perhaps they get loaded closer to their limit than car truck tires. Check the pressure, I pretty much run at the maximum recommended pressure. Much better to be overinflated than underinflated.

 

[tcartwri]

#1 failure on a trailer tire is due to underinflation. No less than 80% of the rated sidewall pressure, ever.

 

[creekbend]

Most mechanics and tire garages will tell you that keeping your tires inflated correctly is safer and another positive result is better mileage.But remember that severe over inflated tires can have adverse safety and mileage issues. Just a thought. Happy Tractoring.:tractor::tractor:

 

[whistlepig]

Over inflation will beat the trailer to death. Under inflation will over work the sidewalls on the tires. I think 5 PSI below recommended pressure is max. I think 5 PSI over recommended pressure is max.

 

[thatguy]

trailer tires should are notorious for failure to start with - spend anytime on a camping/boating forum and you will hears a LOT of stories about blowouts..

Most recommendations are to run trailer tires at the max cold pressure..

Brian

 

[Whatswrong]

Thanks a lot ,I'm in the process of building a flat bed trailer for general purpose non commercial use. Building it out of parts I collected from work .

 

[crazyal]

IMO trailer tires can run in a wide range of pressures. Car and small truck tires will give you a recommended pressure but lots of trailer tires will just give you a pressure for the maximum load that tire can carry. I personally only run that high if I know I'll be running lots of weight. Otherwise I keep them around 35 to 40 psi and as long as the tires don't look like they are squatting. I think it's more important to make sure all the tires are close to the same pressure.

 

[crazyal]

Here's a PDF from Carlisle. At the end there's a chart showing how much weight a tire can handle at a given pressure. They say always inflate the tire to the maximum pressure but like I said earlier I don't like keeping trailer tires inflated that high. I could be wrong but I think the extra force of the pressure in the tire while sitting is not a good thing (unless trailer is loaded).

http://www.carlisletire.com/product_care/trailer_tire_service_guide.pdf

 

[Diamondpilot]

Keep a eye on the pressure. I run max pressure all the time on my trailers.

Chris

 

[RickB]

Keep a eye on the pressure. I run max pressure all the time on my trailers.

Chris

Ditto.

 

[Egon]

Me too, but it's only one trailer.

 

[2LMAKER]

Running max pressure makes since to carry max load but there are plenty of times I run empty long distance to pick up something and have worn center of tires out rather quickly.
I tend to go by contact patch for empty and then air up to Max after I load and tires have cooled off.

 

[whistlepig]

Its been my experience that when a truck tire is going flat it will give you enough warning to get off the road and time to fix it before irreversible damage is done. On tandem axle trailers the only clue I have ever gotten is what I can see in my rear view mirror. I keep a lot closer eye on my trailer tires than I do my truck tires.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Its been my experience that when a truck tire is going flat it will give you enough warning to get off the road and time to fix it before irreversible damage is done. On tandem axle trailers the only clue I have ever gotten is what I can see in my rear view mirror. I keep a lot closer eye on my trailer tires than I do my truck tires.

I actually feel them most of the time. Last two Goodyears on my 3 year old boat trailer both lost the tread but I felt it a few miles before.

Chris

 

[whistlepig]

I actually feel them most of the time. Last two Goodyears on my 3 year old boat trailer both lost the tread but I felt it a few miles before.

Chris

How do you lose a tread on a trailer tire? Were these recaps?

 

[JIGBUILDER]

I pulled trailers to make a living for over 11 years. One thing I've found is the tire on a trailer last longer with max pressures. Watch a tire on a trailer as it slides sideways (side scrubbing) going around a cornor. The tire with max pressure will hold its shape better to protect its internal belts and protects against sidewall cuts and bruises from the rim while rolling over a curb or pothole/etc.

Goodyear says this:
Goodyear max tire pressures

Special Considerations

Unless trying to resolve poor ride quality problems with an RV trailer, it is recommended that trailer tires be inflated to the pressure indicated on the sidewall of the tire. Trailer tires experience significant lateral (side-to-side) loads due to vehicle sway from uneven roads or passing vehicles. Using the inflation pressure engraved on the sidewall will provide optimum load carrying capacity and minimize heat build-up.

Carlisle also says: (snip)
However; trailer weight does not fluctuate sig-nificantly with variances in fresh and waste water and supplies, and trailer owners should always inflate to the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall. The inflation figures are for cold tires; if you check pressure after the tire has been driven and thus warmed, you'll find it higher. This pressure rise is normal and accounted for in the maximum cold-pressure rat-ing.

 

[Diamondpilot]

How do you lose a tread on a trailer tire? Were these recaps?

No, new tires with a build date of 2006. Just junk. I have had it happen before on a set of Junk Carlisle's also back in 2004 on a brand new boat trailer I had less than 1 year. On that instance it was on a tri-axle trailer. In a 800 mile trip we lost 3 tires, only one lost the tread. Made it home on 3 used car tires, Sunday and that was all I could get. I went the very next day to get all new Greenball Towmasters put in it and wanted to keep the other 3. The tire guy called me and said they had bubbles on the inside of the tires opposite of the tread.

Just this year, in May some time, I had a Goodyear Marathon let go on a Repo Boat I took in. The one I was talking about in my original post. 2006 build date on a 2007 trailer. It started shaking the truck like crazy. Pulled over and there was a broken cord and a chunk of tread about the size of a candy bar missing.

Chris