Truck Tire Pressure towing tractor

[Stubee]

I use my 2010 Tundra to tow my B2320 on an 18’ flatbed, towing it about 1700 miles per year. It tows it just fine, no problem with that.

My problem is short truck tire life. My last set of Michelin LTX M&S were toast after less than 50K miles with tread actually shredding off. Other top brands before the Michelins wore even faster, like 28K for the OEM Duelers and 38K for the Dueler replacements.

I’ve towed with just Toyota recommended pressure (30-33) bumped up to 35-38. These P series Michelins are load rated to a max 51 psi. I’m thinking of bumping them to 42-45 F/R for my 800 mile haul next week. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[3930dave]

Without going to an actual LT tire, you may be stuck with shorter life hauling with P tires.

Can't tell from the pic, are you using a weight-distributing hitch ? Get a basic (low cost) IR temperature gun, and check your tire temperatures when hauling (compare to temps with truck alone). Tire pressure/weight/speed are some of the factors in tire temperature - you can only compensate for the last 2 so much with tire pressure.

I don't like getting too far away from factory specs - those engineers should know that chassis way better than you are I ever will. Obviously, (esp. on the rear of a pu) the risk to very high pressures is that you are reducing the contact patch too much - to the point where handling, braking, and safety suffer.

That ^ risk is elevated once the trailer and load are removed, and the higher pressures aren't adjusted back down.

With those caveats in place, I'd probably adjust psi up too. Unfortunately, I don't know your truck/tires well enough to suggest a target range.

2 things I'd chase down, the first being slightly science based, the other anecdotal.....

1) Read up on evaluating contact patch on tires, and play around with different psi settings on the truck, with trailer and load attached. That might help dial in a psi range better.

2) Try reading a lot of RV sites. Some of those folks haul heavy long distances. and I'm sure tire life/tuning is often discussed. If I didn't find what I needed, I'd post your question there, including tire size, P class, truck details.

Some people today don't like the ride of a light truck with LT tires. They are what they are - some LTs are better than others (ride-wise, unloaded), so read up on LTs before changing up.

Rgds, D.

 

[ruffdog]

^^^good advise^^^

 

[Stubee]

Thanks. Had LTs on my last truck but this one came with the Ps so I’ve stuck with them so far. I’ll keep researching it.

 

[YLee Kioti]

AS you dig deeper and find so many variables on TP and comfort here is what I settled on.
When not towing reduce from max. press. I.E. not towing rear is at 65 psi. When towing TT or tractor back end goes up to 75 just under the 85 max recommendation.

It can be a pain, but for me it's just part of life now.

As posted already, many good RV forums that will cover this topic..
Not having Used P-metric for years, sorry cannot help.
But no doubt you'll find what you need to help you chose your next set of shoes for the Tundra.

 

[Redlands Okie]

As several have stated, with a load use higher pressure. With out a load let some air out otherwise your likely to shorten the tread life quite a bit, the tread in the middle often wears faster than the edges.

 

[terryknight]

you want the tire to wear evenly across the surface. the easiest way to do this is with chalk. when unloaded fill the tire up to a point where you know the tire has too much air in it. draw a line with the chalk across the tread. drive several yards, look at the chalk. let out some air, again drive several yards, repeat until all the chalk disappears. this will give you the full width contact patch. repeat the test with the loaded trailer.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Good idea on the chalk or other similar types of marker.

 

[RickB]

Don’t use truck mfg recommendations to set tire pressures, use tire mfg recommendations. If the tire gives a max load at 51 psi that is the inflation that will give you the most load capacity and durability.

Years ago the Ford Explorer / Firestone debacle was simply because Ford thought they knew more about tires than Firestone did and the Ford owners took the bait. Folks that inflated their Firestones according to the tire manufacturers recommendations did not end up on their lid.

 

[4570Man]

I keep the maximum rated pressure of 80 in mine. It’s a real pain to adjust pressure in the duels and I heavy haul pretty regularly. Short tire life is pretty much a get over it or don’t drive the truck for me.