shooters
Southern Calif
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Joined: 12/17/2007
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Was wondering what you all are running for PSI in your RV tires; not the pressures for ALL your coaches (as that would be silly) but in regards to the max pressures?
When I took delivery of my 5th wheel last year, one of the first things I noticed was the PSI was 10 lbs less in all 6 tires than than the posted max cold pressure stamped on the sidewalls. I questioned the service dept and was informed they set up all the coaches that way.
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I was always told the tires are in fact designed to fill to max pressure and should operate perfectly that way.
Case in point: Last year my best friend and I were coming back from the Imperial Sand Dunes in Glamis, Calif and he began blowing tires one by one. By the time he reached his destination, all 6 tires had blown, causing some serious damage to the inside of the coach. The cabnetry on the inside of the coach took some real damage. Anyhow, the first thing the insurance company had asked him was, was he running maximum tire pressures in all 6 tires. He was. The insurance company said if he had not, there would be an issue with coverage.
Now this leads me to believe that max pressures are the proper inflation method. His tires were some cheap ass Chinese******and were the original equipment from when he bought his coach. Sort of bizarre he lost all 6 on one trip, but I guess starnger things have happened.
Any thoughts?
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rich and char
N.J.
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Joined: 10/29/2005
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Been Running max tire pressures (PSI) printed on side of tire on all my TV's tongue pulls , and 5th wheels w/ chineese tires and Never had one tire issue of any kind.Check them and set them right before departure on every trip , (But still can't hit the lottery) Go Figure.
My 2 cents,
Rich
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downtheroad
Puget Sound
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Joined: 02/18/2003
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shooters wrote:
When I took delivery of my 5th wheel last year, one of the first things I noticed was the PSI was 10 lbs less in all 6 tires than than the posted max cold pressure stamped on the sidewalls. I questioned the service dept and was informed they set up all the coaches that way.
Any thoughts?
The service depart. are knuckle-heads.
And, yes, some Chinese tires have been a problem..especially on heavy rigs like toy haulers at high speed coming and going to desert.
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hcirrito
NY
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Joined: 10/31/2006
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I just bought new tires for my trailer. The original tires were load range B. The max tire pressure for the tires (35 psi) was also the listed psi rating for the trailer (located on the tag front left side). These tires were run on this trailer for 10 years. I know that's long, but they just started showing dry rot this year. I replaced them with load range c tires. Max pressure 50 psi. The axles on my trailer are rated as 3500 lb each but the max weight rating on my trailer is something like 5300 lbs which is line with the B rated tires. With the C rated tires, I got a little extra carry capacity if needed. I might pump the pressure up a little but probably not needed as I'm sure I don't travel over the 5k range anyway. To answer your question, Your trailer has a max weight that it can be. The tires need a specific pressure to hold that weight. The load range of the tires goes up as more pressure is needed to hold the trailer up. Also heat builds up if the tires are underinflated. Some pump their tires up to the max so that they run cooler. This will cause the center line of the tire to bulge if the pressure is not needed to hold the trailer up. If it bulges, the bulge will wear out until the tire runs flat accross the tread. I don't think this is a problem because trailer tires usually fail by dry rot before tread wear.
Basically, if you pump them up to the max, you would have cooler running tires, less likely to blow out due to excessive heat. You may not feel to comfortable towing on them until the tire tread flattens. Probably won't flatten until they dry rot anyway if your trailer doesn't get used regularly.
Overall, my opinion is that you can't go wrong if you have properly rated tires for the weight carried and use the pressure listed on the trailers tag. You really shouldn't go over the max weight of the trailer anyway. Adding 5 psi on higher rated tires than needed for the trailer won't hurt any and may give you more comfort for fear of overheating the tires. Tires blow out for the following reasons: Something like a screw or nail that is un noticed or not properly plugged or patched, dry rot (this is a big one), and underinflation (tire runs too hot). Of course the is always the manufacturers defect. By raising the psi and running cooler tires, you only eliminate one possible cause and that cause is generally the least likely cause of a blowout anyway.
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Jack_Diane_Freedom
Lindsay Ont, and Gulf Coast Florida
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I run at max 110 psi as stated on the side wall and have had no problems over the last 3 years.
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Rollincool
Always Rollin
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Joined: 08/10/2007
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It's UNDER-inflation that kills/blows tires, NOT MAXIMUM inflation.
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hcirrito
NY
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additional thouhgts:
How old were your friends tires? Were they severely dry rotted? I can't imagine that they all blew because of being overheated, unless he didn't change the blown out ones in which case the tires with air in them became overloaded by holding up the trailer without the help of the other tires. That's crazy. I'm glad I am not him.
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shooters
Southern Calif
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Joined: 12/17/2007
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Well they were the original tires and I believe the coach was 3 years old. Dry rot could have been a factor I suppose, and the damage to the coach was in the 1000's of dollars. I know the insurance adjuster looked at the coach, but nothing was mentioned about dry rot. Not sure what the actual reason for the blow outs were, but I can tell you that if someone had been riding in the back it could have seriously injured or killed them.
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david_42
Oregon
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Joined: 04/08/2005
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Most RV's the required pressure is awfully close to the max. anyway. I ran all six tires on my "C" at the max., which was only 5 psi over the minimum for the load. My "B", the rear tires are at the max., the front ones I go by weight + 5 psi.
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SH
Lynden, WA
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Joined: 09/27/2006
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I always run max on our 5vers E rated ST's (80 PSI).
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