tire question

[wiess]

When i took my camper to storage I checked the tires, they were a little low so i put them to 60 psi this is what it said on the tire but on the highway the trailer was bouncing to the point that i could only do about 55 and on a minnesota highway you about get run over. My question is can i lower the pressure a little when having the pop up empty and if so what would be a good pressure to run them at? or is their other problems that i might have.

thanks
wiess

[wavery]

When i took my camper to storage I checked the tires, they were a little low so i put them to 60 psi this is what it said on the tire but on the highway the trailer was bouncing to the point that i could only do about 55 and on a minnesota highway you about get run over. My question is can i lower the pressure a little when having the pop up empty and if so what would be a good pressure to run them at? or is their other problems that i might have.

thanks
wiess

From what I have read, you should never run a tire on the highway with  less than 80% of it's maximum rating.

You might want to have your trailer weighed then check the weight rating on your tires. You may find that you are running close to the limits of the tires and may need to keep them at 100%. If your tires are rated far above the actual weight of the trailer, you might be able to run them about 5# below max.

There are several websites that discuss this. You may want to do a google search for "Trailer tire inflation" or something like that. Here is the first one that I came up with. Some, that I have seen, have charts and everything.

[austinado16]

I would first check to see that you are sporting the correct tires.  Sometimes load range B tires will be installed, instead of load range C....and make sure you have metal valve stems and not rubber ones.

lf you pass this test, I'd check out the suspension on the trailer and make sure you don't have anything broken.

If you past this test, I'd tow at 65-70 and see how your trailer likes that!  

Or maybe this is all due to the conditions of your roads?  Frost heaves? Seams because they're made out of concrete?  Damage from big rigs?

I wouldn't be lowering the tire pressures at all as this allows the tire to flex more as it comes in contact with the road and momentarily becomes "flat".  Friction becomes heat and heat becomes tread and belt seperation....which becomes a blown tire and an E-ticket ride to the shoulder.

[brgmgb]

I would check the tongue weight and the level of the tongue.  We have a drawbar for each vehicle, and one time I put the wrong one in.  The tongue was not level, but rather went uphill from the camper to the ball.  As I was only towing the camper about five miles, I thought it would be OK.  The trailer bounced on the ball and swayed the whole way.

[Gwenzilla]

You may want to check and see if your tire needs to be re-balanced.  Its possible its gone out of balance.

[jkhomes]

Don't forget to lower your stabilizers to take the weight off the tires while it is in storage.  Also, if it is outside, the UV can break them down, especially if they are getting direct exposure like the western setting sun.

[wavery]

Don't forget to lower your stabilizers to take the weight off the tires while it is in storage.  Also, if it is outside, the UV can break them down, especially if they are getting direct exposure like the western setting sun.

Not a good idea.  The stabilizers are not meant to hold weight.

You would be far better off rolling your PU a foot or two once a week or so. This is not only good for the tire but it helps with the wheel bearing lubrication.

[mike4947]

I'm with Wayne on this one. In fact it goes for all classes of RV, not just PU's.
Not to mention it helps with wheel ruts forming in asphalt driveways as well.

[AustinBoston]

Don't forget to lower your stabilizers to take the weight off the tires while it is in storage.  Also, if it is outside, the UV can break them down, especially if they are getting direct exposure like the western setting sun.

Most manufacturers will tell you "Never use the stabilizers to take the weight off the wheels."

There have been some older/very light pop-up trailers where this was allowed, but it is generally not advised for most pop-ups.

I don't think there is a problem with using jack stands placed at the main frame of the camper close to the axle, but I don't think it is necessary anyway.

Austin

[bountyhunter]

Remember that for every 15 degrees of temp. increase the poundage will go up 1 pound.  So, if it is 50 degrees when you fill them to 60lbs, and then it is 80 degrees when you tow you are already at 62 before even leaving the driveway.  Add the extra heat from them turning, and you could be a little high on your poundage.

[wavery]

Remember that for every 15 degrees of temp. increase the poundage will go up 1 pound.  So, if it is 50 degrees when you fill them to 60lbs, and then it is 80 degrees when you tow you are already at 62 before even leaving the driveway.  Add the extra heat from them turning, and you could be a little high on your poundage.

The tires are designed to take that into account. The PSI rating is a "Cold" rating.

If the tires are under inflated cold, they will over heat much faster and get much hotter than if they are run at the rated PSI cold.

[jkhomes]

I stand corrected on using the stabilizers for storage.  The owners manual for my 98 Coleman Bayside does not address the issue at all. It may be more important to take the weight of the tires with a heavier RV.

[AustinBoston]

Add the extra heat from them turning, and you could be a little high on your poundage.

That is taken into the design.  Tire manufacturers know the tires heat up in use, and set the pressure with that in mind.

Austin

[flyfisherman]

When i took my camper to storage I checked the tires, they were a little low so i put them to 60 psi this is what it said on the tire but on the highway the trailer was bouncing to the point that i could only do about 55 and on a minnesota highway you about get run over. My question is can i lower the pressure a little when having the pop up empty and if so what would be a good pressure to run them at? or is their other problems that i might have.

thanks
wiess

You might get by with lowering tire pressures a tad (5/10 lbs) to tow the camper (empty) a short distance to the storage facilty. Personally, I don't like to put any additional strain on the tires where-ever possible. As you know, ST (special trailer) tires are designed to carry a load at a specified psi, both specs being right on the tire sidewall.

My little Starcraft was "under-sprung" right from the factory. On some smaller units a lighter axle and leaf springs were being used for awhile ... and some other brand of PU's were using the same axle/spring set-up from Dexter. Of course, I just had to break a leaf spring whissling down the pike (between maybe 65 and 70 mph). The good news was that Dexter paid for the leaf spring replacement, parts and labor, and that was for two springs. If your going to replace one spring, you need to replace the other at the same time. The better news is that the shop foreman was already ahead of the curve and advised me to install a heavier spring ... which I did ... and paid the difference. Meantime Starcraft discontinued the lighter spring and went back to their older style, which just happened to be the ones I had installed. The point of all this is that the PU, with the lighter springs, had a lot of bounce to it. With the heavier springs ... smoothed that right out and the Starcraft had some better towing manners. Excessive bounce can be caused by other things than tires being inflated to their recommended psi ... I know this from experience.




Fly