Normal and Maximum Tire Tread Temps?
Came back in from a fairly short, 170 mile trip at no more than 65MPH. We experienced no problems, but for grins and giggles, I decided to take out the trusty laser-temp gun and measure the tire trea...
Forum Discussion
Tire tread temperatures will be somewhat above road surface temperatures, which might well be 140F or higher on asphalt in summer sunshine. Or they could be barely warm to the touch, running at highway speeds on road surfaces barely above freezing. Anything from 100F to 190F is "normal" for street tires with DOT temperature ratings (A to C).
Ideally, you want to be in a 110-140F range, but if you are running on hot surfaces in hot weather, temperatures will be higher. They can be lowered by slowing down, and managed by inflating for load so that temperature is uniform across the width of the tread.
Colder tires will have less than optimum traction (thus winter tires get quite different tread compounds).
Critical temperatures for tire failure can't be read at the tread surface. Point of failure for temperature is at the interface between the tread rubber and the belt, which has to be measured with a needle-type pyrometer. Nobody does this unless they are trying to optimize tire temperatures in competitive motorsports, a whole different issue from "are my tires running hot enough to fail?"
But surface measurements are still useful as a clue to what is going on deeper in the tire. Surface temperatures 240-260F and higher suggest temperatures high enough for tread separation, and temperatures get that high usually from mismanaging the balance of inflation, load, and running speed.
In the absence of structural defects and damage over the life of the tire, most tread separations are the result of pushing temperatures too high by running too fast for load/inflation balance and ambient conditions. Note that you seldom see tire "gators" on the highway in winter weather, nor do you often see them on highways where travel speeds are in the 40-60 mph range.
For measuring tire temperatures on a motorhome (or a car or truck you are driving, if you bother), what you are looking for is imbalance. If one tire is running a lot hotter than the others, that one has a problem. Most often, it is deflating. A deflating (or deflated) tire on a dual wheel will also somewhat warm up its partner, which is picking up extra load.
FWIW, since losing two (minivan) tires to tread bubbles on one summer trip in the late 1990s, limping on Sunday to a town with a tire dealer, and waiting for him to open on Monday, I've gotten into the habit of at least casually checking the tire temperatures of every vehicle I've been driving or riding in, at every stop, for temperatures being even and not exceptionally hot. This even though all my own vehicles now have DOT-mandated tire pressure monitoring, which usually has pressure variance standards looser than my own.
Ideally, you want to be in a 110-140F range, but if you are running on hot surfaces in hot weather, temperatures will be higher. They can be lowered by slowing down, and managed by inflating for load so that temperature is uniform across the width of the tread.
Colder tires will have less than optimum traction (thus winter tires get quite different tread compounds).
Critical temperatures for tire failure can't be read at the tread surface. Point of failure for temperature is at the interface between the tread rubber and the belt, which has to be measured with a needle-type pyrometer. Nobody does this unless they are trying to optimize tire temperatures in competitive motorsports, a whole different issue from "are my tires running hot enough to fail?"
But surface measurements are still useful as a clue to what is going on deeper in the tire. Surface temperatures 240-260F and higher suggest temperatures high enough for tread separation, and temperatures get that high usually from mismanaging the balance of inflation, load, and running speed.
In the absence of structural defects and damage over the life of the tire, most tread separations are the result of pushing temperatures too high by running too fast for load/inflation balance and ambient conditions. Note that you seldom see tire "gators" on the highway in winter weather, nor do you often see them on highways where travel speeds are in the 40-60 mph range.
For measuring tire temperatures on a motorhome (or a car or truck you are driving, if you bother), what you are looking for is imbalance. If one tire is running a lot hotter than the others, that one has a problem. Most often, it is deflating. A deflating (or deflated) tire on a dual wheel will also somewhat warm up its partner, which is picking up extra load.
FWIW, since losing two (minivan) tires to tread bubbles on one summer trip in the late 1990s, limping on Sunday to a town with a tire dealer, and waiting for him to open on Monday, I've gotten into the habit of at least casually checking the tire temperatures of every vehicle I've been driving or riding in, at every stop, for temperatures being even and not exceptionally hot. This even though all my own vehicles now have DOT-mandated tire pressure monitoring, which usually has pressure variance standards looser than my own.
