BarneyS wrote:
Desert Captain wrote:
The problem with being in the "full psi camp" is that chances are excellent that you are over inflating your tires. Snip...
:C
In fact, I believe just the opposite is true.
I have always run my trailer tires at maximum sidewall pressure and have never had a single tire related problem.
I have two main reasons for doing that.
1. Most trailer tires are just adequate for the load they are carrying. There is usually very little capability to spare. Many manufacturers depend on the trailers tongue weight or pin weight to allow the installed tires to not be overloaded.
2. The higher pressure will make the sidewalls stiffer which helps keep sway down and also helps keep the tire on the rim when doing tight turns that scuffs the tread along the road. This does not happen on single axle trailer but most travel trailers of any size have two or more axles and will scuff the tread when turning. The bigger the spread between the axles, the more scuffing will take place.
Barney
Your first statement is wrong and only proves that you have been lucky. There is no way you can know the proper psi without weighing the rig and consulting the manufacturers load/inflation table.
Your second comment leads me to believe you are foolish if in fact you are running tires that are "just adequate" and compensating for that by inflating them to their max psi. Why not get tires that can actually do the job without being inflated to their Mac psi?
What do you think happens to those tires when your trailer weight is increased? Ever have to drive home with full black and grey tanks due to the dump station bring out of order or just too crowded? Been there done that.
It is never a good idea to operate anything from tires to toilets at its "maximum".
If you want to be safe put on tires that can do the job (without being at their max psi), and then inflate to the proper psi for that job. This is why every tire manufacturer produces inflation/load data.
:C
