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davpratt's avatar
davpratt
Explorer
Jul 30, 2015

Popup tires in Texas Heat (90+)

Ihave always filled my popup tires to max pressure (65psi) 13 inch “ D” rated tires. A week ago we had another blowout, door side of camper, 95+ ambient temp, 65 mph, about 30 miles east of Junction TX, headed west. I talking to a camping buddy of mine, he said that what worked for him in his popup days was lowering his tire pressure in the summer, and raising it in the winter. Now I don’t know what size tires or the load rating of his tires, but he said he would have his at 42 psi in summer, and higher in winter. That goes against everything I have ever read on tire pressure on trailer tires. I have always heard: fill to max psi when cold, of course cold is a relative term when the ambient temp is 85 in the morning when you check and fill the tires! What do you folks think of this strategy?
Edit: my buddy said they were 55 max psi tires and he used 52 psi in winter, 42 psi in summer.
  • Have you weighed your rig to ensure you are not overloading the tires?

    Thanks!

    Jeremiah
  • I also run D rated 65psi 13 inch tires, but so far no long trips in weather over 90°. But I would not even think about lowering the pressure... Maybe lower your speed a bit in high temperatures. not much selection in D rated 13's... What brand and model are you running?
  • The issue is sidewall flexing. When the tires are not at full pressure and you are driving highway speeds, the sidewalls are flexing more than they should. The flexing causes heat and builds up, eventually leading to a higher likelihood of a blow out. While there is more than enough opinions on the matter, you'll have to decide what works for you. Two tire blow outs at lower pressure was enough to convince me to stay at max pressure. No problems after that when driving 65mph and under. That included a stint across the Texas panhandle in summer.
  • If you re-read the original post you will see 65 mph, we are careful to never exceed that. That is what I have always seen as the maximum ratwd speed for all ST tires.
  • We were always told to keep them at max capacity when it came to air, and that was even more important in the heat. Another factor could possibly be speed - how fast do you drive when towing? Those little tires are going like crazy when the vehicle tires are just turning moderately, and will build up more heat.

    And then there's the random tire failure factor - for unknown reasons.