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snarkee's avatar
snarkee
Explorer
May 23, 2014

Psi

I have a 2014 silverado 1500 with upgraded 10 ply Lt tires (275/70/18)

My tt is 28 foot weighting 6800 loaded. I have a wdh and friction sway bar

When I tow and it's breezy outside, I can feel side to side softness sway that feels like its in the rear of my truck. I have my rear tires at 46psi but they can obviously take more air being 10 ply. I'm curious if the side to side rear end sway is the result of not enough tire pressure. I'm camping now and if that's the case, I'll head to the gas station and air up for the ride home

Thx in advance for the input

6 Replies

  • Tire pressure sounds too low to me as well. Chalk or tape your tires and see how much they really need.

    I'll air the tires up to maximum sidewall pressure and put a strip of wide masking tape across a front a rear tire. Drive normally for a few miles and look at the tape. Drop 5 psi, re-tape and repeat. Continue until the wear is just barely biased toward the middle. That becomes 'my' proper air pressure for that load condition.

    Oh, and if you look at the sidewall you will probably see you don't have 10-ply tires. They are just 10-ply rated (80 psi). They are for sure stronger sidewalls than C or D-rated tires, but typically have the same number of actual plys. You may have known that, but some don't.
  • I think you are on the low end with your E rated tire @46psi for towing, I would try going to 55psi and see if that would helped.
  • You need to find out what the max psi rating is for the rims. The tires should be 80 psi if they are ten ply and have the correct metal valve stems. Not sure where you can find the rim info out.

    Don
  • Well, you could air up to the 80psi max of 10 plies, but it's possible your wheels may not not go that high. I've seen alloys that only go up to 60psi, and that's pretty much the max I use.

    But it could be just the usual sway from the trailer nudging your truck in windy conditions. I too have a single friction bar. But could probably use more. Thinking about an Equal-I-Zer ...

    EDIT: I would go up to 60psi and see if that helps
  • Could be, what's max psi rating on the side of the tires? I would air up to that. You'll still more than likely feel some sway on a windy day.