Tire Pressure Vs. Ambient
I recently found that adjusting our tires to the cold inflation temperature base on the local ambient may not be the correct way to do this. Based on this info, the ambient temp for setting tire pres...
Forum Discussion
two-niner wrote:
JetAonly is correct. Everything is based on 59 degrees F. at sea level.
Except for the fact that the Tire industry Load & Inflation tables are based on tires being at 'Ambient" temperature.
The use of the word "cold" has mislead some to start thinking about the need to refrigerate their tires.
Tire Engineers are almost exclusively worried about excess heat so we may think of Ambient as "cold" being the opposite of hot.
Too many make this much more complicated than it needs to be.
- Know the real load on your tires
- Know the minimum inflation pressure needed to carry the load
- Add a bit for a margin (10% is reasonable as long as you don't exceed the wheel or valve rating)
- Confirm your gauge is reasonably accurate i.e. +/- 2 psi or better from a new digital gauge or gauge at tire store.
- Run a TPMS
- Enjoy your RV
The above works at any elevation you will be driving your RV. It will also work for Ambient of -10F to 130F. Outside this range other factors may come into play so you would want to contact the tech folks at your tire company to review your situation
