Unloaded Tire Pressure with TPMS equipped TV

[buzzard616]

Our TV is a 2008 2500 HD. Towing I use 60/80 PSI and with a load of gear and a 1100 lb tongue weight it rides fine. Empty, it does not! There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that 45 - 50 PSI all round when empty is safe and not particularly hard on the tires. It also provides a quite smooth ride that is not threatening to disassemble my truck. How do you convince the TPMS system the tires are inflated the way YOU want them?



Stu

[buzzard616]

Just to close this thread.....

Tried resetting the TPMS with the tires at 55 PSI. No go. TV and I finally settled on 65/55. Doesn't ride as well as I'd like but it's still way better than 80/65 empty.



bt

[buzzard616]

Tried all 4 tires at 55 PSI. Beautiful ride but TPMS was cranky about rear tires. Obviously I didn't read the post from Still Searchin'.
I'll have a look in the manual and see if I can reset the sensors or just put the rears up to 60 PSI. I'll keep you posted.


Stu

[jadatis]

Needed tire-pressure is all about the load on the seperate tires.
Per axle the pressures are kept the same by rule, but the weights R/L can vary especially for motorhomes.

So If you can produce the exact as possible weights on the seperate tires, or at least on the axles for the 2 situations, when towing and unloaded, I can calculate a save pressure with some reserve , wich gives still good comfort and gripp.

I use my motorhome tire-pressure calculator for that , in wich I use my own formula , wich takes care that the deflection of the tire stay the same over the whole pressure/loadcapacity range, wich is the goal of all the calculations. Also I add a reserve depending on what you give ( gawr's or real weighed loads)
Will give an example picture here , I used for another, where I used all 3 parts of it , to show how far we can go.
Mayby the pressures for fully loaded can be lower, and low enaugh to not give bumping when empty. I dont expect it , but that then would be ideal, so you dont have to chache every time.

[Still_Searchin_]

When I rotated tires, my back tires said low air at 55psi but not at 60psi, but when I went through the tire setting procedure in my manual, I was able to leave my front wheels at 40psi and my back wheels at 55psi, which is what the load chart said they should be for the load they are carrying when I'm towing.

[alfresco]

Your dealer can set the threshold wherever you want it. I had them set mine lower.

[skipnchar]

My owners manual provides a code for changing the TPMS settings to whatever number you like (though I've never done it). It's a kind of complicated series of steps to go through. Check for information about it in the owners manual for your truck. I'm sure it would be different for different makes and models but mine is done strictly through the DIC.

For what it's worth, my F 150, like others report does not trip the TPMS warning until about 45 PSI though 60 is recommended.

[Dave_H_M]

I had the same issue with my 2012 F 250. I think it was set way up in the ozone layer at 65. Was not my way of doing things and the ride was very harsh.

Anyway went back to the dealer and requested that the threshold be set lower. Service manager said that he had one tech that was good on the puter and to bringit back when he came off vacation. They did charge me for 1/2 hour but I am now happier than a pig in slop with it set at 55. 🙂

I understand that it is common for stelers to get cold feet and refuse to do that.

good luck

[Tvov]

Have you tried the tires at 50psi? On my 2008 F250 the TPMS warning doesn't come on until the tires get down to 45psi.

Running the tires at 50psi when empty is fine. For extended periods, watch the tread wear -- may want to bump it up a bit if the outside edges start wearing more than the middle of the tread.