Popup tires in Texas Heat (90+)

[davpratt]

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.

[bondebond]

The sidewall of the tires will say something along the lines of "55 PSI cold pressure". The manufacturers know the tires will heat up with use which increases the internal PSI, and they design the tires accordingly. You do NOT measure tire pressure when they have been running and adjust them down to the max pressure rating on the sidewall. Only when they are cool, do you adjust the pressure.

[davpratt]

My buddy came up with his scheme this way: He filled his 55psi max popup tires to 55 psi, then drove about an hour, in the texas heat, stopped to check the pressure in the tires, found that they were above 55 psi, so he let air out till they were at 55 psi, he then drove on to his camping spot, and parked the popup. Later when the tires cooled down a bit he checked the pressure. It measured 42 psi. so he figured that would be the right pressure to start at, and did that every summer.
It worked for him, but I am not going to try it.

[davpratt]

Thank to all for your responses, I am going to get a new pair of Kendas (213.90 for two tires on new wheels), slow to 60 mph on days over 90 deg F, get the trailer weighed the next time we head out, and be sure the new tires are at 65 psi before we drive. I dont think I want to try my buddies' scheme of lowering the tire pressure in summer, too much risk there.
Thanks also for the link, "All I could aford", I will keep that and perhaps try some Westlakes for my next tires, if we still have the popup in two years. BTW we are looking to move up to a 27-30 ft TT, in the future.

[All_I_could_aff]

http://www.trailertiresandwheels.com/13-radial-trailer-tires

The westlake tires are the fifth ones down on the search results for 13 inch radials. Note that it does not mention 75 mph on the description, but the first tire in the search results does. Regardless, on my westlakes it is molded into the tire.

[davpratt]

All I could afford wrote:
I went with the Westlake 185/80R13 LR D with a 1,710 lb capacity at 65 psi and I am completely satisfied with them so far. They are also stamped on the sidewall saying max speed 75 mph, although I rarely go over 60 or so.
Trailer tires and wheel.com has them for $71 each with free shipping and when I got mine they were only five weeks old

Thanks!Could you post a link to that site? I am not finding a Trailer tires and wheel.com. I appreciate you help, $71 each is cheaper than $106 each, and 65mph is killing us.

[All_I_could_aff]

I went with the Westlake 185/80R13 LR D with a 1,710 lb capacity at 65 psi and I am completely satisfied with them so far. They are also stamped on the sidewall saying max speed 75 mph, although I rarely go over 60 or so.
Trailer tires and wheel.com has them for $71 each with free shipping and when I got mine they were only five weeks old

[davpratt]

jerem0621 wrote:
Have you weighed your rig to ensure you are not overloading the tires?

Thanks!

Jeremiah

We have not weighed the trailer the way we load it now. unill 2014, when we bought the Tundra, we used to tow with a Suburban, and put nore stuff inside the trailer, we did weigh it on a similar trip, and the weight on the two trailer tires was right at 3000 lbs.(not actually overloading the tires rated at 1600 lbs each. So we completely changed the configuration of where things were loaded. then when we bought the truck, we changed the load pattern again. We now put most of what we bring in the bed of the truck, and not in the trailer. The most recent and most of the blowouts have been on the door side of the trailer (passenger side of tv).

[OutdoorPhotogra]

I make more frequent stops when towing in the heat both to check the tires and let everything cool down a little.

[davpratt]

All I could afford wrote:
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?

yes, it was difficult to find D load range 13 inch tires, These were Kenda brand Loadstar tires from etrailer.com

[pcfeld]

I would agree with jerem0621, has it been the same side both times? Also how old are the tires? With the Texas heat they may have deteriorated causing a weak tire.

[jerem0621]

Have you weighed your rig to ensure you are not overloading the tires?

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[All_I_could_aff]

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?

[bondebond]

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.

[davpratt]

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.