Tire pressure on the road.

Forgot about the altitude, we went from 800 ft to 6000 ft. That might have been part of the change.

Not likely to switch to LTs, at 40 psi, the Ps do just fine. The DW thinks the TV rides rough enough when not towing already.

This guy is a former tire engineer, and he writes with a good, readable style. He is a wealth of information on tires, and I think his "cold tire inflation" post is a great start.


http://www.rvtiresafety.com/search/label/Cold%20Inflation

rbpru wrote:
Leaving Indiana for a trip to Arizona...

Did you change altitude? That will affect tire pressure as will ambient air temperature.

It is quite normal for air pressure to vary throughout the day. Tire engineers have taken this into account and recommend tire pressure be adjusted only when tires are cold, any other method is flawed.

We usually check them in the morning before we hit the road and make any adjustments then, we know they will rise in temp but don't fret as they are designed to handle the increase in psi.

Adjust tire pressure the first thing in the morning. Then leave them alone until the next morning. That's assuming you are parked for the night. I do "feel" the sidewalls (and bearings) at every rest/fuel stop in an effort to find anything odd.

I set all tires to max sidewall pressure. Some disagree with that claiming it makes for a rough ride. Never made a difference I could feel. At max pressure all tires are capable of carrying their max load and they experience the least rolling resistance and sidewall flex. That's just me.

IMHO you should replace your truck tires with LT tires. After buying my Tundra, I had to buy tires in a hurry because one tire had a bubble on the side wall and we were leaving on a trip (without the trailer). So, all I could get were P rated tires. We weren't doing much camping with our old trailer at the time. Well, after a period of time, we sold the old trailer, bought the new one and started camping in the new trailer. On one trip, I could feel the truck moving a little bit...the way I knew it shouldn't. After thinking about it, I decided to replace the tires with LT tires and the difference was very noticeable. And with the LT tires, you can inflate them to a much higher PSI....I like to inflate the rear tires to 65 PSI when towing. An added bonus was better gas mileage with the LT tires...1-2 mpg depending on conditions.

Otherwise, inflate your tires to the maximum 44 psi. Air temperature will make a big difference in tire pressure, which is why you have a adjust by the weather season or location.

I just broke down an bought a TPMS system for my trailer tires and rear tires on the truck. We're on our first trip with the system installed and it's really nice to be able to continually monitor the tire pressures and know that I'll get a warning if the pressure drops, if there is a leak, or if temps go too high. The system wasn't cheap, but less than typical repairs if you have a blowout. And, I can turn on the monitor before hitching up and see if I need to get out the compressor without having to walk around with the tire gauge and check each tire.

It's typical Air temperature does effect the pressure of a tire.
The best thing is to check/set your tire pressure in the morning or after the tires have not been rolling for several hours.

Don't adjust it as it goes up after traveling or in a warmer climate.
Just check when cold and you will be good.