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Old 04-21-2006, 10:17 AM   #1
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Trailer: Scamp 13 ft
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Do any of you change your tow vehicle tire pressure when towing vs not towing? I was considering setting the rear tires a few pounds higher than the door sticker and leaving them that way. We had a popup for a number of years, and I never did anything special with that and never had any problems - so maybe this is a non-issue.

Thanks,
Ron

New Scamp 13 in Maine
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Old 04-21-2006, 11:14 AM   #2
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Ron
For years and years I haven't paid any attention to the door sticker on my vehicles whether I am pulling something or not. I run the tires near the max psi stated on the tire. May give a slightly harsher ride but the tires last longer and the gas mileage is better.
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Old 04-21-2006, 11:30 AM   #3
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After many years as a car enthusiast with some competition experience, I do not advocate inflating tires to the rated maximum unless the load conditions call for this, because overinflation can hurt traction, make the ride harsher, and cause uneven tire wear (excessive centre wear). On the other hand, the tire pressures recommended by the vehicle manufacturer (the door sticker numbers) may be too low for optimal handling or wear, since they consider ride comfort. I consider the pressure given on the vehicle sticker a minimum, the one in the sidewall marking a maximum, and inflate to suit conditions.

The most suitable pressure depends on the tire type and size, and the load. With very wide tires on light cars, the appropriate pressure is low; with moderately sized tires on heavily loaded vehicles such as trailers, the most appropriate pressure might be quite high. The passenger-type tires on my Boler (P205/75R14) are being used very near their load limit (1350 lb after 10% derating), and thus require inflation pressure right at their rating (35 PSI); if they were rated for higher pressure, I would use it, and would expect better control, less wear, and less rolling drag. New tires are planned for this year...

In practice, I drive hard enough that I keep front tire pressures in my cars near the maximum. When I was participating in autoslalom competition, I exceeded the front tire rated limit, to keep the tires from rolling over onto their sidewalls. This is not a normal driving scenario, especially while towing.

On the Sienna, I generally run the Toyota recommended pressures, except to inflate the rears to the rated maximum for towing. The additional lateral stiffness of the higher pressure is good for control. While the sticker pressure will ensure adequate load capacity (assuming that the axle limit is observed) a little more load capacity margin seems like a good idea when loading the rear axle to near its limit. Having said this, I don't have enough towing time to judge whether my chosen pressures have proven to be suitable.
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Information is good. Lack of information is not so good, but misinformation is much worse. Check facts, and apply common sense liberally.
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Old 04-21-2006, 01:05 PM   #4
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My suggestion is to inflate your tire for the anticipated load. Each tire has a max load rating on the side at a max inflation pressure. If you roughly figure out what the load on each tire will be, you can check the websites of most manufacturers (this is especially true of light truck tires) and they will tell you what the load rating is for a specific tire at a specific inflation.

When driving around unladen, I carry about 35psi in the "D" range tires on my Tundra for the nice ride and even wear. When towing, I inflate the rears to 55 psi (60 psi max, per the tire) and 45 psi for the fronts.

I run my trailer tires at max psi just because they run cooler that way. The odds are that the sidewalls will deteriorate from ozone exposure long before you'll wear the tread out in the middle on your trailer tires.

Roger
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Old 04-21-2006, 11:11 PM   #5
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Don't forget to use some common sense -- I drove about 12,000 miles one sumer around BC, YT and AK on some pretty nasty roads (I didn't go up to Arctic Circle nor all the way to Yellowknife, but I hit all the others on the Milepost map) -- Expecting trouble, I carried a spare tire/wheel for the Scamp and a spare tire/wheel plus an extra tire for the truck -- In all those miles, I had ZERO flats -- I credit this to keeping both my speed and tire pressures a bit lower than max.

Came in handy when I got the rig stuck in roadside mud, also

Don't forget to restore the pressures to normal back on the paved roads with greater speeds (If you are riding around in the boondocks on roads with rocks, you should be carrying patching and inflation equipment, of course).

Take two balloons, inflate one way up and just barely inflate the other -- Try jabbing them both slowly with your finger and then quickly with your finger (you may need more than two balloons) -- See which ones pop first and which ones you can't hardly manage to pop.

We've all learned at our father's knee to keep those tires pumped up, but the caveat is that advice pertains to high speeds on good roads -- Go to one of those West Coast park areas where they run 4x4s, etc across the sand and you'll see them pull in, let a lot of air out of the SUV/truck tires and THEN take off into the sand.

There are times when pressures should be high and times when they should be low -- Use the stuf behind your eyes to decide which is best for the conditions.
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Old 04-22-2006, 07:11 AM   #6
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Quote:
Do any of you change your tow vehicle tire pressure when towing vs not towing? I was considering setting the rear tires a few pounds higher than the door sticker and leaving them that way. We had a popup for a number of years, and I never did anything special with that and never had any problems - so maybe this is a non-issue.

Thanks,
Ron

New Scamp 13 in Maine
The Scamp manual recommends full inflation pressure when towing and to reduce pressure 10 psi (or so) when storing for any length of time. I know from towing my boat that an underinflated tire will get extremely hot when towing at highway speeds due to the constant flexing of the sidewall. The mileage on the underinflated tire will be less too.
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Old 04-22-2006, 07:15 AM   #7
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Quote:
Don't forget to use some common sense --

We've all learned at our father's knee to keep those tires pumped up, but the caveat is that advice pertains to high speeds on good roads -- Go to one of those West Coast park areas where they run 4x4s, etc across the sand and you'll see them pull in, let a lot of air out of the SUV/truck tires and THEN take off into the sand.

There are times when pressures should be high and times when they should be low -- Use the stuf behind your eyes to decide which is best for the conditions.
Obviously Pete's right (again... )

Reduced pressure... reduced speeds... Gravel roads don't like hard tires; it's like driving on marbles. But then again... one shouldn't be driving at freeway speeds on gravel either!

Roger
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Old 04-22-2006, 04:01 PM   #8
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I would like to thank everyone for the responses and advice. I expect I will be on tar for most of my towing. Once at my destination, there are many dirt roads to explore in Maine.

Ron
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