Proper RV Tire Pressure: Finding the Right PSI
RV Lifestyle & Repair EditorsDescription
Just because your RV’s tires say they can handle a certain PSI doesn’t mean the listed PSI is the ideal one for your vehicle. Proper tire inflation requires weighing your vehicle with the load you’ll be carrying, and filling to match that number. In this free video lesson, RV maintenance expert Dave Solberg teaches you how to find the correct RV tire pressure for your motorhome, coach, fifth wheel, or whatever else you drive.
We see RV owners make this mistake all the time, and for understandable reasons. Drivers are constantly told that the number on their tire’s sidewall is what you need to look for, but what they’re not often told is that that number is the maximum RV tire pressure at the maximum weight capacity. Unless you’ll be hauling max weight, you don’t need max pressure!
What happens when you fill your tires too much?
Overinflating your tires can lead, of course, to the unexpected and dreaded pop while working your way down the highway. But it can also cause lower fuel efficiency as well as poor braking and handling abilities due to incomplete tread contact with the road. To prevent all of these things, Dave recommends taking your RV to your nearest CAT scale to get an exact measurement, incorporating all weight that you’ll be carrying on your next trip. Just put your RV on the scale and see your precise readout!
Once you have that number, you can refer to your tire manufacturer’s conversion chart to find the ideal RV tire pressure for your model, no matter if you use a single or dual system. It’s that easy! Be sure to do your homework and spend about $10 to get the weight and inflation right, and you’ll enjoy a smoother ride with better fuel efficiency, reduced risk of accidents, and a longer tire lifespan. Ride safe out there!
Tire maintenance is an important part of your overall maintenance routine to keep your rig rolling down the road. Now we've all heard stories about tires on trailers that have blown out the cheap Chinese tires all that kind of stuff, even motor homes. And it was kind of an epidemic for a while. But proper tire inflation is to start with is one of the most important things you can do to maintain your tires. Now there's a lot of discussion on what is proper inflation.
You know, Most people think it's the number written right here on the side. Which just one says, maximum weight of 4,000 pounds and tire inflation of 95 PSI. Well, that's maximum pressure at maximum weight. That's not proper tire inflation. It's not also the data plate that's on the inside of the wall.
Again, that's going to mimic what's in here. The only way you can find proper inflation is to weigh this vehicle and find out the amount of weight on the tire and go to the tire chart. So you want to go to a CAT scale, which is at Flying J's or Pilot, or if you go to catscale.com you'll see one that's in your area. And for $10, I can take and put this unit on. Front wheels on the front scale, back wheels on the second platform.
And it will give me those inflation's. And it will tell.. or weights, excuse me on that. And it will tell me exactly what's on here. If I don't have 4,095 pounds on this like it says maximum the 95 is not the number I need.
What I'm going to need to do is go to the tire inflation chart. If you go to RV safety.com you'll be able to download your tire. This specific tire here happens to be a... Bridgestone. So I'd go to the Bridgestone tire chart, get the size.
This is a dual application. So I'm going to go on the dual side of it. Find that weight and for what this unit here is it's going to be about 91 PSI from the weights that we've done. And what happens is if I have too much, if I put 95 in here that's going to make this a little bit rounded. So I'm going to start to get some wear pattern in the center.
I'm not going to have as good a braking capacity because I don't have full tread. By having proper tire inflation. I'm going to have the most tread of this wheel on the road. So get your RV weighed Find out what the proper inflation is by going to the chart. And you'll be surprised.
It's going to be a little different than what's on the side of this tire.
We have a Monaco monarch. Should the motorhome have all the tanks full(gas, fresh water, black water, grey water tanks full when you do the weights of the axles?
This applies to trucks & cars also. You don't put the pressure that is on that doorpost. That is the recommended pressure that should be in the tire, not the ideal for your load.