Tire pressure when towing
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Whatever the door sticker says. My 95 Ford diesel has 50 psi in the front and 80 psi in the rear tires.
Run the door-plate pressure for the type of tire used, and for the load placed on the rear axle (tongue weight of the trailer plus any load in the bed). Unless the door plate calls for 48 PSI, I think its a terrible idea. Running the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall is very rarely the right answer, since that would only be suitable if you're loading the tire close to its ultimate capacity... which in itself isn't a good idea.
Depends on the tire. Some tires with softer sidewalls will benefit from higher pressure when towing. Most half-tons do not come equipped with "LT" tires.
In my experience-the placard doesn't take in to account the tongue weight on the rear axle.
I find with my half ton truck that a few pounds under maximum pressure is where everything seems stable.
In my experience-the placard doesn't take in to account the tongue weight on the rear axle.
I find with my half ton truck that a few pounds under maximum pressure is where everything seems stable.
Watch for pressure buildup when towing. Significant pressure buildup is an indication that the tire is underinflated and building up excess heat. For my 2.7L, max sidewall pressure of 51 psi, sticker recommends 40, I started towing at 43 psi and saw buildup to around 48. This was higher than the 10% buildup I've used in the past as a guideline. I upped the tire pressures to 48 cold and now see buildup to around 50 when towing. This gives a very good ride and I'm happy.
Have fun with the truck. If you haven't towed anything that heavy with the 2.7L you will be very happy with it.
Have fun with the truck. If you haven't towed anything that heavy with the 2.7L you will be very happy with it.
Originally Posted By: 09_GXP
Watch for pressure buildup when towing. Significant pressure buildup is an indication that the tire is underinflated and building up excess heat. For my 2.7L, max sidewall pressure of 51 psi, sticker recommends 40, I started towing at 43 psi and saw buildup to around 48. This was higher than the 10% buildup I've used in the past as a guideline. I upped the tire pressures to 48 cold and now see buildup to around 50 when towing. This gives a very good ride and I'm happy.
Have fun with the truck. If you haven't towed anything that heavy with the 2.7L you will be very happy with it.
This....when towing, the rear tires carry a greater load, and the fronts get increased loads during braking and cornering.
Lots of folks recommend only the pressure on the door plate, which may be fine for small passenge cars - but not for trucks and certainly not while carrying a load or towing
Watch for pressure buildup when towing. Significant pressure buildup is an indication that the tire is underinflated and building up excess heat. For my 2.7L, max sidewall pressure of 51 psi, sticker recommends 40, I started towing at 43 psi and saw buildup to around 48. This was higher than the 10% buildup I've used in the past as a guideline. I upped the tire pressures to 48 cold and now see buildup to around 50 when towing. This gives a very good ride and I'm happy.
Have fun with the truck. If you haven't towed anything that heavy with the 2.7L you will be very happy with it.
This....when towing, the rear tires carry a greater load, and the fronts get increased loads during braking and cornering.
Lots of folks recommend only the pressure on the door plate, which may be fine for small passenge cars - but not for trucks and certainly not while carrying a load or towing
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: 09_GXP
Watch for pressure buildup when towing. Significant pressure buildup is an indication that the tire is underinflated and building up excess heat. For my 2.7L, max sidewall pressure of 51 psi, sticker recommends 40, I started towing at 43 psi and saw buildup to around 48. This was higher than the 10% buildup I've used in the past as a guideline. I upped the tire pressures to 48 cold and now see buildup to around 50 when towing. This gives a very good ride and I'm happy.
Have fun with the truck. If you haven't towed anything that heavy with the 2.7L you will be very happy with it.
This....when towing, the rear tires carry a greater load, and the fronts get increased loads during braking and cornering.
Lots of folks recommend only the pressure on the door plate, which may be fine for small passenge cars - but not for trucks and certainly not while carrying a load or towing
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
Originally Posted By: 09_GXP
Watch for pressure buildup when towing. Significant pressure buildup is an indication that the tire is underinflated and building up excess heat. For my 2.7L, max sidewall pressure of 51 psi, sticker recommends 40, I started towing at 43 psi and saw buildup to around 48. This was higher than the 10% buildup I've used in the past as a guideline. I upped the tire pressures to 48 cold and now see buildup to around 50 when towing. This gives a very good ride and I'm happy.
Have fun with the truck. If you haven't towed anything that heavy with the 2.7L you will be very happy with it.
This....when towing, the rear tires carry a greater load, and the fronts get increased loads during braking and cornering.
Lots of folks recommend only the pressure on the door plate, which may be fine for small passenge cars - but not for trucks and certainly not while carrying a load or towing
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
Hmm interesting, because I thought my owner's manual indicated that higher pressures may be needed while towing or heavy loading.
But if your assertion is true:
Then please explain to me how several people were having sway problems with a light (4000lb) trailer, their max towing was 8000# or above, when tires were inflated to door plate numbers, but when they went to pressures closer to the tire's max, the sway problems went away. In some instances they went to HD tires, and increased inflation there.
Also, please explain to me how front tire wear on several vehicles I've owned was extreme on both edges and virtually nil in the center (classic presentation of underinflation) at the placarded pressure, which was then cured by inflating to maximum tire pressure? And by the way, this made handling much more secure in all conditions.
We may never agree on this point, just wanted to illustrate with things in my experience. IMO the placard maximizes the ride quality of the vehicle, NOT necessarily performance or load carrying capability. In fact, a lower tire pressure results in a lower carrying capacity for the tire than a higher inflation pressure.
Please see:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=195
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1407-understanding-tire-load-ratings/
http://www.f150forum.com/f82/tire-pressures-weight-carrying-capacity-221869/
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
Hmm interesting, because I thought my owner's manual indicated that higher pressures may be needed while towing or heavy loading.
But if your assertion is true:
Then please explain to me how several people were having sway problems with a light (4000lb) trailer, their max towing was 8000# or above, when tires were inflated to door plate numbers, but when they went to pressures closer to the tire's max, the sway problems went away. In some instances they went to HD tires, and increased inflation there.
Also, please explain to me how front tire wear on several vehicles I've owned was extreme on both edges and virtually nil in the center (classic presentation of underinflation) at the placarded pressure, which was then cured by inflating to maximum tire pressure? And by the way, this made handling much more secure in all conditions.
We may never agree on this point, just wanted to illustrate with things in my experience. IMO the placard maximizes the ride quality of the vehicle, NOT necessarily performance or load carrying capability. In fact, a lower tire pressure results in a lower carrying capacity for the tire than a higher inflation pressure.
Please see:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=195
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1407-understanding-tire-load-ratings/
http://www.f150forum.com/f82/tire-pressures-weight-carrying-capacity-221869/
When rarely towing something heavy with a 08 half Chevy, I will bump up the rears to 40, or so. If you have much more than a 4 psi increase, it is heat from too much flex on an overloaded tire. Matching the pressure with load on the tires within it's limit is all it comes down to. Pretty simple really. When towing something really heavy, a weight distributing hitch is a must, plus it puts some of the load on the light front tires.
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Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
Hmm interesting, because I thought my owner's manual indicated that higher pressures may be needed while towing or heavy loading.
But if your assertion is true:
Then please explain to me how several people were having sway problems with a light (4000lb) trailer, their max towing was 8000# or above, when tires were inflated to door plate numbers, but when they went to pressures closer to the tire's max, the sway problems went away. In some instances they went to HD tires, and increased inflation there.
Also, please explain to me how front tire wear on several vehicles I've owned was extreme on both edges and virtually nil in the center (classic presentation of underinflation) at the placarded pressure, which was then cured by inflating to maximum tire pressure? And by the way, this made handling much more secure in all conditions.
We may never agree on this point, just wanted to illustrate with things in my experience. IMO the placard maximizes the ride quality of the vehicle, NOT necessarily performance or load carrying capability. In fact, a lower tire pressure results in a lower carrying capacity for the tire than a higher inflation pressure.
Please see:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=195
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1407-understanding-tire-load-ratings/
http://www.f150forum.com/f82/tire-pressures-weight-carrying-capacity-221869/
Exactly!
You will get "squirm" if you don't have enough pressure in your rear tires when towing. Especially with those tires that have soft sidewalls. This MAY NOT be the pressure indicated on the placard.
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
Hmm interesting, because I thought my owner's manual indicated that higher pressures may be needed while towing or heavy loading.
But if your assertion is true:
Then please explain to me how several people were having sway problems with a light (4000lb) trailer, their max towing was 8000# or above, when tires were inflated to door plate numbers, but when they went to pressures closer to the tire's max, the sway problems went away. In some instances they went to HD tires, and increased inflation there.
Also, please explain to me how front tire wear on several vehicles I've owned was extreme on both edges and virtually nil in the center (classic presentation of underinflation) at the placarded pressure, which was then cured by inflating to maximum tire pressure? And by the way, this made handling much more secure in all conditions.
We may never agree on this point, just wanted to illustrate with things in my experience. IMO the placard maximizes the ride quality of the vehicle, NOT necessarily performance or load carrying capability. In fact, a lower tire pressure results in a lower carrying capacity for the tire than a higher inflation pressure.
Please see:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=195
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1407-understanding-tire-load-ratings/
http://www.f150forum.com/f82/tire-pressures-weight-carrying-capacity-221869/
Exactly!
You will get "squirm" if you don't have enough pressure in your rear tires when towing. Especially with those tires that have soft sidewalls. This MAY NOT be the pressure indicated on the placard.
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TRY READING YOUR OWNERS HANDBOOK TIRE PAGE!
The tire pressures approved for towing should be listed and are often the same as those listed for max
weight on a highway. Never heard of using the max tyre pressure listed on the sidewall before.
The tire pressures approved for towing should be listed and are often the same as those listed for max
weight on a highway. Never heard of using the max tyre pressure listed on the sidewall before.
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Originally Posted By: UltrafanUK
TRY READING YOUR OWNERS HANDBOOK TIRE PAGE!
The tire pressures approved for towing should be listed and are often the same as those listed for max
weight on a highway. Never heard of using the max tyre pressure listed on the sidewall before.
Maybe the manuals are different in the UK. The F150 manual does not have any tire pressure info aside from set it to the door label.
TRY READING YOUR OWNERS HANDBOOK TIRE PAGE!
The tire pressures approved for towing should be listed and are often the same as those listed for max
weight on a highway. Never heard of using the max tyre pressure listed on the sidewall before.
Maybe the manuals are different in the UK. The F150 manual does not have any tire pressure info aside from set it to the door label.
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
I will agree that the door sticker is written to show the tire pressure at maximum load. However, my experiences have shown that this does not match reality even with OEM tires. As stated earlier my door sticker shows 40, I started at 43, and had the tires rise to 48. This was also during a trip that I ran across scales to verify that everything was within its limits, which it was.
The data plate ON a pickup is FOR a pickup AT its maximum load (or else the door placard has multiple entries for different loadings). Put another way- if you have to inflate over the door placard in order to reduce observed pressure climb, then you have either overloaded the truck chassis OR you are using tires that aren't actually up to the job (wrong load range, or poor temperature class rating). Don't cheap out on truck tires.
Running tires grossly over-pressure (relative to the placard) is a good way to wind up with your own trailer stuffed in your radiator and the entire rig stuffed under a semi. The only exception would be if you change tire type (eg. put LT tires on a light-duty pickup where the door placard only covers P-metric tires).
I will agree that the door sticker is written to show the tire pressure at maximum load. However, my experiences have shown that this does not match reality even with OEM tires. As stated earlier my door sticker shows 40, I started at 43, and had the tires rise to 48. This was also during a trip that I ran across scales to verify that everything was within its limits, which it was.
Originally Posted By: possum328
My brother is going to be towing an 8000lb travel trailer with his 2016 F-150 2.7l ecoboost. Max tire pressure on his tires is 48 psi cold which he will run on the rear. What psi should he run on the front for max footprint/control?
Needed pressure is to give the tire a deflection for the load on it and speed driven, that gives not to high temperature of any part of the rubber of tire.
When towing the front axle is lifted up a bit so gets lesser weigt on it .
If you use a Weight Distribution Hich, the weight on towbar is partly distributed from rear axle to front axle of towing car, and axle of Travel Trailer. So then you have lesser lifting of the front axle but still.
For braking the front tires are mostly used so gripp on them is important.
But also if you have front wheel drive , gripp is important on front wheels.
Lower pressure gives better gripp.
So have to use the lowest pressure on front tires , that yust gives no damage to them by overheating.
Higher speed gives more heatproduction, and when towing the speed is mostly lower then when not towing.
What you have to go from for the situation, is the maximum speed you use and wont go over for even a minute.
Only way to be shure about the weights , is to weigh the combination, loaded as you will use it, on a weight scale.
Estimating loads on axles/tires is dangerous, mostly yudged to low weight .
Once you determined the weights acurately , and give the tire data ( maximum load, kind of tire to determine AT-pressure(cold), and speedcode) I am able to calculate an advice pressure with some reserve .
Greatings from a Dutch Pigheaded Selfdeclared Tirepressure-specialist
Peter
My brother is going to be towing an 8000lb travel trailer with his 2016 F-150 2.7l ecoboost. Max tire pressure on his tires is 48 psi cold which he will run on the rear. What psi should he run on the front for max footprint/control?
Needed pressure is to give the tire a deflection for the load on it and speed driven, that gives not to high temperature of any part of the rubber of tire.
When towing the front axle is lifted up a bit so gets lesser weigt on it .
If you use a Weight Distribution Hich, the weight on towbar is partly distributed from rear axle to front axle of towing car, and axle of Travel Trailer. So then you have lesser lifting of the front axle but still.
For braking the front tires are mostly used so gripp on them is important.
But also if you have front wheel drive , gripp is important on front wheels.
Lower pressure gives better gripp.
So have to use the lowest pressure on front tires , that yust gives no damage to them by overheating.
Higher speed gives more heatproduction, and when towing the speed is mostly lower then when not towing.
What you have to go from for the situation, is the maximum speed you use and wont go over for even a minute.
Only way to be shure about the weights , is to weigh the combination, loaded as you will use it, on a weight scale.
Estimating loads on axles/tires is dangerous, mostly yudged to low weight .
Once you determined the weights acurately , and give the tire data ( maximum load, kind of tire to determine AT-pressure(cold), and speedcode) I am able to calculate an advice pressure with some reserve .
Greatings from a Dutch Pigheaded Selfdeclared Tirepressure-specialist
Peter
Having the correct tongue weight is very important. A 8000lb trailer needs about 800lbs on the hitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXQt-8SZYT8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXQt-8SZYT8
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I find little is needed to the front, in fact, unless you have a properly set weight distributing hitch, there will be less weight on the front tires, especially during braking. Someone mentioned the opposute above; they have it reversed. A stopping trailer loads the tongue, which see-saws the front upwards. The rears, however, I tend to go up about 10psi with a 6500lb trailer. My truck is rated for 6900. It was not a pleasant tow that close to the limit. Do-able, yes. Enjoyable, no.
We downsized the trailer and now pull a 4500 pound load, maybe 5000. With that, I really don't have to air the tires, but 36 rides nice with the camper back there. 28-30 around town with an empty bed is fine. door placard is either 28 or 30. Tires are 265/70-17 cooper AT's. They are very solid tires with good sidewalls. They are far more stable with a load than the firestone destination LE2s I had previously.
(small sidetrack) - that's not to discredit the LE2s. They were a really, really good tire and I would consider them again for non-towing vehicles no questions asked. The coopers are heavier and significantly noisier. But when towing, they are much more sure-footed.
-m
We downsized the trailer and now pull a 4500 pound load, maybe 5000. With that, I really don't have to air the tires, but 36 rides nice with the camper back there. 28-30 around town with an empty bed is fine. door placard is either 28 or 30. Tires are 265/70-17 cooper AT's. They are very solid tires with good sidewalls. They are far more stable with a load than the firestone destination LE2s I had previously.
(small sidetrack) - that's not to discredit the LE2s. They were a really, really good tire and I would consider them again for non-towing vehicles no questions asked. The coopers are heavier and significantly noisier. But when towing, they are much more sure-footed.
-m
The first step is to look in the owners manual. What limitations does the vehicle manual place on the vehicle? What does the manual say about tire pressures?
In this case, I'm going to guess it says that the trailer is too large for the truck - but there is the possibility that it is marginal. I'm also going to guess that the vehicle has P metric tires and the vehicle tire placard says 35 psi.
If I understand this correctly, what is listed on the vehicle tire placard is adequate for the max conditions - SO - the tires will be either overloaded or marginal - and no amount of additional pressure is going to change that.
In this case, I'm going to guess it says that the trailer is too large for the truck - but there is the possibility that it is marginal. I'm also going to guess that the vehicle has P metric tires and the vehicle tire placard says 35 psi.
If I understand this correctly, what is listed on the vehicle tire placard is adequate for the max conditions - SO - the tires will be either overloaded or marginal - and no amount of additional pressure is going to change that.
What size are the tires? My Dad pulls 6-7k with an 03 F150 but on 16" rims so the tire sidewall is tall and he got alot of sway, so he got LT tires and puts them up to 70-80 psi on the rears to keep the tire from deflecting all over the place. He also runs a weight distribution hitch with sway control so it drives pretty easily, other than being slow on the hills.
On the front he runs 50ish psi just to keep the LT tire alive but it doesn't seem to matter as much as the back tires.
On a new truck with low profile tires, probably something like 40 psi is a good place to start on the fronts.
On the front he runs 50ish psi just to keep the LT tire alive but it doesn't seem to matter as much as the back tires.
On a new truck with low profile tires, probably something like 40 psi is a good place to start on the fronts.
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
The first step is to look in the owners manual. What limitations does the vehicle manual place on the vehicle? What does the manual say about tire pressures?
In this case, I'm going to guess it says that the trailer is too large for the truck - but there is the possibility that it is marginal. I'm also going to guess that the vehicle has P metric tires and the vehicle tire placard says 35 psi.
If I understand this correctly, what is listed on the vehicle tire placard is adequate for the max conditions - SO - the tires will be either overloaded or marginal - and no amount of additional pressure is going to change that.
Absolutely correct on all points.
The first step is to look in the owners manual. What limitations does the vehicle manual place on the vehicle? What does the manual say about tire pressures?
In this case, I'm going to guess it says that the trailer is too large for the truck - but there is the possibility that it is marginal. I'm also going to guess that the vehicle has P metric tires and the vehicle tire placard says 35 psi.
If I understand this correctly, what is listed on the vehicle tire placard is adequate for the max conditions - SO - the tires will be either overloaded or marginal - and no amount of additional pressure is going to change that.
Absolutely correct on all points.
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