Ensuring that your wheels and tires are in good shape before taking your RV out on the road is a good practice to ensure safety. Before taking your RV on the road, be sure you check the lugnuts on each of your wheels to be sure they are tight and that your tires have no visible defects. Since tires with too low of air pressure impact vehicle safety, I like to keep my tires inflated near the top of the recommended tire maximum pressure. This is especially important for my tow vehicle, since it will be bearing the brunt of the weight from my 5th wheel. I have my own heavy duty air compressor for this purpose to make checking my tire pressure easy and simple from home. I also like to keep my wheels covered to protect them from sun damage. I was able to keep my last set of coach tires for an additional couple of years as a result of doing this on a regular basis. By checking these things before I go, it helps ensure a safer and more dependable trip for my family and me.
I have a Jayco Melbourne (love it). Jayco’s recommendation on the passenger door says I should inflate my front tires to 65 psi and the back tires to 80 psi. The dealer said I should inflate the tires to the tire manufacturer’s recommendation ( which is 80PSI). The local Michellin authorized tire tech says that 70 psi in the front and 75 psi in the back is optimal. So what is the safest PSI to fill them to?
I have also encountered many different opinions about tire pressure and RV tires from various “experts.” I always go to the manufacture’s website to get the best information on my tires. In the case of Michelin it is: http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care/tire-saving-tips/air-pressure-tips/ to see what is recommended there. I have found that the tech’s don’t always give you the accurate info but rather their own opinions and what they are “told” to recommend by the company for which they work. When I take my vehicle in for service, some tech always changes the air pressure to what they believe is the best pressure and it often doesn’t coincide with what I have found on the manufacturer’s site. That is one reason that I have my own compressor and do my own checks before each outing.
I am in the process of doing a video on this subject. Tire pressure can vary wildly due to temperature variations and altitude. I took a trip to Pismo Beach from Phoenix. It was a 100 here and it got to 48 in Pismo Beach. Its a balancing act to have the pressure needed to hold your RV up and not to blow out the tires due to too high of pressure. New tires can usually handle the stress but when a tire ages the pliability of the rubber gets less. My new truck gives me the ability to view tire pressure in real time, however it doesn’t agree with my digital air pressure gauges. Get a portable compressor and a good tire gauge and check every morning before you take off.
Great article! I always make sure to check my tire pressure before taking my RV out. I have also found that using RV covers really protects the wheels from the sun and premature cracking.