When Should Trailer Tires be Inflated to their Max PSI

Updated 02/23/2018 | Published 02/22/2018

Question:

Hello, I have the Karrier loadstar ST205/75R14 8 ply and I see on Kendas site that it can go to 75 PSI cold and rated to 2200 pounds. However my wheel is the Dexstar silver mini mod 14inch inch and its only rated to 65 psi. I pressure up cold to 65 PSI before each trip and when going down the road watching my TPMS tire minder I am seeing pressures go into the 70s and low 80s depending on outside temps. Should I be concerned with this rise in pressure considering the rim is only rated to 65 PSI. I looked around and couldnt find anything that said coldinch or hotinch for the rim rating.

asked by: John L

Expert Reply:

Tire pressure recommendations for wheels and tires are for when the tire is "cold" or has been towed in a long enough time that the tire is ambient temperature. So if you are inflating it to the recommended temperature when it's "cold" and you aren't exceeding the speed rating you are fine.

You should note that if you run a trailer tire at a lower pressure than it's max rating it will cause heat to build up and the capacity is diminished.

You really need to run it at max psi. Most likely it's the valve stem that's the limiting pressure rating so you might look into replacing that.

expert reply by: Jameson C