What PSI Should Trailer Tires Be Set Too And How Does Temperature Affect PSI

Updated 05/02/2023 | Published 04/29/2023

Question:

I have read MANY remarks about how to properly inflate the tires on my 5th wheel. Can you answer this question: My tires say 80 psi cold for max weight carrying. I always inflate to 70 psi cold so that when they heat up the psi will be around 80 or slightly above. That seems like a logical path to follow. If I were to go with 80 psi cold, then I would be looking at over 90 pounds very soon. What is the max pressure over the cold inflation that a tire can tolerate? No one can tell me with a straight answer. FYI, I have Goodyear Endurance tires. The china bombs didnt work. One blew for no reason after 3K miles and only one year old.

asked by: George E

Expert Reply:

You should always air a trailer tire up to the max cold psi rating. The 80 psi for cold is just for the tire being cold and wouldn't be the max psi once it actually heats up. Each tire brand/model is going to be different so you'd have to reach out to the manufacturer to find out the actual maximum psi instead of just the recommended/max cold psi that's written on the sidewall.

To put it in perspective, for every 10 degrees in temperature change you'll see a 1 psi change. If your tires heated up from 70 degrees to 158 degrees, which is pretty typical, you'd see roughly a 9 psi change. Goodyear Endurance are great tires so you shouldn't face the same issues you did with your previous tires.

If you want to monitor the tires while towing then I recommend picking up a TPMS system like the TireMinder i10 TPMS for RVs and Trailers w/ Signal Booster # TM89FR. This would allow you to see the psi and temperature levels of your tires in real time so that if anything goes wrong you can be notified and pull over before a blowout happens. I've attached a video below where Shane will walk you through the installation process and show you the system in use.

expert reply by: Kevin C