Tire inflation vs altitude vs load distribution

[P & T]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Never had a TH, but the 3 5th wheels we had fulltiming had 16.5k GVWRs & during several weights on each we were within 25-50+/- lbs of that GVWR with each weight.
Two of those came equipped with G rated 16" tires with 110 psi max inflation on the sidewall, I don't recall nor care what the rv manufacturers recommended inflation was, I inflated them to that sidewall cold pressures. I can't say whether they rode rough as I never rode in the rv to notice, but never had the couch, recliners nor the chairs at the table move at all & none were bolted in place.
I can say in all honesty in 10+ years fulltime I put over 300k miles on 2 duallies with about 60% of those with 1 of those 3 5ers in tow & NEVER had so much as a flat.
Your TH likely has a higher GVWR & at some point I feel you'll be at that, so my recommendation is save yourself alot of worry, sleepless nights, aggravation & calculations on whether you've added or removed a 1000 lbs, inflate them to the sidewall cold pressure & go happily confidently camping.
If you feel you need or want to calculate, inflate, deflate 10lbs here, 20lbs there then by all means go for it!

For the most part, I was surprised how smooth the ride was and not a lot of things moved around, generally speaking. Salt Lake City I-15 was a brutal road but we dealt with it and I do feel that we will be closer to max load at some point. Thanks for sharing your experiences, it paints a better picture.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by P & T

For the most part, I was surprised how smooth the ride was and not a lot of things moved around, generally speaking. Salt Lake City I-15 was a brutal road but we dealt with it and I do feel that we will be closer to max load at some point. Thanks for sharing your experiences, it paints a better picture.

Now it you want a true test on well an rv rides haul it across Louisiana on I10 or I20. Fortunately on I10 there's a rest area 1/2 way across that bayou bridge that you can stop & get your eyes to refocus & throw up! Less pressure in the tires won't help a bit.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Now it you want a true test on well an rv rides haul it across Louisiana on I10 or I20. Fortunately on I10 there's a rest area 1/2 way across that bayou bridge that you can stop & get your eyes to refocus & throw up! Less pressure in the tires won't help a bit.

^^^^Ain't that the truth! Since I cross that road 4 times a year I'm thinking of adding one of those long travel, pre runner type suspensions on the truck and trailer to see if it helps going over those bridge heaves that launch the truck and trailer into the air...

[wiredgeorge]

Bought a Goldwing/Champion trike up in Tennessee and came back IH20. My wife and I were airborne a number of times. Previous owner was a very heavy gent and I had failed to soften the air suspension as the two of use weighed less than the PO. IH20 was the most miserable ride I have ever experienced especially through Louisiana.

[P & T]

I just looked at our Kentucky Derby plans for 2024 and the tentative route has us going I-20/59 from New Orleans to Birmingham. Looks like we'll miss 20 in Louisiana (well I guess we won't really miss it from the sounds of it).

[DavidAndDonna]

Originally Posted by P & T

I asked this question on another thread but I now have some extra TH related questions:

"Where is the best place to get trailer tire inflation "best practices "?

I've been watching my TPMS and have been adding air (and bleeding air) frequently to maintain the 110 psi on the sticker. Always when the tires are cold but how much should I worry about the sunny side vs. the shady side. Ambient is ambient.

Yellowstone park this morning was about 50 deg F ambient at 8am. My shady side was about 103 psi cold-average. Sunny side was 108 psi cold-average. I pumped up everything to 110 psi. Got to Idaho and dropped about 1500 feet in elevation. Now my shady side (from the morning that was ~103 psi) was 115 psi cold-average and the other side was at 108 psi cold-average. Is my "shady side from the morning" over inflated? I bled the air to match the 108 psi and will recheck in the morning.

Sailun 235/80 R16G tires. I use a handheld digital gauge to compare to the TPMS. This is going to drive me batty and I'm probably overthinking things. Thanks in advance."

This morning at 58 deg F ambient (and no sun on any tires), my TPMS is reading 100-102 psi and 48-50 deg F.

Is this where I should leave it alone?
Yesterday my shady driver side is what I inflated but going down the road those tires were running 8-10 psi higher than the passenger side, which is what prompted me to bleed off last night. Driver side was about 128 psi going down the road while the passenger side was 120 psi-ish.

I'm 1500 feet lower today. Is it good practice to adjust to the stickered 110 psi every 1000 '? 2000'? 4000'?

I need a full water tank for today so all of these readings are with the fresh tank full while grays and blacks are empty. My loads are distributed in the TH but do I consider any additional compensations on air pressure when I put a 1600lb toy in the garage? I see a lot of previous posts and tire charts on 2 axle conversations but not 3 axle.

I'll start with these questions and thanks in advance!

I'd have to agree with majority of posts, your over thinking it.
We run Sailun S637's and just returned after nearly 12,000 mile trip and this is how I run:
1) left home running 110 PSI
2) once we got far enough North and I "knew" outside temps would be cooler for the next several weeks ,"then" I put some more air in tires to maintain the 110 PSI when cold
3) I didn't worry about sunny side vs. shady side of tire temp, you can't control it
4) Each morning I watched tire temp before starting out, some days it might fluctuate 3-4 PSI depending on altitude and outside temp.
5) the further North we went and temps dropped, I continued to add air as needed to prevent the alarm going off early in the morning when the tires were cold
6) we bought a small air compressor, it was difficult at best to find places we could pull in and add air
7) what I learned on this trip was IF the cold tire pressures drops "below" 105 PSI, add some air. Course, that's my personal preference and the way I'll run in the future.

[P & T]

Originally Posted by DavidAndDonna

I'd have to agree with majority of posts, your over thinking it.
We run Sailun S637's and just returned after nearly 12,000 mile trip and this is how I run:
1) left home running 110 PSI
2) once we got far enough North and I "knew" outside temps would be cooler for the next several weeks ,"then" I put some more air in tires to maintain the 110 PSI when cold
3) I didn't worry about sunny side vs. shady side of tire temp, you can't control it
4) Each morning I watched tire temp before starting out, some days it might fluctuate 3-4 PSI depending on altitude and outside temp.
5) the further North we went and temps dropped, I continued to add air as needed to prevent the alarm going off early in the morning when the tires were cold
6) we bought a small air compressor, it was difficult at best to find places we could pull in and add air
7) what I learned on this trip was IF the cold tire pressures drops "below" 105 PSI, add some air. Course, that's my personal preference and the way I'll run in the future.

Thank you for your input. I will most likely find something reasonable that works for me based on my load swings and try to not overthink it.

I did get a response from Sailun and below is what they had to say. I feel more comfortable with the conversations and I know that once I have my load closer to the max GVWR, the 110 psi cold max will be fine. Things just might be a bit bumpier until then.

The main thing I get out of this is that if I suspect a tire is getting low, I know what the minimum threshold should be before I am in a "danger zone" according to Sailun.

The Sailun chart does resemble the data from "across the pond" in my eyes, so thank you for the efforts there!