Rounded tire

[Gondul]

There is no load/inflation chart from any manufacturer regarding their trailer (ST) tires. ST are constructed differently than Passenger and LT tires, with a much stiffer sidewall that needs higher pressure to help maintain integrity and you can't treat them the same. That is why it is recommended to keep trailer tires inflated to maximum (or close to max) sidewall pressure.

Now, if you are using aftermarket Passenger or LT tires on a trailer - which isn't recommended, but I have heard of folks doing that - then you may have to go by a load/inflation chart. I have owned several different trailer types, and so have most guys I know, and I don't know of anyone who has put non-ST tires on a trailer so I have no experience with doing that.

Hmmm.... well, then you better tell Goodyear that this table they have posted on their website doesn't exist.

Goodyear RV Tire Load/Inflation Table

 

[Riccochet]

Hmmm.... well, then you better tell Goodyear that this table they have posted on their website doesn't exist.

Goodyear RV Tire Load/Inflation Table

View attachment 538452

You can find load/inflation charts for most of the reputable brand trailer tires. Even passenger vehicle tires.

Inflating them to max pressure was the old way of doing it with bias ply trailer tires. Mainly because bias ply had far softer sidewalls. With modern radials it's more important to inflate to the load you are carrying. The impacts of over/under inflation apply just like they do on your truck.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Hmmm.... well, then you better tell Goodyear that this table they have posted on their website doesn't exist.

Goodyear RV Tire Load/Inflation Table

View attachment 538452

I should have been more specific. The load/inflation charts they have for 'ST' tires are not hard and fast rules to go by as they are more so for passenger and LT tires. No matter what the inflation chart says for the ST tire, you always go by what the tag on the trailer tongue/RV sticker says, which almost always indicates the max sidewall pressure. There is no playing with it based on axle weight like you can many times do with truck tires.

 

[Tulecreeper]

You can find load/inflation charts for most of the reputable brand trailer tires. Even passenger vehicle tires.

Inflating them to max pressure was the old way of doing it with bias ply trailer tires. Mainly because bias ply had far softer sidewalls. With modern radials it's more important to inflate to the load you are carrying. The impacts of over/under inflation apply just like they do on your truck.

As much as this pains me, I must disagree with that...and I seldom disagree with you. I have spoken to a number of tire guys and asked them that exact question and they all told me that although we do have a little more leeway with the radials than we did with the bias tires, they still need to be kept a minimum of 80% of the max sidewall pressure. This is why you see the tongue sticker on almost any trailer indicating max sidewall pressure, even on trailers that come with radial tires. It does on my boat trailer, it does on my utility trailer, and it has on every travel trailer I have shopped for in the past few months; and they all came standard with radial tires.

I actually just did a search for "do radial trailer tires need to be kept at maximum inflation", and I can't find any website that refutes that. I put a new set of Carlisle radials on my boat trailer almost 3 years ago and have been running them at 50 PSI (max) since then and they still look new with no treadwear. They even still have the little rubber fingers sticking out from when the came out of the mold.

 

[Riccochet]

As much as this pains me, I must disagree with that...and I seldom disagree with you. I have spoken to a number of tire guys and asked them that exact question and they all told me that although we do have a little more leeway with the radials than we did with the bias tires, they still need to be kept a minimum of 80% of the max sidewall pressure. This is why you see the tongue sticker on almost any trailer indicating max sidewall pressure, even on trailers that come with radial tires. It does on my boat trailer, it does on my utility trailer, and it has on every travel trailer I have shopped for in the past few months; and they all came standard with radial tires.

I actually just did a search for "do radial trailer tires need to be kept at maximum inflation", and I can't find any website that refutes that. I put a new set of Carlisle radials on my boat trailer almost 3 years ago and have been running them at 50 PSI (max) since then and they still look new with no treadwear. They even still have the little rubber fingers sticking out from when the came out of the mold.

I go by what Goodyear says on their site. This for RV's, but even they say that minimum pressure across all tires should meet the load requirements of the tire carrying the most load. So if you only need 55 PSI meet the load requirements then all tires should be 55 PSI.

Says nothing about running them near or at max PSI.

The Inflation Loading - Goodyear RV

www.goodyearrvtires.com