empty trailer towing tire weight

T

trailertrawlerkismet

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Feb 23, 2011
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2,519
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Vessel Name
(2022) Kismet
While talking with a Cutwater owner the other day tire pressure came up in our conversation. I'm always checking tire pressure to make sure the tires are properly inflated while trailering our boat but had not given much thought, until my conversation with Mike, as to what the tire pressure should be towing a trailer long distances without the boat. It seemed to make sense if you were towing a trailer long distances, say a hundred miles or more, that less tire pressure would keep the trailer from bouncing around as much and therefore be less stressful on the tires, helping them wear better. I wanted to get the opinions of what others do, if anything, about adjusting tire pressure for those times you're retrieving your trailer and hauling her long distances without your boat.

Jim F
 
I would keep it the same . I think if you reduce the pressure enough to make any differance you are going to be running them too low and they would start running hot.. And would be harder on the side walls..then you run the risk of forgetting to top them off before you load the boat on .. And you need to find a place to do that.. And really how much differance is it really going to make ?
My two cents
 
To me Recommended tire pressure is recommended tire pressure regardless of load. Mine is 80 pounds and I'm sticking to it.
 
A good question.

Just throwing this in from Goodyear RV Tires:

" Since RVs can be loaded with many different configurations, the load on each tire will vary. For this reason, actual air pressure required should be determined based on the load on each individual tire. Inflation pressure should be adjusted to handle the tire carrying the heaviest load, and all tires on the axle should be adjusted to this standard."

As I recall, the empty weight of Floaton 1231abb tandem axle trailer is about 1270 lbs.

Loaded weight of our trailer and boat is 10,300 lbs. which would call for max inflation pressure.

Would towing an empty trailer on tires at 80 psi wear like overinflation? Kinda sounds like it could on a longer tow.

Here's a link to Goodyear RV Tire Inflation Table:
http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/rv_inflation.pdf
 
The enemies of tires in IMHO are weight and heat. Under inflation and weight cause heat. Tires designed to run at 80 psi with no weight run a lot cooler than it does with 10k of weight on them. I think some people drop the tire pressure in the trailer tires is to improve the ride as the trailer tends to bounce around a little more empty transmitting some of that bouncing around to the tow vehicle. I just deal with that. I like most folks leave tire pressure in our trailer tires constant in our case 80 psi loaded or empty. That being said what would you suggest dropping the air pressure down to on a tire rated for 80 psi when the trailer had no load other than its own weight?
 
Hi Dave, this has been a good discussion so far. To answer your question about what would one drop the weight to in the tires of an empty trailer? I really do not have a clue, I only poised the question based on a discussion I had with another owner. I'd never even given the topic any thought until this. I, like a lot of us Tugnuts, have to retrieve our trailers after we've had an extended cruise or reposition the trailer at the end of our cruise. In cases like this I've often traveled 100 to 200 miles with an empty trailer and in doing so I'm just wanting to make sure I do whats best for my trailer tires. Whether that is keeping the weight at 80 PSI or adjusting down seems at first glance to have varied oppinions, much like anchors and batteries. For know I guess I'll keep mine at 80 PSI unless I get substantiated info to the contrary. Anyone else have any thoughts, comments or suggestions.

Jim
 
I never mess with adjusting the pressure....but.... I have been spotted with 4 - 50 pound bags of sand, bungeed onto the bunks. This stops the hop of the empty trailer and are usually available for about 2 bucks a bag at Lowes or Home Depot. Just dump them at destination. Never tried to return them?????
 
Moved the empty trailer today 30 miles for axle maint and 2 new tires, and let pressure down to 60 psi cold in all 4 trailer tires.

A little bounce was still apparent at some speeds, but was considerably reduced from 80psi at no load. No apparent extra wear or tread heating.

If i had to make a longer trip, well, might go with 65 psi and feel confident that no excessive wear was happening on an empty trailer.

Just my 2 cents adjusted for inflation :lol:
 
Yes. I drop the pressure when towing an empty trailer. No irritating bounce. Inflate to 80 when towing. Reduce pressure and jack weight off of trailer with 4- 4x6's when boat is stored in shop on the trailer. Takes stress off of tires and the springs which are nearly bottomed out on a dual axel with an R25 on it. How could it be a good thing to leave that much load on the springs?
 
Do you have a picture of how that works? I would like to do something like that but haven't come up with a solution.
Frank
 
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