The last time I got tires I asked the dealer about steel steams. He
said that Ford reccomends a high pressure rubber valve stem. I've never
had any trouble with them. The inflation rating for the maximum load is
listed on the side of the tire.
The dealer told me on this that you inflate to that pressure if you are
carrying the maximum rating listed load on the tires. However, if you
are not carrying the maximum rating do not inflate to that level. He
had a chart - I told him what my trailer weighed out at and he
suggested 60 to 65 PSI on my truck tires LT235/85/16. Their max load
rating is for 80 PSI. I do, however, run my trailer tires at their max
rating 80 pounds.
There is a significant difference in the handling characteristics of a
tire at 80 and 60 - particularly the front end handling.
Truman
David LeBlanc wrote:
Here's a warning about this - I got real smart (by half) one day and decided
that since my trailer is really heavy that my truck tires ought to be set to
the high end of what the sticker says. Ought to work and be safer (at least
in theory).
So then we blew the RF tire on the truck on the way home, and then blew a
valve out of 2 different rear tires, all within a couple of months. The last
one involved a 4AM trip to the pass to rescue my wife.
The problem turned out to be that %$##!!!! Ford put rubber valve stems in
the rims and they couldn't take full pressure (though the tire and the truck
agreed). Once they were all replaced with metal, everything was fine. Too
bad I had to ruin 2 $250 tires to learn this lesson.
This probably won't be an issue with the average trailer tire, but if you
have high pressure truck tires, this is something to think about.
BTW, if the tire's listed rating is below what the truck says, then you
probably have too low a load rating on the tire. This is a common problem
with trailer tires and some of them even come with improperly rated tires.
Nancy said:
Go with what the tire says. The pressure given on the on the
truck specifies what is necessary to achieve their listed
weight rating.
