Trailer Tire Pressure - What to inflate too????

[laker220]

Hey, quick question here.........my trailer tires (Good Year MArathon) say to inflate to 50psi cold. What does that mean and what pressure should the tires be at when it is sitting in the driveway at an ambient outside air temp of about 70F (20C)?

I have been running around 40psi but would like to run around 44psi to lower the rolling resistance of the trailer.

[OKWAKEBDR]

I run mine at (or very near) max...50 lbs.

[AllianceBJJ]

While mine have been sitting without use for a bit (cold), I inflate to 50 psi. A lot of trailer tire problems are caused by low pressure.

[SkiTower]

cold just means check it before it's been rolling down the road. The friction of riding heats up the air inside and increases the pressure. Check it after it's been sitting overnight or at least several hours.

as for what pressure, it's up to you. higher pressure is better for the tires and mileage, but the trailer will bounce a lot more.

[bscott]

I found this bulletin from Goodyear regarding trailer tire pressure vs speed. I think I may have found it here. Anyway, Goodyear recommends increasing tire pressure if you regularly travel at speeds that exceed 65mph (max recommended speed for Goodyear Marathons). I keep mine inflated to 50psi as well.

[IMPACT-EV1]

the other factor that needs to be looked at is the load. The max pressue is based on maximum load of the tire as well. so if you are not pushing the limits of the load rating there is no reason to have the tires inflated to the max setting. 44-46 lbs will produce a good riding trailer. If you load up the boat with coolers and equipement then you should consider a higher tire pressure.

The down side to runing 50 lbs and a light load on the tire produces wear in the center of the tread and contributes to bouncing as well. The pressure should actually be based off of the load the tire is carring. But that is always a best guess anyways, so I always checked the pressure before each use and if I really had the trailer loaded then I would use a few more pounds of pressure in the tires. but typically 5 lbs less then the max produces a pretty good towing trailer without excess tire ware or bounce. Now the other thing to keep in mind is if the load rating of the tire is much higher than the actual load, this produces a bouncy ride and the tires cost more too.