Member - Andy Q (VIC) replied:

G'day Glenn,
Depending on the surface you are driving on, sand, rock, gravel or tar, you can be assured there'll be different pressures suggested.
When I tow my camper on the road and gravel I usually set the pressure around 35-36psi/loaded(remember to test pressures unladen) but that is just my prefernce. I let them down to about 20psi for prolonged sand use.
I am sure you will get many differing opinions on this subject.

good luck

andy

Chris & Jody (Golden Bay) replied:

Glenn,

We tow an offroad Jayco Eagle with the tyre pressure at about 35psi and have had no trouble.

We went to Quobba Station a month or so ago. The limestone road in from the Blowholes will give just about any suspension a real workout. I suggest dropping the pressure a little and reinflating when back on the tarmack. In our 4 week travel up to Exmouth and back down through Ningalloo Station and along the coast, the road into Quobba Station was the worst we came upon. Make sure all is packed tight in the camper.

For all the negatives is a positive and the beach at Quobba station is something else, especially at sunset with a Bourbon or two and a good woman. It was hard to hide from the kids for a bit of peace and quite.

Have a great one mate. Watch out for the Cyclone that is predicted soon.

We are heading south for a few days.

Cheerss,

Chris

Quobba Station. Oct 06

Member - Karl replied:

Glenn,

I was taught in the Army to run our trailer tyres at the same pressure we run the rear tyres of your vehicle and I still follow that principle for anything I tow.

At the moment I run the tyres on my Downunder Campertrailer at 40 PSI - the same as my rear tyres on my 80 Series. If I let down the rear tyres when off road - Ilet the trailer tyres down to the same level.

Hope this helps.

Karl

Sand Man (SA) replied:

Glenn,

In my experience, the tyre pressures for the Camper trailer are not all that critical,
excepting to ensure you lower them for soft sand, etc. This is as much to protect the soft surface of the track as anything.
Trailer tyres do not provide steering or drive. They merely follow the vehicle that is doing the towing.

My camper has an unladen weight of 1150kgs and I carry virtually all of our camping gear in it. I run the pressure at 34psi for 245/70R16 AT tyre sizes.

You could go to the effort of applying the 4psi rule but if you run the pressures at around 34 psi, you should have no problem with excessive tyre wear. Try that pressure cold and after an hour or so travelling, measure them again. If they are higher than say 38psi, they are running too hot so add a couple of psi and try again. I don't think you will experience the other extreme, unless you forget to reinflate after running low pressures on sand. (about 18psi)

Member - Duncs replied:

I use what I believe to be a simple principal for determining tyre pressures on the trailer.

Fully loaded my cmaper is about 1100kg. The car is about double that. The trailer runs on 2 tyres the car on 4, therefore each tyre is carrying about the same load.

As a result of this thought process I run the same pressures on the trailer as I do on the car. But only when the trailer is full. If the trailer is 10% lighter then I put 10% less air in the tyres 20% less weight, 20% less air etc.

If I drop pressures in the car to suit road or track conditions then I drop the trailer tyres to match.

Duncs