Towing tyre pressures
Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2011 at 15:32
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87941
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14305
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newbies
I know this issue has been done to death before, but my topic search seems to throw up 305 threads, all but 5 being archived - and I can't find the active ones (I must be doing something wrong)! Specifically, I am seeking
feedback on why my rear car tyres seem to increase in pressure by at least twice the amount that the front tyres do, and the tyres on the caravan do. The pertinent facts areas follows:
Car: 200 Series Landcruiser turbo diesel weighing approx 3460 loaded (without caravan attached).
Suspension: has been upgraded by ARB with 200kg system (heavier coils front and rear and OME Sports shockies at each corner).
Rear coils have Coilrite, inflated from 12-16psi (still experimenting).
Tyres: Bridgestone D694LT 285/65R17 (on both car and caravan - approx 9,000km since new); load rating 1400kg each.
Caravan: Free Spirit off road; weight approx 3100kg loaded; Simplicity 4500kg load sharing
suspension.
Hayman Reese WDH 750lb bars, with 100mm drop hitch.
Ball weight of caravan on car = 280kg.
Tyre pressures: Car - 40psi front; 45psi rear. Caravan: 40psi all around
(Note: this is for bitumen highway driving. Bridgestone fitters recommended 40psi all around).
All wheels and tyres have behaved as expected (approx 4psi increase when hot). Rear car tyres increase by 7-8psi from cold when towing - this is the problem.
This happens despite the WDH transferring some of the caravan load (ball weight) to the front wheels. It also happens on gravel/dirt roads when I remove the WDH bars for slow going over very uneven ground and creek crossings (e.g. on the
Gibb River Road and
Savannah Way from
Roper Bar to
Borroloola.
I am unsure of the recommended maximum inflation pressure for these tyres and am a bit wary of e.g. increasing cold pressures at rear to 50psi to see if this makes a difference. Dropping them to 40psi still results in them increasing by 6-8psi when hot. Any simple suggestions to get a more acceptable rear tyre pressure increase when hot? Mike
Reply By: snoopyone - Tuesday, Aug 02, 2011 at 15:41
Tuesday, Aug 02, 2011 at 15:41
Sounds about right actually
I have tyre pressure monitors when we did our trip and was as follows.
Fronts 36 cold
Rears 40 cold
Van 45 cold
Weights 100ser 3260 loaded inc ball weight Van 2850 ATM
Fronts hot 45
Rears hot 45-48 depending on ambient.
Van 50 hot.
One thing that would make your rears get hot is a full width mudflap
I started off with one but after the day when the rears got up to over 65 deg I chucked it.
They went straight back to about 7-8deg over ambient and stayed that way for the rest of the 50,000k trip
6 lb increase seems normal for 4wd tyres .
I wouldnt worry if they are wearing OK
AnswerID:
461607
Reply By: carts - Wednesday, Aug 03, 2011 at 13:19
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2011 at 13:19
Gooday newbies, In my opinion you may have overdone the
suspension upgrade a little. I think that
suspension coupled with a WDH you are not transferring enough of the van weight to the front wheels of the tow vehicle.
I suggest hooking up the van and putting it all on a weigh
bridge.
You need to make sure the tow ball weight of the van is distributed fairly evenly over both front and back wheels. You may need to reconfigure the set up of the WDH.
I think I would be running the rear tyre pressure at 40 psi also.
There could be 100"s of options and combinations to look at, This would be one of my first options to look at from the info provided.
Keep us all posted on the outcome.
Carts
AnswerID:
461701
Follow Up By: newbies - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 20:30
Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 20:30
Thanks to all who took the trouble to respond. I like the idea that I need to reduce the (cold) rear tyre pressures, and also adjust the WDH bars up another link to see what, if any, difference this makes. I'm on the road again tomorrow but may be out of internet range for a week or more, but will advise the outcome when possible.
Cheers,
Mike
FollowupID:
735653
Follow Up By: snoopyone - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 20:15
Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 20:15
If you reduce the pressures you have a good chance of them rising up even further than before as soft tyres get hotter than hard ones.
As I have said 6lb is nothing and out BFG's werent worn out at 60,000k of running as I described
FollowupID:
735721
Follow Up By: carts - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 23:23
Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 23:23
snoppyone, I am suggesting options including transferring more ball weight to the front wheels, then a further option of reducing tyre pressure as the extra 5 psi may not be required in the rear tyres. carts
FollowupID:
735735
Follow Up By: snoopyone - Sunday, Aug 07, 2011 at 08:40
Sunday, Aug 07, 2011 at 08:40
First pull the WDH up an extra link and see what happens.
Even at that you still have an extra 250kg hanging off the rear and so will load up the tyres creating more heat.
What you dont want to do is lower them too much and find out the temp goes up and you have a blowout.
Mine at about 46lb were perfect for the whole trip and I would not have considered lowering them.
Even on a cold morning when they had dropped a bit more than usual they came up to the 46 lb and stayed there all day every day.
The amount of weight transferred forward wont make all that much difference anyway.
FollowupID:
735738
Follow Up By: newbies - Tuesday, Aug 30, 2011 at 19:13
Tuesday, Aug 30, 2011 at 19:13
Since my last response, I have tried adjusting the WDH bars up another link, and reducing the car's back tyre pressures to 43psi. This seems to have had the desired effect, with a smaller increase in pressure in the back wheels of the car when hot than I previously encountered. It would seem this is a result of transferring a little more weight of the caravan to the car's front wheels. Thanks again to all contributors.
Mike
FollowupID:
737773