16" Air Pressure

[Loden]

I have recently purchased a 2013 27' Eddie Bauer. As I have perused different sites relating to the best air pressure to have in the 16" tires I have found different but very absolute advice.

- The sites devoted to general advice on trailers and towing all seem to be unanimous that trailers should be towed with the maximum cold tire pressure as listed on the sidewall. That equates to a cold tire pressure of 80psi in this case.

- The Michelin website has a span of air pressures depending on the total load on each tire. When I plug in the GVWR of my AS minus the tongue weight, divided by four, the Michelin table recommends 55 psi! On the Michelin site is a warning that inflation in excess of the chart values will cause a reduced road contact surface and increased risk of damage to the tire from road defects and debris.

The obvious question is, just how much air pressure should I keep in those 16" tires?

As a small additional item, having read a lot here in the forums about trailer tires, the 16" Michelins on the AS are "Q" rated, which means they are rated to 99 mph according to Michelin. I would certainly never attempt to reach that speed, but I see the repeated warning here in the forums that trailer tires are all rated only to 65mph.

[Silverbee]

We have the 16" Michelins with Eddie Bauer wheels on our 28 ft. Flying Cloud and run them at 72 psi. Just finished a 6000 mile trip to Wyoming and back and they performed very well at that pressure. Held speed to 65mph even with speed limit at 80mph on I90. Also have the TST tire pressure monitoring system.

[switz]

We use 75 psi on our 2014 Classic that is heavier that the Eddie Bauer. I watched the tire pressure and temperature at different tire pressure settings and the system seemed to perform best at 75 psi. I have weighed the individual wheels and loaded for camping I have two wheels at 2,050, one at 1,950 and one at 2,150 pounds.

[overlander63]

I have recommended 70PSI on 16" replacements when upgrading from 15".
Every time I have, I have been blasted, and told I don't know what I'm talking about. Finally, after usually 3+ pages of gnashing of teeth, somebody usually figures out the pressure that should be in the tires. By a strange coincidence, it seems to be 70psi. That is based on the load carrying capacity of a load range D 15" tire, and the load carrying capacity of a load range E tire, and the increased inner and outer surface areas of a 16" tire, among other things.

[Wingeezer]

I have run our 16" Michelins on our Classic 30 at 75psi since i installed them a couple of years ago,

After two cross country trips and a few shorter trips, they continue to perform perfectly and no unusual wear patterns evident that might indicate over inflation for the load or anything else. In fact they still look almost new.

Brian.

PS - I picked that pressure not in accordance with any logic or science or charts, but just from a review of many forum posts as to what pressure people who installed these tires before me appeared to settle on! I don't plan on changing any time soon!

[Al and Missy]

I also run 75 psi because that gives me, according to the Michelin charts, the same load carrying capacity as the 15" ST tires I took off. Trailer tires, particularly ST tires appear to have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph. The LT225/75-16 M/S2 tires (not the P225 tires with the LT suffix) are truck tires and are rated for the higher speed. Not recommending towing at the higher speed, just saying they are not trailer tires and not subject to the 65 mph limit.

[Moflash]

We have a 28ft International with 16's and run 68-70 psi for many thousands of miles.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by Moflash

We have a 28ft International with 16's and run 68-70 psi for many thousands of miles.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

Another endless debate but we also run 68-70 psi as well for many thousands of miles and believe it provides excellent Airstream stability with a somewhat softer ride for the Airstream.

[Hiho Silver]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Another endless debate but we also run 68-70 psi as well for many thousands of miles and believe it provides excellent Airstream stability with a somewhat softer ride for the Airstream.

I agree, we do the same, for the same reason. We have logged 20,000 miles on the 16'' Michelins at 68-70 psi.

[CapriRacer]

Do you want to know if perhaps you have the wrong pressure? trty the pressure buildup test.

Before starting out on a long tow, measure all your tire pressures. If your brain is like mine, you should record them. Tow for at least an hour and a half and take a break. Measure the pressures again.

If you have less than a 10% build up, GOOD!!, If you have more than 10%, you need more pressure. If you have more than 15%, the problem is really serious and you'll need to do more than just pressure - and you need to do it immediately!!

[dznf0g]

After reading and digesting all the great info from Capri and Tireman over the last year or two, I have settled in at max sidewall (80psi, 16" LTX M/S) for the following reasons:

Keeping a minimum of 15% reserve
Reduction of shear forces
pressure rise

I am basically ignoring the tire charts and using more empirical data as well as the advice given here.

Lower than 80psi and I seem to get a bit over 10% pressure rise and I note no adverse ride characteristics after roughly 6,000 miles of using 80psi.

I haven't weighed for some time, but I'd SWAG I am between 2000 and 2100 pounds per tire, perhaps a bit more.

One question relative to pressure rise that I don't think has been mentioned. If I leave in the morning and it is 65* and I am at 80psi....later in the day it is 85* and I am at 90psi, don't I need to back off roughly 2psi from my rise calculation due to ambient increases? Like, in this case, my actual rise is roughly 8psi, or 10%.

[moosetags]

I have been using 72 PSI on my 16" Michelins for a number of years now. I formerly had a 2005 Safari 25FB that weighed 7,400#. I towed that Airstream 60,000 miles using that tire pressure. I used the 72 PSI number based upon Airforums discussions and crunching numbers.

This pressure worked well for me as I never had any tire issues '05 Safari. When I traded this Airstream, the Michelins did not have any discernible tread wear after 60,000 miles.

When we got the 2015 Flying Cloud 25FB last October, we immediately replaced the OEM 15" Goodyear Marathons with a set of the 16" Michelin LT's.

We are using the same 72 PSI tire pressure on the new Michelins. These tires now have 12,000 miles on them with ho issues.

Brian

[switz]

Note that the "happy spot" for the tire pressure is related to the weight being supported.

Our Classic axles are supporting over 8,200 pounds which significantly exceeds the GVW ratings of the 25' and 27/28' Airstreams where the axles are typically supporting more in the 6,000 pound load class.