paleontol99
FL
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Hello, Wondering if anyone can help. I owned my Lance 835 camper for about 4 months now and noticed that my Ford F250 tire pressure has decreased as the winter has rolled in and the tire pressure decreases a small bit. My question is - Under normal circumstances my tire pressure on rear tires is 85 pounds. Im about to place my Lance Camper in the truck bed again. Can I ask, normally, do I increase the tire pressure to compensate for the added weight to give the Lance Camper support, or do I decrease the tire pressure in order to support the Campers weight so I dont blow a tire, or do I just keep it the same as when I bought the truck. Im a bit confused at which way to go in leaving it at 85 pounds, increasing, or decreasing. The Lance seemed to be fine in the bed before the tire pressure slightly decrease cause of the colder weather. Im in Arizona during the winter. Thanks for any help, Jeff
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Raften
Northern Calfornia
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Just check it after you put the camper on. I would be surprised if it changed. Do your tires say 85 for a max pressure?
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Reddog1
El Dorado, CA
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I agree with Raften, I too would be surprised if there was a difference with or without the camper loaded.
Look at the sidewall of one of your tires. It will tell you the air pressure, for the maximum load. My suggestion is to use that pressure, at least when the TC is loaded.
You can run lower pressure without the TC, but that depends on how sensitive you are with a rough ride, and the minimum pressure allowed by the tire.
Wayne
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JoeChiOhki
Sauvie Island, OR
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85 PSI in the tire is 85 PSI, regardless of if the camper is on there or not. Folks get this confused with air bags that actually do change the PSI because of the loss of volume. When you squish a tire down with the weight of the load, you're merely deforming the shape a bit, but none of the volume has been lost.
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AnEv942
CA
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Um to get the max load rating of your tire, you inflate to pressure stated on sidewall. (85psi sounds high?)
Wether camper is on or off. If you run max air pressure empty and then load camper pressure may change a little bit, but simply adjust.
I generally air up before loading camper, with tires cold, fill to 80psi rear, 70-75psi front (mood thing). Ill check after wards but they usually dont change. Air pressure fluctuates with temp. thats normal and all decrease over time.
When home, camper off, done camping, Ill drop the tire presuure back down to normal (see your door pillar). I run about 5 psi higher than whats recommend unloaded. If I run max air with truck empty its quite a jarring ride.
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* This post was
edited 02/09/10 12:51pm by AnEv942 *
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Reddog1
El Dorado, CA
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I have become lazy in changing the tire pressure every time I load and unload the TC. Just too much drama. I got some quality dentures, use the same pressure with or without the TC, and have adjusted to the stiff ride.  When I start thinking the empty truck rides stiff, I go for a ride in my short wheelbase Suzuki Samurai, thats a stiff ride.
Wayne
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skipnchar
Google Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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Check the side wall and I'm betting you'll find 80 PSI is max. Doesn't matter if the camper is loaded or not (but without it you probably don't need 80).
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mkirsch
Rochester, NY
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1. Air pressure goes down when it gets colder. Not by much, but it does go down.
2. The air pressure inside your tires will NOT change one bit with the camper loaded.
It's all about volume. The tire may squish down under the camper, but it also bulges out to the sides at the same time. The space inside the tire remains exactly the same, so the pressure remains exactly the same.
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Jumbo Jet
Ozark Mountains, Arkansas
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To make understanding your tire pressure more difficult - throw elevation and ambient temperature into the picture. As elevation increases above the elevation that the initial reading was made and as the temperature increases, the PSI will also increase.
I checked the air in my tires with TC loaded at home. When near Aspen Colorado I checked them again, I was amazed!
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Wheelholder
jacksonville, fl
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As stated above, you do not neet to adjust your tire pressure. I drive a "big rig" and maintain my tire pressure at the max. inflation on the side wall. I run 110# all the time. It causes the center of the tire to wear a bit sooner than the rest of the tire, but also slightly increases fuel mileage.
I would tend to believe that it is more important to check it on a regular basis and maintain the pressure than to worry about changing pressure depending upon your load.
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