Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

My 5X8 carry-on trailer uses a 4:80 X 12 tire. The manufacture suggests
a tire pressure of 90 PSI/cold. This seems high to me. What pressure are most of you using for your tires?

Larry

That much air pressure seems like it make your tear bounce alot.

I'd try it between 50 & 60lbs. If it doesn't let the tire squat there you may be able to go a little lower. You just don't want to get them to where it looks like they are low on air.
I never run tires at their max pressure unless I have a heavy load, it isn't really necessary.

I kept dropping mine 5# at a time till the tires got warm, then went up 10 psi... wound up at 40 psi on the 1,800# trailer.... rides better...

I run my 1800lb 13" tires at 35lbs and I had no problems.

Roger C.

Here is the load/pressure chart from Carlisle's web site:



It's a bit disappointing that, as they sell smaller trailer tires, they don't give any data for them.

It might be worth pointing out that the load above is load per tire - double it for load per pair.

Andrew

by having your trailer weight and go to the chart like andrew posted for your tires will tell you what the pressure should be. if you weight it make sure that it is loaded like it would be if you are going on a trip. you need to have each wheel weight . that way you will know if you are heavier on one side or the other. it's like my motorhome i had it weight. every wheel had it's on scale. when i got my weight on each wheel and i found out that i was about the same weight on both side which was good then i went to the tire chart and reset my tire pressure. you may think that it's just a small trailer but it doesn,t make a differrent. but it does. to much weight on one side can effect the pulling and puts alot of weight on that tire.

arnereil wrote:I kept dropping mine 5# at a time till the tires got warm, then went up 10 psi... wound up at 40 psi on the 1,800# trailer.... rides better...

This is good information. It will save me some time . Thanks!

Tony, I've not tried this, but might for the fun of it..... let air out till you notice a change in the shape where the tire sits on the ground (ie, buldge) and see what pressure you have then. It would give you a minimum pressure, then you could start say 20# above that......

But I think mine had a sidewall pressure of 65# and it bounced quite a bit. Not dangerous, just every little pebble or road joint gave it a little jiggle up and down.....At 40 psi it is more user friendly.

I'm going to attempt to stay and use the 12" trailer tires that came with the HF frame. I even purchased a spare... But if it gets crazy bouncy I'll upgrade to 12" steel belted radial tires for a better ride...

Better safe then sorry!

I am targeting a run from Raleigh, NC to Montgomery, AL to meet my sister for Thanksgiving Day. I'll know early on how well it pulls and handles... This first pass is with the Ranger 4.0. After I get back it's "try it with the miata time"

I'd better hurry..still have a hatch to build and install!

The original tag on my KIT indicates 12 - 15 psi. I have 16" wheels/tires and it keeps the tear from bouncing ....seems to work well, very little weight so that is not a real factor

I put 40 lbs in my trailer tires and 45lbs in my rear TV tires and 35 lbs in the front tires of the TV.