Tag Axle

[Seaplane]

Have a 08 Camelot and need info on Tag Axle pressure. Is there an optimum pressure. Checking tire temperatures and they seem to run about 5 to 7 degrees warmer than the other 6 tires.
Had 40 pounds pressure on the gauge when I purchased it , however, it seemed to wonder too much. I reduced the pressure to 30 pounds and it seems a lot better, however, the tire temps are higher than the others. I did not have a TPMS when the pressure was set at 40 pounds. Any help would be appreciated.

[Woodman018]

It is a balancing act. I run my tag a 42 psi but my rig is different than yours. The only way to know for sure is to weigh your coach at each tire. I took mine to my local grain elevator and weighed the front driver side, then the front driver side and driver side drive axle, then all three axles on the driver side. Then I did the same procedure for the passenger side. With a little math it is easy to figure out what each tire is carrying. I then weighed my entire coach and the numbers all added up to within 150 pounds total. I figure that is close enough. Now for the adjustment of the tag axle. You must keep in mind that increasing the load on the tag will also increase the load on the front axle and decrease the load on the drive axle. This is where the balancing act comes into play, you want to make sure no axle or tire is overloaded. I did the weighing with a full fuel tank, full water tank and loaded as though we were heading out on a trip. I know the grain elevator manager very well and he told me to just weigh it when they are closed as they leave the scales on, that made it nice as I didn't have to try and hurry. It gave me time to adjust my tag and then weigh everything again and again until I got it just the way I wanted. Good luck.
Dave

[distaff]

Getting good weights for each axle is important, the tag should be between 1/2 and 2/3s of the dive axle - dually tires are not rated for 2x the weight a single tire can carry, so it should be more than 50% of the weight on the drive dually tires, but still well within the tire manufacturers load spec.

Next a few more questions - are all the tires the same? How old are they and are they all the same age? Do all the tires in each position give you the same temp readings?

Finally, what are they inflated to? In other words, are the tag and drive tires inflated the same?

[ken bauer]

I was told to put 85 psi in the tag and 95 psi in the dully on my 2008 43 ft Dynasty, was this bad advice.

[pduggs]

Originally Posted by ken bauer

I was told to put 85 psi in the tag and 95 psi in the dully on my 2008 43 ft Dynasty, was this bad advice.

Hard to know, as you need to get the weight at each axle end (six weights). I have a coach just like yours. I got it weighed at Escapees Florida in March. My coach at the time had little on-board, as I had just bought it.

My tires are Goodyear G670RV 295/80 R 22.5. Yours may be the same. All six locations were weighed. You take the higher weight at each axle end for determining inflation. Tires on an axle should all be inflated to the same pressure. The highest weight at each of my three axles was 7,100 steer, 8,500 drive, and 3,650 tag. Using Goodyear's inflation chart attached, my tag is inflated to 80, drive is 85, and steer is 115.

[TomAndPeg]

There are several good threads on the topics of tag adjustment and tire pressure, which are often related. I strongly suggest you search/review all of those discussions.

[JohnBoyToo]

Remember, the tag will act like a lever (to an extent)
more air in tags, puts more weight on front,
less air on the tags, puts less weight on the front...

Our tag could handle a LOT more weight on it, but any more pressure on it and my front end gets too heavy, so it depends on YOUR weights and YOUR load...

(AND, those weights will change over time as you load and unload and move stuff around - even full with fuel versus empty)

[kgchampagne]

Originally Posted by ken bauer

I was told to put 85 psi in the tag and 95 psi in the dully on my 2008 43 ft Dynasty, was this bad advice.

Ken, they are talking air pressure in the tag bags, not tire pressure... BTW, you are close to what I run in tire pressures.

[ken bauer]

Thanks, stupid me

[distaff]

Ken, don't feel too dumb, the OP was commenting on tire temps, and tire temp is very much the product of inflation pressure, load, and tire type.

If you have the same tires, but the tags are inflated less you may see higher temps just from that, assuming the individual tire loads are similar.

[96 Wideglide]

Something doesn't sound right. My tag tires always run cooler than the other 6 tires, especially the steers, which are carrying much more weight than the tag tires.
Need the OP'r to tell us his tire pressures before any recomendations.

[JohnBoyToo]

Ben - maybe I missed the original intent of the thread
(or it changed like many of our's do ),
but thought he's talking about tag axle lift pressure, not tire pressure...

so, yes, your tags could run cooler if they have more psi in them or hotter if psi is lower irrespective of the tag axle down force and weight they carry....

IMHO, it would seem the primary factor to tire temp is more from the psi in the tire causing more or less tire flex rather than the down force from the tag axle pressure setting...
but, secondarily, the tag axle pressure COULD put more weight on the tire and thus more temp...

but I could be way off base too - just storm draining from the brain !

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by pduggs

Hard to know, as you need to get the weight at each axle end (six weights). I have a coach just like yours. I got it weighed at Escapees Florida in March. My coach at the time had little on-board, as I had just bought it.

My tires are Goodyear G670RV 295/80 R 22.5. Yours may be the same. All six locations were weighed. You take the higher weight at each axle end for determining inflation. Tires on an axle should all be inflated to the same pressure. The highest weight at each of my three axles was 7,100 steer, 8,500 drive, and 3,650 tag. Using Goodyear's inflation chart attached, my tag is inflated to 80, drive is 85, and steer is 115.

Wow, surprised you're so light. My steer axle alone is just over 18,000#'s

[96 Wideglide]

Yes, the original question was about tag axle air bag loading, but when he mentioned higher running temps on the tag tires, most of us are wondering what tire air pressures he's running.