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03-23-2016, 04:50 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Chicago area
Posts: 506
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Tire inflation question
Yes, another tire inflation question
I'm about to travel from the "frozen tundra" of the midwest to Hilton Head. I've brought the coach home from my normal heated storage location but now my beautiful Entegra is sitting outside in upper 30 degree weather as we pack it up. The question is what to do with tire inflation before going. Should I inflate for the cold weather and adjust as I head south? I'm also about to install an EEZRV TPMS system, so I'll be able to monitor pressure and temperature as I head south.
This entire subject of fluctuating pressure and ambient temperature strikes me as a bit confusing. I know the pressures will rise as I drive, but I'll be cold to cool air through mid day Friday.
Any help would be appreciated - or even pointing to a previous thread that covered this.
__________________
Susie and Stuart
2012 Entegra Aspire 40DRQ on Spartan chassis
2 daughters (off the payroll now!), sadly no dogs right now, and 1 wife
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03-23-2016, 05:19 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: SW FL
Posts: 31,622
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Air up at current temperature. Adjust air pressure in the morning as you head to warmer temps. Usually it will only be a couple of pounds.
__________________
Chuck in SW FL
Digital 2021 Cornerstone "B"
A "Digital" 2019 Cornerstone "B" Traded
A "Classic" 2014 Anthem 42 RBQ---Sold
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03-23-2016, 05:20 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 6,911
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rvguy02-
There are simple answers and complicated ones. I'll stick with a simple one.
Inflate your tire to their correct pressures before you leave home. Before each leg of the trip, check your air pressures and adjust them down or up as needed to keep them at the correct pressures. If you are moving into warmer areas, you'll bleed off a little pressure each time. Do the same coming home; if the temperature goes down significantly, you'll be adding air.
This assumes you know what "correct pressures" are, that you know about how far off "correct" is OK before having to adjust them, that your coach weight and weight distribution doesn't change much, etc., etc. etc.- all those things that create complicated answers.
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Mark
2008 Holiday Rambler Admiral 30PDD (Ford F-53 chassis)
2009 Honda Fit Sport
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03-23-2016, 06:13 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 11,531
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This is not that complicated a situation. Once you get your TPMS, you are going to realize how much your tires heat up under any set of circumstances as you drive down the road. Also, you will see surprising differences in tire pressure between the tires that are in the sun all day as you drive and those that are in the shade.
Fill the tires to the pressure that you are supposed to carry (cold). Then drive for the day. If you have gone from below zero to 90 degrees you will need to adjust the tires. You do not need to stop multiple times to deal with pressure..... you don't do that with your cars and you don't need to do it with your rig. I have to add air a couple of times in the fall and early winter for both my coach and my cars, and let off some pressure in the spring as winter transitions into summer. Then, relax !!
Gary
__________________
Gary and Dee, Zowie and Bowie (traveling cat sibs)
2019 Cornerstone 45B, X15-605hp, Imperial, Spartan K3,
2013 Honda CR-V toad, Demco Excali-Bar II,
Demco Baseplate, Demco Toad Light system, 73 de W5FI
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03-23-2016, 06:30 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 151
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I will also add that most of the time we ride with to much pressure in the tire. I jsut got back from a trip to Spartan where they weight every wheel and set the pressures accordingly. I was really surprised at what they set the steers to (85psi).
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03-23-2016, 06:54 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: PA & FL
Posts: 1,406
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I really like the TPS, I set the high limit on the upper side to take into consideration the warm up. If I do not, I always get false alarms on the upper end.
__________________
2015 Cornerstone (Classic) 45B Topaz
2017 JKU Rubicon
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03-23-2016, 07:31 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Full-timer/volunteer w/SOWERS
Posts: 3,958
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A TPMS is a must tool to have, IMO. Always check tire pressure cold and make certain the sun is not shining on the tires when you charge them. It will throw your readings way off.
I was in the cold mountains recently and as the days travel went on I got into much warmer air. My TPMS sounded an alarm and my 110psi cold tires were now over136psi... All of them. This is my alarm high limit. I stopped and let 5psi out of each tire. No more false alarms.
What I did is considered a mortal sin by most. But the truth of the matter is that the air in the tires is not as dry as it should be. As it heats, from rolling, ambient temperature rising and sun, the air expands more than the theoretical amount posted by most of the tire experts.
The TPMS is only a tool. When you set your tires with a good, calibrated, tire gauge the TPMS will most likely disagree with you within a pound or two. That is OK. You simply want to monitor your tires for any extreme differences among them as you drive.
Don't get paranoid about your tires. Simply use the good practices of frequent visual inspections and cold psi checks even when parked for an extended period of time.
Happy and safe trails,
Rick Y
__________________
Rick & Melissa Young, 2011 Itasca Meridian 40U, Frtliner XCL, Cummins ISL 380HP/DEF, Allison 3000 MH, 2014 Honda CR-V, SMI AF1, Blue Ox, EEZ TPMS, TruCenter steering control
Servants On Wheels Ever Ready. Best job we ever paid to do . (full time volunteers)
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03-23-2016, 07:38 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Chicago area
Posts: 506
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Thanks everyone for your great advice. I think it's easy to make this more complicated than it really is. Courtesy of your responses I feel much better! We leave tomorrow night, temps will be cold, and I'll inflate accordingly.
__________________
Susie and Stuart
2012 Entegra Aspire 40DRQ on Spartan chassis
2 daughters (off the payroll now!), sadly no dogs right now, and 1 wife
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03-23-2016, 08:22 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Chicago area
Posts: 506
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ikold
I will also add that most of the time we ride with to much pressure in the tire. I jsut got back from a trip to Spartan where they weight every wheel and set the pressures accordingly. I was really surprised at what they set the steers to (85psi).
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I did that in the past and finally stopped after too many rough rides. It was "safer" to add a bit of extra inflation (or so I had been told) and then decided to do my own research. Spartan also helped with inflation levels and weights when I was in for a radiator replacement a couple of months ago... Keeping my hopes up that I got one of the "new" radiators that's been properly designed. My Aspire is a 2012 and started its radiator leak in December 2015... So far so good...
__________________
Susie and Stuart
2012 Entegra Aspire 40DRQ on Spartan chassis
2 daughters (off the payroll now!), sadly no dogs right now, and 1 wife
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03-24-2016, 10:12 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 8,108
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Well, not a mortal sin, but I think it is a mistake to let air out of your tires just because your TPMS is squawking. Reset the TPMS higher instead. The primary reasons for TPMS are: (1) to alert you to a blowout, particularly on the towed vehicle which would likely otherwise go unnoticed until much damage is done. (2) to alert you to low tire pressure. This can lead to excessive sidewall flexing, overheating and tire blowout. (3) To alert you to a tire that is significantly different in pressure or temperature from the other tires on that axle. This could indicate brake dragging, bad bearings, or the like. But if your tires are heating up evenly across the board, this is totally normal and expected. Reducing the pressure risks tire damage from the causes listed in (1) above. Also, be aware that it is normal for the tires on the sunny side of the coach to run 5 or even 10 PSI higher due to solar heating. Do not reduce pressure for this reason or any other reason unless the high pressure/temp is on only one tire. Then, you should investigate why. Don't just drop the pressure.
Any tire company's literature will say the same thing: tire pressures should only be set when the tires are cold. The temperature and pressure increase that takes place during travel is normal, necessary, and should not prompt any adjustment on your part.
__________________
Marc and Jill, Wellington FL
2013 Entegra Anthem 44SL
2018 Lincoln MKX
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03-24-2016, 12:56 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 11,531
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Ikold
Is that 85# on the steers of an Entegra coach? Checked your information and cant see your coach. I assume you are running something smaller than a 45' Entegra of any model, right?
Gary
__________________
Gary and Dee, Zowie and Bowie (traveling cat sibs)
2019 Cornerstone 45B, X15-605hp, Imperial, Spartan K3,
2013 Honda CR-V toad, Demco Excali-Bar II,
Demco Baseplate, Demco Toad Light system, 73 de W5FI
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03-24-2016, 01:07 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Tiffin Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,899
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The key rule is never drive on under inflated tires. the only reason you weigh your coach is to see if you can get away with a lower presure for a softer ride.
If I drive to a colder climate, I don't mess with the presure....they will just be a little higher than minimum. unless I will be drining around there for a long time , then i might adjust them.
Dan
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03-24-2016, 01:11 PM
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Troy Mo
Posts: 1,951
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ikold
I will also add that most of the time we ride with to much pressure in the tire. I jsut got back from a trip to Spartan where they weight every wheel and set the pressures accordingly. I was really surprised at what they set the steers to (85psi).
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If you're running 85 psi in the steer tires on an ENTEGRA you're way under inflated. Even completely unloaded they would require more than 85 psi.
Closer to 110-120. You definitely need to add more air before you ruin the tires or worse. I don't know what chart was looking at, but it was obviously the wrong one. Noel
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03-24-2016, 02:44 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 11,531
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Ikold
I see in another thread that you say you own a 14 Cornerstone, and then in this thread, you say Spartan told you to run 85# on your steers. I am absolutely sure that that information is not correct and if you actually have your steers at 85#, you need to get that issue changed quickly.
I could conceivably see that kind of weight being maybe correct on the 4 drive tires or on the 2 tag axle tires, but there is no way that can be right on the steers. Maybe you said steers when you meant tag or drive.
I would guess that 4-corner weighing of your coach is going to tell you that your steers need to be somewhere in the 115# to 130# range at all times. There are lots of Cornerstone owners on here who can give you the right steer pressures.
Gary
__________________
Gary and Dee, Zowie and Bowie (traveling cat sibs)
2019 Cornerstone 45B, X15-605hp, Imperial, Spartan K3,
2013 Honda CR-V toad, Demco Excali-Bar II,
Demco Baseplate, Demco Toad Light system, 73 de W5FI
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