Tire Question

[MAMalody]

I am still confused on what to do with my tires. Each trip before I leave and every day I travel I check the tire pressure the first thing before setting out. I also check tire temp at any stop to see if any major differences. My questions is: do I set my psi at 80 (that's what I run at) irrespective of the temperature the day before, or the expected temp today? For example, I headed out Sunday after church and set my truck front tires at 55 and the rear and trailer tires at 80. When I headed out today I checked the tire pressure at 9AM and they were not at the 55 and 80 above. Should I have set the pressure at 55 and 80 again knowing that the temp would be at 95 degrees (about 25 degrees warmer that than the 9AM temperature)?

I am sorry to go over this again, I am just thick in this area.

[DONnANNIE]

Mike, as I understand it, check tire pressure when cool. Add or remove air to meet 55 & 80 lbs. When you check tire pressure(Hot) during your travels, if the pressure is higher than 55 & 80 just monitor the pressure - DON'T lower the pressure to 55 & 80. If the pressure is below 55 & 80 ADD air back up to 55 & 80.

I hope this answers your question.

[LonnieB]

Mike, Don is correct. Always check them when they are cool before a trip and adjust as necessary. While traveling, after the tires have warmed up, you should check them occasionally, and add air if needed, but never lower the air pressure to compensate for the temperature.

[Waynem]

I traveled 6412 miles round trip and had 1 pound of pressure drop while I was sitting in Massachusetts. I pulled out my compressor and corrected the difference and never had another drop when sitting cold. I never checked the pressure while on the road traveling, only in the morning before starting out. I'm running Michelin's instead of the TT (Terrible Tires) that came with the Hanna. Here is my reason for not checking while running. Every time you put an air pressure gauge to a tire you run the risk of slipping and letting air out, or just on the insertion of the gauge you can let a little escape. After time, this results in a pressure drop. I figure that if a tire pressure is going to drop it's not going to be because of me sticking something in the valve. I replaced all the valves with metal valves. There have been problems with the rubber valves cracking. Also, always make sure you have valve caps on to prevent debris from getting in the stem and causing a slow leak.

That's my logic and I'm sticking with it until someone can prove differently.

Edited: If you are constantly loosing pressure each day you may already have a very slow leak.

[MAMalody]

My pressure change from one day to the next is proportionate among all the tires. I don't seem to have any slow leaks. The difference seems to be related to the time of day and possibly altitude on my NE trip. I seldom check pressure when running, however, I do check he tire temperature, under the theory that if one tire is significantly higher than it's other axle tire of side tire there may be a problem. At that point I may check the pressure. I have never had a significant difference in temperature to test this theory. On this last trip, I left in the afternoon and I had 55 and 80 pounds. On the return trip a couple of days later I checked the pressure in the morning (9AM) and had 53.5 and 76.5 respectively. It was about 95 degrees on the original check and around 75 degrees on the trip back.

What I hear is that I should just check the tires prior to my departure and set them at 55 and 80, irrespective of time of day or temperature. Is that correct?