I would like to pick the CBN braintrust on towing and tire pressure.
Getting ready to make the cross country trip with a 2002 Suburban and 25 ft travel trailer (CVW ~11,500 lbs), set up with a Reese weight-distributing hitch, including dual cam anti-sway. The GVW of the Suburban, including me and the trailer's tongue weight, is ~6550 lbs.
Should I pump up the tire pressure on the Suburban above the normal recommendation of 35psi? The tires (factory-equipped Firestone Wilderness LE's) show a maximum permitted psi of 44.
Hank, I would give the Firestone dealer in your area a call. I agree with Hazmat that the bulge may call for more air. As long as you don't exceed the 44 pounds you should be OK. I guess I would just want to hear it from the Firestone shop.
Check the jam on the driver's door. Federal law requires that they post the tire pressure info there. My Excursion runs 45 psi front and 55 psi rear when towing.
<font color="purple"> Federal law requires that they post the tire pressure info there. My Excursion runs 45 psi front and 55 psi rear when towing. </font color>
I guess Ford is more thorough than Chevrolet in this regard. My '96 E-350 had both regular and towing psi's on the door jamb sticker. The Suburban only has the "normal" 35psi on its jamb sticker.
HI I own a dodge pickup inside door frame is recommended tire pressure it's an 2500 i tow a 30 foot goose neck three horse trailer and a 29 foot travel trailer have had no problem with recommended pressure i also use a weight dist hitch
EDT
Your tires will indicate the maximum weight rating at the the rated (or highest) psi. For instance, my tires are rated for 3,000 lb load at 65 psi cold. I have almost 6,000 lbs rear axle weight when towing my TT, so I tow at 65 psi cold.
I guess you could try to figure a way to use less pressure for less weight, but overall, I'd think a loaded Suburban and TT would require the highest rated psi listed on the tire. If you are only rated at 44 psi, that's a class C load rating and your max may only be 2,000 or so per tire, depending on size. You are probably at 3,500 or so rear axle with your setup - go with max psi listed on tire.
There does not seem to be a consensus, and I've also found some interesting "opinions" at a specialized trailer towing forum (take it for what it's worth)....they suggest that LT rated tires can, and should be pumped up to the max for towing, while P rated tires should be run at the "normal" pressure. Go figure.
Mine are P rated....I've pumped them up a couple of pounds over "normal" for the trip, will try to adjust by sight and feel, and I'll try to relay my experiences.
For a follow-up, with 2100 miles under my belt so far, a couple of extra pounds seems to work very well. Another couple of adjustments that have also helped were to take up another link in the weight-distributing hitch, to spread the load better, and to set the Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller to the "boost 1" mode, which forces the trailer brakes slightly ahead of the vehicle brakes. The Prodigy is really a fantastic brake controller.
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