Keeping up with the tires on your RV is critical: Blow a tire on your motorhome, you could find yourself in the ditch--or worse. Don't keep up with tire pressure, you'll increase your fuel purchase costs, and pay for prematurely worn out tires. But taking care of your RV tires doesn't take a lot of time and effort--just regularity.
First, keep close watch on your tire pressure. A once-a-week inspection is really all it takes. ALWAYS check your tires before heading out on a trip, then keep a close watch on them while you're on the road.
Walk around your rig with a good tire pressure gauge. Don't fall for the cheap "stick" type pressure gauge, spend a few dollars and get either a "dial" type analog tire gauge or an electronic digital gauge.
Check your tires while they're "cold," meaning not driven on overnight, or less than three miles. The recommended inflation rate will be printed on the sidewall of the tire. The pressure in a cold tire should meet that pressure rate. If your rig has dual tires, inflate to the pressure indicated for duals.
What if you find your pressure is low, but you have to drive to a place to inflate the tires? Write down the number of pounds you are LOW for each tire. Drive the rig to the pump, then RECHECK the tire pressure. To new pressure reading, add whatever number of pounds you showed your were low. For example, if your tow rig tire requires 65 pounds, but showed 60 when cold, your tire needs 5 pounds. At the service station the tire now reads 62 pounds, pump it up to 67.
Courtesy National Institutes for Health
While you're checking your tires for air pressure, take a good look at them, even run a hand over their surface. A tire tread that is wearing out on both sides of the tire, but maintaining tread in the center indicates the tire has been run at low pressure. If the tread in the middle is wearing out, but both outside edges have more, you've probably been running more air pressure than you should. If the tread is worn irregularly--say wearing out on one side or the other, then you need to have your rig's alignment checked. And if you feel a heavy vibration while driving, it's likely your tires are out of balance--a tire shop can set that right.
If you find areas of the tire wear the tread is good, but then cut into by bald spots, you've likely hit the "tread wear indicator" bars. That means your tires are time for "re-tirement."
Also examine the sidewalls of your tires closely. While there may be some cracks visible, the cracks shouldn't be deep. If they are, have them checked out at a reputable tire shop. There should be no bulges--if there are, waste not time getting to a tire shop, you could easily be headed for a tire blow out.
While traveling, its not a bad idea to follow the lead of professional drivers: When you take a break, do a "walk around," looking at your tires. Especially keep an eye on dual tires--if you see the duals touching each other, there's trouble headed your way. You could have a low tire pressure situation, or are overloaded. Either way, dual tires that touch each other will rub each other the wrong way, and damage, even catastrophic failure is on the way.
Finally, remember, especially on trailers and motorhomes (which usually get less mileage than a passenger car or truck) the tread may "look good," but if the tire is over seven years old, it's time for a replacement. Tires can look good but fail due to age.
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