How to fill your RV tires on the road
Preparing for the inevitable
If you use your RV regularly, chances are that sometime during a trip you are going to need to fill up your RV tires. However, this is not always as simple as pulling into the pump at the gas station with your car. RV’s can be hard to maneuver around gas station air pumps, and station pumps are often limited in the PSI you can go up to. This means that you might not be able to get a high enough PSI for your large rig. So what can you do when you need to fill up your RV tires when you’re on the road?
Truck stops are your new best friend
Truck stops are designed for larger vehicles, making filling your RV tires at their air pumps that much easier. Many air pumps at truck stops are designed with an easy pull through lane, taking the tricky navigation out of the equation. These pumps also will usually allow you to inflate to a higher PSI.
How do I determine the right PSI for my tires?
The first place to look for the correct PSI is the RV owner’s manual. Granted, this information will only be valid for the factory-installed tires. However, even if you have replaced the tires, as long as they are the same size as the factory versions, they should have the same specifications as the originals.
Another place to look for the PSI for your RV tires is on the door frame or other location where the specifications label is located. Like the owner’s manual, this label will give you the proper PSI for the factory-installed RV tires.
The third and best place to look for the proper PSI for your RV tires is on the tire itself. Look closely at the inner ring of the sidewall of your tires. Printed there are a bunch of numbers. These numbers tell you the size, the model, and other information about the tire, including the proper PSI. If you have installed new tires on your RV, this is the best place to look.
What are the hazards of too high or too low pressure?
Overfilling your RV tires can severely stress the tire. Make sure that you have a good tire gauge to help you you avoid overfilling (or underfilling) your tires. If you overfill your tires beyond the recommended PSI, you risk a blowout on your tire which can be very dangerous, particularly if you are traveling at a high speed on the highway.
If you notice that your tire has gotten low and you are not near a gas station or truck stop, you may need to travel a bit on a low tire. But make sure that you don’t travel too far. Driving on low tires can damage the sidewall of your tire, making the structure weak. This in turn could lead to a blowout, just like with too much pressure on your tires.
