Just got a tire psi/temperature monitor for the rig and went to town today (50 miles each way). The road is pretty much laid out straight south/north.. We had solid 20mph wind coming from the west blowing east..

Going to town (north bound) the rear right tire was 6f to 10f hotter then the rest of the tires. All the others stayed within 2f of each other. PSI was all same except when the one would get close to 10f it would go up a psi... So i thought the temp sensors are just not accurate, since the its new or that one sensor was out of calibration..

Now coming back home (south bound) the rear left tire had this same variance and now the all the others (including the right rear) was within 2f of each other. This got me thinking.. What would cause this..

Now what might be an important information is that the rig is an Excursion meaning high profile.. My theory is that the wind is shifting the weight and is putting extra load on the opposite side its hitting..

Or maybe somethings off with my rig.. Has anyone experienced this? I don't think its an issue because the tire temp was never really hot. Outside temp was 50f, 3 of tire temp was ~60f and the odd ball was 66f to 70f... Thanks for listening...

 

What were the sun conditions and time of day of the trips?
Its pretty common to see elevated temps on drive tires on flat straight highway runs, they are more work driving the vehicle. And it's normal to have the sunny side run warmer than the shaded side, but that should affect both front and rear.

 

When temperature rises, pressure also rises. so if the tire pressure went up 1 psi on a tire that was 10°F hotter, what makes you think that "the temp sensors are just not accurate.. or that one sensor was out of calibration"?

It sounds quite normal for pressure to rise where temperature has risen.

 

It was clouded over both trips with no sun coming thru. The psi going up wasn't why i thought the sensor could be out of calibration.. It was the one tire being hotter than the rest but seeing on the way back that the hotter tire changed positions made that thought void.

It would make sense that there would be more load on side opposite to where the wind was hitting vehicle. If you imagine a semi getting turned over by side wind; that wind would be putting all of the load on one side of the vehicle at one point.

Then you have to wonder if the case is the wind, then why wouldn't the front of that side temp also rise? That i cant explain.

 

Going north, the drivers side was getting extra cooling by the crosswind, the front has direct oncoming air for cooling. Rear passenger has no crosswind or direct oncoming air, because it's disrupted by the front tire and the body/undercarriage. Coming back it was opposite. Add in the slight extra load from the wind force and that could cause that one tire to run a little hotter.

 

That does make sense about the front getting cooled air vs the rear. I didnt think about that, i thought i wasnt the smartest person alive but now i know. Thanks.