Airing down advice

Fairly new to off-roading/overlanding and looking for some advice on airing down tires. The trails I usually hit are in the North Georgia mountains and are typically forest service roads connected by paved highway.

My question is do I need to air back up for each section of paved highway I hit then air back down on the dirt roads or can I stay aired down? I would typically be airing down to between 18-20psi.

What do you guys typically do?

 

I just completed the Georgia Traverse, which is a mix of dirt and pavement. We all aired down at the start and didn't air up until the end. We are probably just lazy.

Running low tire pressure at highways speeds is sketchy. I try to stay below 40mph with low tire pressure, but have gone faster too many times.

 

Awesome thanks! What were you airing down to?

 

Depends on how long the paved section is and the speed. On pavement, tires with low air pressure will build up heat. Worst case, the heat can lead to tire failure. It's also easier to blow a bead on pavement due to the traction going around corners. All of that being said, if its short stretches with low speeds you should be fine. Enjoy your trial run and have a good time.

 

you will be fine with 18-20 pounds. I take my 35's down to 15. my old jeep with deadlocks got aired down close to 0 hahahah its like driving on marshmallows.

 

Higher speed service roads I would say 20psi.

Low speed 4LO obstacles 12-15psi.

We are assuming you have LT tires. Factory tires, never below 20psi personally.

 

If I know I'll be doing fire roads and hitting pavement in between, I go down to 20psi and that's usually safe for short highway trips to the next trail.

If it's a 4lo and slow kind of trail, I'm usually down to 15psi and I'll always air up before going on paved streets then

 

I’m running wrangler duratracs on factory rims. Sorry should have mentioned that.

 

Great thank you!

 

Since you're on basic fire roads mixed with pavement, 25 PSI should be a happy medium. It will noticeably soften the ride a some and allow you to stay at somewhat higher speeds on the pavement. The folks going down to 20 and below are generally doing above average technical obstacles and need more contact for traction. Just keep in mind that the lower you go, the higher the risk you have of blowing the bead ( popping the tire off the RIM ) when you're doing more technical obstacles. Drop down to what you're comfortable with and as your experience grows, drop it more to what your experience tells you.

 

16 psi.

 

It really depends on several factors. How long is the paved road, how much did you air down, how fast are you going, etc... If you're just going a few miles on some surface streets, and you only aired down to 20psi, you should be more than fine to just leave it.

But if you're going to need to get on the freeway for 20 or 30 miles, and you aired down to 15, I would definitely recommend airing back up.

I used to have a crappy small compressor and a tire gauge, so when I was just driving on forest roads, I rarely bothered to air down because it was a PITA to air down and back up and took forever. I now have a good compressor (

$240 Viair 400p - 40043 Portable Compressor Kit. Tire Pump, Truck/SUV Tire Inflator, For Up to 35" Tires

Viair 400p) and some auto deflators, so I'm more likely to air down now.

As others said, if you're just on forest roads, 18psi isn't really necessary. I'd agree that 25 would be a happy medium. But honestly, though, if you're just driving fire roads, you probably don't even "need" to air down at all. I've never needed tons of traction on your typical fire road, it's more of a comfort thing.

You just need to weigh the cost benefit (cost = time/effort, vs. benefit = slightly smoother ride).

Just experiment with it. See what works for you. I've aired down on some fire roads simply "because I can", but in at least some situations it wasn't worth it. My friend who didn't air down is either giving me dirty looks waiting for me to air back up, or he's already at the bar waiting for me, lol...

 

Awesome thanks for the advice. I just got myself a Vair 300P and a deflator so will have to test it out.

Looking forward to getting out there and playing now.

 

Trial and error. Check them often. If the tires are too hot to hold your hand on then the pressure is too low.