tire psi?

hey, i've been experimenting with running at different numbers, but i was wondering what psi everyone else runs their tires at while hitting the trails/mud?

 

Generally I'll run 25-30psi on long dirt road/rough/washboard conditions (light wheeling), 15-20psi in real rocky stuff or certain consistancies of snow (low psi if you can stay on top of it, higher psi if you need to cut/dig through it) low speed-head out the window wheeling, 10-12psi in the real hairy stuff/ rock crawling/ 5mph stuff basically. Anything lower than 15 and you are in the "bead popping zone" where there is a chance you can basically push the tire into the rim recess causing a flat if you dont have a bead lock system (drive "tire smart" at this psi). If you're still running the stock sized tires you should probably stay at 20psi or above when wheeling just because they don't have a whole lot of sidewall cushon area and you can easily pinch the sidewall= bye bye tire. With beadlocks you can run 6-8psi with a larger tire.

If you're running the kind of mud where you need to keep your speed up you should run 20-25psi to avoid bead popping and still get more tread on the ground. If it's just nasty between the rocks and you're going slow you'll want to be in the 15-20 psi to get maximum footprint traction. Go lower if you think it will help but remember to watch out for pinching the sidewall against the wheel, or "pushing" the bead off. For a popped bead: spray bead/inside tire with WD-40, stand back in a running stance, flick a match at the tire and run away! then pump the tire back up to the desired PSI. (NO, NOT safe, you did not hear this from me... And take the wheel off the truck before doing this...)

 

I run down to about 19 so get better traction and smoother ride on rocks, yet I can still drive on the street a bit if need be. If its real technical wheeling or real soft sand, I can see running 12-15 or so. Just have to watch the speed and abruptness at low PSI

 

Those posts don't really relate to his question .

Great answer from NVdeserted, just didn't include sand, but follow up post by Relentless covered it.

I used 20psi for light wheeling with Timmer this past weekend, that seemed to work fine and provided a nicer ride. 20psi for lightl;y packed sand works, 10-15psi for the real soft stuff.

 

I have 15x8 rockcrawler rims with 35x12.50's on my jeep and we run about 12psi when offroading.

My offroading is mostly rocks.

 

On my '75 CJ-5 I had a similar wheel setup, I wouldn't even touch the dirt at more than 12PSI, that thing was so short and bouncy I had to air-down just to compensate for the rough ride (when asked what kind of suspension? I'd say "Mudders at 10psi"). Sure is nice having such a smooth ride with the taco suspension... I'll usually be about an hour into wheeling in the TRD before I remember to adjust the tire pressure down.

 

i run 30