Airing Down

I know that your supposed to air down conditions like
Sand
Gravel
Mud
But what PSI for what condition?

 

It depends on how crazy you get. When you start doing the funky watusi with the front wheels turned, that's when you risk debeading a tire. Generally 12 PSI is safe if you drive moderately easy. It also depends on tire width vs rim width. Wide wheel with a narrow tire is more risky. Narrow wheel with a wider tire has less of a chance of debeading. If you go down to 10 PSI, your chance of debeading increases. If you plan to go down to the 6-8 range, you better have beadlocks. It's best To have a low pressure tire gauge.

 

I never knew anything about airing down until I got my taco a year ago, and found this site. Never thought about driving around like that, but in FL when our 2wd cars got stuck in the sand, we let half the air out and usually drove right out. Then a 5-10mph ride to the nearest air.

Then came my education ride, didn't air down like everyone else, about jarred my teeth out on those fast stretches. I said to self, air down next time, and I did when up in the mountains in NW Arkansas, where the back roads are rocks atop solid rock. The ride was very stiff, I only dropped down to 20psi, but the ride was so much better.

 

There are many, many factors involved in airing down. I don't have beadlocks so in deep snow, mud, and sand, I will go as low as 10-12psi. Moderate to hard mixed terrain off roading I'll run about 14psi. If its washboard, rocky, rough gravel roads, I'll drop to 15-18. Faster paced, not too rough, dirt and gravel I will drop to 20-25psi which helps the ride out a lot. it also depends on your access to air, to get back to highway pressures. If you don't have onboard air or a friend with a compressor, I wouldn't drop below 20 unless you are stuck. Tire type and load rating also plays a part in tire pressures. It's a good idea to experiment with tire pressure and see how your tires react.

 

As a general rule, if I'm offroading I air down to 16 psi. 20 or so if it's a light trail and I'm not worried about traction as much as I am concerned about not having a bumpy ride. But how low you can safely go also depends on your tires. With E rated KO2s I've never had an issue. Been as low as 6 psi when I got stuck in some deep sand once at 16 psi and that got me right out. Aired back up though as soon as I was on safer terrain.

 

Best to experiment. Your results will vary depending on your wheel and tire combo, driving style and terrain.

Because of the URD supercharger, I tend to drive a little faster than normal and mainly on rough desert terrain. I typically implement the faster is smoother mantra in my driving. I run a 285/70-r17 on a 11" wide rim. At 20psi, the truck feels very drifty in turns and reduced traction at any kind of speed. At 25psi, it feels stable enough to go HAM but i've gotten: 4" cut above bead, 2" vertical cut on sidewall and dented a rim while rock crawling. Had i been using an E-rated tire on a narrower rim, i'm sure I would never have encountered those incidents.

Start around 20 psi and go up or down in 2psi increments.

 

I have a 2011 DCSB with Michelin AT2s. I am often out on dirt roads/logging roads to travel for fishing. The roads travel would never be classed as "rock crawling", but do often require slow speeds and slogging through big mud puddles or & over rocks. In addition, here in NH & ME the problem of sharp shale cutting tires is also an issue. That being said, I have not dropped the PSI from 33 where I normally keep it. The truck rides fine and has never gotten me stuck. The only problem I had was with the OEM Rugged Trails which were very easy to cut with the sharp shale so I always carry a repair kit & compressor.

 

I have Cooper S/T Maxx tires. The tires have pretty good grip. I usually air down to about 20 psi. Softens the ride off-road, but I can still drive somewhere later to air up. I just wouldn't hit the highway with only 20 psi.

 

Hmm,

As others have stated this varies a lot.

General fire road/forestry roads I run about 20psi, give or take, sometimes I just leave them at road pressures depends on how long I'm out.

Sand/gravels. I drop to 15

Soft sand/snow/mud 12

Anything lower it's usually an emergency/trying to get unstuck moment and I quickly air back up. I wouldn't as others have said, ever go less then 8psi, your really pushing your luck.

Steve

 

This is my Ford and what can happen with 9PSI. After this, I ordered weld on beadlock rings. That's a 38" comp cut bogger. I had the 460 wound pretty tight. The guys watching said, "You would have made it if you hadn't debeaded a tire". This pic was after I got pulled up onto "higher ground". When it originally happened, most of the tire was under the surface of the mud/soup/oatmeal.

 

DAMN MAN

 

"Later that night, I spent $46 on pressure washing it"

 

LOL. I have my own pressure washer and a dedicated washdown area on my property. I wouldn't dare do that to the spray it yourself car wash people. I did park that truck, looking almost that bad, at the long term parking lot at the airport once. We drove straight from the mud to the airport and caught our flight.

 

Whenever my truck would get super nasty I'd park it in front of the financial aid/admissions office on campus, next to all the nice administrative staff vehicles. I thought it was a nice contrast.

 

Either I need bigger tires, or deeper mud, because I've never come home that full of mud.

 

This is right after it happened. I rolled down the window and looked out. There was no way I was opening the door, and especially no way I was stepping out. I climbed over my passenger and got out on "more solid" ground. When that truck is sitting flat on solid ground, that tube bumper is at about 3 feet.