Beach Tire pressure

just purchased Falken Wildpeak AT3's (265/70/17) and put them on TRD Pro Sema wheels.
I know this is a popular set up and was wondering if anyone can tell me what psi the run them at for the beach.

 

Given that I have no idea what the sand is like on the beach you plan to drive, I will give a guess for you based on what I air down to on our Oregon sand.

12-18psi for wet semi packed sand.
8-10psi for super dry loose sand.

Your mileage may vary depending on what kind of sand you have.

 

I can tell you that I ran about 25 PSI last time I was on the beach and it was too high. Definitely stay under 20psi.

 

Yeah, 25psi will sometimes work until you stop aimed slightly uphill, then you'll dig down trying to get going again. Well under 20psi will serve fruitfull.

Also, truck loadout takes some consideration. Using the same psi numbers for all four tires does not equal actual contact patch outcome.

Stock unloaded trucks will be front heavy and you will need to have the rear tire pressures several psi lower than the front to get the contact patch to lengthen appropriately.

Rear heavy trucks might be closer to equal contact patches on all four tires, so knowing your loadout weight prior can help decide which way to go per axle.

 

15-18 for most of my beach driving. We have some pretty sugary sand here in some spots and never have issues.

 

Since I don't have onboard air and drive about 20-30 miles on road from beach, I only drop to about 20psi. 15 is better. That's on Wildpeaks also but it doesn't seem to matter the brand to me.

 

If you do this regularly, having an air source on board would be highly suggested. Money well spent, even if you have to go with a cheaper slower compressor at first.

 

Another old trick to use if you don't care so much about the actual pressure, than having all four tires have equal contact patch.

While still on solid ground just before hitting the sand, measure each rim from the edge closest to ground to the actual ground.

Air down this tire 25% of the number you started with.

Example, say your rim is 6" from the ground. Reduce the distance by 1.5". Now your rim is 4.5" from the ground. This should net you an ~200% increase of your effected contact patch (front to back, not side to side).

If your truck is front heavy, you will find that you will remove less psi up front than you did in the rear to get this 25% drop in the rim distant to the ground.

You can perform this air down test in your levelish driveway in whatever loadout you plan to replicate on the sand.

Once you have all of your rims 25% closer to the ground, measure and note down your resulting psi per tire. You can then easily air down to these psi numbers knowing you'll have the tires aired down to the right point to achieve equal contact even if you are already on the sand when you decide to air down.

 

Some of you guys make things way more complicated than it has to be. Air the thing down to 15 give or take a couple and have fun.

 

18psi.

 

If you are referring to my responses, yes these are a bit wordy for those that have miles of experience behind them on various types of sand.

However, newbies can learn a trick or two prior to getting helplessly stuck with some air down tips that include more info than just air down to ##psi and run with it.

Using one psi for all four tires on a truck isn't always that cut and dry.

 

I've run 10 miles of beach at 36 PSI.
Hardest shell ever work.
Drop down to 16 and get ready to drop down again to 12

 

I wouldn’t say it’s over wordy good information really but honestly it really is that cut and dry. Just keep in mind less psi is not a guarantee you won’t get stuck so always go prepared and also you will have to air back up before you go home but you don’t need measurements and mathematics to air your tires down. You need a pressure gauge and a little common sense.

 

Common sense starts with getting a good mental wrap around what you are attempting to accomplish.

However, taking specific tire pressure numbers from strangers from around the globe without knowing anything about what rig, loadout, tire size and terrain they drive is less productive in preparing a new sand driver to be successful.

You clearly know what works for you, with your setup, on the sand you drive on gained from years of experience.

I do as well.

However, my experience has told me that no particular psi works for all trucks, tires, loadout or sand consistency. Therefore a little simple setup testing for a particular loadout always nets me best results.


You do you.

OP can take none, some or all of the suggestions and see what works for him.

 

The Milwaukee tire inflator works great, buy the bigger one

 

during my trip thru cali I spent a day @Oceana Dunes. Started at 23psi dropped down to 12 after a few.

I have the 12v. Love it. I keep eyeing their dc charger. One day when I know I'm going to need it, but, I have a bucket full of batteries.

 

15

 

What is the lowest PSI I can safely go down to on the stock wheels and tires?