Baja Beach 4WD: 32 psi to 15 psi, see the difference!

Good call. I can't imagine it drawing that many amps.. the bed outlet gives what.. 4-5 amps?

EDIT: Ok so I looked it up and it has between 3.3-3.5 amps.. wow, thats it? I also have a good power inverter that would do the trick instead.. will fiddle with it later.

 

Yup... thought you should not get a surprise in the boonies if you needed to air up! It does work the 110v air mattress pump fine, however!

 

Yep, when I was a kid we belonged to a camping club. There was a really cool old timer with an old flat fender jeep with the skinny military tires on it. He would air down and take all of us kids for rides. That little Jeep went any and everywhere with nary a problem. I never forgot that, to air down that is.

 

Dave, I finally found the spec sheet it says it only draws 2 amps so it should work.

It's still a good deal if u want a little bigger/faster air compressor to run off the bed outlet, its got a 1 gallon 'pancake tank' that fills pretty quick.

 

Don't trust the sheet... plug it in and try it adding air to tires (back pressure included) which will cause a load on the pump motor. Then when you know, you are golden! Have fun!

 

Here's a video done on the East Coast that confirms lowering to 15 psi works just as well on their beaches as it does on ours!:

http://youtu.be/NTnkxrEnt7A

 

Funny thing... well, maybe funny...?

My precision air gauge I have had for many years was off by 7 psi when compared to a brand new one from the pro tool supplier... and it was off by 6 psi from my wife's dial gauge, when I check it (so her's is off by just 1)... A third gauge also compared to mine confirmed mine was off.

When I thought I was at 15 psi, I was really at 22 psi! Filled up to what I thought was 32 psi was really 39 psi!

So, I achieved floation at a much higher pressure (22 psi) which also supports my findings that TRAC limited slip in H4 is a great tool in the sand, as well.

I am going back to Baja in a week and will do more 'testing'!

 

Leaving in an hour for Baja... same great beach... and a new, accurate gauge! If 22 psi was great with TRAC... wonder what 15 real psi will do (if I even lower it that much lol).

 

yup letting some air out of your tire can really save your ass in beach sand, don't understand why ppl insist on running though powder with fully inflated tires.

 

At least one of us who comes upon a poor motorist stuck in sand, can save their day by letting air out of the tires!

As a follow up, my last Baja beach driving trip (July 4th weekend) was the first one with my Hankook Dynapro ATm's and lowered them to 18 psi and that worked just fine... It was 50% of the normal pressure I run on the pavement (36 psi).

 

got any more details on this new Air Guage, brand, model number, price, where to buy. Ive been thinking about getting a new gauge myself.

 

It was a Fathers Day gift... brand: VIAIR, a 0-60 psi gauge with an air release lock feature so you don't have to hold the button while deflating. It screws onto the tire valve, so it makes for a great deflater, but a not so fast checker. But, being sold as an accurate gauge, I compared it with another 'quick check' dial gauge, and I use that one to check pressure.

Our son works at a off road fab shop, and he may have got it from the Snap-On truck?

 

how about a pic if you get a chance

 

New tires: Hankook Dynapro ATm (265/75-16) since Feb.


The deep track is driving onto the beach the night before, at full pressure... I deflated soon after this point, as the truck was bogging in.


Lowered 50% of street pressure (18 psi from 36 psi), the truck has floatation.




It's nice to drive with ease even in the softest sand that is above the high tide line, in the dunes!

 

Just went to their web site...
It is the one on the left #00032

 

sweet thanks ill check it out

 

Just a head up. I am in New Mexico, and play in the sand (I live in the middle of the desert) and I have a TRD Sport with the 110 outlet in the bed. Lowes carries a Cambell Hausfeld air compressor, 2 gallon, that will run off the bed outlet. It's about $100, it's a little cheaper at tractor supply. The outlet is rated at 400W when idling, (see the cheap mods thread on how to turn it on all the time) and the compressor only pulls 2 amps. Do some public school math, carry the 1, it comes out to 220W (power (watts)=voltage X current)so, 110X2=220. I never go in the mountains for four wheeling, or go out in the desert without it in my tool box. Doesn't need oil, and will save your bacon out in the field.
Just my $0.02
T8R

 

Have you timed how long to add a measured amount of air to the tires?

I have timed the cigarette lighter plug in ones (Coleman, etc.) and they add 2 psi per minute.

I got the Harbor Freight one in 2006 that clips onto the battery and it can add 6 psi per minute... it is still working (although the wire gets real hot, the fuse melts and it has shut down to cool!).




Last year, I was given another pump that works very well, and just a tad slower at 5 psi per minute.

 

psi per minute would be dependent on tire size. 1 psi in a 29" tire is a lot less air than 1 psi in a 33" tire.

 

I bought me something SImilar to this Weeeeeeeee