How vital is it to air down?

you should never go wheelin without "spare air" that way you are never stuck

 

I get down to about 18 all the way around....Fronts a little high must have a benefit cause you do it....What is the thought behind that??

 

Yeah we usually Air down to about 16lbs all around on my brothers truck...it makes a huge difference.

 

Having an equal contact patch all the way around.

 

15-20 lbs when I go in the sand.

 

Should I be airing down on semi dirt roads covered with rocks? (4-6 inch rocks)

What kind of compressors do u guys suggest?

 

Because with a PreRunner you would only be adding to the rolling resistance of the vehicle by airing down the front tires.

 

This would smooth out your ride a bit.

Ordered from Amazon.com Q industries MV50 superflow hi-volume air compressor

 

thanks

 

i've aired down a few times in tough offroad conditions and it make a huge difference. The first time I ran my truck in open sand dunes I tried running street pressure and after going 100ft, I decided it would be hopeless not to air down. I went to 20psi and it was night and day difference.

 

Airing down will give you a bigger contact area of the tire with the ground, most people think it's a wider contact patch, but the real deal is a longer contact area will be achieved thus more flotation.

 

Always air down. Even if you don't need the increased traction it makes the ride muuuch smoother.

Timmer, I hear you on the "I did that in 2wd" when they have the option to put it in 4x... check out the chunks missing from their back tires.

 

noobie question: if i aired my tires down to 20 psi, would it be okay for hitting the concrete after?

 

Turns/corners would/could be dangerous under power.Just remember to slow down more then you would normally.Less psi means more side wall flex.

 

i air down because you get more traction and it rides much smoother through the choppy stuff

 

airing down can be your best friend when offroading. not only does it give a larger contact area between the tire and ground but it allows the tire to contour to the rocks and always keep contact with them.. on mild trails i usually dont air down at all but when i'm gonna be offroad for longer periods or on tougher trails i do. when i air down i go all out and drop them to 12-14 lbs all the way around.. so far this has worked great for me and provides amazing amounts of traction on the rocks.

as far as hitting the road aired down.. i've done it plenty of times.. made 15 miles runs from harlan trails back out to the hotel multiple days in a row. just be prepared to be freaked out at first at how sloppy the truck feels and DO NOT make any drastic maneuvers.. usually when i do this i keep the speed down a bit to help avoid emergency maneuvering.

 

I air down to 15 PSI with my 35x12.5's on 15x8's, the minute I leave the pavement. How much further down I go, depends upon the terrain. As low as 4 PSI or so in soft snow or loose sand, 10-12 ish for rocks and I stay at 15 ish for general trail use.

Keep in mind, for most tires, you don't really see much benefit until you start to get down below 15. Then the benefits increase greatly with each lb you go down.

This page might help add some value to this discussion:

http://www.nwtoys.com/reference/airing-down-tires

 

yup your right on that.. but one thing to keep in mind also is it depends on the tire/wheel combo and sizes as to how far you can safely go down without popping beads all day. i've never had issues with my 285/75's on an 8" wide wheel at 12-14 but a friend had all kinds of trouble with his 285/75's on a 9" wide wheel at the same pressure.

 

time for an sas