How vital is it to air down?

appreciate the info guys, now i know why i got stuck in the sand last time, i was running 62psi Thank god for the forums.

 

62!!!!!

I run 40 on the street and it's borderline high pressure

 

62 psi is crazy man...even for the street, tires must have been like the little rubber super bouncy balls. bouncin all over the place. i think 45 psi on stock tires is all you need at the absolute max!

 

on the Hwy running my SSR Radials I ran 25psi in the front and 20 in the rear. thats where they laid flat.

off-road regardless I run 12psi in the front and 10psi in the rear. It not only give better traction in the Mud, rock, and sand. but it also helps from getting tire punctures.

But now I have a set of 33" Bias TSL super swampers. they will never see over 10psi. "Evil Laugh"

 

yea i used to run ssr radials on my old 91 yota pickup... i ran them at 15psi on the road and would drop them to like 5 offroad.....

 

yeah there great tires. but everyone should air down. I makes the ride so much better wheeling and helps traction. so its a win win.

 

appreciate the info. again guys. still learning alot.

 

Looks like you answered your own question... LOL

I go to OBX (Outer Banks, North Carolina) several times a year (just got back again) and there's a couple of peaches where the sand if firm. If I'm just going back and forth to those beaches from our room, then I don't air down because of the inconveneince (I'm working on my on-board air now).
These are like the Oregon Inlet or Corolla beach just past the end of the road.

Places lke Ocracoke, where the sand is soft and you have to ride over a dune to get to and from the beach, you'll get buried in a hurry. Nags head is soft too.

I air down to 16psi. Not sure why I like that number, but that's what I do in the sand. If I'm on rocks / harder terrain I usually drop to 20.

 

This site is so awesome. Even though I haven't taken my taco off road yet there is a lot of info in just this thread alone. I went wheelin and both vehicles did air down but my friend is a scuba guy and had something to hook up a scuba tank and air up. This small pump seems ideal for me since im no scuba guy.

 

yeah those portable pumps work pretty good for the occasional Wheeler.

 

If you air down tires, is it still ok to use chains on the tires?

 

In my sig I'm going about 30-35 mph at PISMO with my tires at 8 PSI... no problems with the bead... and as you can see I was basically drifting

 

As a rule, no. Chains are designed some pretty specific dimensions and airing down can change those to the point where you risk throwing a chain. You can push the limits if your are comfortable with more risk and with your abilities to judge whether damage is being done to the chain or tire, but for the most part, it's safe to assume that chains were designed to be used at or near street pressure.

Of course, this assumes that you walked in a bought chains off the shelf that matched your tire size. You can get chains made that are specifically for aired down use, but for most of us, that's an expense that doesn't make a lot of practical sense.

 

Also, When you go Rock Crawling.... If you do use 4Lo. Iv been on 2 big trips now where iv seen guys smoking clutches on stupid small stuff, because they did not follow my lead and put there Junk in Lo Range.... just and FYI

 

What about in snow?

 

just as if not more important in snow...more surface area = more traction

 

here ya go with the "what about snow" should be all the answer you need

 

And Tree Stumps!

 

amyone who says more air for offraod use is better, is just ignorant....thats plain fact.