AIR DOWN to ?????
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JK Junkie
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,802
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From: Kitchener
AIR DOWN to ?????
Hi everyone finally have my Jeep ready to do some offroading.... Teraflex 3" lift, Mickey Thompson 35" MTZ's on the MT classic rims with beadlocks.
Question what are you all airing down too on the different playing fields??? What PSI for.....
Mud?
Sand?
Shallow water?
Deeper water 3 feet?
And do you air down on trails maybe with some uneven paths, gravel, small slopes and hills(dirt or grass)??
Thanks in advance for any input....
Question what are you all airing down too on the different playing fields??? What PSI for.....
Mud?
Sand?
Shallow water?
Deeper water 3 feet?
And do you air down on trails maybe with some uneven paths, gravel, small slopes and hills(dirt or grass)??
Thanks in advance for any input....
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 180
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From: Warner Robins, GA
I have the most of my experience in the sand......
the deeper the sand the lower I go
good place to start is the low 20s if I find I m working to hard I go lower
I have been in some pretty deep sand in a stock grand cherokee...... 18psi will pretty much get you through anything in the sand.
as far as other places I ll leave that to more qualified rock crawlers!
the deeper the sand the lower I go
good place to start is the low 20s if I find I m working to hard I go lower
I have been in some pretty deep sand in a stock grand cherokee...... 18psi will pretty much get you through anything in the sand.
as far as other places I ll leave that to more qualified rock crawlers!
JK Junkie
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 3,817
Likes: 4
From: Covington, LA
I usually air to 12-14psi. I would try out 18-20 and air down until you feel what your looking for. If you feel like your struggling, drop a psi or two. Most will tell you it depends on the tires and how they perform under certain psi. I run KM2's.
Thread Starter
JK Junkie
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,802
Likes: 3
From: Kitchener
Yeah I was thinking 12 PSI and see how it goes.... I have a Viair compressor to play with.
Also was wondering on plain gravel back roads with some dirt hills and slopes..., I guess airing down wouldn't hurt.... Right?
Also was wondering on plain gravel back roads with some dirt hills and slopes..., I guess airing down wouldn't hurt.... Right?
JK Super Freak
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,441
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From: Bradenton, FL
Originally Posted by planman
You want to air down enough so that you have a really good bulge on the bottom portion of the tire as evidence that the tire is pliable enough to wrap around rocks or obstacles and have higher floatation on sand, mud, or snow.
In addition to being able to wrap around terrain, lower psi has the effect of lengthening the contact area of the tire to the ground--kind of like a tank track.
Your ideal psi offroad also is dependent on the weight of your rig and the load range/service rating of your tires. Load range E tires are ubber stiff and require airing down more than you would with a load range C tire.
Anyway, this is the logic and why you air down. It is also why on a 35" tire on a JK, you need to get below 15 psi to have a meaningful increase in traction and 10-12 psi is really where you should be in most cases. A load range E tire in deep snow is often run under 5 psi.
It is not easy to lose a bead on a tire. You typically need most of the vehicle weight allocated to one tire at a hard angle to peel off a bead.
In almost 8 years of frequent wheeling, it has only happened to one of our jeeps--we wheel 2-3 at a time. It was on a 4 door Rubi with a sharp downhill turn with the vehicle weight heavily allocated to the passenger front tire. We only lost the outside bead. The inside was fine. We put a hi-lift jack under it to take the weight off the tire and aired it back up to about 30 psi. The bead reset. We aired it back down to 10 psi and wheeled the rest if the day with no problems. Then, that jeep pulled a camper trailer home on the 350+ mile drive.
Long answer, but more than 15 psi is a waste of time and will piss off the experienced wheelers in your group if you have problems with any obstacles.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
In addition to being able to wrap around terrain, lower psi has the effect of lengthening the contact area of the tire to the ground--kind of like a tank track.
Your ideal psi offroad also is dependent on the weight of your rig and the load range/service rating of your tires. Load range E tires are ubber stiff and require airing down more than you would with a load range C tire.
Anyway, this is the logic and why you air down. It is also why on a 35" tire on a JK, you need to get below 15 psi to have a meaningful increase in traction and 10-12 psi is really where you should be in most cases. A load range E tire in deep snow is often run under 5 psi.
It is not easy to lose a bead on a tire. You typically need most of the vehicle weight allocated to one tire at a hard angle to peel off a bead.
In almost 8 years of frequent wheeling, it has only happened to one of our jeeps--we wheel 2-3 at a time. It was on a 4 door Rubi with a sharp downhill turn with the vehicle weight heavily allocated to the passenger front tire. We only lost the outside bead. The inside was fine. We put a hi-lift jack under it to take the weight off the tire and aired it back up to about 30 psi. The bead reset. We aired it back down to 10 psi and wheeled the rest if the day with no problems. Then, that jeep pulled a camper trailer home on the 350+ mile drive.
Long answer, but more than 15 psi is a waste of time and will piss off the experienced wheelers in your group if you have problems with any obstacles.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
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Thread Starter
JK Junkie
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,802
Likes: 3
From: Kitchener
Originally Posted by SAR JK
I just got a set of the Rugged Ridge Adjustable Tire Deflators. They look solid and I'm eager to give them a try.
What do you use as a tire deflator?
What do you use as a tire deflator?
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: Brazil
I'm used to wheel with a brazillian jeep style, called troller. And we loose bead with 16 lbs. I've lost two beads in a day with 17lbs. The troller weights more and is diesel powered, mine was 240cv. Only to be clear, I used maxxis creepy 35x12,5 with 15x8 steel wheels.
What is a safe point to air down, since I have maxxis trepador 35x12,5 with stock wheel in a JK X 2007, 2dr?
Thanks.
What is a safe point to air down, since I have maxxis trepador 35x12,5 with stock wheel in a JK X 2007, 2dr?
Thanks.