i am going wheelin for the first time this weekend at a offroad park (rausch creek). i have 33x12.50R17 cooper discoverer st and i keep them inflated to 35 psi. alot of the guys that are going say to air down to 10 to 15 psi. now i asked my boss at work (has been doing tires for 30+ years) and he says that it really isn t worth puncturing a sidewall, or ripping lugs off.

so what do some of you guys think on this? i am not worried about airing up, i have a small compressor and many guys have OBA. let me know.

 

For me, it depends on what type of wheelin and what type of conditions. Snow, the lower the better to a degree 10-15 on stock Ruby tires, sand the same. Rock I go about 15-20. Mud 15. We have yet to hurt the tires that came stock on our Ruby's but the tires you have might get more hurt. The Discount Tire guy might help better.

Kat

 

Airing down will not puncture a sidewall - driving too fast while aired down and hitting a rock can. As far as ripping lugs off - honestly, I have never heard of this before. Is it possible you misunderstood him when he was suggesting that you could bust a bead? Because, that can happen but is really no big deal as your tire can be reseated.

Airing down is something I would highly recommend as it will provide a wider foot print on the trail and one that will wrap around rocks and obsticals essentially giving you significantly greater traction. Another benefit to airing down is that you will find your ride over washboard or rough roads to be much much more comfortable. Trust me, this is something you want to do.

 

well no ripping lugs off is quite common in medium truck tires (tractor trailers). i ve been doing tires for 7 years and ripping lugs off, wether it is because of the weight i don t know but i have seen them rip off donw to the cords. i think i ll go 15 psi. i m even considering dropping down from 35 to 28 or so. thanks for the help.

 

follow your fellow wheelers who have more exp. lead. Airing down will give you a larger contact patch(traction) and will eliminate unnecessary tire spinning(wear) people do it for a reason, and as you learn the terrain you can modify you tire pressure to fit your needs.

 

Ohhhh, you're talking about what I refer to as 'chunking'. LOL!! Well, so far as I know, this has nothing to do with airing down and everything to do with rubber compound used, how soft it is and wheel spin on the rocks. Even with soft rubber, go easy on the gas and you should help prevent this from happening. What kind of tires are you running anyway?

 

He is running the Cooper Discover ST's in 33x12.50 on stock 17's

 

Was your boss saying that wheelin wasn't worth the chance of tearing something up or just airing down wasn't worth it?


Howdy

 

Airing down will dramatically improve your traction especially in some terrain like sand. There's really no more danger to the sidewall then what is already present when going off-road.

 

I still have the stock 32" highway tires and I air down to 22 psi, my lower back and kidneys thank me everytime. The only negative I've experienced was when I pinched and ripped the side wall on one tire. I was climbing a rock, slipped off a small ledge and pinched the sidewall. I would like to think it wouldn't have happened with a fully aired up tire but I'm too new to offroading to know.