What psi do you guys air down to,when offroading trails,ruts,sand and other obstacles? Does it depend on what size tires you have? What is the the lowest you can/would safely go? I have never aired mine down before and was thinking about trying this. My tires are 30 x 9.50. The rims are stock. Any thoughts,tips would be appreciated.

Tim

in the sand I aird my down to around 8-10psi. It worked well...the MTR's side walls are pretty stiff though so it didn't even look like I aired down that much.

I go anywhere from 35-20 while offroading, depending on the conditions. Sand would be lower still.

I usually go anywhere from 12-15. :) That's with 33's though.

When I go onto sand at OBX, I run about 18 psi. This is with stock 235/75/R15 tires. That and always 4x4, LO at times. Never had trouble. Ground clearance on soft and sugary sand can be a problem. Saw several jimmy styles stuck to the rails on last trip. Doesn't seem to be problem for the Ex.;)

For smaller "stock" tires I wouldn't go below about 18. You risk popping the tires off the rim. But now I go down to about 14-15 on rocks, 12 on sand.

So 20 psi sounds like a safe bet. I'll see how it looks. What about snow? Would you want to air down in the snow?

Tim

When we first started wheeling and learned about airing down I was tought the height method..

Measure how far off the ground your rim is.. and then drop the pressure until it is 3/4ths the height you started at.

This will lower the pressure enough to increase the contact patch but not enough to increase the risk of popping a bead.

After a while I started to drop the pressure more and more (we have also increase tire size to 32x11.50)..

Now when we wheel I run 20psi max.. and if I really need traction I drop it to 13psi.. Still haven't poppped a bead..

Keep in mind that as you lower the tire pressure to get more traction you also lower the lowest point of your truck (ground clearance)... So lower it enough to get more traction, but if you bottom out on everything the extra traction won't help if the tires are off the ground.

~Mark

for the snow it all depends how deep it is. Normal street driving in snow or 2-3 inches you are fine at your normal pressure. if it is really deep it could provide more surface area and better traction to air down but for the most part I dont thing you need to. I never have really dont that and I have been in plenty of snow before.

Stock size bfg's - Rocks 25 psi. Sand 20-25 psi. Snow 0"-1' 35 psi. This is what I generally do. I would go lower but it is a compromise between ground clearance.

Well its amzing to see everyone use all sorts of different air presure. Kinda fun to read.:D

I can say I run about 8-12 psi in the rocks with my street rims on. 3-5 psi with the beadlocks on.

I run 10 psi for sand but 30 psi and alot of throttle is more fun.

I only run my beadlocks in the snow and thats because I'll drop the pressure to 1-3 psi for snow. Bigger the foot print the more flotation you get which is a good thing in 3+ feet of snow.

36 x 12.50 Swampers !:eek: :eek:
I could fit em' if I took my fenders off!;)
Now theres a goal to shoot for !:D :bounce:

Tim

Yeah 36s are cool to have on. But I'd like to run a 36x14.50 instead of 12.50. Thats after an axle swap though.:)

i run about 15 - 20 dependinf on condidtions on my 15x10 wheels...

I really only ever air down for the beach... and i run 36psi on the street so i go down to 20-18 psi on the sand... btw i have stock rims and stock size goodyear at/s's and i dont ever have a problem...


Mike

i just saw my post and i didnt say what i ment to... the ONLY thing i air down for is the beach... i never have a problem in snow..


Mike

Here's an interesting article..
http://www.4x4now.com/sfjun96.htm

Tim

What method, or what devices do you use/recommend for airing down tires? How do they work?

i usually air down to around 11 psi for the island beach state park in nj....w/ 17's

I run the door sticker pressure on the street.

Last time I was at the Sand Dunes here in CO. we aired down to about 17psi. for all tires. These are 31x10.50's Bridgestone Deuller A/T's. The Ol Explorer could roll through there no problem. Even about twice as slow as the others.

PLEASE air down Prior to entering a sand pit as it makes a huge mess (Funny to watch) when people don't until they are stuck. And ger the Minivan out of the friggin way!! LOL

There was a huge line waiting to go through the Sand Pits at the sand dunes and people get PISSED when they have to wait for some arse that thought his F-250 with 50psi could make it through. Then they air down. Duh! There is a big a$$ sign telling you to air down. It really works.

Originally posted by Fischer
PLEASE air down Prior to entering a sand pit as it makes a huge mess (Funny to watch) when people don't until they are stuck. And ger the Minivan out of the friggin way!! LOL

There was a huge line waiting to go through the Sand Pits at the sand dunes and people get PISSED when they have to wait for some arse that thought his F-250 with 50psi could make it through. Then they air down. Duh! There is a big a$$ sign telling you to air down. It really works.

What do you mean...that doesn't happen.....Oh wait...what wrong with the silver F250 in this pic.:D :rolleyes:

Classic pic. That guy us sunk to his axles. Ha Ha!


We helped the guy air down in the Sand Dunes that was stuck, good Ol' Colorado Hospitality. He made it out fine after that. And someone was nice enough to lend him a pump for later on the hwy. What a dumb lucky dumb a$$..LOL

Yeah that was my dumb ass buddie...not thinking too well. We drank a LOT the night before...so we layed off slightly.

Here's another shot.

Oh gosh, this is embarrassing but I did that before. I was in Wilmington and there was an area where you can drive your 4x4 vehicles on the beach. For some of you guys, you might remember this thread posted in April...

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=47084&highlight=shop

Well, I went in without airing down my tires and used 4WD AUTO instead of LOW. It was my very first time going offroad so I was a complete amateur at it. Anyways...I knew I was gonna get stuck so I stupidly stopped the truck, put it in 4Low and tried to go.

Well, there was a truck passing by and he told me to engage 4WD. I said "I did, it's in 4Low." Then a bunch of other guys came over and tried to help out but without any luck. But you can get all the details on the other thread.

Gosh, it's sooooo embarrassing!!

Bumping an old thread here, but looking for some advice on sand pressure. I've been to the outer banks before with my 2003 EB Ex (17" BF tires) and aired down to 20psi with great results, no problems at all when bigger trucks couldn't make it over the dunes, etc.

Now I have a 2007 with the 18" lower profile tires on it. I'm concerned about airing them down to 20psi and loosing a bead. Does anyone know how far down you can go with the 18" stock tires and be ok?

Thanks.