tire pressure for sand

[thewishkah]

Ok so I got 31x10.5s and I would like to go off roading to the beach this saturday and im not sure what pressure I should air down too, any help would be great , oh its a 94 xlt if thats any help.

 

[unclemeat]

It depends on several things. If you do not have on board air or a tank I would not go to much below 24. Otherwise 20 to 24 psi should do the trick. If you get stuck or have trouble traversing the sand lower the tire pressure.

 

[EMG7895]

Usually I go down to about 15-12 but when I go there are air stations to refill

 

[Blee1099]

It all depends on the sand.. If its hard & packed, then run around 20 PSI.. If its soft like the sand I go thru in Delaware surf fishing, I highly suggest dropping down to 15 atleast.. Most places have air stations within a mile from the road. I know in Delaware there are air stations at most of the 4x4 access points on the beach. Not sure how it is up near you, but I would find out before dropping your pressure anymore.

 

[GJarrett]

With stock rims I'd be very hesitant to go below 18 psi.... going 12-15 psi would greatly increase your chance of breaking a bead on the rim and getting a flat. 24 psi isn't going to be that low and not much different at low speeds than a fully-aired tire.

I've ran 18-20psi on the trail for a long time (and still do even with larger tires), don't have any problems, and that's low enough to gain the advantages of extra traction. I've seen beads fail at 15psi on stock rims and near-stock size tires like you have. That's rockcrawling-type of fourwheeling though and not sand wheeling, so maybe there's less chance of breaking a bead i the sand, I don't know. If you do decide to try 12-15psi make sure you've got onboard air to go back up a little in all of your tires if you bust a bead and end up on your spare.

 

[ksaldibar]

ur definitely going to fort tilden? lol let me know because if its worth it i might have to go there to get my next gateway permit.

-kenny

 

[Arnie897]

Everytime I go dune running I air down to 8-10psi depending on how "fluffy" the sand is. Air is right outside the entrance for me and I carry a spare just incase of bead breakage.

 

[GJarrett]

That proves I didn't know what I was talking about and why I mentioned that maybe sand was different - I suppose you won't have the rock hits and sideways sidewall flexing issues like you would rockcrawling and so you'll have less chance of blowing a bead while simply floating on the sand. 8-10psi sounds real low to me unless you use beadlocks - have you blown a bead running that low on sand?

 

[Blee1099]

you really shouldn't have an issue with popping a bead when you air down to 15 PSI.. I've done it on numerous occasions while surf fishing and never had an issue with it. Just be sure to air down before hitting the sand, its fun to see people who don't air down fly into to the sand and then start spinning wheels.

 

[thewishkah]

Lol ok so last night around 7:30 before checking back in here I decided to "jump in" and just locked my hubs put it in 4x4 and first gear, and went , no I didnt air down, Stupid I know, but man was it fun it was dark and cold but my turck took it like a champ no slipage, didnt dig in I was on avg of 15 mph , now I have a ? I put it into 2nd and it sounded like i was in neutral (high rev no power) is this normal in 4x4? or where my tires spinning as i was still moving? I drove about quater mile down the beach before I turned it back around then went a quater mile in the other direction past the entrance an then back out, I wanted to explore some more but with out the permit, and being there after dark I decided against it and left, got out, unlocked the hubs , took it out of 4x4 and then put it in 2nd and it worked fine ? any help with this would be great.

 

[thewishkah]

I do have a portable air tank, speedair, so I guess I should fill it and bring it with me next time. so I can air down with out worrying about running on low psi on the road after when I need to refill

 

[Arnie897]

have you blown a bead running that low on sand?

I don't run bead locks on the Explorer or my CJ-7 and I've never blown a bead at that low of a pressure. The guys that I see blowing beads out there are the ones that are trying to whip donuts in the sand, or going right into the mud at that low of a pressure. I'm too much of a wuss and too top heavy to try donuts on anything other than ice.

I do have a portable air tank, speedair, so I guess I should fill it and bring it with me next time. so I can air down with out worrying about running on low psi on the road after when I need to refill

I take mine a mile or two down the road at that PSI also when I have to. It drives like I have no power steering though.

 

[Brans Freestyle]

When I had my 97 2wd I would air down to 8-10 PSI in the front and 8 PSI in the rear. Since I was 2wd I needed all the low tire pressure I could get, and I never popped a bead, partially because I never took any corners too sharp at high speeds.

This was on stock 15 inch rims with stock 28.? tires.

 

[02BLK_Limited]

I run low-pro's on both of my vehicles, so I'm always around 40-50PSI in either, but when I used to drive on tires with a decent size sidewall... airing a flat tire up to 10PSI would barely get the rim off the ground... Is this how you guys drive in the sand? Just curious, I've never went off-roading in my explorer.

 

[Arnie897]

The type of tire you run will determine how far down the tire "droops." Some superswampers are thick enough that you couldn't even tell they were at that psi where other tires will look like the rim is almost on the ground as you said.

 

[unclemeat]

Be careful driving in sand without airing down at least a little bit. The sand will put a large strain on your drivtrain. Automatic transmissions are notorious for overheating when running in sand with street tire pressure. If you drive much in the sand without airing down then it may be a good time to replace yout auto transmission fluid. A half mile should not hurt to much. Also use low range.

 

[thewishkah]

pics

 

[351wExplorer]

i run 10 in the rear and 12 up front, thats at silver lake. ive never had a problem losing a tire from the bead and i was running 32x11.50 on 15x10 rims... now i got 315x75x16 on 16x10s, (35x12.50x16) and plan on the 10 in back and 12 up front

 

[Creager]

ive always ran 20 psi

 

[Sport4x4]

if its a really packed beach, you probably won't have to air down at all. I haven't had my explorer on the dunes yet, but intended to soon, with my ranger i ran 12-15 on a 15x8 with a 31x10.50 just fine. i'll probably drop my 265/75s to 15 on the stock 16x7 rims when i hit up the dunes for the first time in a month or so.