My wife and I decided to make the run to Greenwater today, to check on the snow levels.

As we entered Greenwater, one of the local law enforcement folks had someone stopped just beyond the gas station. As we were starting to pass him, he turned and started to walk back to his SUV. He tool a good, LONG look at my tube bumper on the front as I drove past him. Yikes! Glad I didn't see him the rest of the day.

The town of Greenwater did not have snow, and we didn't run into any until we were several miles past, well into the logging roads.
We thought we would try the 72 loop, starting on 70. There was no snow in the gravel pit, but only a few miles beyond, it started to get interesting fast. Truck was doing fine, but it got deeper and deeper, and there was less and less places to turn off to allow another truck get by. Being by ourselves, I decided it might be prudent to turn around. We still had a LOT of elevation yet before we would start to drop back down.







Here's a plump grouse that didn't want to get out of the way (on 74)



All in all a good day. We also went to 74 and found the same thing...once you started to climb the service roads, it got deep fast.

Lots of elk hunters all over the place, too.

On a side note, I wonder sometimes if my truck would do better in the snow with a narrower tire. It does pretty well as is, but when it starts getting deep, it seems like it floats and slides sideways pretty easy.
Any suggestions?

Jim

 

Nice pics Jim, I was wondering if you were going up there or not.
That is a plump bird too, ready for the pot

 

I've never tried it, but I've always heard that thinner tires are better on snow and ice because they put more weight on a smaller footprint.

Nice photos!

 

Great pic's Jim.
I'll be done with soccer next weekend. After that my saturdays are free.
Maybe we can follow you up.
I just put new tires on (31-10.5) so i can compare.

 

In snow that you can cut down through to reach a higher traction surface, like the road, narrow tires can be beneficial. Here in a couple of weeks when the snow is deep enough that cutting down through it will result in becoming high centered, wider is much, much better for flotation.

 

How low are you airing your tires down to?

 

...I was running full air pressure that day. Perhaps I would get better results dropping to 15-18 lbs?

Jim

 

In snow especially, you don't see much improvement until you get under 15 PSI. For offroading, when you talk about airing down, there isn't much point to it if you are going to run more than that.

I can't help but laugh when I read posts where people write about "airing down" to 20 PSI! ahhahahhahahah That's a STREET pressure...

For each PSI below 15 you go, you will be able feel the difference in flotation.

 

how low can you go without beadlocks?

 

That depends upon your tire and wheel width, the way you drive and the terrain. I have 35x12.5's on 15x8's and I have been as low as 4PSI for extended periods for breaking trail in soft snow.

If you use a bit of due care and caution, you can go much lower than most people think. It's actually REALLY hard to debead a tire without trying at anything above 10 PSI.

 

See the attached diagram that is commonly passed around for a good target pressure for general offroad use.

 

Ive had mine down to 8psi in the snow and wasnt even close to poping the tire off the rim. Even if that happens, its not a big deal just make sure you know how to get it back on the wheel or carry a spare. (both is the best )