i went wheelin today and for the first time, deflated my tires a decent amount. i just got a compressor so i felt ok with deflating them lol. i went to about 18 PSI and as you see below, thats what i got and was pretty impressed. i deflated just using the one side of my PSI gauge but i was wondering a couple things. what PSI do you guys/gals deflate to? what do you use to deflate?

 

I have 35's & beedlocks on my rig now so I air down to to 7psi. Before the beedlocks and when I had 33's I would air down to 12lbs. You can use 18lbs as a starting point for your rig. Play with the pressures and find what works for you! If your loosing traction drop the air pressure down 2lbs and see how that works. Still loosing traction drop another 1lb or 2. I would not reccommend going below 12lbs because you will run the risk of loosing a beed and getting a flat tire.

If your not doing anything in September the club that I belong to puts on a 4 Wheel Drive Clinic at Hollister Hills. It is a two part clinic. The morning starts off in a old school house with a power point show that goes over the basics of wheelin. They do talk about airing down and why. Also going over other things like the proper way to use a tow stap and how to winch. The second parts is in the afternoon you are on trails throughout the park. We have been doing this twice a year for the last 24 years. Look the clinic up at www.4x4safety.org or www.espritdefour.com . We have had students from all over the country take this class and last year the city of Palo Alto sent 10 fire fighters with 2 fire rigs through our class.

Good luck and have fun!

 

As was stated before, you kinda gotta play with pressures, but for nonbeadlocks 12-15 seems to be where you want it. and i use a valve stem remover, gets it done a lot faster

 

Check out the link to Harry Lewellyn's article on "Tire Pressures for 4-Wheeling" below:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...tml#Background

 

18???... I never have more than 18 in my crawler even on the freeway. I dont' have beadlocks and I run 8-10 all the time. Never popped a bead yet. People are way to scared about rolling a bead..You'd be amazed at how much it actually takes to break a bead. I've ran these same tires in the snow at 4psi before. They are just Goodyear MTR's on an 8" rim...nothing fancy. At 18psi your just barely beginning to see the benefit of airing down.

 

I think that is also gonna depend on how wide the tire is on what width wheel as well. From what I have heard running say a 12.5" tire on a 10" wheel is easier to pop the bead than running the same tire on an 8" wheel. Not saying it's easy either way, but might also play a part in how much you are able to air down as well.

 

Usually air down to 15psi. 35x12.5R15" BF G's on 15x10 wheels nonbeadlock. Have not popped a bead yet.

 

This is true...hence the reason you see a lot crawlers running an 8" rim instead of a 10". A wider rim will make it easier to pop a bead. He has stock wheels though so he should be fine. I didn't mean to sound harsh but I've wheeled with groups before with fairly new guys and they are always afraid of airing down. I've seen guys "air down" to 25 psi before...there's no point.

 

When I wheeled my 3rd gen I had 285/65's on Land Cruiser (8" wide) rims and I aired down to around 10-12psi with no problems.

Like others have said though, it's all about feel.
This is probably a given but the weight of your Runner will play a role in this as well - if you have a ton of gear/spare parts in it while you're on the trails that will dictate your limits to an extent.

Fink

 

looking at your pic, keep on eye on your sidewalls...looks like you have partial chunkage or a flap of sidewall by the 'S"

Running lower PSI is great:
I have blown a couple of beads at 8-10 PSI...i think some of it depends on how hard you hit something...still getting the hang of it....
Like UK Meyers, I run ~18 psi on the street (when the truck isn't broke)

Keep in mind too that a cheap 12V cig lighter compressor is not always going to be very fast and could burn out if not allowed to cool periodically. gone through a few over the last 20+ years.
A CO2 tank is nice to have or a VIAIR or ARB compressor (other too) that have a continuous duty rating is good...but a little spendy

 

Everyone gets stuck on what they air down to............ You air down to what YOUR rig needs and works best with. You always need to consider........... Tire size, wheel width, weight of your rig ect..... For the non-beadlock wheel guys you air down to what your wheels can handle. The cheaper wheels that many buy have a VERY small inner bead lip. It does not take much to push the tire over that lip when you air down to much. Some wheels have a n ice thick/tall inner lip. Thoughs wheels can be aired down more. You can air down a 8"wheel more than a 10" or larger can. Again to air down to what your rig can handle. Just because your buddy airs down to 10lbs does NOT mean you need to air down to 10lbs. I've been wheeling since the mid 70's and I never tell someone what tire pressures to run. I may tell you to drop a few pounds from what your running and go from there. Find your starting point and work from there. Also keep in mind your tire pressures can change throughout the day depending what altitude your at and how hot your tires are

I made my air down tool many years ago. I'm able to air all 4 tires at the same time or move a lever and do two at a time. That also means I air up 4 tires a once. Also unlike most other guys I run Nitrogen in all my tires. Nitrogen is a old race car trick because tire pressures are more stable.

 

Those Yoks are primarily more geared for the street so I'm not so much sure you are seeing any benefit from airing down and 18 is too much for those Yoks IMO.

I've off roaded a few trails on my new Duratracs and I keep them at 32-34pi for most trails but for ones that are a bit more rocky I'd go no lower than 24psi on my Goodyears.

 

It will smooth ride out if you run lower tire pressures! Tire pressures in the 30's will jar the fillings out of your teeth on the rough roads. I suggest you try running lower pressures. Drive out a rough logging road at your current pressures then turn around lower your pressures below 20lbs. Drive back and you will find out how much smoother the ride is. By lowering tire pressure it gives you better traction but the softer sidewalls act like a shock and softins the ride out. Give it a try!

 

This is true, however, for those of us that drive mainly on the street it will also drop your mileage.

Fink

 

I'm just talking about when your on a non paved road and when your spending the day playing in the dirt.

 

I completely agree, it's amazing how much of a difference it can make!

Fink

 

i go down to 10-14 anytime i am wheelin.. even running FS roads i'll air down to 15-18 to make the ride a little smoother.

 

Well said... It is all trial & error. It all depends on the trail for me. Let a little out & if you are getting traction leave it. It is easier to let more out on the trail then fill them up.

 

this ^^

and this^^

 

Don't be affaid to air down more! If you have a source to air up after your done driving off the pavement air down. The ride would be much better.

Everyone that drive off road should carry something to air your tires back up at the end of the day. If you go out and buy a 12 volt compressor make sure is the type that connect to the battery for its power supply. The cheap compressor that plug into the lighter are very weak and take a long time to fill the tires. If you have to drive on the highway to get to a service station drive slow and carefull! One of the newbie's on one of our trip rolled his rig because he went around a curve to fast and the tires rolled over. Some guys may say they drive on the road with their tires aired down but.............. All it takes is that one time! Been there done that. Did not roll but, I did need to dig my boxers of of you know where. When we are in a rush we all do stupid things at times