Airing Down Tires

[tarbe]

OK - lower pressure and easy on the lockers. Great advise. I learn something new everytime I visit mud.

Thanks again!

Don't forget that tire volume also plays into the correct off-road pressure. Some folks are recommending pressures based on their experience that happens to be with tires that have a larger volume than yours. Larger tires (all else being equal) can work at lower pressure.

 

[Hayes]

If anybody remembers the Ford Exploder issue with the Firestones, the real cause for all that (I'm paraphrasing a Firestone employee) was that the Exploders wouldn't pass the rollover test or accident avoidance test with higher tire pressures, so Ford specified the stock pressure to be lower, making the tire softer and a larger contact area with the ground. If people let the pressure drop too low below stock, higher temps caused separation of the tires. Bad juju.

I heard that Ford didn't like the ride of the Exploder when the Firstones were inflated to the appropriate pressure, so they specified a lower (dangerous) pressure to get a cushier factory ride.

I'm new to airing down, and don't actually do enough wheelin' to have any experience at low tire pressures.
Now that I have an MV50 compressor riding in the back of my 80, I'll be experimenting with different pressures.

In an earlier post (by me) on recommended tire pressures, the point was made that appropriate pressure depends on your rig, how heavy it is running, what tires you have, and what kind of wheeling you'll be doing.

Hayes

 

[-Spike-]

A quick note: Not only does the amount you can safely air down depend on tire size and wheel size, but also style and manufacturer. Mud tires can typically be aired down safely to a lower pressure than A/T tires. Competition rock-crawling tires more than mudders. Terrain has to be taken into account as well, as you're less likely to pop a bead in snow in Iceland than in the rocks in Arizona. Talk to other people who are set up as close as possible to what you have.

-Spike