I run 286/70‘s on my 17“ steelies and normaly I go down to around 18PSI and never had a problem.
PSI for wheeling
- Thread starter Hendlerj
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Yeah ~22 is what I normally use when it is rly wet since the last part on my route to our cottage goes over some very steep gras where you can slip easily (and I did once with my Jimny… he stopped like 100m down the hill sliding sidewards on the gras. Lucky me that I didn’t flip). With that pressure the 200 with nearly double the weight drives like a goat
I have always dropped to about 18 in my 200 (on stock wheels) because it's quite heavy. Currently I am running 285/75 R 17 Ko2s - Load Range E on icon rebound pros. Icon apparently had these same wheels down in moab dropped to 3 lbs with no issue - I don't think I'll be going that low.
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- #25
Did Ikon say what tires they were running on what vehicle?
I shoot for 16psi running 35x12.5's on a 8" wheel, but I'm not precise about it. Sometimes when I go to air up, I find a tire or two closer to 14psi. Tire/rim width mismatch gives me some margin for error and a little peace of mind on the trail.
Looks like BFG KM3 in this video, somewhere in there he talks about running it at 3 lbs. I came across another with Nitto Trail Grapplers they said were down to 3-5 PSI.
Those wheels have Icons interlock system, that isn't really a beadlock but acts like one, so it makes sense they can that go that low.
Is 3 psi even functional on a 35” tire on a 17” wheel? Or would you be riding on rim?
I guess that depends on the sidewall? Not sure, I never will be at that PSI on purpose. I guess it's nice to know I could.
Guess I am an outlier in this case. I wheeled most of my 30+ years at stock road pressure unless I ran into an issue where I needed to air down then I went to usually 20lbs. Most of my off roading has been desert running or places like Flagstaff AZ, Prescott AZ, Baja Mexico.
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- #32
All of you running similarly big tires, does your power steering sound like it is working much harder than with stock wheels and tires? Mine hasn't failed, but it sometimes does not sound happy when turning the wheels while the vehicle is stationary.
No power steering problems or noises here.
You are not alone, I've been off-roading in various vehicles since the 70's and never considered dropping pressure except on sand and the park service had air at the Sand Dunes so it was easy to fill. Mostly I never had issues getting where I was going at road pressure and partly that onboard air was inconceivable back then. Driving a distance to fill up again at reduced pressure seemed foolish. Spring ahead to the 2000's, tire/wheel technology and onboard air made it an easy choice but I still only go mid/low 20's and that is for comfort on rough/washboard roads not for lack of grip on trail.
What's your wheel offset? It can put additional load on the steering system.
For you guys who regularly run at low psi’s:
How fast are you willing to go when the psi has been lowered?
How fast at 30psi?
How about 18psi?
I ask because I was recently on forest roads and discovered beauty of lowering the PSI. Not because I needed the traction but because the ride becomes so much better over the rough roads.
But then in smooth sections where I would normally go 45mph or so, I was hesitant to go that fast at my reduced air pressure.
How fast are you willing to go when the psi has been lowered?
How fast at 30psi?
How about 18psi?
I ask because I was recently on forest roads and discovered beauty of lowering the PSI. Not because I needed the traction but because the ride becomes so much better over the rough roads.
But then in smooth sections where I would normally go 45mph or so, I was hesitant to go that fast at my reduced air pressure.
I’ll run 45 on half pressure for 20 miles or so
I’m recalling that mythbusters episode about the truck tire blow out… they were able to get the tire to blow from low pressure but that’s all I recall. Is there a tire temperature that becomes the danger zone?
FWIW my camper has ARB TMPS that relays tire temp as well as pressure. 4500 pound trailer with tires at 22 psi and speeds up to 45 and down to washboard road speeds… temps have never been above 120 and this includes some near 100° wheeling just last week. I know this is anecdotal and not on a cruiser but I found it interesting that the lower psi has not produce temps much different than road driving.
ive bent rims going to fast at lower than 12 psi,
ive only skimmed all the posts but something not mentioned here is rim width
It has a huge affect on if your chosen tire 'wants' to stay on the rim, too wide of a rim for the tire combined with stiff tire sidewalls and they will want to come off at lower pressures, skinny rims are your friend in this circumstance
ive only skimmed all the posts but something not mentioned here is rim width
It has a huge affect on if your chosen tire 'wants' to stay on the rim, too wide of a rim for the tire combined with stiff tire sidewalls and they will want to come off at lower pressures, skinny rims are your friend in this circumstance
The blowout effect at low psi is because the tire gets really hot and then de-vulcanizes. I don’t know the math but I presume tire temp increase more than linear with speed. Also bigger tires will have more contact area and generate more heat. That said I don’t actually know anyone who has had a tire come apart due to low pressure, though I did have a trailer tire blow out completely on me once, but that was due to edge wear (caused I think by a bad bearing or misaligned axle) combined with high ambient temps and me far exceeding the 62mph tire limit.
