Tire pressure and you!

[Mudderoy]

Good article about tire pressure.

:link: (http://arbusa.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/the-lowdown-off-road-tire-pressures/)

http://arbusa.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/table.png

[4.3LXJ]

Nice article. Tire pressure is where it is at. These pressures are somewhat relative though. The larger the tire in diameter and width, the less needed to run on the street. When larger tires are used, street pressure should be determined by having the shoulders of the tread touching the pavement. This can be determined experimentally by steeling the kids sidewalk chalk and drawing a line across the tread and driving a few feet. The chalk should be worn off equally.

[denverd1]

GREAT article!! On board air FTW!!

How much pressure do you guys run when wheeling? Obviously less is best, but how low can ya go before you run risks of separating the tire? Ahhh beadlocks :rolleyes:

[702XJCruiser]

Lol I went wheeling with a young buck a few weeks backs and he thought it was funny that I was airing down to 18psi.

He thought it was funny because we weren't really about to do anything extreme.

I always air down when I'm gonna be off road for more than a few miles. Out here with all the rocks it just makes such a huge difference in ride quality.

[4.3LXJ]

GREAT article!! On board air FTW!!

How much pressure do you guys run when wheeling? Obviously less is best, but how low can ya go before you run risks of separating the tire? Ahhh beadlocks :rolleyes:

That is a good question. I used to run between 2 and 5 psi on sand. Tire construction has changed in off road tires now with a bias towards rock crawling so that heavy side walls are the norm now. Some of the newest mud tires have an incredible Load Range E. What happens with this, particularly when the tire has bead protectors is that at pressures below 15 psi the side wall squish can cause the bead to deform and go flat. I have had this happen with a 31" bias ply swamper on a side hill at 12 psi. It just went flat because the inside bead on the uphill side deformed and it it just when whoosh with out moving. But if you throw in radial construction, you can go a bit lower because the sidewall will flex more, but not that much more. So rule of thumb for me is 15 psi, 12 psi if I really need more flotation in deep snow or sand.

[4.3LXJ]

Lol I went wheeling with a young buck a few weeks backs and he thought it was funny that I was airing down to 18psi.

He thought it was funny because we weren't really about to do anything extreme.

I always air down when I'm gonna be off road for more than a few miles. Out here with all the rocks it just makes such a huge difference in ride quality.

Me too. I also air down a little to 25 psi on hard pack snow. Traction is much better.

[denverd1]

You fellas ever used a 12v pump like this? I'm sure there are better built pumps out there, but hard to argue with the price.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-100-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-96068.html

I'm sure it won't last you a lifetime, but at $30 bucks it certainly aint gonna break the bank either. Although, their typical 1 yr warranty doesn't apply to this one...

[4.3LXJ]

The only problem with those small compressors is duty cycle, can you run it continuously and you need to take a good book to read while they do their job

[denverd1]

anything better out there? reviews said it will fill a tire in a few mins, but you know how well those can be trusted.

guess I could toss my little puma in the back and strap it down...

[702XJCruiser]

Myself and a few others in Vegas are running these. I got mine from pep boys.

It'll air up all 4 of my 30x9.5's from 18 psi to 35 psi in about 1 min per tire.

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/89/19/32/00/0089193200051_300X300.jpg

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Masterflow-12v-High-Volume-Air-Compressor-Inflator/12321236

[xjsnake]

You fellas ever used a 12v pump like this? I'm sure there are better built pumps out there, but hard to argue with the price.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-100-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-96068.html

I'm sure it won't last you a lifetime, but at $30 bucks it certainly aint gonna break the bank either. Although, their typical 1 yr warranty doesn't apply to this one...

I've got the harbor freight one. It's on it's 4th year and still works well. It's slow as heck but it will get the tire up to full pressure eventually. IIRC I got it on one of their super clearance days for $15.


The only problem with those small compressors is duty cycle, can you run it continuously and you need to take a good book to read while they do their job

Yeah, runs much quicker while the engine is running but gets very hot if you run it too long.

There are better options, but for the price it's a good little unit.

[BlueXJ]

I have an OBA system with two 5 gallon tanks which take about 2 mins to reach 125# of pressure. I can pump up 1 tire from 15# to 30# in about a min then my system kicks the compressor back on for 30 seconds and we are back to 125# and ready for a second tire.

I used it last night to pump up a friends flat tire to get him to a repair shop to plug a nail hole. I used it the other day to pump the tire on my wheelbarrow. I have been surprised at how often I use it instead of my big shop compressor, now that I have it and it is so portable (just bring the Jeep).

[bluedragon436]

This is an awesome article.. Would love to look into OBA setup one day.. but for now I think I'll look into picking up that Masterflow compressor.. will work just fine for my needs for now at least!!

[bigjim350]

Mine stay between 12-15 PSI all the time.