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kohldad's avatar
kohldad
Explorer III
Jan 22, 2013

Airing down?

Based on my Compressor Recommendation thread, I now have a nice ViAir 450P compressor to air back up. So now it's time to start thinking about airing down.

I'm use to airing down my jeep to 15psi when I took it off-road, but have never aired down a heavily laden vehicle. I'm figuring with the TC on board, something around 30 psi may give the tire a nice float pattern for soft sand. Since I'm only at 2,500 tire, may be able to go as low as 25 psi.

Was looking for advice and experience for those more practice driving off-road.
Truck Campers

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  • stuckinthesand's avatar
    stuckinthesand
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2013
    I measure the distance from the bottom lip of the rim to the ground, when on level pavement and properly inflated for road travel, then I let air out till the distance has decreased 25% and that is my air down pressure. Your results may very.
  • sailorsmate's avatar
    sailorsmate
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2013
    av8rds wrote:

    yeah mines the bottom picture...just barely. Jerry on the other hand got a bit damp.

    35 huh? I got lazy and only went down to 30 one time. Had no problem getting out and set up. Coming back though I could NOT make the little itty bitty hill from the main beach to the access trail. Aired down to 20 and drove right out.

    Hope to meet you this year. I only made it out one time last year...depressing!


    We'd rather start a little high and air down a few pounds if needed that have to drag out the air tank.
  • av8rds's avatar
    av8rds
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2013
    sailorsmate wrote:
    Got your sneakers a little wet there, Av8rds. We also camp Sandy Neck, in a Lance 1191 and GMC 3500 dually. We do between 35 and 38 on the camper, but 18 on the Jeep. Depends on sand conditions.


    yeah mines the bottom picture...just barely. Jerry on the other hand got a bit damp.

    35 huh? I got lazy and only went down to 30 one time. Had no problem getting out and set up. Coming back though I could NOT make the little itty bitty hill from the main beach to the access trail. Aired down to 20 and drove right out.

    Hope to meet you this year. I only made it out one time last year...depressing!
  • sailorsmate's avatar
    sailorsmate
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2013
    Got your sneakers a little wet there, Av8rds. We also camp Sandy Neck, in a Lance 1191 and GMC 3500 dually. We do between 35 and 38 on the camper, but 18 on the Jeep. Depends on sand conditions.
  • av8rds's avatar
    av8rds
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2013
    kohldad wrote:
    Didn't expect to get such beautiful pics along with replies, but should have guessed owners would use it as an excuse to show off their rigs.



    Oh you wanted beautiful pictures too? ;) The other one was the only one I had on photobucket you could see the truck.

    Sandy Neck Beach, Sandwich MA

  • kohldad's avatar
    kohldad
    Explorer III
    Jan 22, 2013
    Didn't expect to get such beautiful pics along with replies, but should have guessed owners would use it as an excuse to show off their rigs.

    Since sand consistancy makes a difference, I think it would be helpful if the name and location of the beaches be included in replies.
  • Steve_in_29's avatar
    Steve_in_29
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2013
    We had to go down to 20psi to get down this beach. The next morning I thought 20 looked a little too low so I aired up to 30psi before moving on but couldn't make any headway until I stopped and aired back down to 20psi.

    Of course at such low tire pressures you NEED to travel SLOOOOW and air back up as soon as you hit something more solid.

  • CptnBG's avatar
    CptnBG
    Explorer
    Jan 22, 2013
    I start with 30 rear, 25 front. If truck seems to struggle, I go as low as 25 rear, 20 front.

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