Airing down?

[kohldad]

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.

[skipbee]

Assateague Island on the Maryland coast has very soft sand. We have lots and lots of TC's and other 4X4's of every description that travel over the sand, fish, surf, camp the whole deal. We are required to carry a shovel, 18X18X3/4" wood pad, a jack, and a sturdy tow line. We air down to 20 psi front and 30psi rear, with a very heavy rig, and some time let more out if conditions warrant. Most of the larger TC's use 4X4 lowrange, drive slow (Speed limit is 15 mph), and still occasionally get stuck when extra soft or very wet spots are encountered.

On Assateague there is almost always someone who will help get you unstuck. Just letting a bit more air out, backing up a little, will free up the rig. Slow easy take-offs are needed. If somone spins wheels and buries to the frame, jacking up each wheel, and filling in with sand, usually will work. There are a large bank of air stations at the beach entrance to refill the tires.

With a permit, overnight camping is allowed for as long as the tanks allow, in a designated place, the Bullpen. If your able to get here it is a most unique National Park experience.

Google, Assateague Island National Seashore for all the info. We have found that, mostly, every beach area has its own problems and solutions. That there is no substitute for local knowledge. We are on Assateague in the You Tube piece below.

[nycsteve]

I mostly travel in soft deep sand at the beach. I start with 30#s in the rear and 25#s in front. I can always go lower if needed, but usually these numbers work.

Montauk

[kohldad]

In the end, it's not about numbers, but a feel; captured by experience.

Nothing like experience and asking those with experience is no substitute for actual experience but better than no experience.

But that settles it: Me to Loving Wife, "we are moving so I don't have to drive 2,000 miles to get the practical experience I want in airing down the tires on remote back roads."

Oops, gotta go pack and get the house sold, she said "What ever" so I'm going to take it for a yes.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ticki2]

jefe 4x4 wrote:

By the way, that experience slowly fades if you don't use it. How do I know that?
regards, as always, jefe

Great line LOL. Is that like I forget how much smarter I use to be .:@

[jefe_4x4]

River and Sand,
I've not had to air down the trailer....yet. This pictoral was not planned. Those pix are deceiving as I was on my way to Death Valley, just following an old narrow gage railroad grade and it disappeared into a dune. I tried blasting UP the dune at street pressure, Rat Patrol style, hoping I could get back to the highway. No dice. Plenty of power, but not with 40-65-80 pounds pressure with 16K pounds pushing down on the 8 tires. Too much ground pressure.
Tires now-o-days are tough cookies. I don't mind beating them up a little. They'll wear out before they give out, unlike the glass, nylon, and rayon predecessors. I'm remembering not-so-fondly, 47 years ago, my first set of tires on my 1949 Willys Jeep Utility Wagon: 7:00-16 non directional cross country (NDCC in milspec) on real narrow combat rims. Rayon cord. Absolutely the worst traction on any surface. Stiff as a board and didn't air down well at all. They were so stiff that air pressure was optional.
That was then and this is now.

Many E rated tires have very stiff sidewalls to carry the load. Good for the street, but you must air down a little farther than the numbers might suggest to get the same 'floatational' effect. Generally, D rated and really wide tires don't have to be deflated as far for the same floatation.
On rocky trails, I try to fine tune the pressure in the tires to a balance between rattling your teeth out and too mushy. If it's just a little occasional roughness, I just leave it at street and go slower, bobbin' and weavin' until conditions improve. Washboard is my least favorite. for that I always air down to the point that I can stand it. A lot of numbers thrown down around here. In the end, it's not about numbers, but a feel; captured by experience.
By the way, that experience slowly fades if you don't use it. How do I know that?
regards, as always, jefe

[River_Sand]

Jefe, do you air down your trailer too?
Here in the Socal dez we do all wheels even trailers. Makes the difference sometimes when stuck or not getting that way.

[big_whitey]

JohnJM wrote:

big whitey wrote:

OBXcamper wrote:
Ocracoke, before it became a "NPS bird preserve" :R

X2 on the NPS bird preserve, Hell will freeze over before i pay $120 to drive on the playground of the liberal agenda.:M

sorry bout the hijack,just still an open wound as we continue to lose our freedoms one at a time.

yup I loved ocracoke, drum fisjihng there........I dont mind paying for a permit, I do ti everywhere else. But the closures keep me away now, and that was the plan all along.

as fo airing down. I run a lance 1010 on a F350. About 30-35 works for me on mostnbeaches. But I do have to drop to 20 on the soft beaches.

it's not the $$$ it's the reasoning behind it and as you said the erratic closures. after 30 years supporting this area i and lots of other fishermen now take our $$$$$ elsewhere,sorry for the locals.

once again,sincere apologies to all for the hijack

[JohnJM]

big whitey wrote:

OBXcamper wrote:
Ocracoke, before it became a "NPS bird preserve" :R

X2 on the NPS bird preserve, Hell will freeze over before i pay $120 to drive on the playground of the liberal agenda.:M

sorry bout the hijack,just still an open wound as we continue to lose our freedoms one at a time.

yup I loved ocracoke, drum fisjihng there........I dont mind paying for a permit, I do ti everywhere else. But the closures keep me away now, and that was the plan all along.

as fo airing down. I run a lance 1010 on a F350. About 30-35 works for me on mostnbeaches. But I do have to drop to 20 on the soft beaches.

[JacintoKid]

~DJ~ wrote:
I use 25/30 at Moab. Not much sand there tho. Just not right living this close to the West Coast and have to drive clear to the East Coast just to camp on the beach!!!! 😞

Not to hijack the thread but, do most of you guys air down on rocky mountain trails? I've done a few passes over the years but nothing too technical and always in a stock 4x4 suv. Just curious as we may take the 4runner along with us this summer.

[_DJ_1]

I use 25/30 at Moab. Not much sand there tho. Just not right living this close to the West Coast and have to drive clear to the East Coast just to camp on the beach!!!! 😞

[sabconsulting]

Jefe's bottom picture above - the deflection in the front tyre - that is what I tend to aim for on my BF Goodrich AT/KOs, and like for Jefe, I think 30/26 was pretty much what I had them set to in the Sahara, apart from that one time I needed to get myself un-stuck.

Steve.

[jefe_4x4]

Basically there is sand and there is sand. The best tire pressure varies with the consistency of the sand. In dune blow sand I'm down to 22 psi-front, and 20 rear. But that's deceiving too. I use 15" wide super single rear tires and can run at a lower pressure and have a terrific floatational factor with no deleterious effect. Here is the sidewall deflection at these pressures: Before deflating on blow sand: sorry, it's fuzzy, but the only one I have, stuck.

After dropping to the pressures listed above:


On sand that's more packed, I go down to 28 psi-front, and 24 psl-rear. On sandy roads, I'll drop to 30/26. This last pressure set is the 'go-to' pressure for long, boondocking, sandy road, southwest locales. This was my pressure on the White Rim Trail and the San Juan High excursions.
regards, as always, jefe

[big_whitey]

OBXcamper wrote:
Ocracoke, before it became a "NPS bird preserve" :R

X2 on the NPS bird preserve, Hell will freeze over before i pay $120 to drive on the playground of the liberal agenda.:M

sorry bout the hijack,just still an open wound as we continue to lose our freedoms one at a time.

[c_traveler2]

kohldad wrote:
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.

since we both have the same camper, I've aired down to 40psi for my off road adventure. With the help from jefe4x4 it was found to be a good pressure for my rig.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

av8rds wrote:

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!

My wife is from Barnstable and my inlaws are still there. I've been out on Sandy Neck a few times and hope to someday make it there with the truck and camper. Until then, all I can say is I've been there and have the sweatshirt.

Doug