How Much to Air Down When Off-roading

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How Much to Air Down When Off-roading:

I realize we all travel in different circles and different types of terrain, I wonder what air pressures many of you use. 18 lbs is the lowest I have dared go to date. It has worked well for me in every instance to date, but I also know a couple of guys that have the Staun Bead Locks and run 6 - 8 lbs. SO, my questions are:

Does anyone run lower than 18 lbs?

Does anyone run lower than 18 lbs without Staun Bead Locks?

No bead locks, and I only air down to 18. 37" tires on 17" rims gives me too much sidewall to pop off. so far that's worked well for me on rocks, snow and in the mud.

shortbus

I had several conversations with the AMG and GM engineers about low tire pressure at several events. They all recommend 23 lbs as the lower limit. They explained that at lower pressure in some circumstances the tire would slip and rotate on the wheel which throws off the balance. They did not indicate any problem with loosing the bead at this pressure.

Dave B.

I think it also depends on the type of tire that you are running. I ran 20 in the stock BFG's but then switched to 37" MTRs. With the MTRs I ran 18 at first but then found that I had much better traction at 16 and never lost a bead at that pressure.

A friend was running BFG 37" Mud Terrains and he lost a bead three times running at 16, 18 and 20 psi. Now these were on the same trails that I was running 16 and 18 psi with the MTRs.

I also had another friend that bought the Staun bead locks and he would run 12 psi with no problems and great flex with his 37" SSRs. He was very happy with the Stuans.

David W.

I generally only go down to 25 psi, but will go lower if the need arises. I've seen people pop a bead at 18 psi without Stauns, but I've been as low as 15 in some very loose sand I was having problems with, but aired back up a bit as soon as I was clear of the area. 20 seems to give plenty of flex and driven carefully doesn't cause too many problems.

I've been down to 10, by accident, and I don't see how you wouldn't pop a bead driving that low, plus you'd damage your rims very easily. I really don't see how you could run 6-8 on a H2, Jeeps do it all the time, but they weigh a bit less than a H2.

Phil D.

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