What psi is Everyone Airing Down To?

[CaliTex]

I’m excited to be involved in the Overland family and am hitting the road with a bunch of friends this weekend to Broken Bow, OK. We will be off-road about 20 miles or so. Looks like moderate dirt roads. I’m in an ‘09 Taco TRD Off-road with Yokohama Geolanders. What’s your go to air down psi?

 

[Chadlyb]

I’m excited to be involved in the Overland family and am hitting the road with a bunch of friends this weekend to Broken Bow, OK. We will be off-road about 20 miles or so. Looks like moderate dirt roads. I’m in an ‘09 Taco TRD Off-road with Yokohama Geolanders. What’s your go to air down psi?

I would say between 15-18 psi depending on how much gear and washboard road conditions. Start on the high side and adjust if needed. Safe travels.

 

[Smileyshaun]

even in my forester I get down to 18 , on most everything else I drop to 15 .... unless you plan on doing alot of high speed turning then stay above 20 .

 

[madcratebuilder]

265/65/17 31" tire on a 4500lb truck I air down to 18psi. At the sand dunes I may go as low as 15psi.

 

[Lindenwood]

1) What is your daily PSI?

2) Airing down on dirt roads is more about comfort than anything. How smooth are these roads?

3) Will you need to drive on pavement after airing down?

I usually run 38-40 PSI daily, but air down to 30 in my garage before my weekend wheeling trips (which lately have been ~20 miles pavement, 15-20 miles offroad, and 20 miles back on pavement). I only do this to help smooth the ride and minimize stress on my truck, and would do 25 PSI if 10 miles each way wasnt 60+mph highway. Most of the folks I wheel with are novice / casual enough that airing down hasnt become a big priority, so I just do it on my own time.

All that said, if your intent is to air down when leaving pavement but still drive 20+ miles at 5-40mph on dirt and gravel, I'd probably shoot for 20-25 PSI. The higher end allows for a little more flexibility--if you need to make a beer run requiring a few miles on pavement, 25psi is certainly safer. Or, if a member of your group needs to go to the hospital, 25psi might be enough to quite safely make it, whereas at 18 PSI you might be having to air up enroute.

 

[T.Shack]

1) What is your daily PSI?

2) Airing down on dirt roads is more about comfort than anything. How smooth are these roads?

3) Will you need to drive on pavement after airing down?

I usually run 38-40 PSI daily, but air down to 30 in my garage before my weekend wheeling trips (which lately have been ~20 miles pavement, 15-20 miles offroad, and 20 miles back on pavement). I only do this to help smooth the ride and minimize stress on my truck, and would do 25 PSI if 10 miles each way wasnt 60+mph highway. Most of the folks I wheel with are novice / casual enough that airing down hasnt become a big priority, so I just do it on my own time.

All that said, if your intent is to air down when leaving pavement but still drive 20+ miles at 5-40mph on dirt and gravel, I'd probably shoot for 20-25 PSI. The higher end allows for a little more flexibility--if you need to make a beer run requiring a few miles on pavement, 25psi is certainly safer. Or, if a member of your group needs to go to the hospital, 25psi might be enough to quite safely make it, whereas at 18 PSI you might be having to air up enroute.

Lindwood nice explanation! thank you! I have pretty much always kept my tire pressure at 35 to 38 psi. Now with this info I will try it. Also going to get a good small air compressor.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

This is a good topic, I don't see this discussed a lot. Anybody running e rated tires on a lighter duty vehicle like a 4runner?

I recently did my first trip since getting my e rated cooper st maxx's....aired down to 17 psi all around, and honestly it didn't feel like 17 feels in lighter duty tires. Didn't get near the bulging and contact patch legnthening I'm used to from those low pressures. And I drove about 15 miles on the pavement during the weekend, and it felt surprisingly solid and stable.

I'm probably going to start airing down to 12-15psi range if we're doing any type of tough rocky terrain. Anybody else with stiff sidewalls and a light vehicle?

 

[Smileyshaun]

This is a good topic, I don't see this discussed a lot. Anybody running e rated tires on a lighter duty vehicle like a 4runner?

I recently did my first trip since getting my e rated cooper st maxx's....aired down to 17 psi all around, and honestly it didn't feel like 17 feels in lighter duty tires. Didn't get near the bulging and contact patch legnthening I'm used to from those low pressures. And I drove about 15 miles on the pavement during the weekend, and it felt surprisingly solid and stable.

I'm probably going to start airing down to 12-15psi range if we're doing any type of tough rocky terrain. Anybody else with stiff sidewalls and a light vehicle?

I had the st maxx on my sequioa and had the same feeling , around 15 was the sweet spot in the snow .

 

[Lindenwood]

I am running e-rated tires as well, and have noticed the same things!

 

[MazeVX]

This is a good topic, I don't see this discussed a lot. Anybody running e rated tires on a lighter duty vehicle like a 4runner?

I recently did my first trip since getting my e rated cooper st maxx's....aired down to 17 psi all around, and honestly it didn't feel like 17 feels in lighter duty tires. Didn't get near the bulging and contact patch legnthening I'm used to from those low pressures. And I drove about 15 miles on the pavement during the weekend, and it felt surprisingly solid and stable.

I'm probably going to start airing down to 12-15psi range if we're doing any type of tough rocky terrain. Anybody else with stiff sidewalls and a light vehicle?

I don't know how light but I run e rated tires on my nearly stock jku and never had the need to air down lower than 20psi the grabbers are very smooth at this pressure

 

[Ben Cleveland]

It makes sense since the e rated tires have such a stiff sidewall. Glad I'm not the only one. To be clear, I had no issues with the tires, they were super smooth. I even sped up on some smooth sections of some dirt roads, fast enough to bottom out on a couple of whoops. Absolutely no oversteer or instability with those tires. And they crawled over rocks great. I loved them, I think they just act a lot stiffer than other tires.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

For the OP's benefit, I'm a STRONG believer in airing down anytime you get onto a rough, off-pavement scenario. Even if its just a dirt road. The comfort is tremendously increased, lots less rattling and bouncing, and handling improves as well. So even if the others in my group opt to not air down, I always do. Its just more comfortable. As others have said, everybody has their own sweet spot, and it depends on the tires, terrain, and the amount of weight and gear you're carrying. Start on the high side, air down to maybe 60-75% of what you daily drive with, then go from there. Also keep in mind, you probably don't need to be going below 12 or 15 for anything other than more rough rock crawling or super soft sand. And when you go that low without beadlocks, you need to be careful to not lose a bead.

 

[Smileyshaun]

I'm much more of a visual learner so here's a couple pics showing a general idea of how psi affects the tire .. your results may very

 

[Ben Cleveland]

Really helpful video explaining the same concept @Smileyshaun references above.
To further the educational discussion, and because Andrew St. Pierre is incredibly wise and experienced. Love his videos. His channel, Ronny Dahl's channel, and 4wd Action Australia are my favorite channels for actually learning things about offroading/exploring and 4wd vehicles. All incredibly well informed and fun to watch.

 

[MazeVX]

Airing down does another important thing, it helps limiting the trail erosion and the build up of corrugations.

 

[Eric Neal]

Hey, Ben C., to follow up on your "E" rated tire comment. I was out in S. AZ with my wife and as we came off the Mexican Border road (basically from Ft. Huachuca to Nogales, AZ last year. As I came off the washboard I aired up my BFG K02s to pavement levels BUT... due to fatigue and hang-over... I failed to screw the core all the way in on the rear passenger tire valve stem. I know, a rookie move!

Apparently I drove all the way to Arivaca with it loose/leaking and never felt any significant difference in driving ability or performance at highway speed. Before crashing at a local motel I noted an unexpected bulge - hot bath, resupply, stop. I thought I'd picked up a nail/screw or something and had a flat. But the "E" rated sidewall kept me in action and rolling in spite of my lame move. I really got lucky, could have gone really wonky but those stiff sidewalls on my 02 Ranger PU (pretty lightweight vehicle even with RTT and loaded with gear) really saved my butt.

I wouldn't recommend this - but made me a believer, yet again, of BFG tires.

 

[Ben Cleveland]

@Eric Neal sounds similar to my experiences. Honestly, this is a reason I really like C or E rated tires, even on a lighter weight vehicle. Yes, it stiffens up the ride on pavement. That's manageable though, and I like a firm ride. But the firm handling at lower pressures is awesome. I like tough sidewalls.

 

[whiskey7backroads]

I think it depends on tires and load. In my JK I air down to 15-18 and 22-28 on Earthcruiser. If unsure, try something and keep going down until comfortable without losing bead on rim.