Airing Down

[Texas-TJ]

This is a guideline to help figure out what that recommendation would be.

The maximum contact patch is the psi before the center of the contact patch starts to cup. In my experience, that seems to be about 8psi.

Do you recommend any budget compressors?

 

[DaveF]

That feels uselessly low to me. I have been doing 8ish psi on my nonbeadlocks for years. One thing I have noticed is that when I get too far below that number, the lateral stability of the tire sufferers to the point that the lack of stability can become detrimental. Then there is the issue is the deflated tire cupping where there is less traction than there would be with a little more psi.

that 3psi was in deep and/or icy PNW snow. One was at 5psi in a TJ, couldn't get up a hill but his new load range E tires still weren't squatting... dropped him to 3 and he drove right up it. Our trail leader ended up dropping to 1.5 to stay on top of the snow and break trail at the end.

 

[DaveF]

3psi without bead locks? Wish I could convince myself to trust that in the snow.

I've run my 35" (well the metric ones at load range E) stt pro's down to 2 in the snow on 16x8 rims without beadlocks at least a couple dozen times and never had an issue. But again not crawling on rocks, this is deep loose or packed snow so it's essentially flat, just looking to create snow shoes for the Jeep.

 

[jjvw]

Do you recommend any budget compressors?

I went from a Viair 88p to a York. My only complaint about the 88p was that is was slow.

 

[Arthurius]

so we ran the Kings rd yesterday, out to Castle Dome. we ran across only 3 other Jeeps, but a bunch of S x S.
We left the Palm Canyon Rd area at 20 psi, and headed straight south on #44 trail. the trails are marked, but not on any map I could find. Anyway, I dropped the tires down to 15psi. #44 trail was smoother than most roads out here, LOL I did 10 miles in 2 WD at 20 to 25mph. Finally got to Castle Dome Mine rd, aired down to 15 psi. That made the trip far more comfortable, but the trail is so worn, I did 80% of the trip in 2WD. There were only a few spots that I went 4WD.
In total, went just under 80 miles yesterday, when I got to a half tank of gas, we started heading back. I air'd up at Kings Rd and 95, went straight north to Quartzite to fill up. The Escape Pod is exactly 18 miles from Quartzite, and 2.4 miles from rt-95. It is freak'n dead quite out here. The starts gazing is amazing. Its supposed to be windy AF, today thru Thursday, and cooling off a little. So today, we will be exploring the west side of rt-95 and try to make it over to the Cibola Wildlife Refuge, we'll see how that goes
TALLY-HO

I was born and raised in Blythe, some great times to be had out in that desert.

 

[JMT]

Do you recommend any budget compressors?

Viair 88p if your willing to spend ~3.5-4min/tire going from 10psi to 26psi on a 33” tire (~$90)

I use a Viair 400p (~$200)

 

[97JadeTJ]

Do you recommend any budget compressors?

I’m sure I’ll get bashed for this but I’ve aired down my 33s to 12 psi a couple of dozen times in the last six months and aired back up to 26 psi and I’ve had no problems with this one…

https://www.harborfreight.com/12v-1...sor-63184.html?_br_psugg_q=car+air+compressor

Is it the best one, Probably not…ymmv

 

[KennethS]

I’m sure I’ll get bashed for this but I’ve aired down my 33s to 12 psi a couple of dozen times in the last six months and aired back up to 26 psi and I’ve had no problems with this one…

https://www.harborfreight.com/12v-1...sor-63184.html?_br_psugg_q=car+air+compressor

Is it the best one, Probably not…ymmv

I've wheeled with a lot of folks who had that compressor and it works fine. 3-4 minutes per tire is reasonable air up time. I like that design as the coupler is on a length of hose so the metal coupler doesn't get as hot as the ones that plug directly into the head of the compressor.

I have a couple of MV-50 (now MF-1050) compressors and they air up around the same speed at the HF one - around 3 minutes to go from 5 to 25 PSI on my 32" tires.

https://masterflowair.com/products/mf-1050-tsunami-portable-12-volt-air-compressor

 

[97JadeTJ]

I've wheeled with a lot of folks who had that compressor and it works fine. 3-4 minutes per tire is reasonable air up time. I like that design as the coupler is on a length of hose so the metal coupler doesn't get as hot as the ones that plug directly into the head of the compressor.

I have a couple of MV-50 (now MF-1050) compressors and they air up around the same speed at the HF one - around 3 minutes to go from 5 to 25 PSI on my 32" tires.

https://masterflowair.com/products/mf-1050-tsunami-portable-12-volt-air-compressor

That’s about right on the air up times… I’m usually not in a hurry… if you use a better gauge (the gauge is not accurate) and if you put a tire quick connect on the hose end, it gets the job done… I mounted mine under the hood on the fender well and wired it direct to the battery…

 

[txbemis69]

when it comes to bikes, I have two basic rules
1) the bike must have a minimum of 1800cc's and 120Hp
and
2) the tires must NOT have a center groove —-like Dunflops. Metzlers are a much better tire in the rain and on steel deck bridges

never liked the dunrocks both of my bikes came with. metzelers are my tire of choice.

 

[LONGJP2]

What PSI would you guys recommend for loose sand? 33" tires (E rating) on 16" rims.

I don't even notice a bulge till I get below 15 on my E rated 33s.
I usually run 12 - 13.
For sand, I'll start at 10 and keep lowering till I stop getting stuck.
As far as really low pressures, some wheels hold a bead better than others.
Usually only a problem if you're pushing them against rocks.
YRMV

 

[Viking Jeeper]

Viair 88p if your willing to spend ~3.5-4min/tire going from 10psi to 26psi on a 33” tire (~$90)

I use a Viair 400p (~$200)

I'm switching to ARB but my 88P will go 12-24 PSI in 2.5 minutes. 35's. I've done it enough I dont even use a pressure gauge anymore, just a my phone to time it. Our group usually stops to shoot the shit after a day anyway.

At 12 with my 35's I've tried and tried to get stuck in 2Wd, in deep soft sand and have not yet done it.

 

[KennethS]

That’s about right on the air up times… I’m usually not in a hurry… if you use a better gauge (the gauge is not accurate) and if you put a tire quick connect on the hose end, it gets the job done… I mounted mine under the hood on the fender well and wired it direct to the battery…

Agree on the gauge. I swapped the one on my compressor for a Slime dial gauge that reads in 1 psi increments. Unscrewed the tire valve end and the Slime gauge screwed right into the compressor in place of the original one.

 

[reddvltj]

that 3psi was in deep and/or icy PNW snow. One was at 5psi in a TJ, couldn't get up a hill but his new load range E tires still weren't squatting... dropped him to 3 and he drove right up it. Our trail leader ended up dropping to 1.5 to stay on top of the snow and break trail at the end.

I've been a member of the "give me your valve cores" club a time or two. It was on the Mountain Loop run out of Darrington many moons ago...

 

[DaveF]

I've been a member of the "give me your valve cores" club a time or two. It was on the Mountain Loop run out of Darrington many moons ago...

Nice, ran that one 3 weekends ago

 

[JMT]

I'm switching to ARB but my 88P will go 12-24 PSI in 2.5 minutes. 35's. I've done it enough I dont even use a pressure gauge anymore, just a my phone to time it. Our group usually stops to shoot the shit after a day anyway.

At 12 with my 35's I've tried and tried to get stuck in 2Wd, in deep soft sand and have not yet done it.

I find that hard to believe since I’ve had three rigs on 33’s and one on 35’s. Not once did the VIAIR 88p take a 33x12.5r15 from 10psi to 26 in less than 3 1/2 minutes. My VIAIR 400p takes a 35x12.5r15 from 10psi to 25 in about 2 min 25 se and those two compressors have very different ratings.

I’ve got both those compressors, so why don’t I just do a test.

 

[jjvw]

I find that hard to believe since I’ve had three rigs on 33’s and one on 35’s. Not once did the VIAIR 88p take a 33x12.5r15 from 10psi to 26 in less than 3 1/2 minutes. My VIAIR 400p takes a 35x12.5r15 from 10psi to 25 in about 2 min 25 se and those two compressors have very different ratings.

I’ve got both those compressors, so why don’t I just do a test.

I used my 88p with 33s for several years and a couple hundred air ups. The best I could ever get was about 18 minutes from full setup to take down to air up from 8-26psi. That was if I hurry and waste no time moving.

That's 3.5-4 minutes per tire plus the time it takes to unpack and put away the compressor.

 

[97JadeTJ]

Agree on the gauge. I swapped the one on my compressor for a Slime dial gauge that reads in 1 psi increments. Unscrewed the tire valve end and the Slime gauge screwed right into the compressor in place of the original one.


View attachment 402448

I‘ll have to get one…Thanks! Also, one of these on the end of the hose made it a lot easier…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TKMPX3K/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[Gollywomper]

My mounted viair 400p is just above 2 mins per tire, 35” 8-23psi. Using a larger 3/8” hose helps a bit vs the supplied coiled hose.

 

[97JadeTJ]

Has anybody tried the four tire inflation systems with the small compressors… seems like it would be fairly cheap to build…just wondering if The small compressors would overheat too fast…