Off Road PSI

There’s a lot of information to be had in all the links that have been posted in this thread, and I haven’t read all of them. I have aired down as low as 15 in the past, but no lower. I have a few thoughts on the matter, some of which are based on insecurity and an overactive imagination.

I imagine that the lowest pressure one can reasonably air down to depends on several factors:

• The particular tire and the profile of the bead.
• The particular rim and the profile of the flange; the particularities of those two profiles may affect how well the flange grips the bead.
• The width of the tire vis-à-vis the width of the rim.
• How heavily the vehicle is loaded, and finally
• The terrain, including rockiness, pitch and camber of the driving surface.

There may be other factors as well. The point is that just asking “what pressure do you run when off-roading” may be too vague a question to get a meaningful answer. Thoughts?

 

It's been decades since I have driven in the areas you are talking about; so I don't know what rock you were driving on. What I am talking about is limestone, which is a sedimentary rock and can vary in appearance. I spend a lot of time on the Arizona Strip. There, the limestone strata are hard, usually white and very rough in texture. If you pick up a limestone rock around here, it is uncomfortable in the hand due to its coarse nature with spicules, etc. don't bump your leg into it. It is rough on tires, especially where it contains chert nodules, which are small and sharp when broken.

Most of the AZ Strip is not limestone, but there are areas where it is.

Now, I realize that limestone in some areas is softer, even used as road base and in toothpaste. Some limestone overseas is carved into smooth statues. Different minerals in the limestone>different texture, etc. That's not the limestone we sometimes have to drive over around here.