Off road tire pressure (for rocks)

[RuggedH2]

Beebs,

I think stagger lee is OK.

So far he didn't bring much to this discussion, but if I (n)ever wanted an opinion of how the liberal hippy commune community felt about the Bush Administrations handling of foreign policy; he'd be the first deadhead I asked.

Occasionally, threads around here have a way of going straight into the crapper. I was hoping to pull some experience and knowledge out it, before that happened.

[deserth3]

I was just pulling off my side rails and noticed my rear diff is wet. Hopefully I can run it to the dealer before work tomarrow.

When I had the tires at 35 the ride was still pretty good offroad. It'll be interesting to feel the difference at 30. I'm not crazy about going any lower, where I'm staying is about 20 miles from Neocon's house.

[RuggedH2]

Hey desert,

I hope everything is fine with your rig. We are planning to run some cool trails. I hope you can still make it. If you are just worried about loaning me your spare tire relax, I'll borrow Neo's.

[RuggedH2]

Stagger,

Have you ever popped a bead? You know that 15-18 is perfect, how? Lower pressure is better for rocks. There are hazards. That's why beadlocks have become so popular off road.

Unless you've gone low enough to pop a bead, I don't think you know the "perfect" answer for the H3. I see the common logic, but it's not so clear for every 4x4, many go as low as they can. Buggies commonly run 3 psi with beadlocks.

Thanks for "dumbing" it down for me.

[stagger_lee]

Wasn't trying o dumb it down chief.
I have popped a bead at 10lbs on my scout. I have popped a bead at 12lbs on rocks in my old FJ80. It depends a lot on the tires. The toyos seem to have a pretty stiff sidewall as well as the goodyear MTRs. BFGs aren't as stiff, and I had super Swampers before and they were like jello. I have not popped a bead on the H3 yet, because I haven't pushed my luck. There is really no perfect pressure. You can pop a bead a 15lbs if you hit an obstacle just right you know? I dont have the knowledge or experience in the H3 as some of the others on here, but I have been off roading my whole life, in multiple rigs and set ups, so I have really just come of with the perfect pressure that works for me and that I feel comfortable with.

I also would rather sacrifice a bit of extra traction by not running really low pressure in order to save me from down time on the trail. Im sure you could go lower then I do and be fine. Eventually I would like to get a set of beadies just for the trail to be used on the H3.

[Hunner]

On my H3 with MTMTZ 33's with 3 ply side walls, which are 33.1 this shot is when I ran 20lbs. I was rolling over on the side wall alot and broke a piece off the edge of a couple of rims. I now run 26 in the rocks. I have one tire that got 4 slices in the side wall that run from the outside edge towards the middle. It is now on the rack for emergency use only.

[Hunner]

The second one is common where I wheel. Jagged shelves of shale and Ouachita stone, used to sharpen knives, stick out in narrow ravines and if you run too low with the sidwall pouched out, you get a cracked rim edge. 26lbs works for me.

[stagger_lee]

There you go perfect example of what works for you. You have loose rock, wet rock, solid smooth rock, jagged rock...you cant come up with a number that works for all situations. I like to run a little bit more pressure than what I think is a safe PSI, I dont want to be stressed out while Im wheelin.

Thanks for the pics Hunner. Looks like those (bridgestones?) have a little softer sidewall then the toyos, therefore higher PSI is ideal. Would you think that to be correct Hunner?

[RuggedH2]

Originally Posted by Hunner

On my H3 with MTMTZ 33's with 3 ply side walls, which are 33.1 this shot is when I ran 20lbs. I was rolling over on the side wall alot and broke a piece off the edge of a couple of rims. I now run 26 in the rocks. I have one tire that got 4 slices in the side wall that run from the outside edge towards the middle. It is now on the rack for emergency use only.

Damn that sidewall is much more flexible than the Toyo. I have read that the Goodyear wranglers are also very flexible. The pic I posted in the beginning of this thread was of the Toyos at 15. They aren't flexing over the rocks hardly at all.

I'm also glad that the rock here is not like the shale and knife sharpening stone you have there. You can still rip a tire here, but that looks heinous.

[deserth3]

Originally Posted by 03H3

Hey desert,

I hope everything is fine with your rig. We are planning to run some cool trails. I hope you can still make it. If you are just worried about loaning me your spare tire relax, I'll borrow Neo's.

Borrow my spare and it would look like you're driving on one of those donut tires.

[stagger_lee]

Originally Posted by 03H3

Beebs,

I think stagger lee is OK.

So far he didn't bring much to this discussion, but if I (n)ever wanted an opinion of how the liberal hippy commune community felt about the Bush Administrations handling of foreign policy; he'd be the first deadhead I asked.

Occasionally, threads around here have a way of going straight into the crapper. I was hoping to pull some experience and knowledge out it, before that happened.

Hey F you guys! haha j/k. What, like 4 people gave the right answer of 15-18 lbs depending on tires, so instead of of being a parrot and becoming the 5th douche to give the same answer I smart my a$$ off. Im just here for the entertainment and maybe try and get you to chuckle a bit while youre reading.


So here is a straight answer. Experience comes from equally heavy rigs, Scouts, FJ40s, and FJ80s, as I haven't really rockcrawled the H3, but sand and snow yes. I run 15 -18 lbs on rocks and snow. Loose rocks closer to 18lbs, flat slick rock (Moab Stylie) closer to 15lbs. Slow driving in sand a bit lower, but not usually lower then about 13lbs, and if I'm driving fast in the sand I want it no lower than 15lbs. We have run 10lbs in my brothers prerunner in Glamis, be he has beadlocks so it doesn't matter. Our rigs are pretty heavy so anything lower than 15lbs is pushing your luck I think. Hows that for a recap on the previously already perfect answers given. Thanks for givin me crap guys. Keeps me in line.