Tyre Pressures Again
Submitted: Monday, May 09, 2005 at 17:58
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DiesAl
Gday All, yes I know this has been done 12348172309514 times and have searched the archives but there is one answer I can't find. I know with sand driving you should lower your tyre pressures. Many say to around 20 psi. My question is would you lower all 4 corners to this.... or say you were running 40 psi in the front and 45 in the back ( due to load) on the blacktop would you lower the front to 20 psi (being a 20 psi drop in pressure) and the back to 25 psi (also being a 20 psi drop in pressure). I'm not after a specific pressure to run my tyres at as I realise this differs from vehicle to vehicle and with varying conditions, just whether people lower to a specific pressure or drop their pressure by a specific amount.
Bloody Hell I think I just confused myself...
Cheers
Al
Reply By: Member - Brian (Gold Coast) - Monday, May 09, 2005 at 18:57
Monday, May 09, 2005 at 18:57
Al
Personally I lower my tyres to the same pressures fore and aft, but not the trailer tyres (if I am towing in sand)
It seems to work with my setup, I lower to 18psi and leave the trailer at 40psi... the theory here is that the trailer wheels run in the "tracks" of the Patrol and the tryes have already created a hard track for the trailer tyres to run in.
I have watched others drive straight onto sand without lowering pressures and have no problems at all.... but personally I prefer to run the tyres deflated to 18....
Hope this helps although I probably have confused you more.... I know I've got ME confused............. LOL
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Follow Up By: Nick R - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 08:47
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 08:47
I posted on this back in December and got a mix of responses, about 50:50 each way on the trailer. On Fraser Island i ran my LC 80 on around 11-14, not sure, dodgy pressure guage. the thing went like a train, never looked like stopping, errr, maybe once but I kept going till I was back on hard sand.
In the end I lowered the trailer pressures also. Maybe we should phone Dr. Karl for the difinitive answer, he does a bit of 4wding apparently.....
NickR
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Follow Up By: Member - Brian (Gold Coast) - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 09:03
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 09:03
Nick
The first time we tried sand towing, after much deliberation we decided to leave the trailer at 40 psi,, after all, we could deflate later if needed. But so far we haven't needed to. Having said that, the softest sand we towed in was probably the 3K loop around
Happy Valley...... and we had no probs there. Access from
camp and the accesses at Leisha Track and first cutting Noosa North Shore also weren't a problem. I have checked the "tracking" of the trailer wheels and I think my theory of the trailer following the Patrol tyre tracks is what is working for us.
Like everything in 4wd'ing.... there probably isn't a "one-for-all" answer here... I guess it comes back to what works for the individual
Have a good day mate!
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Follow Up By: Member - Crazie (VIC) - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 09:18
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 09:18
I have to agree with Brian, many years up at fraser and we never lower the boat or box trailer tyres, after all you are draging this behind you, it is not driving. We spent at least 3 weeks up at
Sandy cape most years. The more important thing is that the trailer Track in the 4wd tyre tracks, as Brian has said.
cheers
Crazie,
ps. but each to their own
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Reply By: Member - Oskar (Bris) - Monday, May 09, 2005 at 20:26
Monday, May 09, 2005 at 20:26
Al
I've been beach driving in both 2WD (rear wheel drive) and 4WD for 25 years or so and have experimented with all sorts of set ups. Tyre pressures, tyre widths, weight distribution and heaps more.
I've found that, in the sand, the rear tyres do most of the work. (Try driving a FWD in soft stuff and you'll see what I mean)
Generally, the lower the rear tyre pressures the more flotation you'll get, particularly up sand hills etc. and less digging in.
It's a trade-off between traction and flotation. More traction will mean more digging in (and more chewing up the tracks).
I generally run 18-20 psi in all four (even with a heavy load) and leave the trailer (when I use one) at 35 or whatever.
But I have been down to under 10PSI in extremely deep, soft, dry sand. (not a good thing to do continually)
Experiment for yourself, it's pretty easy to let a bit more air out if you find the rear digging in.
Oskar
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