Sorry one more question <span class="highlight">Tyre</span> <span class="highlight">Pressures</span>.

Vehicle ? Loads ? Tyres ?

Hi David T

I have a cruiser wagon and towed a lightweight (1 Tonne) camper van and ran 30psi on vehicle and camper on the Oodnadatta road and on the Flinders trecks. Went back to 40psi all round on the bitumen. I use 4psi as a rule of thumb for pressure increase when hot so I allow for this so check and deflate to 30psi once tyres are hot.

Oh dear.

I think you need to do a search on 'tyre pressure' on this site. You will find that, other than the obvious in sand , there are diametrically opposed views on tyre pressures on tracks. One side lowers the pressure believing that it gives a better ride and less punctures (one theory is based on the belief that a soft balloon is harder to puncture than a hard one). The other side goes for high pressure to reduce side wall flexing which can totally destroy tyres. Less bulge can also reduce side wall staking.

Both sides mount fair and reasonable arguements and quote credible sources, and will probably do so again on this thread! Personally I am a high pressure person, I just get the fillings put back in my teeth at the end of the trip. But, having chosen high pressure I don't necessarily believe that either side is right. It mainly seems to come down to luck!

Please do NOT ask what speed you should go over corrugations!

Give the bloke at the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta a call.

He has an opinion too. We did The same Trip with Bridgestone Dueller ATs LT 265/75 R16s that had done 70,000 ks on the Nissan and new ones on the CT. Ran them all around 28PSI, never had a flat or tyre failure in 9 Months travelling the Dirt Tracks of AUS.

Large wagon loaded, towing BFG AT 265/75 16: F 25 R 30 (Cold) F 28 R 35 (Hot, when airing down off tar).

The bigger the bag the lower the pressure,
The worse the track the lower the pressure,
The lower the pressure the lower the speed,
The heavier the load the higher the pressure,
Lower pressure=more contact patch=more grip=more control=more safety.

Given the above, tyres with lower pressures will in general have fewer punctures. In my experience the tyres carrying the most load (therefore with more pressure) are at highest risk of puncturing. Always put your newest tyres where you are carrying the most load and running the highest pressures.

I've seen people with new tyres run high pressures and get away with no punctures. Bull bars fall off, shocks get stuffed, vechicle slides everywhere and passengers become alergic to dirt; but no punctures. Don't try it with older tyres though.

All of the above IMHO of course.

OT

Adam from Oodnadatta Roadhouse will tell you 24-26psi. I've followed his advice for many years and he's always been spot on.

Depends on the tyres, vehicle, load, track, speed.

We now use the manufactures pressures for the vehicle all the time - why, when we used to lower our pressures we had several low pressure related blowouts. SInce we are back to manufacters pressures, no problems. Maybe we were going too fast for the tyre pressures but they were still at 40psi (various tyre shop recommendations).

We use 750-16 light truck tyres on our Troopy which run much higher pressures (33-35psi front, 57-60psi rear) than normal radial types of tyres.

Interesting, Landrover recommend that same pressure on and off road in the Rangie handbook. (28psi front, 38psi rear). Toyota do notspecifically say use the same pressure on and off road but do not give an offroad option.

Low speed slippery tracks are the only place that I will drop pressures - ONLY if required to progress on the track without wrecking the track.

Stevesub