Tyres for beach driving?

Gday Bonz,
Ive had to drop them down to around 20psi at times but Im trying to avoid stopping to pump them all the way up on the way home.
Im just curious if there is a fatter tyre that handles lower pressure on the highway better than others.
If I only let my A/Ts down to 30 psi I usually limp home on that.

Cheers

Hi

Fatter tyres won’t necessarily be better on sand..it’s the length of the tyre footprint that is critical...not the width. You will still have to deflate a fatter tyre when on sand the same degree you will a thinner tyre (all other things being equal). There is some argument that fatter tyres are actually worse on sand than thinner ones. Been discussed before 100 times on the forum.

Cheers
Greg

If 30psi does it for you then I would be happy to go with 30psi on the highway at 110.

The fatter the tyre the more resistance you are going to have on sand, as when a tyre goes thru sand it makes its own little wave of sand in front or it, and the wider the tyre the more sand you'll push and the harder your car will work.

I tried, ages, to test whether a tyre got fatter when you let it down or longer, and found ti got about 5% wider and 30% longer.

Cheers Bonz.

glad you cleared that up...last person i seen trying to do 110ks on the sand..rolled their vehicle about a k after they passed me on fraser island...

Spot on Tony,

Might just have to set up an air tank and hose reel so I can pump them up quicker and easier on the way home.

What is the lowest you would leave A/Ts while travelling at 110km on bitumen?
Until I get set up better.........isl 30km at 110km at 30psi silly?

Cheers

110 K/PH is normal road speed , so 35 to 40psi is the normal pressure !!

You may get away with lower pressures, and you may not !! Take a compessor with you and save any hassles...

As said before.....16 to 20 psi is the go on sand ( not 30 !! ) and you'll be surprised how much easier it is to drive with lower pressures !!

Thanks Gronk!!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure what for though?

Hairy - Keeping in mind Litigation :-) 110k I would advise you to run at manufactures specifications.

Now what have I done?

I usually have a fair bit of gravel road after I do Beach runs & at 24-28 psi travel up to 100ks at times mostly its done at 60-80k. When I hit the bitumen I try to do no more then 80k, but when you look down the speedo is sometimes more.

Just remember when your tyres are flat the heat buildup is more which in turn can lead to tyre failure. So I leave it up to you, if it was raining or overcast 30psi is not too bad, on a hot day it may not be so good.

I am sure there is a lot of people out there traveling at that speed who have no idea how much pressure they have in there tyres :-)

30PSI is too much to run on the sand in most cases, so I would spend $220 on a tyre pump that will do the job until you get the ultimate set uo - You can get a good kingcrome compressor for that money

Kingcome Compressor

Cheers Tony

Thanks Tony,
Ive got a twin head compressor that does the job for know.
Now and then I shoot down to the beach for half an hour or so for a fish.....by the time I muck around with tyres its hardly worth it.
What I was thinking was if I left them on 30psi when I new I was going to be fishing a lot, as its enough to easily get in and out of where I go, and enough pressure to drive home on carefully. (until I set up an air tank)

Thanks for you help.
Cheers

Hairy

Also depends on whether you have LT or passenger construction tyres. A Bridgestone Tyre engineer told me that you shouldn't drop LT AT Duellers below 32psi for 100km/hr bitumen, where as you can go down to 26psi with passenger construction.

MM me if you wish and I will see if I can dig up the helpful e mails he sent me.

Despite this in my confusion 2 years ago I did the Plenty @ 80-100 with my LT Dueller ATs set at 28psi hauling a heavy CT OK though. The NT roads weren't as bad as I was led to believe!

Mark

Cheers Mark........Ill check my tyres out and see what they are.

Hairy - I know where you are coming from - I have done many a quick trip fishing on the beach and could not be bothered to let the tyres down. Problem was 75% of those trips turned out longer as I then had to let the tyres down to get out and then drive home with them flat :-0

Luck its only 10k and not 50 :-)

Cheers Tony

Gday Tony,
Quite often Im driving on a sandy track next to the beach rather than down on it so its not all that soft.
Thanks for your help.

Cheers

I suggested driving at 30psi.....not 18?

hi hairy
wouldn't 30psi be on the low side based on the weight of most lc;s
and could still cause the tyre to scrub and get hot and dramaticlly reduce the tyres life
30psi at 80ks for a short distance only ?? say 10 km's
cheers

That probably all I would really do on them.

Cheers

very bad advice

often the first you know its struggling is when your bogged

best bet is to let them down to whats required first up

I usually go straight to 12 psi or maybe 15 if the beach doesnt look too bad

when younger and dumber i used to try and get away with as much air as possible but your vehichle works harder and boggings are more likely

the idea that you leave yourself with no room to air down further is flawed as you are far more likely to avaid the bog in the first place and you can air down a fair bit more from 12 psi if really needed - at 12 psi getting bogged on the beach is very highly unlikely

hi get out more
i agree with your assessment
better safe and still moving than bogged
too late she cried
cheers

Yep - I would agree to let them down first - otherwise tracks get torn up where people get stuck - making it harder for everyone else. A lot of places have signs insisting that people let their tyres down - before the soft stuff starts....

Joe Grace - The advice you give is reflected a lot in what I see up here with people driving to Cape Flattery on the beach.

Most do Ok when the sand is at its best (not too hot) but when it goes wrong it goes very wrong and then it takes more effort then it is worth to get the car out.

As stated above best to take the time and put the pressures right the first time.

I used to drive the fruit truck to Doomadgee in the lat 80s early 90s - Is that your hometown?

Cheers Tony