Air Down Tires for Trails

JeratBP said:
Any advice/feedback on other 12 Volt Portable Hi Volume Air Compressor's?
I've been looking on Amazon and found the Viair 00088 88P Portable Air Compressor.

As for Tire Deflator's, any additional suggestions? Mentioned so far - ARB and JT Brooks
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im a huge fan of this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Smittybilt-2781-5-65-Universal-Compressor/dp/B004K25GMG

they do make a smaller version as well. it also works well. I use the large one, and got the smaller one for my dad.

https://www.amazon.com/Smittybilt-2...e&ie=UTF8&qid=1507048781&sr=1-1&keywords=2780

the 2781 comes with a much larger coiled hose. it easily reaches all 4 tires, while leaving the compressor in front of the vehicle.

the 2780 has a shorter hose, and will require you to move the compressor to each front corner, as you air up that side.

they both require the engine to be running while using them, as they take a lot of power. they aren't overly noisy, and I haven't noticed either one overheating after doing all 4 of my 35"+ tires.

the 2781 will take my 37's from 15psi, to 35psi in just over 3 minutes.
I expect the 2780 would do it in about twice that, as it has half the output.

much faster for smaller tires, or going from higher pressures.
 
I rarely air down - - - -

Sometimes in mud - not much of that around here.
Sometimes in sand - only when it's really treacherous - doesn't help much.
 
I generally follow the rule of thumb that I air down if I plan to put it in 4x4. The thought process is 4x4 is for more traction and airing down is for more traction. So why not air down?
 
The only reason I won't air down is if it's going to be just a short time before I need to re-inflate. Having said that, I don't like having my teeth jarred out either.
 
in my crawler i run around 5 psi w/ beadlocks.
in my DD 3rd gen when i take it off road i do around 12 to 15 psi front and 10 in back w/ no beadlocks.
i plan to buy an ARB compressor for the 3rd gen soon. :lookout:
 
ajordan1975 said:
in my crawler i run around 5 psi w/ beadlocks.
in my DD 3rd gen when i take it off road i do around 12 to 15 psi front and 10 in back w/ no beadlocks.
i plan to buy an ARB compressor for the 3rd gen soon. :lookout:
Click to expand...

Watch Amazon...I just got a good deal on a Viair 300p last week in their amazon warehouse section. ;-)
 
how low to air down depends on many things: road surface, moisture, sidewall depth (dubs don't have a lot of margin, so "standard" wheels are better imo), tire construction, travel speed.

i typically drop down to 4-6 psi when wheeling my cj. 34x9.5x15 bias tires. no beadlocks. done this for over 20 years. greatly improves traction and ride quality on trails. fwiw, i run these aired up at 20-22 psi. hard mounted quick air II between the seats with a toggle switch on the dash. works fine off the optima red top.

on my 4runner, i air down to 13-15 psi. 31x10.5x15 or 30x9.5x15 radials on the original 4-spoke alloys. smooths out the ride, improves traction. we aired down a lot on last year's trip to the southwest US. viair portable in its nylon bag, worked fine airing 8 tires back up to 35 psi multiple times (my 4r and my dad's truck), running off of the optima red top.

the reason to air down is that it unquestionably improves traction, which reduces wheel spin. less wheel spin means less trail erosion/damage, too. also reduces the chance of puncturing the sidewall or tread.
 
Ray Dunakin said:
Do you guys use any special tool to air down, or just let some air out a little at a time and keep checking the pressure until it hits the psi you want?
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I have a set of Staun deflators, "Gauranteed to let you down". Work with them a little to get them adjusted to automatically shut off at the desired pressure lock them down and you're good to go.

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk
 
I've been considering getting some deflators, but it's not too hard to do without. Once you've deflated your tires a time or two, you'll know how much time it takes, so you can just use your watch rather than stopping and checking pressure a bunch of times. My 33x10.5x15's take about 80 seconds/tire to go from 35 psi to 20 psi.
 
Im always amazed when i encounter people on trail not airing down and usually its because they worry about airing back up. Get a conpressor theyre cheap and super convenient
 
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