Yes, more times than I care to admit and I think they were most posts and few pm's. The answer of course is no difference. Just getting more square inches on the ground.
I will tell you though that my time here is up. People like you, who know everything yet can prove nothing other than "Well it worked for me" or "My mechanic told me" or "My grandaddy did it this way" crap. No science, physics mathematics or even common sense to back it up. But I guess because you believe it makes it right huh? There have been several good knowledgable guys come through here but did not come back because of idiots posting the same 'ol jibberish as you do.. Yes I have been
wrong before and freely admit it. I have helped, I think, many people in the past few years but I am done here. Congratulations, you are the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
I will check my pm's for a few days if anyone has any questions. Many of you have my number and email so if you need anything just yell.
To the rest of you - just ask this guy since he apparently knows everything about machines.
Greg,
I have touched on a little of the physics of why airing tires down works. You aren't looking to discuss it - you are looking to shout me down. I hate to be the one to point it out again, but if you think there is no difference between a wider tire at full pressure and a smaller tire aired down you really have NO CONCEPT of the full advantages of airing down.
When you air a tire down you don't just gain a few more square inches. Although you have to be careful how far you go w/o bead locks, you can gain up to 2.5 X the contact area. As a general safe rule, you can easily double your contact area. You can't begin to equal this difference in surface area just by upsizing the tires. Going from factory tire size up to 35's (which is considered by most to be the upper limit of what is possible with a lot of body lift and hacking) only gains about a 25% increase in surface area. As long as you are not limited by ground clearance, a factory tire size properly deflated will have significantly better ground traction than a similar 35" tire running at street pressure (assuming both tires have the same tread pattern).
But that's really only 1/2 the benefit to airing down (actually a little less). When you air down the tires they now conform to bumps, ruts and other surface irregularities. Instead of riding up on these irregularities and removing significant portions of the tire from contact, the tire now wraps around the irregularity uses it to help propel the vehicle instead of it acting as a traction breaker.
Finally, airing down tires generally significantly improves their resistance to punctures and cuts as it lowers the pressure that damaging rocks, thorns, etc. are applying their damage with. The weight of the vehicle is distributed over double the contact patch, so the pressure per square inch is 1/2 what it would be inflated and the tire will wrap around instead of riding up on sharp rock edges, etc.
As I have previously stated, I have yet to see a situation where deflating tires doesn't significantly improve off road traction. I'm sure if you or anyone else wants to sift through the pepper looking for fly poop you can find a scenario where it doesn't help, but for 99+% of off-road situations its the right call. If you want to pontificate about theory and demean others about their lack of understanding of the science behind the theory it is helpful to actually know the theory. When it comes time to actually apply the theory, there is no substitute for experience.
Sorry this has triggered some sort of tipping point for you. I haven't done anything to you other than disagree with you. This is a public forum to discuss topics related T4R, I'm using the media as intended. If I may be so bold, you may find the forum (and others) more enjoyable if you didn't insist on being the incontrovertible expert in every subject, particularly those where you don't seem to have even a rudimentary understanding.
Regards,
David
