Airing down before bead lock wheels are needed?

[Lone Traveler]

When it comes to airing down your tires at what point should you being using bead lock wheels?

 

[smritte]

Sadly there is no real across the board answer.

It all depends on your tire, rim width and terrain. I've taken 12.5" wide tires mounted on 8" rims down to 10 psi. I've also seen the same tire on a 10" wide rim spin off at 10 psi. The differences was the narrow rim held the tire better and I didnt spin the tires.

Over all, I've driven moderately aggressive with 12 psi. I favor 9" rims. With my beadlocks, I've done 8psi and real aggressive without issue.

It seems 20- 25 psi is the all around dirt road sweet spot with 15-20 being minimum.

What your looking for is dropping 5 psi and having the rim drop significantly. If its significant 25-20. 20-22 will be min. If it drops significantly 20- 15. 18 will be minimum and 15 in soft sand only.

There's also a diminishing return on tire pressure vs traction. This is strictly tire based, you cant do the same from one brand to the next. What this means is unless your in sand, you can actually start losing traction as you go down in pressure. I would see this below 20 psi.

This weekend I was running moderately torn up dirt roads at 25 psi. My BFG KO@'s were really happy there. If I was more aggressive, 20 psi and 18 psi is where my sidewalls flex and I loose traction on corners too much. 18 psi is my best traction in rocks. I normally stay 20-25 (huge difference) on just about anything. 15 psi only in real soft sand and no tire spinning (no beadlocks).