[rmjuice9]

what is the golden rule for airing down you tires with out bead locks, how low can u go and be safe. right now i have the stock rubi tires and plan on going to 33's in the future

[dirtbagofva]

the rule of thumb...you may hit your wife with a stick no wider than your thumb.

Pressure wise: 10 psi is safe...don't run too far on pavement though (1 mile max). Some people may recomend as low as 6 or 8. HTH

[Rivka]

it can depend a lot of the over all size of tires how strong the side wall of the tire is and the width of the tire vs the width of the rim it is mounted on. It also depends on what you are driving on, some terrain is more likely going to help you slip a bead. Lastly consider how hard it is going to be with the equipment you have to reseat the bead and air the tire back up?

[CB3]

Many people have told me that I can safely air down to 15 psi without bead locks. That is the lowest I'd ever aired down my Cherokee. I did some seriously narly things in it, but never rock crawling. I did everything else though. I never lost a bead. Not even in mud that could suck your shoes off. I usually ran 18 to 20 psi in it off-road, but in volcanic ash (very fine, extra soft sand) I ran 15 psi.

Now for my current Jeep (LJ Rubi) with 33" X 11.3" tires, I've experimented and found that my fav street pressure is 29 psi. I've also found that airing down to 24 psi gives me excellent contact patch and a smooth ride on bumpy logging roads. If I ever need to air down more, I think 18 psi will be low enough for any of my needs, expecially since it has lockers and aggressive tread. However, I'm sure I could go as low a 15 psi with total saftey and no fear of losing a bead.

The lower you air down, the less ground clearance you have, and in some types of mud with some types/widths of tires more air gives better traction. It all depends on conditions, and you have to learn your vehicle (weight), tire-rim combo, and your local terrain and what works best. In some situations off-road street pressure works best, but usually airing down is better, but how much? It depends on conditions and your equipment. So you'll have to learn by experience (trial and error in your local terrains). However, you can be very safe about not losing a bead if you stay at 15 psi or higher. Totally safe at 18 psi or higher, IMO.

And like someone said, you can probably even air down to 10 psi and keep your bead, but why would you want to air down that low, unless you are rock crawling? I would NOT go below 10 psi, unless you have the capability to reseat the tire. For most people 15+ or 18+ psi is best for their terrains, and at those pressures, they won't lose a bead. I've done many years of off-road wheeling in the past at 15 to 18 psi, and I've never lost a bead yet (but I'm not a rock crawler).

[Steelman]

I don't have a rock-buggy by any means, but I do play in the rocks some (here in the SoCal desert and mountains). I have 33X12.50R15 Goodyear MTR tires on 8" wide steel wheels (no beadlocks). I always go down to 8 PSI while offroading. I've never lost bead (been almost two years since I put these tires on).

[CB3]

Originally Posted by Steelman

I don't have a rock-buggy by any means, but I do play in the rocks some (here in the SoCal desert and mountains). I have 33X12.50R15 Goodyear MTR tires on 8" wide steel wheels (no beadlocks). I always go down to 8 PSI while offroading. I've never lost bead (been almost two years since I put these tires on).

Well then, if you can wheel with 8 psi and never lose a bead, then I will never again worry about it.

Come to think of it, I've only read about people losing beads. I don't know anyone locally who ever lost one in all my 30 years off-roading. I guess we just don't air down that much cause it's not appropriate for our terrain. We do get some very narly terrain, usually mud, but 18 to 20 psi seems to work well for that. The volcanic ash is very soft and a guy can sink to China if he's not careful, but airing down to 15 psi handles that if tires big enough, like medium width. I think I did once air down to about 12 psi when I had skinny tires for volcanic ash.

Anyhow, losing a bead is not an issue I need to worry about. You just confirmed that.

[Rivka]

Originally Posted by CB3

Well then, if you can wheel with 8 psi and never lose a bead, then I will never again worry about it.
snip
Anyhow, losing a bead is not an issue I need to worry about. You just confirmed that.

i have sure lost one, like you mentioned it really does depend on the type of wheeling. i lost two when aired to 15, it was back when i was learning. Seen more than a few folks push their luck and loose theirs. had one leak out of the bead bad (almost dead flat by the time we stopped and aired it back up) today but thankful not pop off, right here in the NW. So to the OP, don't take it as a fact that the bead will hold just cause it did for others. it al depends on if you find terrain to push it off, it will not come off for the most part unless you push it against something or get really off camber so he weight of the jeep pushes it

[steve3911]

I've run as low as 12psi with my swampers over losse / rocky / slick terrian - no problems yet. In muddier stuff, I'm more liklely to be around 15-18. I have seen a guy pop not one but TWO beads on the same trail in nearly the same spot. I guess 9 psi wasn't enough to hold the bead...

~Steve

[FLATFENDER54]

Depends on the weight of your TJ/vehicle and the type of tires - There is not a set pressure you can select. Ive seen heavy vehicles with tires bulging that looked like they had aired WAAAAY down. WHen in fact they were at 18lbs if that particular vehicle had went down to 8lbs i bet he would of looked flat and easily lost a bead

[Jonny Jeep]

I found this tire pressure article a while back when wondering about air down pressures myself.