How far can I air down my BFG Long Trails?

Dan Schechter · Feb 13th, 2006, 05:09 PM

I'm new to offroading -- my 2005 Pathy SE came with BFG Long Trails. [I know that real offroaders don't use these tires, but they were stock, and they work very well for highway driving, which is 99.99% of what I have to do.]

I'm getting ready to go to Baja, and there are some sandy roads down there. Serious offroaders "air down" to 15 psi or lower.

Here is my question -- can I do that without "bead locks"? I will "air up" to normal pressure on ordinary pavement -- I have a really good compressor -- but how low can I go on these tires without damaging them? [I will keep my offroad speed quite low, of course.] Would 20 psi be safer, or is that not low enough to get proper flotation and traction?

Your collective wisdom and experience are greatly appreciated!

SD Frontier · Feb 13th, 2006, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Schechter

I'm new to offroading -- my 2005 Pathy SE came with BFG Long Trails. [I know that real offroaders don't use these tires, but they were stock, and they work very well for highway driving, which is 99.99% of what I have to do.]

I'm getting ready to go to Baja, and there are some sandy roads down there. Serious offroaders "air down" to 15 psi or lower.

Here is my question -- can I do that without "bead locks"? I will "air up" to normal pressure on ordinary pavement -- I have a really good compressor -- but how low can I go on these tires without damaging them? [I will keep my offroad speed quite low, of course.] Would 20 psi be safer, or is that not low enough to get proper flotation and traction?

Your collective wisdom and experience are greatly appreciated!

i dont know much about the BFG Long Trails, but i have seen BFG All Terrains aired down to 8 psi with no beadlocks. dont know what the bead strength is though.

as for my experience, i aired down the General Grabbers on my 05 Frontier SE 4X4 to 16psi in the rear and 18psi in the front this past weekend and drove around the desert (mix of soft sand and dirt roads for over 5 hours with no problems and they did well. just dont make any sharp or sudden maneuvers while aired down. i'm actually surprised i didnt throw my tires off the bead while sliding the tail around on sharp corners while doing 40mph.

johnnyhammers · Feb 14th, 2006, 09:35 PM

I think you'd be fine to go as low as 10psi or so. As a guideline, just think of when you've see some bonehead with a tire that has clearly been low for quite a while. When its bad enough that you do notice it in traffic, make yours look that bad, then take a pressure reading. I think you'll be surprised how full your tires look at 10 psi; sure they'll look low, but it's surprising how low they'll go and still hold the truck up. If you do break the bead on one, you can generally "pop" it back on just by reinflating it and pushing/pulling on it, just like the guys at the tire shop do.
Good luck in you upcoming adventure
Have fun and use you head.
Johnny