Radial tire trail pressure???

[1996cc]

I'm running 33x12x15 BFG Mud terrains with the rim savers cut off (on exploder aluminum wheels). Running 10psi at the dunes this weekend. As I crawled over a SMALL log on the beach, I had my head out the window and watched (and heard) the LF tire let air out at the bead. I thought cutting off the rimsavers would help prevent this??? Have you guys had problems with other radial tires, or is it just BFG. Obviously this is without beadlocks.

 

[jeepdude10000]

without beed loks that pressure is too low.

 

[KarlVP]

Depends on the terrain. 10psi is not too low.

I have 33X12.5 R15 BFG muds on my Jeep.

On an 8 inch wide rim I run about 10 to 12 psi on the trail. Sure, sometimes you can have a little air leak out of the bead at times, but it's no big deal. "Bead farts" is what I call it. This is why we run on board air.

On the snow, I run my tires down to about 5.5 to 6 psi. No problems unless I am really beating on it.

On a wider rim, increase these pressures by 5psi.

And the only reason to cut the rim savers off is to keep them from pushing mud/debris into the bead of the tire. They do actually work.

In all my time wheeling at these pressures, I have debeaded my tire twice. Once I was on a good sidehill, and the Jeep slid down and the tire hit a rock. No biggie, just put the air on and re-fill. The other time, I had 10 inch wide wheels and I was running 5psi. We were wheeling over an avalanche, and there were big ice chunks. I hit one and it de-beaded my tire.

Bead farts are no big deal.

 

[Chris S]

10 psi is what I would have been running.
My guess is that you just had bad luck and there was a projection from the log that pushed on your sidewall just right to pop the bead. if that is the case at a higher pressure the tire may have been too rigid to be pushed out of the way and the sidewall could have been cut instead.

 

[1996cc]

I believe mine are 7" wide, possibly 8", whatever the stock exploders are. (In edit: ) Nothing was sticking out of the log, just a normal round log and it was AT MOST 8" in diameter.

Same thing has happened to the wife's ZJ in the snow running 8 psi with the all terrains. One tire actually went completely FLAT. But it's a street rig, so I won't worry about cutting the rim savers off it.

I don't care about scratches on my wheels, so the rim savers can only hurt, so I cut them off.

I know some are scared to run single digit pressures without beadlocks, but don't worry - IT DOES WORK JUST FINE!! Hasta

 

[Ramsey]

without beed loks that pressure is too low.

negative. i'd say 8 is about as low as you want to go w/out with a 12.50 on a 7 or 8" wheel. even at 8 i never lost a bead, until i was running 10.50s on a 8" wheel. beadlocks fixed that.

 

[FiFo]

In normal day-to-day wheeling 10 PSI is a fairly standard pressure for most people running 33x12.5 on 8" wide rims. I don't even think about it anymore, first thing I do when I get to the trail head is deflate my tires to 10 PSI. You can go lower still if your going to be snow wheeling and the like.

 

[1996cc]

I had a request for pics from my local board, so I figured I post them here as well. I don't have any "in progress" pics, but here are some after pics and a "before" from my wife's tires. I just used a ravor knife and a steady hand before I mounted the tires. Used a couple blades to keep it cutting like butter (okay, maybe cold butter

) The first one is an uncut BFG:

 

[Rev Den]

I run 10-15 psi on my BFG's with the rim-savers intact and I have never lost a bead.....ever.

Rev

 

[What Rd]

Stop trying to ruin your tires by cutting them up with razor blades and use the terrain instead. I never (ever) run more than 12 psi in my 33x10.50 KMs, and usually 10 in the front and 9 in the rear, on 8 inch wide steel wheels without locks, and have never had more than a bead-burp or two.

 

[1996cc]

Judging by the replies, I'm thinking that my 7" wheels are too narrow. 8" would be much better. I also wonder if steel wheels grab onto the bead a little better than aluminum??

 

[Matt S.]

Judging by the replies, I'm thinking that my 7" wheels are too narrow. 8" would be much better. I also wonder if steel wheels grab onto the bead a little better than aluminum??

Keep the narrow rims, its a good thing.

AFAIK, the only non beadlock rims that are really hard to set and break beads on are Centerline rims.

 

[1996cc]

Stop trying to ruin your tires by cutting them up with razor blades and use the terrain instead.

Not sure what you mean by "and use the terrain instead".

 

[Rocketman]

Not sure what you mean by "and use the terrain instead".

He's saying, let the terrain and wheeling be what destroys your tires, not a razor blade.

BTW, I think that doing that (cutting the tire) is pretty stupid too!!

 

[1996cc]

My tires aren't ruined in any way, they are just fine. This isn't a mall crawler that I need to prevent little dings in my wheels. That is the sole purpose for rim savers. Do you realize they used to make BFG's without them? (and a lot of tires still don't have them).

For what it's worth, I also got the whole set of 4 tires for $110 total (used).

 

[rocklandxjer]

sometimes dings in your wheels lead to burps in the beads...

:dunno:

 

[adamusmc2002]

In normal day-to-day wheeling 10 PSI is a fairly standard pressure for most people running 33x12.5 on 8" wide rims. I don't even think about it anymore, first thing I do when I get to the trail head is deflate my tires to 10 PSI. You can go lower still if your going to be snow wheeling and the like.

I'm with you on that one. Same set up, same wheeling routine.

 

[rocklandxjer]

i usually run 14-18 on the street, and down to 10-12 on the trail. no need to go lower. unless your a true rockcrawler. then i can see 5,4, even 3 psi

 

[FiFo]

i usually run 14-18 on the street, and down to 10-12 on the trail. no need to go lower. unless your a true rockcrawler. then i can see 5,4, even 3 psi

snow, you want to go lower in the snow. I've seen guys with beadlocks who actually removed the valve stem and had air sucked into the tire there pressure was so low.

 

[rocklandxjer]

how much lower are you talking about? i guess in the snow the lowest you would need is about 9-8 theres no sense going that much lower, unless you have a real big tire with agressive sidwall...