lowering tire pressure to ~20 PSI for beach?

[dja4260]

Heading up the NC coast for a 3 week camping trip with the family. I will have multiple opportunities to drive on the beaches in 4x4. The sites recommend dropping my tire pressure from 75 PSI to 20 PSI when on the beach. I have a battery powered Ryobi air pump but I don't think it will have the capacity to fill all 4 tires back to proper PSI. What is the minimum PSI you would drive on pavement? I was told it's a few miles to a gas station with an air pump...

Am I overthinking this?

 

[Ronsant]

What are you running 75 psi in? That seems high to me. Street vehicles are usually around 30-35psi.

 

[Chris142]

Most of us jeepers run 12-15 off road. Never a problem driving on the road ~50 mph to go air up.

 

[dubber09]

Yes, if driving on sand then drop air pressure, pump it back up before hitting pavement.
This is why I have corded air pump.

 

[dja4260]

What are you running 75 psi in? That seems high to me. Street vehicles are usually around 30-35psi.

My tires are 80PSI max. When I'm pulling my camper, I keep them at 75psi.

 

[dja4260]

Yes, if driving on sand then drop air pressure, pump it back up before hitting pavement.
This is why I have corded air pump.

I bought a corded air pump for $30 on Amazon...

 

[Ronsant]

My tires are 80PSI max. When I'm pulling my camper, I keep them at 75psi.

Wow, what vehicle and what tires? I’m just curious. Is this high psi common for trucks?

 

[NormanBuntz]

Here on the Outer Banks, most beach drivers drop the air to 15 psi, while most vehicle entry points have close by convenience stores with coin/credit card operated air pumps.

 

[dja4260]

Wow, what vehicle and what tires? I’m just curious. Is this high psi common for trucks?

Ram 2500 w/ OEM Firestone load E tires.

 

[Sumboodie]

Most of us jeepers run 12-15 off road. Never a problem driving on the road ~50 mph to go air up.

I usually ran 5-10 psi depending on the trail. Just aired up after.

Wow, what vehicle and what tires? I’m just curious. Is this high psi common for trucks?

Yeah, put no necessary if it's not loaded to max GVWR.
I run my trucks heavy so 80 psi in the E rated and 100 in the G or H rated.

 

[TiGeo]

I used to drive on the beach all the time down there in various vehicles including trucks and SUVs as well as my Subaru wagon. 15 psi always was a good number. For road back to a gas station for air up if you can get to the 30s you'd be fine...they just get hot if the pressure is too low so drive slower if we'll below normal min. street tire pressures. Can also get a 12v compressor and make this a non-issue for yourself.

 

[BC1]

35 is good enough to get it to a station and not melt your pump. Get a tool to remove the stem cores fully or it will take 5 minutes a tire to air down. Have a couple spares since you might lose one.

 

[BrendanC]

i never air down on the beach, just lock it in 4wd and i’ve never had an issue. but your little ryobi pump will melt down before you get those tires pumped back up. milwaukee m18 inflator will take care of that.

 

[thastinger]

Wow, what vehicle and what tires? I’m just curious. Is this high psi common for trucks?

Any E load rated tire is going to be 80PSI as the max pressure. I have them on my 98 F150, in stock 265/70/17 size.

 

[thastinger]

I air down to 15 at least once a month. These are big time savers

https://www.amazon.com/ALL-TOP-Tire-Deflator-Valve/dp/B0B5KVLK1D?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

 

[BrendanC]

Wow, what vehicle and what tires? I’m just curious. Is this high psi common for trucks?

any 3/4 ton+ pickup is going to be on E of F tires and have a 80psi max load. my 35x15.5r22 tires are an F load with a max load capacity of 3750lbs per tire at 80psi. truck weighs 8600lbs empty so i run at 65PSI unloaded. if i load up a heavy trailer or throw 30 50lb sacks of corn in the back, i’ll go straight to 80lbs and air my bags.

 

[BC1]

Most E tires are 80. E wider than 285 are 65 psi.

 

[TiGeo]

i never air down on the beach, just lock it in 4wd and i’ve never had an issue. but your little ryobi pump will melt down before you get those tires pumped back up. milwaukee m18 inflator will take care of that.

In deep soft sand like in NC where the OP is going not airing down is risky. Entire FB groups dedicated to pics of buried jeeps and big trucks on the soft sand beaches in NC becuase they didnt. Why take that risk? I like the ones with some family in a Subaru bee-boppin' by the stuck truck because they aired down

 

[BrendanC]

In deep soft sand like in NC where the OP is going not airing down is risky. Entire FB groups dedicated to pics of buried jeeps and big trucks on the soft sand beaches in NC becuase they didnt. Why take that risk? I like the ones with some family in a Subaru bee-boppin' by the stuck truck because they aired down

driving on sand takes more common sense than most people have i guess. momentum is your friend. find some harder packed stuff to park on and start off with more throttle than you would otherwise think. i’ve definitely pulled out more than my fair share of vehicles buried to their frame rails. however i’m just a texan that didn’t have an issue relocating to colorado and driving around on icy roads in a then 2wd CCLB 3/4ton pickup.

 

[CapriRacer]

Every so often, my "tire-y sense" goes off (sort of like Spiderman's "spidey sense"!). And the quote below is one of those times.

Any E load rated tire is going to be 80PSI as the max pressure. I have them on my 98 F150, in stock 275/70/17 size.

I looked it up, and a 1998 F-150 4X4 came with P265/70R17 OR LT245/75R16 LR D.