# Ideal Tire Pressure??



## fishdaddy1

So Im not new to the site, not new to surf fishing but, I am new to driving on the beach. I bought a beach permit for a Jersey beach and went out for the first time last week. I have a 2012 F250 and I aired down to about 50lbs - normal tire pressure is about 80lbs. I was concerned about airing down too far and running into problems. The truck handled OK in the fluffier sand but once the fluff got 6-8" deep, I really felt like the tires were starting to dig in and if I stopped I was gonna get buried. 
Should I air down further? I have heard of people running the beach at 20lbs, is that about the ideal pressure?


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## ONESHOT

i used to have a 2500 chevy, ran 22 front, 20 back. never any problems


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## jmadre

Yes. I drive a Chevy 2500HD with the gas engine and I find I have to air down to at least 23 PSI on a beach in decent shape. If the sand is soft I need to drop to 19-20 PSI in order to move around without trouble.

Driving on the beach and access ramps at higher tire pressures cuts up the road and makes for washboard bumps that everyone has to drive over. Lower tire pressure is not only good for you, but good for the other beach users, too.


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## Jersey Hunter

Start out around 20lb, If you have an auto transmission put it in drive if it doesn't start to roll when you lift off the brake take more out.


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## bronzbck1

Yep what he said the right amount is even tire pressure 18 to 22 and when the truck coast's instead of stopping then you have found the magic number. My 3/4 ton truck is 20 and 3/4 ton SUV is 22psi.


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## fishdaddy1

Great tips! Thanks for the info - I'd rather get the tips online instead of on the beach with a bottomed out truck!


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## biggestsquid

I run my F250HD 4 dr at 20-22. I understand your concerns about the heavier tire --- but for the first 200K on my truck I ran those heavy tires and dropped them to 20 with no issues, lower when necessary. Even if you can run at higher pressures --- drop em down, easier on the transmission and transfer case. I switched to lighter weight class tires last year becuase I got tired of airing up to 80lbs and I never haul any loads in my truck anyway --- it is a fishing machine. The new tires run at 50 PSI and they fill up much quicker then the 80 PSI tires. 

Do yourself a favor with that rig and wash the insides of the door bottoms and the bottom inside of the tailgate after you have been on the beach. After 8 years on the beach and 230K miles those are the only rust areas that I have on the truck.


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## Catch This

I run a F250 and I regularly air down to 20lbs; that leaves room to go lower if necessary. After airing down get your speed up to 10mph and let off the gas. If you keep rolling you are probably OK at that pressure. If you come to an abrubt stop, you need to let out more air and repeat the process.


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## tomsurles

I apologize in advance if this question comes off as stupid, but do you also need to air down all terrain tires? I have a Dodge 1500 Ram with BFG all terrains,and its a fairly wide tire with an aggressive thread. I don't mind airing them down, but if I dont need to thats ok also.


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## Catch This

Yes you need to air down all terrain tires. The more aggressive the tread, the worse it will be in the sands. Its people that dont air down that put all the ripples in the ruts.


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## tomsurles

Catch This said:


> Yes you need to air down all terrain tires. The more aggressive the tread, the worse it will be in the sands. Its people that dont air down that put all the ripples in the ruts.


Thanks for the reply. Again I didnt mean to sound stupid, I've never actually driven on the beach. I've been a passenger many times and the drivers never aired down. I wasn't aware of the damage being done though. I just want to make sure I'm doing all the right things so I don't get stuck, or mess things up for others..Thanks again.


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## razor78016

20psi front and rear sounds about right. I've done it that way for years.


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## Dyhard

When your vehicle just floats across the sand, even crossing tracks, you will know that you have let enough out.
Wide rims, large smooth highway tires and low pressure. There have been times when I aired down to 10 psi for soft sand, hill climbing or that orange marble 'sand'.


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## DANtheJDMan

Dyhard said:


> When your vehicle just floats across the sand, even crossing tracks, you will know that you have let enough out.
> Wide rims, large smooth highway tires and low pressure. There have been times when I aired down to 10 psi for soft sand, hill climbing or that orange marble 'sand'.


For you boys who have and need everything for the beach, there are some really cool and expensive tires and wheels that have an inflatable ring on the inside of the rim that keeps the tire bead from coming off the rim. With these tubes instide of tubless tires, you can air down to 10 psi without the bead coming off the rim. When you air down to 10 you better hope the bead holds and your truck is not to heavy. When the bead breaks you will wish you had some either to get it back on.


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## sudshunter

i havent had my new truck on the sand yet, will i still air down to around 20psi with oversized tires ? i bought a 2004 f150 and its lifted with 36" tires and was wondering about airing down. thanks for any help offered...


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## Catch This

Yes you need to air down even with 36" tires


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## sudshunter

Catch This said:


> Yes you need to air down even with 36" tires


 yea i no i have to air down but do i still go as low as 20psi with these tires,as i dont want to go to low !!!


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## Catch This

Air down till you float on the sand...or just ask these guys
(the picture came off the Oregon Inlet Idots page..it is not me and I didnt take it)


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## jef400dread

I'm on my 4th truck in the last 3 years. I had 3 Dodges, (1/2, 3/4 and 1 tons) all with aggressive tread tires. The 1500 had 35" BFG ATs, the 1 ton had 37" Nitto MGs, and the 3/4 ton had 35" Nitto TGs. I now have a Taco with 32" Nitto TGs. I've never even considered driving any of these on the beach with more than 22lbs of air. The 1 ton had 8" of lift, it was 4WD and had the 5.9L Cummins that was chipped. Despite the size and power of this truck, it was not impossible to get stuck in the deep OBX sand. 

More than number of drive wheels, more than power, more than tire tread style and depth, air pressure matters. You could be better off in a 2WD light truck with 15-20lbs than a monster diesel that blows black smoke and 40" mud tires. It's my understanding that mud tires are designed to be spun fast to throw the soft mud from the tread, and to find harder mud under them to grip. You do NOT want to spin any type of tires on sand. You want to FLOAT on sand. That 1 ton I had with the Mud Grapplers would dig in even in 4WD and 20lbs of air in soft sand. Mostly I ran them at 15lbs. Dropping 5 additional PSI matters.

To anyone that drives a truck with more than 50lbs of air in the tires, you know you're going to have to air down. If you're gonna air down to 25lbs, take a couple extra minutes and drop them to 20. You have nothing to lose by dropping them to 15. Whether you leave the beach at 15lbs or 25lbs you still HAVE to air up to make them safe on the road at highway speeds. My 3/4 ton was a 2010 4door, 4wd, with the TPS system. When I was done airing the 35" Nitto Trailgrapplers on it, the TPS system usually said I had 10-11lbs. I never lost a bead. That 7000lb truck would drive over deep sand just like it was asphalt. I could back into a spot, put it in 2wd, put it in reverse, stand on the brake and hit the gas to dig holes with my rear wheels. This lowered the tailgate so we could reach everything in the bed (6" lift). When it was time to go (yes I always filled my holes) I could put it back in 4WD, put it in drive and drive out of those holes like they weren't even there. As a dodge owner, I jokingly attributed that capability to it being a superior truck. Honestly, I credit that ability to excellent tires with the perfect amount of air in them for the situation.

If you are running 20-25lbs, and you are heavy into the throttle and notice your RPMs are higher than they would be at the same speed on asphalt, take some strain off your motor and tranny and air down more. I suspect that the number of trucks stuck due to too much air compared to losing a bead, would be 100:1. 

Don't think that once your stuck, you can just air down and get out. It doesn't work that way. You can and should air down then, but you'll most likely still need to be pulled out. Once you feel your tires spinning, don't even think about applying more throttle (unless you're in a hurry to meet some other beach drivers and test some recovery straps). 

Hope this helps,
Jef


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## jmadre

We need a sticky in this forum that says 'For Hatteras: Start at 20 PSI and go down from there.' 

I've never seen a vehicle pop the bead from not enough tire pressure, but I have seen a sad number of vehicles stuck to the frame from too much tire pressure. It doesn't matter so much what type of vehicle you drive as it does the type of sand on the beach. The sand will only support so much pressure per square inch before you start to sink. If you air down to 20 PSI then your tires will deform until the contact patch exerts 20 PSI of force on the sand. Maybe the sand will support you at 20 PSI, maybe it won't. But 20 PSI is a good place to start.

I've had a discussion with an engineer about a similar situation where he was asked to okay an airplane landing on a runway. The folks asking were being very secretive (Gov't stuff) about the type of aircraft, so he simply asked the tire pressure. Once he knew the tire pressure of the aircraft was less than the rated strength of the tarmac in PSI, he had no problem okaying the landing. He knew that the tires couldn't exert more pressure on the runway that the air was exerting outward.

Air down. Slow down. Have a safe drive and be considerate of others that have to drive the same beach. 

And for the love of all that is good and holy, don't park on the ramp while you air down.


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