Winter Wheeling tires

[Spinalguy]

With rocks etc. on our trails, aren't you worried about pinching a sidewall etc. at such low pressures?  Those are great for sand (tho it can hide rocks too).

if i had beadlocks, i would run that. Without bead locks i never ran above 10 and usually at 8. 10+ years of wheelin , only twice did i debead.

[Joel]

Never have problems with sidewall being pinched or the sidewall folding over itself. 

Technically you increase the possibility of side wall puncture from sharp rocks/wood as you’re your increasing your foot print.  Either way the risk is still there had you only deflated to 15psi, but if it means having good traction to get up a steep hill versus being stuck sideways on a steep hill with possibility of a bad roll-over due to poor traction.  I’ll accept that risk….otherwise, May as well web wheeled at home or drive to the falls in two-wheel drive.   

I think spinalguy will agree, but I get annoyed when I find out someone’s running 20+psi spinning and stuck on the trail.  Basically easy trail runs 15psi max, mild trail 12psi, harder trail runs 5-8psi, and hard winter trail runs 35psi and chains.

[Hi Lo Silver]

I'm 100% sure spinalguy will agree with you. I'v had many a conversation about airing down and people not airing down. My thoughts on that are life's too short to get annoyed over someone that doesn't take the time to air down. It would be equally dangerous for someone stuck on a hill trying to change a tire thats come off a bead or split a side wall. Comes down to personal preferance and knowing you'll be driving back on the highway without airing back up again. Blow out from an overheated low tire going highway speeds is dangerous too.


You have to learn to chill out with the air pressure decision. I for one will not turn down helping someone on the trail because they have refused to air down.
Trailer rig, bead lock. Run them flat for all anybody cares.
Highway rig, use your own judgement and disgression. People will eventually learn what's best for thier rigs with time spent on trail runs.


Are we still on topic?

[Spinalguy]

  Hi LoSilver
yes i would agree. Life is short but if you are not willing to run 15 or less, than i am probably not on that run
my pet peeve for sure.
i have never aired up after any trip (well, maybe twice?) for the drive home. Tires heat up and Cochrane, Bragg Creek, Longview and Coleman are not too far away

oh yeah, winter wheeling tires...chains baby, chains. Although i have never used them.

P.S. your avatar does not look tread lighly 'ish' Tinkerer.

[Spinalguy]

There... my urban rescue pic instead... there's a fireman somewhere out at the end of my winchline hooking up a car.

Nice!

[JohnB]

Having a proper air compressor is an important part of any rig used off road.....  No more than a few minutes to air up for me.

And I'm one that gets tired waiting for people not to make it up a hill when all they need to do is air down.  I'm always happy to air up as many people as want at the trailhead.  It only takes a few minutes per vehicle with my compressor....

[JohnB]

My compressor cost $25.....it can put out more air than a normal stem valve can take.  In 15 years of wheeling, I've only dropped a bead once.  The upsides to airing down are many times more than the downsides.

Anywho, any chains are better than any tires off road in the winter.  There is no "tread lightly" problem.  Snow covered, frozen ground cannot be damaged.  A heavy, well built chain is the best as a broken chain can do a lot of body damage.  V-bar, ladders chains are the cheapest quality chain that you can get.  Make sure you have clearance and axle strength to use them.

I air down to 15 psi with chains as well.  They ride smoother and work better, IMO...

[cLAY]

Anywho, any chains are better than any tires off road in the winter.  There is no "tread lightly" problem.  Snow covered, frozen ground cannot be damaged.  A heavy, well built chain is the best as a broken chain can do a lot of body damage.  V-bar, ladders chains are the cheapest quality chain that you can get.  Make sure you have clearance and axle strength to use them.

Chains can be a double edged knife, there are many times I've put chains back on just to tkae them back off 20min later. The problem is in deep snow you are better off floating on top as opposed to putting chans on and digging down deep enough to high center yourself. Chains are not the be all end all for winter wheeling and can still cause enviro damage in the wrong hands. Can you say roto tiller?

[JohnB]

Ok, let me in on the secret, if I can get a pump that does that, I'm in!  What kind, where did you get it etc.?  Even the ARB's and ViAirs don't seem to put out that much air!

York long stroke and hand throttle.  Home made bracket.  Yes, it is easier on my old, simple truck than a modern Jeep, but anything can be done.

Axle strength - good point... get that much more traction and there could be problems.  I wouldn't go so far as to say cannot.. I've seen some pretty torn up frozen ground, albeit by more than a few Jeeps toodling around.  The heavy chains is a good point too... doesn't take much to do some serious damage with chains. (Excuse for opening up the wheel wells and going to bigger tires??)

You should only use them when the ground is fully frozen and covered in a proper layer of ice and snow.  If you can see dirt, leave them off.

So in the thread of the post, you say run what you would run in summer, siped for icy road conditions and have chains for the offroading?

Personally I run SSRs in the summer.  I use narrower TrXus in the winter.  The narrower tires are better on road in the snow and allow chain clearance with my setup.  The SSRs are too wide to fit chains.  Note I don't drive a Jeep, so my clearance issues are not yours.

Chains can be a double edged knife, there are many times I've put chains back on just to tkae them back off 20min later. The problem is in deep snow you are better off floating on top as opposed to putting chans on and digging down deep enough to high center yourself.

With my rig anyway, there is no way I could ever float.  If you are light enough, with big enough tires, it can be true.  Personally, I put them on at the trail head and take them off at the end of the day.  If the day does not call for them, leave them off.

[JohnB]

Was out this weekend and the trails had compacted snow and ice.  Three of us, around the same type of truck, same basic tire size, same pressure.  SSRs, BFG AT, TrXus.  One hill I drove up with some wheelspin on the SSRs.  Both the ATs and the TrXus failed at the same location and needed to be winched up.  I was quite surprised.

[Spinalguy]

Was out this weekend and the trails had compacted snow and ice.  Three of us, around the same type of truck, same basic tire size, same pressure.  SSRs, BFG AT, TrXus.  One hill I drove up with some wheelspin on the SSRs.  Both the ATs and the TrXus failed at the same location and needed to be winched up.  I was quite surprised.

You are just a better driver

[cLAY]

I concur, I was out last weekend as well, two rigs with 33" Truxus and two rigs with 37" Iroks. That day I would say the Truxus were working a bit better than the Iroks but both worked well.

It will be the last time I buy radials for my rig though. Last set of tires were bias plies Iroks and this set were radials. I poked a hole in in the sidewall of BOTH passenger side tires at about the same spot. I beat the crap out of the bias plies and had plenty of gouges out of the sidewalls but never a hole. Now 2 in one spot and one branch that went thru was blunt on the end and the thickness of my wrist.

To add insult to injury a replacement is over $400 and atleast 3 weeks away.   

Anyone have a 37" IROK they want to sell? Or even an SSR? Would consider a pair......

[Hi Lo Silver]

Was out this weekend and the trails had compacted snow and ice.  Three of us, around the same type of truck, same basic tire size, same pressure.  SSRs, BFG AT, TrXus.  One hill I drove up with some wheelspin on the SSRs.  Both the ATs and the TrXus failed at the same location and needed to be winched up.  I was quite surprised.

Question. Were you the first vehicle through that spot?

cLAY, crappy on the tires that is for sure. What pressure did you air down to?
I aired down to 15. That way if spinalguy showed up somewhere out there and wanted to wheel with us I'd have to say I'm at 15 and over.

[cLAY]

I was down to 12psi which is what I normally run. I may have to rethink that. The radials definatly bulge more at 12psi than the bias plies did.

[Hi Lo Silver]

Yup, I've seen it happen a number of times, and it has happened to me once before too. probably about 10-15 minutes after I let even more air out, I put something through the sidewall.

I'm just not one to trust tires too much when you start letting out too much air.