Question About Airing Down Tires and Disconnect Sway Bar

A little clarification might help. I'm talking about old logging and fire roads. Roads not maintained for a number of years. I would be traveling 0-20mph at the most. The occasional deep muddy rut or scree area or washboarded areas...nothing very technical. That includes the occasional down tree 4-16" tree across the road. A fair amount of grass and vegetation growing across the trails but not bush whacking.

Also a little clarification on my rig, '04 Rubicon, Rubicon Express Lift 5", 35" beadlocks, PowerShot, armored, etc., etc.

That's slower than most areas around my end of the world allow; there are some slow sections, for sure, but you can usually run between 35 and 55 even through the loose stuff around here, naturally slowing for ruts and ditches and debris and places you can't see clearly, and what-not. I'd still say to leave your pressures at a comfortable street level until you need to air down, but if you're on 35's and you have beadlocks and a tank, you can try it any way you like.

My rig isn't that specialized. Tolerably set up for rock crawling. What would you recommend my top speed be on the way to the trails at 8psi?

Without knowing much more, I'd say you could run as fast as you like on the way to the trails; my point regarding specialized vehicles was that I don't see that many rigs going more than a couple of miles per hour when they hit the parts of a trail - not a service road - that actually require airing down, and that I also don't see the point in blanket "air down and disconnect" advice for terrain that doesn't need it.

Let me try to say this another way: my advice is to avoid doing things that you don't need to do, or that don't help. If you get somewhere and say "yeah, I need a little more tire deformation here" then lose some air. If you need to disconnect, fine: disconnect. If you don't need to do those things, then don't.
 
...

Let me try to say this another way: my advice is to avoid doing things that you don't need to do, or that don't help. If you get somewhere and say "yeah, I need a little more tire deformation here" then lose some air. If you need to disconnect, fine: disconnect. If you don't need to do those things, then don't.

There is a similar back and forth about when to lock the axles. Is it best to lock up before or after the section you might get yourself stuck in? 2WD vs 4WD... 4H vs 4L...

Some knowledge of where you are, common sense, and discernment is required here to determine how far you go to adapt the Jeep to the given road. However, I can't think of a time in my wanderings, other than a significant stretch of pavement, where I thought I really ought to stop and fill the tires back up (or reconnect). If anything, it has been the opposite. And once I'm there, it stays until it is time to drive home with the normal vehicles.
 
There is a similar back and forth about when to lock the axles. Is it best to lock up before or after the section you might get yourself stuck in? 2WD vs 4WD... 4H vs 4L...

Some knowledge of where you are, common sense, and discernment is required here to determine how far you go to adapt the Jeep to the given road. However, I can't think of a time in my wanderings, other than a significant stretch of pavement, where I thought I really ought to stop and fill the tires back up (or reconnect). If anything, it has been the opposite. And once I'm there, it stays until it is time to drive home with the normal vehicles.

Maybe it's just me, then; I like to adjust for the terrain, and I like having my air pressure no lower than necessary. Or, maybe our service roads are just a lot cleaner. Or - most likely - I'm just wrong.
 
Maybe it's just me, then; I like to adjust for the terrain, and I like having my air pressure no lower than necessary. Or, maybe our service roads are just a lot cleaner. Or - most likely - I'm just wrong.

Regional differences, perhaps? Out here a "trail" might be 30+ miles long with large stretches of relatively smooth dirt roads, miles of rougher rocky areas, occasional sections of old pavement and actual areas of technical driving. I like to cover ground quickly when I can. If we were stopping and adapting to each change in road condition, the day would just drag on and on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sundowner
Regional differences, perhaps? Out here a "trail" might be 30+ miles long with large stretches of relatively smooth dirt roads, miles of rougher rocky areas, occasional sections of old pavement and actual areas of technical driving. I like to cover ground quickly when I can. If we were stopping and adapting to each change in road condition, the day would just drag on and on.
...and there is a key we need to keep in mind for these discussions. There is a lot of difference between regions. Anytime someone says "This is the way to do it!" without mentioning the conditions and sometimes even the time of year, I always 1) ask questions about the terrain and 2) take what they have to say with a grain of salt.
 
Great points. Around "here" a trail is a short, technically and usually-nasty stretch that you do. not. want. to hit very fast. Service roads are not-technical rutted dirt/gravel that stretch on for miles and miles, sometimes.
 
A county road, forest service road, trail are all very nebulous terms out here.

County road
78707


Forest service road
78711


Forest service road
78712


The few trails we have seem to be buggy territory or single track. I can't think of any that I have taken the Jeep on. Speed, or lack thereof, isn't necessarily a defining factor.
 
I haven't done much real off-roading for about 25 years. This year I will return.

I do know airing down's been done quite a while but back in my old days I did't even know it was possible so now I'll add some questions to this thread.

When did this start happening?

...

The history interests me.

I remember in the 80s-90s upper Midwest with my dad, there were people with 20 gallon air tanks either crammed onto the rig or back at camp. Because the air supply was scarce, I don't remember airing down to the degree that we do these days, except on trailered rigs. I also remember elaborate "octopus" hoses for filling all four tires at once, evenly. There were also funny late-afternoon lines of dirty Jeeps, Broncos, Scouts, Land Cruisers at a small town gas station's air pump. My dad installed a York on his CJ5 sometime in the late-90s.
 
Last edited:
A county road, forest service road, trail are all very nebulous terms out here.

I wouldn't have aired down for two of those shots; the third one, I would have driven around unless I just wanted to play in the rocks. ;)

Here's a rare example of a service road in my area that actually requires an air-down and slower travel.

Pictured: 12-ish PSI, and about 25 mph max.

i-f7VPJ9P-L.jpg



Beautiful country you guys have out there, by the way; I need to see it sometime.
 
In the middle pic, you aren't driving around anything. What you see is about what you get once you enter the creek. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sundowner
I suspect the difference is we get into a lot of washboard on the roads, trails to the trail, etc. More comfy at lower pressures by a fair bit.
Agreed. In the first and last, neither Black Bear nor Red Cone require airing down to successfully traverse. But it makes the trip in a pleasant place much more pleasant. Oddly enough, you are far more capable of getting yourself killed on those two, than you are on the technically more difficult Holy Cross.
 
  • Like
Reactions: strumble8 and Daryl
A county road, forest service road, trail are all very nebulous terms out here.

County road
View attachment 78707

Forest service road
View attachment 78711

Forest service road
View attachment 78712

The few trails we have seem to be buggy territory or single track. I can't think of any that I have taken the Jeep on. Speed, or lack thereof, isn't necessarily a defining factor.
Those pics are amazing! I would love to wheel in that green landscape :love:
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjvw
I suspect the difference is we get into a lot of washboard on the roads, trails to the trail, etc. More comfy at lower pressures by a fair bit.

Washboards happen around here, but it's usually a short stretch on a high, exposed, dry area; maybe fifty yards or so at the most. You've got just enough time to hit them, slow down, and then speed back up because you're already through it. I think it's too wet around here for real washboarding to form in any significant amount; here, mud and wash-out and water are the enemies.
 
Out here in central Arizona, the washboards are frequent enough on off highway trails that dropping psi in your tires makes a big difference on comfort
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjvw
Mainline:
78723

Branch Line:
78724

Skid Road:
78725

Trail:
78726

Snow:
78727


Right now I can go from the beach (sand) to the snow in about 45 minutes, and hit all five of those conditions. It's not very technical, or difficult to traverse. It's also why my SE, manual, on 31's works out just fine.

I air down when I have to, always on sand and usually on trails and skid roads. Especially in the winter when it's wet and slick. I disconnect rarely, and then only on the trails where the terrain is very lumpy and broken.
 
Mainline:
View attachment 78723
Branch Line:
View attachment 78724
Skid Road:
View attachment 78725
Trail:
View attachment 78726
Snow:
View attachment 78727

Right now I can go from the beach (sand) to the snow in about 45 minutes, and hit all five of those conditions. It's not very technical, or difficult to traverse. It's also why my SE, manual, on 31's works out just fine.

I air down when I have to, always on sand and usually on trails and skid roads. Especially in the winter when it's wet and slick. I disconnect rarely, and then only on the trails where the terrain is very lumpy and broken.
Awesome pictures. I always love seeing so much vegetation