Safe speed / distance limits when aired down

srimes

srimes

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Coming back from a snow run where I aired down to 5psi (35x12.5r15) I decided to drive home the couple miles without airing up. Didn't go over 35 and when I parked the tires weren't even warm to the touch. Got me thinking that it would have been fine to go faster for the short distance.

How fast and far can you safely go when aired down? How do you know if it's "just fine" or "pushing it?"
 
srimes said:
Coming back from a snow run where I aired down to 5psi (35x12.5r15) I decided to drive home the couple miles without airing up. Didn't go over 35 and when I parked the tires weren't even warm to the touch. Got me thinking that it would have been fine to go faster for the short distance.

How fast and far can you safely go when aired down? How do you know if it's "just fine" or "pushing it?"
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No
 
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srimes said:
Coming back from a snow run where I aired down to 5psi (35x12.5r15) I decided to drive home the couple miles without airing up. Didn't go over 35 and when I parked the tires weren't even warm to the touch. Got me thinking that it would have been fine to go faster for the short distance.

How fast and far can you safely go when aired down? How do you know if it's "just fine" or "pushing it?"
Click to expand...

I've driven 25-40 miles on tires I'd aired down to trail pressures before. When up in the Naches area for a week or more I wouldn't air up until it was time to head home.
I tried to limit my speed to 50 MPH or less but never had any problems.
 
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Wildman said:
I've driven 25-40 miles on tires I'd aired down to trail pressures before. When up in the Naches area for a week or more I wouldn't air up until it was time to head home.
I tried to limit my speed to 50 MPH or less but never had any problems.
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You'll be fine until you're in an emergency maneuver type situation.
 
Definitely not for any road speeds. Why be lazy and take a chance? Would be a bad deal to hurt somebody because you didn’t want to put air in your tires.
 
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Gollywomper said:
Definitely not for any road speeds. Why be lazy and take a chance? Would be a bad deal to hurt somebody because you didn’t want to put air in your tires.
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Come on, at 15psi you wouldn't drive 25 mph for a mile on paved roads? How would that possibly be a problem?

I'm guessing at 15psi that 45mph would be fine for quite a while without significant risk.

5psi is another story. Like I said I kept it to 35 and it seemed fine for 2 miles. Was I really endangering a busload of nuns?
 
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srimes said:
Come on, at 15psi you wouldn't drive 25 mph for a mile on paved roads? How would that possibly be a problem?

I'm guessing at 15psi that 45mph would be fine for quite a while without significant risk.

5psi is another story. Like I said I kept it to 35 and it seemed fine for 2 miles. Was I really endangering a busload of nuns?
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15psi was not discussed and is not even close to 5psi.
If you are confident that the 5psi was fine then why ask and then argue with another’s opinion. If you thought it was perfectly acceptable would you be asking on a forum if it was a good idea?
 
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srimes said:
Come on, at 15psi you wouldn't drive 25 mph for a mile on paved roads? How would that possibly be a problem?

I'm guessing at 15psi that 45mph would be fine for quite a while without significant risk.

5psi is another story. Like I said I kept it to 35 and it seemed fine for 2 miles. Was I really endangering a busload of nuns?
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Like I said I've ran for a week or even close to two weeks without airing my tires back up. Now I was running 8-10 PSI and only drove on paved roads maybe 10-15 miles with my speeds never going above 50 and most of the time 35 MPH was the max. I didn't see the need to air up at the end of each day only to have to air back down the next day.
The only time I would air back up was if I was headed to Rimrock which is 30-35 miles from where we were camped at. And most everyone who is at the Trial Jamboree does the same thing. And to the best of my knowledge know one has ever had issues or an accident from doing this.
 
Low tires run hotter and wear faster. You decide how long you want to run like that.it depends on the situation. Aside from the already stated handling issues
 
Gollywomper said:
15psi was not discussed and is not even close to 5psi.
If you are confident that the 5psi was fine then why ask and then argue with another’s opinion. If you thought it was perfectly acceptable would you be asking on a forum if it was a good idea?
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I figured it would be fine and then checked after, and it seemed OK. The question is how fast and far at a given pressure is safe.

I gave the "15psi, 25mph 1 mile" as an example in response to your "not at road speeds" answer. "Aired down" pressure varies, and "road speed" varies. I'm just saying there surely are combinations that work, and I'm asking for guidelines and experiences.
 
Wildman said:
Like I said I've ran for a week or even close to two weeks without airing my tires back up. Now I was running 8-10 PSI and only drove on paved roads maybe 10-15 miles with my speeds never going above 50 and most of the time 35 MPH was the max. I didn't see the need to air up at the end of each day only to have to air back down the next day.
The only time I would air back up was if I was headed to Rimrock which is 30-35 miles from where we were camped at. And most everyone who is at the Trial Jamboree does the same thing. And to the best of my knowledge know one has ever had issues or an accident from doing this.
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Thanks. Did you check and see if they were getting hot? I would think 50mph at 10psi could get hot at some point. I guess the question would be how hot and how long it takes to get there.
 
srimes said:
Thanks. Did you check and see if they were getting hot? I would think 50mph at 10psi could get hot at some point. I guess the question would be how hot and how long it takes to get there.
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I did when I first started to run them at those pressures. All I did was the hand on tire deal as I didn't have a temp gauge with me.
I was only at 50 MPH for 5-10 miles max while most of the time I was doing 35 MPH. Being a old truck driver I know what happens when a tire is ran at low pressures for extended periods.

I think common sense and knowing your limits are what plays in here. Like I'd said when I knew I would be on pavement for 30+ miles I aired back up but for the shorter periods I didn't. Being at 10 PSI on logging roads is a lot better ride than at 10 or 25 PSI and a lot of the trails I run in the Naches area have a good bit of forest service/logging roads before the trail head.

My advice is if you're only going under 15 miles I see no issues with not airing up but I'd also keep my speeds at 35 MPH max. And as others have commented wat your handling and be aware of it.
 
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I live 7 min from an ORV. I air down to 10psi with deflators while driving there, and drive home down with maximum speed 50mph.

When I go to Moab I drive out to trails that are 25/30 miles away. Once I air down I stay aired down for the week. I drive up to 50mph. I’m not saying this is safe, or advisable. It’s just what I do. It would be good to have some solid tech on this issue.
 
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I have wheeled with groups in my club where everyone aired up to drive 20 minutes to the next trail on country roads and times when no one did, but we were all going around 40 mph or less. Again these are country roads where you typically pass 2 cars every 10 minutes going the other way. I feel more comfortable if it were a 10 to 15 min drive max.
 
LONGJP2 said:
What are you considering hot, and at what point would it matter?
Properly inflated tires also heat up when driven on.
With the heat comes pressure, so then they would be less aired down. ;)
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If I touch it and say "ooo that's hot"
Like when I pull a trailer for the first time in a while I like to drive a little bit and feel how hot the hubs are. They should get warm but not hot-hot.

A little research and it seems 195 degf is the point where things start to go bad quickly for tires. Race cars mount infrared monitors and displays for real-time tracking.

Maybe someone should drive around with a cheap IR gun hanging out the window to get an idea?
 
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