Does it make a difference to air down the tires in mud or is more pressure help

 

I am gonna say yes. I asume this because i dirtbike and that is a trick i use on muddy days. It allows the nobies(in this case tread) to confrom more to the terrain. Plus i've heard a lot of buzz bout lowerin PSI for off road use on this site. just my 2 cents

 

it depends on the tire you use. some tires are meant to sink down and grab whats underneath some tires are meant to float and paddle. it also depends on what type of mud too.

however if you have the means to air them back up at the end of the day then go for it! if not i would just leave them aired up. I run mine aired up with no issues. altho the mud we have is really wet and only surface mud since it doesnt rain to often here.

 

there is alot of just wet mud around but there is a sticky nasty clay mud hole that i went thru once and it seemed like my tires werent getting traction so i was wondering if air pressure helped with that.

 

Air down any tire you can use on the street, no exceptions. You will get two or three times the traction with 15 psi

 

I run my ltb's at 8lbs on the trails and about 18-20 on the street.you get way more bite airing down. It depends on what tire/rim combo your running on how low you can run them.go too low and you'll roll the bead off the rim. Hope this helps. -myles

 

i always air down. I also have a small air compressor, if i can drive it home that is

 

Yeah, im running TSLs and when i air down they bite even better, but if you have to drive on the road after... you might not want to, but i trailer my jeep usually, so i dont really have to worry alot.

 

I think the tire design makes more of a difference, say if you had run of the mill goodrich m/t's or whatever compared to a TSL, Bogger, or Baja Claw, the last three absolutely RULE in the mud, when I ran TSL's I NEVER had to air down, and I went through some nasty, deep mud, but you also have to have the power to spin those badboys or else they aren't gonna do ya much good. Just go to a mud run and watch the clumps of mud those tires throw compared to a Goodyear/Bfg/etc. and you'll see what I mean,lol. And I also believe in running the widest tire you can fit, I'm not one of the guys that like 'em skinny, around here the mud gets deep enough that you can't 'dig down to find traction'. Just my opinion.

 

okay so just my $.02 here. just keep up momentum. i think that is the key to any tire combo!

i buried mine to where the axle was below the level ground surface today

33" TSL Super Swampers nearly buried
the axle was below level ground
7 tow straps
8 jeeps/trucks(one of them being a dodge 3500 with lockers front and rear)
3 hours of tugging
3 shovels
lots of mud flinging
1 ripped off bumper


i went thru it just fine once but then went around the other way and just didnt stay in the throttle as much and this was the end result

 

thick clay like mud will cause you to loose traction becasue the lugs and tread of the tires are filling up but not cleaning themselves becasue the bug is too sticky. the only way to solve this is either 1) better tires 2) lower gearing to spin tires faster at low rpms and 3) get the tires spinning faster by more throttle. the increased velocity creates a vortex and pulls the mud out, a clean lug then can bite into new mud!

 

thanks everyone ill have to try airing them down and see if i can tell a difference

i have 33 12.5 15s on my soft8s 15x8 with 4 backspacing so idk what pressure that means i can go?

i havent gotten stuck yet but iv stayed semi cautious while alone but when other people are there to help just in case i go ***** out to see hwat i can do and so far its taken it all like a champ