Airing down

KernHydro

KernHydro

New member
Im curious about airing down with different rated tires for instance, with a heavyer side wall like toyos and nittos it seems that you could air down alot and with bead locks even more of course. My question is does a heavy side wall tire allow you to air down more than a lighter side wall tire like say the km2's BUT still maintain a Higher ride height? :thinking: In other words it seems a lighter side wall tire would have to run high psi's to keep better clearance.
 
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A lighter side wall tire would not require as low of a pressure as a heavy side walled tire, but the would both have around the same hight, the lighter side wall won't hold up the weight of the jeep with less air as well as the heavy side wall will. Not sure that makes sense in writing, I suck at explaining my thoughts haha
 
TrailBear said:
A lighter side wall tire would not require as low of a pressure as a heavy side walled tire, but the would both have around the same hight, the lighter side wall won't hold up the weight of the jeep with less air as well as the heavy side wall will. Not sure that makes sense in writing, I suck at explaining my thoughts haha
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You did better than me... I'm still wondering what the volumetric unit "liter" has to do with tires...
 
what i can tell you is that i have unintentionally run my range e toyo's at zero psi and it still looked like it had 5-10 in them. in fact, people give me grief all the time on our videos telling me that i need to air down more. as mentioned, with thinner sidewalls, you don't need to air down as much to get the same results but, i personally would prefer not to run tires with thinner sidewalls.
 
after reading all this. make me realize I should have made more research b4 i bought my tires lol
 
wayoflife said:
what i can tell you is that i have unintentionally run my range e toyo's at zero psi and it still looked like it had 5-10 in them. in fact, people give me grief all the time on our videos telling me that i need to air down more. as mentioned, with thinner sidewalls, you don't need to air down as much to get the same results but, i personally would prefer not to run tires with thinner sidewalls.
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That is what I was figuring.. ultimately the heavy side wall allows you to run way lower psi and maintain that height. And also it seems that is better than having to a run higher psi on a liter:bleh:tire ( sidewall thickness aside ) to do the "same thing" .Thats what Im curious about do you think the performance at way lower psi is better than the lighter tire at a higher psi. basically it seems the heavy tire because of the lower psi will squat when its needed and maintain the height better when it not because it can run lower psi... confusing I know..Im trying
 
In reality there would not be a difference in performance if they have the same width foot print, they are both putting the same amount of rubber on the ground. It then comes down to the tread and the rubber compound of the tire that will make the difference in which tire will provide more traction. The other factor to look at is side wall flex when on an off camber, the thinner side wall will flex way more, making it harder to stay on your line, the weight of your jeep will pull you down more the a tire with less side wall flex. But that's opening a new can of worms:)
 
What Im getting at is the heaver tire will flatten out like the lighter tire but under more weight/pressure so you will maintain a higher clearance. With the lighter tires it seems like it would flatten out easier and lose clearance easier...Its kinda hard to describe what im thinking...for example two tires 35" one heavy wall ones lighter. one need to run at 10 psi and the other 15 psi.. same ride height but the heavy one is not as sensitive to flatting out on rock that kinda what Im thinking...
 
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Im tring to figure out what tires to run on my jku. I thought I would save money and run my stock wheels with the new coil over but I cant so.. I thought well then I going to get bead locks.. But If i get km2 I wont need to air down low enough to use them probably ( I know there is other benefits ). I like the idea of running 37" km2 because its like a bigger 35" which is the size I want to run. I like the nittos too.. So at this point its km2 37" or nittos 35".. I dont want to run true 37" because of the weight and wear on the drive train... This is my daily for now and I want it to be alittle more modest but the longer wheel base makes me want the biggest 35" I can get.. I figure everyone will opt for the heavy wall and cheaper tire..Im considering gas mileage, road noise, looks, tire life and performance. I could run non bead locks and km2 and I will have the most clearance and least weight but weaker sidewall and lighter wallet... Or bead locks with nittos and have more road noise less gas mileage... sorry for the long post
 
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Yes that is right, the heavy side wall will need less psi to give you the same foot print but they should both maintain the same ride hight, and yes the lighter side wall will give more and easier, but is more prone to side wall cuts
 
Are people jacking up there km2? I see them alot. I know every area is different. so cal and az would make me not want kms but Im not in sharp rocks...yet:crazyeyes:
 
We have a lot of very sharp shot rock here, I have ran bfg at's in everything never had a sidewall problem, lots of guys run the km2s here, but I do hear there are sidewall issues, never seen it my self. I just switched to toyo mt's I found them more aggressive then the bfg.
 
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