Corpusfishing.com

[huntnetime]

For all you PINS guys who make the long haul to the jetties with 3/4 ton diesel trucks, do you air your tires down? If so, to what pressure? I have 295's on my truck, but figured it couldn't hurt to air them down a little.

[Texican]

I generally run 20-25 psi on my 1/2 ton with 285s and it works well.
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[deputydawg]

I've done it a bunch of times in my diesel 250 but always on a low tide and good day. I never aired mine down but always drove very "safe" and never had a problem. Good luck!

[CaptPatrick]

The reason you don't hear much talk about airing down in diesel trucks
Is most make the turbo do all the work. When the sand is bad airing down will help. Unfortunately only so much with a metric E rated tire. The stiff side walls just don't spread out like the flotation tires of yesterday.
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Adrift on the Mother Lagoon

[Hoggeman]

Absolutely 28.5 PSI

That's what Billy ran
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Fin in the wind

[Rocky in NM]

A short handle, square nose shovel, a couple of planks, and a high lift jack--can be worth their weight in gold!!
Just sayin--be safe!
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<*)))>< I'd rather be fishing-The wife shopping!! ><(((*>

[Jiggyz]

Interestingly enough, I became an expert on this topic having taken various iterations of Ford diesels down island from 2004-2013. In 2013 I got a Tacoma and never looked back-but this is what I learned wrt to tire pressure with heavy diesel trucks and PINS.

1. Always Be prepared to lower and raise tire pressure. In addition to all of the fine suggestions for extraction equipment, have a solid pump. I would try to discourage you from a cheap retail version. Cruise a few Baja/Jeep forums and see what they recommend these days. I got a Puma 12 volt w/1.5 gal tank that hooks directly to the battery for about $200 a few years ago. It could take a 33 from 15psi to 75psi in about 2 min max. There were also some good tank-less options as well.

2. Understand the dynamics of tire pressure. Most drivers mistakenly believe that lowering the tire pressure widens the tire significantly-it does not-at least where it meets the road/sand. The functional additional contact surface is a result of the tire flattening in a front to back direction such that when viewed from the side the tire appears like a circle with a "flat" side.

3. Understand that it takes a significant drop in pressure to reach a point where the tire will start to flatten out in a truly helpful way for some conditions. The Hoggeman mentioned that Billy ran a 28.5 psi. This is probably true for most general conditions for a heavy truck that will yield a better sand ride and less strain on the engine/transmition. I don't doubt that Billy probably took his tire pressure down to 10 psi or less in bad conditions.

What I noticed with my 3/4 tn Ford Diesel was that as I took my pressure down from say 75 for street driving to 40 psi my contact tread length went from 6" to maybe 7"-not much of a change. From 40 to 20 I gained perhaps another inch. From 20 to 15 I gained an astounding additional 7" of contact length giving the tire 2.5 times the contact surface from full pressure.

So what I am saying is once you find this sweet spot of significant change you can work from there. 15 psi or perhaps a bit lower to work in the worst conditions and somewhere between 15 and 20 psi for the average day in the high banks or busting through Yarborough.

Running at that low of a pressure does have its shortcomings and risks from side puncture and tire coming off of the rim-for which you have to be prepared. However, I will say this. I ran at 15psi after Ike and had no problems at all. Needless to say, it would be best to run these pressure diagnostics from the safety of your own driveway preferably with an ice cold beer.

It is a fascinating subject with almost no end to equipment, driving techniques, weight variables, conditions, and driver temperaments. I suggest doing a lot of research and finding what works best for your set up. PINS will find your weakness and exploit it-so be prepared-and be prepared to be able to do it all on your own.

BTW-Hoggeman is a fishing buddy of mine and can attest. I have had this discussion with him many times.

[saltyhook]

I am glad this subject was brought up. It's so important & can be confusing. There is no one set pressure that will work for everyone, as Jiggyz said there are just to many variables .
I have a one ton Dodge dulley and to compound the problem have probably the heaviest camper in Texas (due to age of camper). I am running six brand new Cooper 285 E rated tires. After I had the tires about 3 weeks noticed one of front tires looked like it "might be low" . Put the gauge to it, and to my shock the norm 75lbs had dropped to 20 lbs. visually it appeared, almost normal. Thats when I realized these E rated tires have really stiff sidewalls as capt Patrick said. Got me to questioning how this was going to work out for me airing down on the beach. So I need to do testing to find my "Sweet Spot".
Any one else running a big heavy dulley on the sand ? Please share with us your experience .
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Fishing is not a matter of life or death it is much more important then that !
Saltyhook