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Should i air down on the trail?

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smfulle View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smfulle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Should i air down on the trail?
    Posted: 20 Jan. 2020 at 3:32am
Just a little video to ponder when you are considering the question.


Stan
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan. 2020 at 6:44pm
I was going to respond "Yes", but I see you answered your own question!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tamnalan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan. 2020 at 8:06pm
I learned the value of airing down a couple of years ago at FCT.   A few of us with military jeeps decided to do a night run on some mild but bumpy trails in blackout conditions.  I went roaring off into the darkness with tires at 30psi... 

I lost a couple of tooth fillings trying to keep up with Jpet.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote a4cj2a77 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 1:23am
Are safer to air down with tubeless tires or tires with tubes or does it make a difference. Worried about spinning a tire and damaging a tube. Seems to work for G J as demonstrated in video though.
Phil
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smfulle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 2:06am
Originally posted by a4cj2a77 a4cj2a77 wrote:

Are safer to air down with tubeless tires or tires with tubes or does it make a difference. Worried about spinning a tire and damaging a tube. Seems to work for G J as demonstrated in video though.
Phil
I don’t usually take my tubed NDTs on stock rims below 8 or 9 psi. I’ve never had trouble with the valve stems. I have pinched a tube before. Jpet is experimenting with tubeless NDTs with gorilla tape wrapped on the rim to create a safety bump. He has run as low as 7 without issue.
Guys with big floppy tires run a lot lower with bead locks on the rims. 

So the answer as to what is safer is dependent on your rims and driving style. A tubeless is an easier trail repair with plugs. I’ve seen a tubeless aired down to 8 osi on a hot day pop a bead when the Jeep rolled into a stream for some instant cool down. Getting a bead to reseat can be a fun exercise on the trail

Stan
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote a4cj2a77 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 2:23am
Running 7.00x16 NTDs on stock rims and not as aggressive as you are on the trail. Your videos are always fun to watch. Thanks you answered my question Stan
Phil


Edited by a4cj2a77 - 23 Jan. 2020 at 2:25am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tamnalan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 7:24pm
Originally posted by smfulle smfulle wrote:

Getting a bead to reseat can be a fun exercise on the trail


I was watching a show about gold mining in Alaska a few days ago.  A big dump truck crashed out in the boonies and popped a tire off the rim.  This guy sprayed some ether into the tire, lit a match and presto!  Popped right back on.

Not sure I want to try that, but it was interesting!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote smfulle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 7:39pm
Originally posted by tamnalan tamnalan wrote:

Originally posted by smfulle smfulle wrote:

Getting a bead to reseat can be a fun exercise on the trail


I was watching a show about gold mining in Alaska a few days ago.  A big dump truck crashed out in the boonies and popped a tire off the rim.  This guy sprayed some ether into the tire, lit a match and presto!  Popped right back on.

Not sure I want to try that, but it was interesting!

I've done it. It works pretty great. I've been told that the new starting fluid formula is less volatile and therefore less useful for this activity, but I don't know that from firsthand knowledge. I't is kind of frightening to spray explosive into a tire and then light it. 

Here's a video of someone doing it.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AKoller Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 7:59pm
Originally posted by smfulle smfulle wrote:

Originally posted by tamnalan tamnalan wrote:

Originally posted by smfulle smfulle wrote:

Getting a bead to reseat can be a fun exercise on the trail



I was watching a show about gold mining in Alaska a few days ago.  A big dump truck crashed out in the boonies and popped a tire off the rim.  This guy sprayed some ether into the tire, lit a match and presto!  Popped right back on.

Not sure I want to try that, but it was interesting!


I've done it. It works pretty great. I've been told that the new starting fluid formula is less volatile and therefore less useful for this activity, but I don't know that from firsthand knowledge. I't is kind of frightening to spray explosive into a tire and then light it. 

Here's a video of someone doing it.




I can attest to the story that the new ether doesn't work as good. When I say it doesn't work as good I mean it doesn't work at all. I have several "old" cans still around that I have saved back just for setting beads.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WeeWilly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 8:16pm

  I have also used a little gasoline with success it doesn't take very much.

   Jim
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tamnalan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 8:57pm
Well dang!

Never too old to learn something new.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Joe Friday Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan. 2020 at 11:29pm
Alan, DON'T consider it.

I had the unfortunate experience to be asked to inspect a trailer tire with a broken bead, and the wheel that accompanied it.

I was able to positively identify the tension break in the bead, and the matching soot from the flame propagation on the tire and wheel. 

I noticed dried blood on the floor, and inquired if anyone was hurt.

The man responded that it killed his son.


Edited by Joe Friday - 23 Jan. 2020 at 11:33pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lowenuf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jan. 2020 at 12:55am
My father used to inflate large tractor tires, on site with ether...... there is a science to it, that most do not understand. Just as, if not more dangerous as inflating a Budd wheel without a cage
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rocnroll Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jan. 2020 at 1:39am
And the gasoline thing......not me! WOW!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nothing Special Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jan. 2020 at 1:43am
Does it work?  Yes.

Can it be done without someone getting hurt?  Almost all of the time.

But that's not the same as being safe.

If / when I have the "opportunity" to reseat a bead on the trail I'll try a lot of things.  But I'll limp out on a bare rim before I try blowing a tire up to inflate it.
Bob

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Flatfender Ben Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jan. 2020 at 5:03am
I worked at a tractor salvage yard and one day in the shop the boss was trying to seat the bead on a very large swather tire. 
He kept spraying more and more starting fluid, about this time I went in the office and shut the door. 
The explosion that followed was enormous!!!
You know how on a movie when they show an explosion in slow motion you can see doors and walls bulge?
I was in the shop office with the door closed when the explosion happened.
The door and wall bulged!!! Only it wasn’t in slow motion, I couldn’t believe what I saw but the sound of it made me believe. 
When I walked into the shop luckily nobody was hurt. 
The explosion blew the tire and wheel completely out of the shop through the open door!!!
When we walked out to look at it we found it had blown the beads of the tire past the lips of the wheel. So the wheel was inside the tire!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oilleaker1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jan. 2020 at 11:12am
Spooky stuff. Split rim wheels scare me enough. The old combiner boys used to carry a 20 # propane bottle and would air up tires in the field with propane. A self contained air compressor. A golf cart company also. I always wondered if a cigarette smoker got the surprise of his life. Shocked

I have done the air down described by Stan and yes it does give more traction and a softer ride. Just don't try and drive a highway at speed. You will heat up the side walls and blow the tire. 

The cool factor of using a spark plug inflator kit to air back up is fun too! It draws a crowd. Wink

I so far have not cut a tire on it's sidewall by airing down. I have popped chunks out of the tread on rocks.  I definately am not as experienced as Stan. The mild mannered Librarian!!!!!  You and Jpet take it to the limit and beyond-----Wow.  

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