[kcox920]

I'm taking the new Jeep to the Pismo dunes this weekend, and suddenly I realized I have no idea what pressure to run with the stock rim/tire combo of the Rubicon.

What's the lowest tire pressure I can run with these 17"x7.5" rims and the 32" BFG Muds?
I'm accustomed to having a standard 15" rim on my ZR2 Chevy S10 and I would run that down to 5psi in the front and 3psi in the rear. I didn't worry too much because the 15" rim has more of an integrated bead lock in it's design. I dunno about these 17s though..... Maybe I shouldn't go lower than 20psi?


thoughts?

 

[RubyMtnRubicon]

I have had mine down to 8psi crawling over rocks. From what I have heard (and I should have looked when Mike put new tires on) that the Moab wheels have a lip on the inside to keep the bead on the rim with low pressure.

 

[kcox920]

well 15psi is too low....

SO I went to the Pismo Dunes this weekend and reduced pressure to 15psi all around.

Less than 5minutes later I was coming off the top of a smaller dune a little sideways and *BLAM*!!!! The right front bead popped off pushing the tire and bead into the wheel well. I was thinking son-of-a-***** at this point. In the 7 years I've been wheelin' in the dunes I have *NEVER* lost a bead on any tire. Never on the 1990 Toyota Reg Cab 4x4 http://pedal.smugmug.com/gallery/190885#7259638,

certainly not in the burly never break 1996 Ext-Cab Chevy K1500 with a 6" RCD lift , 33" Dessert Duelers , and Bilstein shocks http://pedal.smugmug.com/gallery/190045#7224767

never in my 2000 Chevy ZR2 Ext-Cab S10 4x4: http://pedal.smugmug.com/gallery/986727#45580602

So I'm no newbie to 4wheeling and this came as a *BIG* surprise. Fortunately I bought a portable 12V air compressor (micro really) the day before. Perhaps that's my ESP kicking in as I've never felt the need for one before.... With help of my passengers a lot of water and that little ***** air compressor 20minutes later...BLAM! popped that sucker right back on the bead.

Armed with this info, I inflated all the tires to 22psi to ward off anymore 4x4 party fouls. Of course this *really* limited the performance of my new jeep off road. With 4 people inside the Jeep, I had a hard time getting up some dunes, and even nearly got stuck a few times.
So be warned fellow Jeepers.....the 17" rim has an inferior bead lock as far as I'm concerned. I would run 5psi ALL DAY LONG on my other vehicles with 15" stock rims and I never had a problem. Now I gotta go buy some silly bead lock wheels.

I wish they would have included a better rim in the Rubicon package.... grrrr....

http://pedal.smugmug.com/gallery/3308700#188365436