What’s the best tyre pressure for sand?

(Don’t get bogged) by AARON SCHUBERT over each tyre’s small footprint (and forcing the tyres to sink), the load is spread over pretty much double the area and allows the tyres to float over the top of the sand. deflated correctly for beach driving, you should be able to roll without any acceleration for at least a couple of meters. If you take your foot off the accelerator and the vehicle almost immediately bogs down and stops, you know the tyres are digging in and not floating, like they should be. Your vehicle shouldn’t be struggling to drive on the beach either; even the softest beaches can be driven by most 4WD’s without any issues. Be aware that if you corner quickly, your chances of rolling a tyre off the bead increase phenomenally. You should never brake hard, or turn quickly on soft sand anyway, but even more so when you have low tyre pressures

If your 4WD gets bogged on sand, there’s a good chance you are running your tyres with too much air in them. Every vehicle and beach are different, there is a correct tyre pressure for beach driving, and it depends on your vehicle, tyre size and how soft the sand is!

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T LET YOUR TYRES DOWN ENOUGH?

Another thing to remember is the temperature of the air in your tyres. This varies considerably, and your tyre pressures will change a lot depending on whether you read the gauge after driving for a while, or when the tyres are cold.

WHY

When you let air out of your tyres, the surface area of rubber contacting the ground increases. It gets slightly wider, and a lot longer. From full tyre pressure down to around 15PSI your surface area nearly doubles. This means that instead of the weight of your 4WD being distributed

Asides from dramatically increasing the chances of your vehicle getting bogged on the beach, you work your engine considerably harder. A 4WD that has to bulldoze its way through soft sand as a pose to allowing the tyres to float over the sand will often run much hotter and can easily cause engine damage if you aren’t careful. This also results in using a lot more fuel than if you adjusted your pressures properly. You will find that you dig huge ruts with tyre pressures that are too hard as well, which will make it very difficult for anyone else to follow in your tracks. Asides from the giant ruts, tyres that are not deflated enough spin and create bumps on the track. The bottom line though, if you don’t have the PSI for beach driving you risk getting stuck. If this happens to be as the tide is coming up, you are putting your pride and joy at risk.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TYRE PRESSURES?

Adjust your pressures according to the conditions. When your 4WD tyres are https://www.4wdingaustralia.com.

The best tyre pressure for sand is the one that allows you to drive over it easily and safely.