Going to Moab hit some trails next month. I have searched the forum for guidelines on airing down and general info is all over. Some say never air down, some say just a bit and some say go for it, but risk a puncture. I am inclined to go in between, but wanted to hear the collective wisdom here.

I am running BFGs KO2 275/60/20 and have a 1,5 lift. I feel that at normal pressure there is good (acceptable) sidewall, but when deflating the sidewall starts to disappear and gives me the chills in having a flat in the middle of White Rim road.

You all with some experience in Moab (or anywhere similar) mind chiming in what is the minimum pressure? Should I even air down?

TIA

 

Mrego.

learn the limits of your new defender 20 inch wheels with fully inflated tires first.

How do you know yet if you even need to air down? The only reason to ever air down is for additional traction for a given instance. The trails in Moab are already very sticky because of the surface they are made of. My advice is to only air down if you actually need to air down and that need will change like every 50 feet or so if ever. Airing down 20 inch wheels and tires is just asking for sidewall trouble and you only have one spare tire. What should give you the chills is the cost of a professional Moab extraction team, two flat tires and 20 people behind you stuck on the trail. All with videos live streaming you out to YouTube.

 

Yeah. I am familiar with the TFL debacle. Their fiasco is one of the reasons for my concerns with airing down the 20s.

I do not believe the "only" reason to air down is to have better traction. Ride comfort in washboard roads is a consideration. I have off-roaded before that area with and without airing down and I could see a big difference. Granted it was not in a Defender - reason for my question here in case people did traverse washboard roads in the area with a Defender but without airing down.

As to the trails in Moab, I agree with you that [some of them] are pretty sticky if we are talking about hells revenge, things and fins, etc - all rock-based trails. I guess I would not air down for those. However, there are plenty of other trails - such as Shafer, White Rim, etc that are just a mix of gravel, dirt and sharp rocks, where I could benefit of airing down, from a comfort standpoint, but would be exposed to the dreaded sidewall cuts.

Again, looking for folks with previous experience in the area using a Defender with A/S. Maybe the A/S is magic to a point that I can ride 40psi without braking my back.

 

While I agree with your general assertions, I would take issue with this. I also air down when traveling a long way over scree, i.e. 2-4" "gravel" trails that just bounce the truck all over the place at the 8-10mph you can easily travel on them. I spent two weeks in the San Juans with the Defender and aired down several times for this reason.

Now Moab is quite a bit different, despite being close to the San Juans. Most of the trails are either Utah sand (an extremely dry, fine, flour-like dirt) or slickrock (smooth Entrada or Navaho sandstone faces), or boulders (chunks of slickrock that have broken off and litter the trail surface, ranging from jagged-basketball size to beanbag chair or larger). The going is very fast in the dirt, pretty slow on the faces because of the angles, and REALLY slow over the talus slopes covered in boulders. In the last two, airing down a bit really helps both traction and comfort of the people in the truck AND the components of the truck itself.

I have modified my truck for 18s so I can't actually speak from experience to how low you can go with 20s before you risk rolling a tire off or burping the air out or puncturing it. I ran about 22 lbs when I aired down in Colorado and that made a whole lot of difference, with no downside. If I had kept the 20s on it I would have tried going with 26, figuring if I got a flat I'd still have the spare and would run them all back up into the 30s.

Good luck! I'll be there in September. I usually go for 2-3 weeks (I'm in Atlanta so it has to be worth my while to drive out) every year, but this will be my first Moab trip in the Defender. Always done it with Jeeps before. Have fun.




I'm learning a lot with this Defender. Below is more what I'm used to, where you just basically let all the air out! 8 pounds, 37" bias ply tires on 16" wheels. Insanely sticky. Whole lot more fun than the LR, but miserable driving it 1800+ miles to Moab pulling a tire & tools trailer.

 

Will you stop posting these videos of superb trails in a perfect climate with beautiful scenery and sunshine as it's making me depressed looking at the freezing rain and sleet outside my window

 

No love for the slop?

 

I switched to 18"s also. Seeing my tires on 20"s get compressed to near the rim going over rocks and roots meant having to avoid trails that otherwise this fine machine could eat up. That's running 35psi on the XL rated OEM Adventures.

I didn't get a flat but it's no way to have a relaxing drive. Adventure awaits if you make a misstep.

Granted, a D or E rated A/T tire in the same 32" size will fare better but sidewall means airing down for comfort, traction and safety.

 

I am with you, but I also really like my 20s lol. I did your experiment and got the below. I have ko2s at 275/60 profile and looks like I am half way in between your 18s and the adventurers 20s. Exact 5 inches of sidewall. My ko2 also look to have a bit more wear than yours (almost 30kmiles on them). I hope it’s enough to at least air down to the 32s psi maybe.

 

I like my 20s also so I kept them. I put the 18s on when I am going anywhere to off-road, and the 20s for in the city.

 

They were brand spanking new boots in these pictures. 265/70 R18. The KO2s are a much beefier tire than the Adventure. Fortunately there is weight saving in losing the city-alloy for the 18". I reckon at about 25-30psi you will have a good balance between comfort/traction and pinch flat prevention in the 33" 275/60 R20

I've never been to Moab trails. One day hopefully. Best of luck with it.